LACINGS IN LYTHAM. BASS LACINGS !

January 2026. Lytham St. Annes.

A confession. The things that stress me aren’t the things that should stress an approaching middle-age boomer.

I detest cars. Last Autumn (America – “Fall”) our Citroen’s gears started playing up, the main dealer quoted us £5k just to take the box out, and even with my lucrative sponsorship deal with Pipers crisps we couldn’t justify a thousand pints on that sort of repair.

So we left it in the drive while we were down attending to elderly parents, used the campervan and the train, and hoped it would go away (possibly literally, our neighbours car was stolen recently). Back in Sheffield, sense prevailed and we got Mr Clutch to have a look. Two days later, at a fraction of the main dealer price, that Citroen was purring again, and we celebrated with an impromptu trip to St Annes for sun and sea and sand and some pubs.

Only a couple of years since we stayed in this posh bit of Blackpool, a bitterly cold trip which produced some gorgeous photos of the pier (look here, look !). We should have been in Jordan (the country) that weekend but parental trauma had derailed an overseas trip for a third time in quick succession.

Still, £30 for a clean Travelodge above a Marks & Spencers food outlet selling Eccles cakes ? Works for me.

Mrs RM paid the extra fiver for internet to work on her own blog while I surveyed the glories of the Fylde coast.

This years GBG brings a new entry for Ansdell and Fairhaven, the unsung bit between St Annes and Lytham, the bit with independent schools and impressive houses,

and the extraordinary sight of the Byzantine style White Church (top).

“Luxury Yoga and Shamanic Sound” on offer at this United Reformed Church.

Draught Bass on offer at the Fairhaven, though,

in a plain dining pub (think Ember Inns without the glamour) which knows the Yorkshire pudding is the best bit of the Sunday lunch.

There’s not a lot going on, clearly waiting for BRAPA’s visit,

so let’s focus on the beer for a change, a very 2025 range. Oooh, jam jars, how very Lancashire !

The barman is good.

“That’ll be £4.95” he says, proffering the card reader with invitation to add a tip, “unless you’re a CAMRA member“.

Well, I’d normally deny them, thrice, but I take the discount and give it straight back as a tip. A tip for a pint ? Am I the problem ?

It’s a plain pub, and this is a plain pint, in a plain glass. I’m sure the proper Bass glass would have edged it from a 3 to a 3.5, but I shall never know.

Nice lacings, mind.

Unknown's avatar

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.

19 thoughts on “LACINGS IN LYTHAM. BASS LACINGS !”

  3. I’m the opposite with cars; never had a license, never even taken a test, but a bit of a petrolhead. NB: what happened to the Aygo, did you run it into the ground on your never-ending quest?
    Tips in pubs? The work of Beelzebub. Remember once I was in the Olde Cheshire Cheese when some Americans came in. Having ordered OBB (on my advice/insistence) one of them asked me how much to tip. Having conquered my abhorrence, I advised him that we didn’t tip in pubs, the correct procedure being to offer the barman a drink (“and one for yourself”) He was astonished but went along with it. I daresay he still thinks of me sometimes.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Excellent memory, Jon.

        I gave it to my brother in law in 2022 after it had done 205,000 miles in 7 years (and not many the last two); he managed another 3,000 miles in 3 years then sold it to We Buy Any Car. Still going, apparently.

        Like

    2. There is nothing more ridiculous than having to take out $20 dollar notes in America, somehow split that into one dollars, then give the barman a dollar after every beer. America – pay your servers and stick the service and the tax in the price. It’s not hard.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. You’re missing the point man. Tipping is why our service is consistently better than yours! (Healthcare too.) You need to be able to favor the good over the bad. Incentives drive everything, RM.

        Like

      3. Dave, doesn’t “Tipping is why our service is consistently better than yours” suggest that on your side of the Atlantic staff won’t work properly for the wage that they’re paid ?

        Liked by 2 people

      4. I prefer using places where the staff are paid properly, as here and on the Continent, rather than having to supplement their income by what is, in effect, begging.

        Then, when you leave a tip, it is, exactly, a gratuity.

        And I don’t expect to be treated as any more than an equal to amiable staff.

        Liked by 2 people

      5. Agree. But saying that, I’d be happier without “servers” at all, ordering our food on-line, our beer collected at the bar, and even collecting our meals from a central point, as with Vapoiano or the food concessions in markets.

        Like

      6. Oh no, next you’ll realise that being “happier without “servers” at all” is easily achieved by drinking at home !!

        Like

Leave a comment