3rd March 2023.
Noon in Uttoxeter. Paul, Will and I had spent almost an hour in the Black Swan, and already Will was breaking away from the main pack to take photos for Pubs Galore in Bramhall.
In truth, I’d been sorely tempted to join Will on the No. 841 to get a bonus tick at the Shrewsbury Arms in Kingstone, leaving Paul to drink Doom Bar in the Spoons for an hour, but the return journey (in red)
looked a bit convoluted, as well as not actually happening that day.
So I joined Paul in the Old Star,
a pub that has eluded the Beer Guide and confused the cartographers, being nowhere near where Bing Maps places it (actually next to Divine Punjabi, which I can’t believe we didn’t end up in).
Nice looking town pub, alluring lamp, advert for a “first person shooter video” on entry. Pubs are complex.
“Hello lads ! Bass, is it ?“
How could he tell ? Great welcome again, and I resisted the temptation to ask for Sharps. If it had been D*** B** I might have been persuaded. Look CAMRAs, this is CHOICE…
We had a glass of water, as well, being professionals, and sat down in the bar to admire the settling of a Bass that tasted different to the Black Swan but still comfortably scored a 3.
And then the Reverend Blue Jeans came on.
At least, that’s what I thought the title was when I was 14.
At least it’s not “S**** C*******” I thought, and then “It’s very loud“. SO loud, we unanimously agreed to move to the back room, which was rather lovely.
I guess we should have just asked the landlord to turn it off/down, but that would have required doing a poll on the Old Codger equivalent of MumsNet and sometimes you just act, don’t you ?
Never mind, good Bass in a clean glass (it improved to a 3.5, unexpectedly),
bench seating, some welcome company.
And in the outside Gents,
I discover a penchant for novelty guest beers (the Marco Pierre White, anyone ?) that appears to have been a passing phase.
Not much lunchtime trade, but a beer garden with music stage tells of a night time custom for proper live music.
I thought of persuading Paul to come back the next day for King Abyss, but then thought better of it.
retiredmartin 
Thinking music is too loud in a restaurant, bar or pub really is the sign of aging isn’t it? It’s a thought that occurs more and more frequently for me. I’m always amazed watching young people’s ability to talk in loud bars. Shocking to think that was something I was once capable of doing.
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Music in pubs often works for me, Dave, but this was played at the volume you’d expect at 10pm not noon.
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I struggle to hear the people I’m with if there’s background chatter, let alone music. I blame AC/DC at the Queen’s Hall, Leeds in 1982.
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Ha.
Coincidentally, I blame Dirty DC a tribute act in Rushden in 2013.
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Ah, Rushden. I’ve only been to Football there (many years ago).
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Rushden is an odd place. I sprained my ankle there in 1976.
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Eek! Should have been wearing DMs? lol
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I blame Saxon & other ear splitting bands at Fforde Grene Leeds back in the 70’s -sat next to speakers & generally emerged deaf
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Ah yes, Saxon, support for Rainbow at Queen’s Hall in 1981.
Still, you never feel like you’re alone when you have tinnitus, lol.
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When I was 16 my two favourite bands were Joy Division and Saxon. They’d have made a great supergroup.
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Mine was Slobberbone at The Borderline in ’98. Probably didn’t help that I was right in front of the bass bin. I was Mutt’n for days. Still, fun times!
That Marco Pierre White beer was just an average Lees bitter. Either I drunk it pre-Untappd, or I just couldn’t be bothered to let a handful of disinterested people know I’d had it. I only drunk it the once, which says something.
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Shamefully I’d never heard of Slobberbone !
I recall the MPW beer now (The Guvnor ?); put in the same bracket as those Neil Morrissey beers, pointless.
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A supergroup called The Joy of Saxon?
Or maybe not…
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“Noon in Uttoxeter”. Bliss.
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I always heard the song title the same, Martin. Along with “My Ears Are Alight” by Desmond Dekker.
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There used to be a whole segment on a Radio 1 show in the mid-80s, probably Dave Lee Travis, about misheard lyrics. Most weren’t as entertaining as the “Israelites”. That was made into an advert for a cassette tape, wasn’t it ?
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Same here -still makes me chuckle
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Martin,
You were “sorely tempted to join Will on the No. 841” but I can confirm from that day that the 841 is a bumpy bus. Despite living in Stafford nearly fifty years, and a two-minute walk from the appropriate bus stop for 31 years, that recent Friday was the first time I’d been by bus to Uttoxeter.
I’ve not been to them for many years but am rather surprised that the Shrewsbury Arms in Kingstone and the nearby equally remote Blythe Inn at The Blythe survive.
Not a month ago was the announcement that “There are timing changes to service 841 from 20th February 2023 to improve reliability. Saturday buses will no longer serve Kingstone, The Blythe, Salt or Hopton, and will run hourly between Stafford and Hixon with buses extended to Uttoxeter every two hours” – yes, always “to improve reliability” not cut costs !
“Some welcome company” although neither dog was any more sociable than a typical pub cat.
Dave,
But there’s “loud” and there’s deafening !
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