retiredmartin

January 2026. Widnes.

A confession. I intended to make that post on Mudgie’s funeral a long read including the post-wake pubs, but Mrs RM had finished her pint/wine/Amaretto Disaronno in St Annes Spoons and I had to press “PUBLISH” in case the WiFi ran out in our Travelodge (£29.99).

It would have been rude not to visit a pub close to Peter’s resting place, especially as Stafford Paul had already declared the Landlord was drinking well in the Ctrown, one of the very few Widnes pubs I could have named (despite it seemingly never gracing the Guide).

Charlotte from Stockport branch, already a favourite for PubMan of the Year 2026, kindly dropped me in the Crown’s car park, and with 35 minutes till the train I could enjoy a pint in an unexpectedly smart dining pub.

Pork Piggy Pig would have been the obvious pick, if I hadn’t porky pigged up on curry and cake.

This was a really lovely allrounder, young and old together, heaving at 4:30 on Friday.

A cool, chewy Tim Taylor (NBSS 3.5, £4.50) and J Geils Band’s “Centrefold“. Something Peter would have appreciated.

Unexpectedly, I then found myself 8 minutes walk from the station with 15 minutes to the train.

The sensible course of action would have been to head directly to Platform 1 to meet Paul, but with the Horse and Jockey a mere two minutes further out I felt I owed it to Mudgie to nip in.

A big mistake, huge. One hardworking barmaid serving two dozen Friday drinkers in this lively former GBG boozer, the clock had ticked round to 16:58 when I got my ambitiously priced (£5.25) Landlord and half of Billy Ocean’s “Love Really Hurts Without You“.

One spare seat at the bar where two Old Boys were sipping their own pint of the UK’s favourite beer, another NBSS 3.5.

A minute later, mine was gone, and I was dashing for the door.