February 2023.
I’ve neglected you.
I’ve hardly mentioned MumsNet in months, while it’s been discussing the issues that define/divide the nation;
I don’t know how folk in Northampton pronounce Ice Cream, but then I never know if it’s in the East Midlands (where it sits in the GBG) or the East (where it’s generally lumped in NHS reorganisations).
My last Northants tick takes me to the north of the county town, where the NHS once held exciting regional meetings about PCT allocations, QUIPP savings and resources without cash. I don’t don’t miss those meetings.
Kingsthorpe* provides a striking contrast in housing styles with northern Kettering, whose string of metal balconies is at least striking.
The Olde Cobbler is a real oddity; a smart flat roofer.
It looks new build, but was previously “Buddies Diner” so who knows ?
Mid afternoon, it’s packed with youngish gentlefolk (contradiction in terms ?) grazing from a standard pub menu notable only for the Brixworth pate, but at least there’s still a modest drinking area.
What Pub tells of “CAMRA discounts” and “always one beer at £3”, not that such generosity has any impact on GBG entry, I’m sure.
Oddly, my house beer, which I think we can assume is from Phipps, costs an ambitious £4.40. Perhaps it’s cheaper if you bring a dog with you;
it’s all very dog-centric, and since 83% of the county owns a dog these days, I shouldn’t be surprised.
But at least it’s very good, a cool, rich 3.5 to end the county, and my only complaint is with the high tables.
And the chaotic fight between Bargain Hunt on the TV and R’n’B on the Hi-Fi. Bargain Hunt wins.
Not the most comfortable of pubs, but a popular one with good beer, and who am I to complain about that ?
*Wiki fun Kingsthorpe church fact : The pulpit is Jacobean. There is a monument to Edward Reynolds, who died in 1698.[24]
retiredmartin 
Oh God, I hate meetings. We have one every Wednesday. Luckily it’s via Teams so I can turn my camera off, kill the mike and read the Guardian online while everyone else blethers on about who knows what.
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Or “I scream”?
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Given the current moribund state of pubbing in Northampton at the moment, given that the St Giles Alehouse is gone, and arguably the best two beer bars don’t sell cask, are the branch struggling a bit for entries these days I wonder. Looks perfectly acceptable but I doubt that would have had a look-in a few years ago.
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Could be right. Hard to argue with beer quality, and always good to get an entry in the suburbs. One of the more uncomfortable drinking experiences, mind.
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The non American pronunciation is the correct one.
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Always.
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Yes, the American tendency is to join the words in speech – just as Germans would – e.g. “hotmilk”, “icecream” etc. which moves the stress to the first word.
I think that I’ve even heard “The Lordsprayer”
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Not “The Lord Sprayer” ?
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I like the fact these pubs in the ‘burbs are getting a bit of rare recognition….much more fun than just your bog standard town centre pubs…
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