retiredmartin

Blimey, that rhymes. I’m a poet and I didn’t know it. I should write for a CAMRA branch magazine.

March 2024. Rochdale.

I love this little Rochdale pub crawl artisanal curated beer trail on a beer mat,

and wish it all the best when it kicks off on Thursday.

We did the town justice, but Blackpool Jane had a train to catch which meant no Spoons or Hoochi Koochi, just a direct stomp back from Baum to the main square, where the Town Hall only hinted at the treasures within.

The scaffolding round the Flying Horse mean no hints at all to what lay within, but luckily Rochdale has peppered the town centre with ‘istree and ‘eritage.

It nearly followed the Baum as a National Pub of the Year just after my last visit, losing out to the all-conquering “Covid-19”, a craft bar in Machynlleth (Check this – Ed).

Another huge cask and keg range on a quiet night in a Lancashire textile town, in fact a very similar line-up to the Baum (connected in some mysterious way, I’m told), so Mrs RM had another “Under the Eildon Tree”, but my choice was rather easier.

Beautifully served, cool and tasty,

though perhaps not the crispest Bass I’d had this year (NBSS 3).

Jane had this;

because she’s Jane.

As with the Baum, loads of folk eating, and if it lacks the multi-room charm of some I really like the way it accommodates such a variety of Rochdale life, which is what makes a Pub of the Year.

Oh, and a soundtrack to match the view from the window.

Pop quiz fans will recall that novelty single “Vienna” kept Gracie Fields “Biggest Aspidistra In The World” off the Number 1 spot in 1981, after which Midge Ure was banned from Rochdale for life.

He’s got over it.