THE BUS TO HARBORD HARBORD

December 2024. Middleton.

The train to Leeds on Saturday afternoon had been so empty that the driver was able to walk around collecting old coffee cups, put the Christmas decorations up and invite a 9 year old lad we’ll call Tom to join him in his cab to press buttons.

“This is probably one of the best days of me life” said Little Tom. Aww.

A day later, the train to Manchester is a rather less romantic affair.

Standing room only, reserved seats sold twice, lads on their second bottle of Bailey’s before the Manchester derby. Mark my words, Bailey’s is the new Guinness.

At Piccadilly, I’ve got 4 hours to do a Mancunian tick from my list.

Nothing very central in GBG25, and that trip to Middleton takes 50 minutes.

But that’s because I jump on the 83 waiting at the stop on time, rather than the (obviously) delayed 163. Schoolboy error.

Now, sorry, Middleton, I didn’t do you justice.

It was raining, unexpectedly.

Just the Spoons then.

Harbord Harbord looks like every other suburban Spoons, and that means it’s jolly and cheap. The two might be related.

Tandleman had recently declared a pint of Jaipur here “perfect”, and the Great Tand isn’t one to throw around an NBSS 5, even on home turf.

No Jaipur, and I failed to notice the managers special, sadly.

But Brightside are almost as local as universally loved comedian Bernard,

and this was a gorgeously cool, creamy pint that was edging towards NBSS 4.

And would have made it there, if not for the plastic glasses mandate on Manchester derby day. Still, an NBSS 3.75 is a thing to treasure, almost as much as an on time bus in Manchester.

The Tand has a bit to say about Manchester buses, too.

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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.

15 thoughts on “THE BUS TO HARBORD HARBORD”

      1. It’s the Guardian’s Long Read Paul, and although worth it as you say, it could have been far shorter. Like “He’s A Yorkshireman”

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      1. I think it several times acknowledges the craftsmanship and dedication that has gone into the pubs. And even if it hadn’t, it would be understood.

        The beer is fairly ordinary, I have to say. I know you have to say the opposite (I imagine it’s because you are paid a retainer). I remember how good the Old Brewery Bitter was in the Kings Arms in Morecambe (not a Sam’s these days) and the Olde Blue Bell in Preston when I used to work at Ladbrokes in those towns in the late 70s and early 80s. What we get today is ordinary. And sometimes not in very good nick either.

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  2. Some interesting thoughts there Will, although as I rarely drink Sam’s these days, it’s hard for me to pass comment. Back in my student days, there was a Sam Smith’s pub close to where I lived. I’ve tried finding it on Google Maps, but that whole area of Lower Broughton has been re-developed out of all recognition.

    I can’t even remember the name of the pub, although I do remember that it sold “bright” beer, dispensed by electric pumps, rather proper cask. When I returned to Kent, in 1979, Sam’s OBB was quite widely available in the local free trade, although a few years later, Humphrey stopped all deliveries beyond the confines of the M25.

    Now I have to go to that London place, to enjoy a pint, and my last time in a Sam’s pub was the Anchor Tap, in the shadow of the old Courage Brewery.

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    1. Paul,
      I’d have thought “bright beer, dispensed by electric pumps, rather [than] proper cask” more likely John Smiths than Sam Smiths.
      Somehow I’ve only used five of Humphrey’s pubs this year – York, Preston, Manchester, Chester, London. .

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      1. I’ve been in seven, Paul. Four different ones in London, and others in Liversedge, Ossett and the re-opened Cow & Calf in Grenoside. The best OBB was in the very first one in London, the Angel in the Fields in Marylebone last January, where it was NBSS 3.5. The other cask beers were average to poor, and on three occasions I went for keg, through lack of a cask option.

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      2. I had 3 pints of OBB in less than an hour after walking in the heat to the Cow & Calf an hour from home, each better than the last. We’re allowed to disagree, but also to have different experiences.

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      3. Will, a “lack of a cask option” at the Rising Sun last month meant I was in the Butchers Hook and Cleaver ahead of schedule, all the others being content with Humphrey’s keg though – that being the Smithfield Pub Research Trip that you had sent an apology for absence for.

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      4. Paul, I did warn Tony about the Rising Sun, though with it being a heritage pub I can understand why he went to it anyway. The BH&C is so much better, particularly in having a range of well kept cask beers, which is something that no Sam Smiths pub can boast.

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      5. Yes Will, I remember your warning to Tony.
        I thought “one beer is plenty” until Humphrey gave us cask Yorkshire Stingo five years ago.

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