retiredmartin

Apologies for the lateness of your daily “Half A Dozen Pubs…”. The WiFi in Preston Premier Inn failed to upload my lovely photos (including the one I nicked off Duncan).

You could almost have six pubs in the same Norwich postcode here, but that would be so dull.

Bu picking five pubs to give a representative feel for Norfolk is tough.

Let’s start with the obvious one, shall we ?

Norwich – Fat Cat

Actually, the Fat Cat wouldn’t have been such an obvious Norwich pick before my last visit, as I like to be a contrarian and the number of hand pumps (31 !) is a turn-off.

“I don’t like that, not at all.  It feels like a cask beer lottery to me.“

“The defence will say “Ah, but a beer shrine like the Fat Cat can turn those over, no problem“.  But this isn’t a vast pub by any means; there weren’t many more customers than ales while I was there.“

It took a marvellous pint of Abbot, of all beers, to change my mind.

“Blokes in Hi-Vis jackets at the bar, schoolteachers complaining about pupils at the adjacent table, folk getting growlers of beer to drink while watching “Gunpowder” on the I-Player.  I couldn’t fault the atmosphere.”

“And the pub itself is a marvel, up there with the Cambridge Blue for brewerania.“

Let’s head from the West End to West Norfolk for another backstreet boozer.

King’s Lynn – Live & Let Live

Because you haven’t done Norfolk with out a trip to Lynn, and although there’s good pub near the market, the Live & Let Live greets you by the gates with dual mobility scooters and is therefore my pick.

I visited just before the second lockdown in November 2020, a weird period that historians will marvel at 50 years now. The Live had murder scene tape and hand wash and instructions, but the Old Boys soldiered on.

“‘ee’s off now” the first thing you hear as Old Boy 1 nips out for a fag, or to oil his mob, or take a call.

“Coming and going is the mark of a Proper Pub. That and a highly proficient landlady who identifies you as a CAMRA and starts to reel off the ales before you sit down.“

“I rebel and order a perry, but it’s the end of the barrel so I get the Mild (Elgoods I guess) anyway. At £2.80 it’s both bargain and bootiful.”

I love that pic (original black and white, NOT colourised).

I’ve never been a fan of Norfolk’s pashmina and tousle-haired Londoner invading north coast, but I warmed to Cromer on a return visit after discovering, to my amazement, it had a station.

Cromer – Red Lion

The Red Lion has the best view, I think you can see Grimsby on a clear day, and the best beer.

“I asked the two old boys at the bar what they were drinking, and chose that one. It’s my only advice on beer. The barmaid was brilliant; patient and cheery as I counted out the coins.“

“It’s a classic drinkers pub, a Cambridge Blue or City Arms or Albion Ale House sort of place. One chap went up for another “cheeky” half while his wife went to the loo; it’s what I’d have done.”

Let’s head east, but not to the obvious honeypots of Great Yarmouth (the Dickensian streets are a joy), but the more workday port of Gorleston, home to the defiantly independent James Paget Hospital.

Gorleston – New Entertainer

I haven’t been to the New Entertainer for a while, but you can’t beat a wedge pub.

Neither could BRAPA, who rated this the 3rd best pub in Norfolk last year. Read his post to see what he thought the Top 3 were and realise great minds think alike.

Amazingly, the photo below wasn’t taken by Simon after 6 pints.

I really struggled with a fifth pub. The Locks in Geldeston would have been ideal but I can’t remember it, and the village pubs are often terribly disappointing.

So I went to the home of Curry Charles and picked the Craft Union pub.

Dereham – Red Lion

Not because it’s anything special, but because it’s where the blokes go to drink cheap beer and watch football and wonder why some folk drink that weird “real ale”.

£2.50 your (excellent) pint of Landlord on my last visit in 2020.

“Without the football and with a slightly more mature crowd it reached Sam Smiths proportions, particularly when the Old Boys turned out to be chatty on almost every subject except the cask.“

Good beer at bargain prices, and the cheeriest, chattiest folk in a Norfolk pub. It has to be in ?

But what else does ?