August 2023. Prescot.
Mrs RM has been accompanying me on trips to get Guide ticks blog material on lesser-known UK tourist sites, with a promise her own blog is about to drop (ugh).
She’ll struggle to beat Prescot, where I finished Merseyside GBG23 entries with an emotional pint of Abbot and Katsu chicken in the Watchmaker.
My giant spreadsheet listing all the pubs I’d visited tells me I’d ticked three (3) in Prescot (Sun, Old Mill and Clock Face) years ago, and it was the Clock Face which was making me doubt myself as it would be easy, especially for BRAPA, to confuse the Clock Face with the Watchmaker.
But before we get to the Spoons, an apology to Prescot (pop. 11,184), which looked lovely under blue skies, and I’d seemingly missed the architectural highlight of the town at the roundabout.
Cables and Shakespeare ? A late 16th century playhouse the connection to the Bard, apparently.
Who knew ? There’s Shakespearian stuff all over town.
Apparently William was even invited to be a judge at the Champion Beer of Britain’s Merseyside heat (top pic) and chose Krombacher, always a wise choice.
I’d guess the town is still in the “under revitalisation” stage,
but pedestrianisation helps a lot, the cafes seemed busy, and the main street has some handsome buildings reminiscent of Stockton.
Decent modern art too (credit @artisthannah )
and, perhaps, a motto for my own blog.
The Spoons ?
Well, some of the friendliest staff anywhere, and some proper art to commemorate the town’s main industry.
Sadly, a second straight Abbot was a bit tired* (2.5), and again it fell on the fizzy soda and curry to save the day.
Looks nice in pink, doesn’t it ?
*I didn’t notice another pint of cask pulled while I was there.
retiredmartin 
Did you notice the Shakespeare of the North Theatre opened a year ago?
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Yes I did, looked very impressive building. Not the 159 original then ?
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“The Spoons ? Sadly, a second straight Abbot was a bit tired* (2.5)”
Well, you did much better than me at 8.45am with three-quarters of an hour to kill before the 9.30am bus to Brewood yesterday.
It was raining and against my better judgement I made the mistake of going in the Picture House.
Thin, in the line overnight and not at all recognisable as Abbot, it was definitely my worst pint so far this year, and £1 more than the Ruddles would have been.
Imagine the thoughts of a non real ale drinking trying a pint of it after seeing it had won a top award, ‘Never again’.
I was well pleased with the three Brewood pubs I used though and had a wonderful pint of Bass back in Stafford.
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Where was the Bass, Paul ?
Refusing to be beaten, I had the Abbot in the Ball, a large Greene King in Sheffield this week. The worst of the lot.
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Sorry, meant to mention it was the Railway Inn, Stafford’s most reliable pub for beer. And the usual Bass and one each from Timothy Taylors and Wye Valley is an excellent choice.
I doubt if any pub other than the Bridge In Brewood has Banks’s Mild and Marston’s Old Empire as two of its three permanent beers.
I was the only passenger on the 9.30am bus leaving Stafford though another joined before Brewood and I was the only passenger all the way on the 2.26pm from Brewood to Penkridge. The last through bus for Stafford leaves Brewood at 1.26pm. I’m not sure whether people don’t use buses because the service is so poor, the service is so poor because people don’t use then or it’s all the fault of deregulation in the 1980s.
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Of course it was the Railway ! Silly me.
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