December 2023. Macclesfield.
Pub No. 6/7/4 (delete as appropriate) on the Old Codger Day Out in Macclesfield, as we reach the highlight (H for highlight on the map).
Two years ago I didn’t even know the Jolly Sailor was a Bass shrine, and now it’s in the Top 20,
if I’m honest, as much because of THAT fire as the Bass itself.
THAT fire, with pint to the fore, was captured perfectly by Pub Curmudgeon on his viral tweet (34,000 views and counting),
and yes, I am intensely jealous. That one tweet earnt Mudgie enough for a half of Old Tom in the next pub. Here he is checking his new crypto balance;
Well spotted. Someone had a half of Bass, which is the equivalent of using a dimpled mug in my book, but I suspect they didn’t have a head like mine the next morning.
The landlady came over.
“Can I squeeze past you, or do you want to put an extra log on the fire ?” she asked me.
Blimey, I haven’t been charged with that much responsibility since I guided a Mansfield fan to the Abbey stadium in 1998 (and sent him the wrong way, twice).
The Bass sparkled (3.5),
the conversation flowed,
the porcelain dog just stared.
It’s a magical pub, the star of any other town in the UK. And those Bass mirrors are original Wrexham Industrial Estate ones you know.
retiredmartin 
Being trusted to put a log on the fire there and then practically told off for referring to a light switch in the next one – what an exciting day out Cheshire can offer.
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That’s why I go to pubs, Paul.
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Nah, this is why people go to pubs (again)
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I love those unbranded Brunning & Price pubs.
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Etu,
That’s the jolly Sailor in 1987 – “Until recently this was a quiet little pub where each evening serious drinkers would gather together to put the world to rights. Modernisation has transformed it into just another youngsters pub”.
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We usually finish off in the Jolly when we visit Macc. Great pub.
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SH,
The Jolly Sailor was the last of our six Macc pubs on an October 1977 coach trip. The Pollards Bitter was 28p a pint and drinking well if I remember correctly !
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I lived in Macc 1983-1988 – having fled Didsbury – but it was usually The Dolphin or Bate Hall for me. The JS as I recall didn’t look too inviting, but maybe I’m thinking of somewhere else, Paul.
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Original Wrexham Industrial Estate Bass mirrors… you’ve got an eye for quality, RM
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Wrexham Industrial Estate is a separate city (or possible country) isn’t it Bill ?
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No, there’s two proper old ones there.
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Very good forgeries these days.
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There isn’t a man over fifty who isn’t jealous of these four legends sipping that Bass together.
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“Sipping” ?
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You’re a refined group.
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Stafford’s Railway Inn this lunchtime was rather like the Jolly Sailor four days earlier, a roaring fire and exemplary Bass despite it being the last one out of the cask broached three days earlier and so then it was the Boltmaker drinking well.
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The fire in the Anchor at High Offley this lunchtime was mightier than we had in the Jolly Sailor and the ‘Wadsworths’ 6X was drinking exceptionally well for over three hours. Then a pint of Bass in the Railway.
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Where did the poor Mansfield fan end up? Did they ever find the Abbey or are they still hopelessly wandering for the rest of eternity?
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