THE QUIET NIGHT IN AT B33R@33

You left me at the Bay Horse, on the edge of Rivington Reservoir.

A lesser man would have taken the easy option and caught the No. 125 into Horwich, or even headed back to Adlington station and made the short hop to Blackrod (such evocative names).

But not Retired Martin, oh no. Ignoring the drizzle, I walked the scenic route, 2.8 miles in 45 minutes, comforted in the knowledge there’s be more spots for a wee than on the bus.

Horwich marks your entry into Greater Manchester from Lancashire. I’d say it’s “posh” Bolton, but Horwich’s GBG entries have been quite a lively bunch, exemplified by Holt’s Crown that greets the walker on the approach into town.

Eight (8) ticks in a town of 20,067 (more than I’d guessed), including the Bank Top and Blackedge taps.

I noticed a new micro (another one !) in the High Street, with tails & ales in the old Bay Horse pub, which is NOT to be confused with the old Original Bay Horse which has been in the Guide. These things delight and confuse the ticker.

The GBG24 debutant has already confused my spreadsheet, B33R@33 appearing as a formula that will probably delete all my old GBG22 ticks and force me to hand back my medal of Guide completion.

I can’t pretend the B33R@33 doesn’t look like a hundred other one room craft bars with the beers on a blackboard,

but it’s a very superior effort, like that Holy Gr’Ale in Durham or the Fell Bars.

Only £3.30 a pint your Burning Sky, but I had a Vault City Black Velvet (£9.30 a pint if you’re mad enough to drink it in pints) which was astonishingly gorgeous as Vault City always are

I resisted the pies,

wondered if the soundtrack was entirely woke in 2024 (or 1986 tbf)

and read “The Quiet Night In“, one of those Ladybird books for grown-ups.

Even though I’m not (yet) a grown-up.

And then I noticed there was a bus approaching, heading to Bolton, and chose the seat behind the dog.

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

12 thoughts on “THE QUIET NIGHT IN AT B33R@33”

    1. I’m always wary of being critical of these places; often popular and serving some of the best beer in the country (though frankly keg is often your best bet). It’s just, particularly on your own, they don’t feel as comfortable as, say, the Hare & Hounds.

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      3. Well, if we’re starting a definition of “a room” (a) a toilet is only “a room” across the Atlantic where it’s a “bathroom” and (b) in those trendy upmarket establishments now signed as a “Pub with rooms” a room is only a room if it has at least one bed in it.

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      2. No Hare and Hounds could beat Manchester’s where, all being well, I’ll be on the Holts Bitter four weeks next Monday.

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