retiredmartin

March 2026. Burton-on-Trent.

A Friday afternoon in search of Burton Bass, and a couple of votes on the Bass fan page for the Burton Bridge, another GBG regular that has had it’s share of turmoil of late.

But nothing like the turmoil of the Hangar,

aka Crossing; Caliente; Brewers Bar; Cosmo; InnStitute; Cosmopolitan; and the Blue Posts, once Burton’s “trendy” pub, and now a stronghold of keg.

I don’t think the Burton Bridge has ever been trendy,

but it has been part of the CAMRA circuit forever. Until now, as it drops out of the GBG after a period of uncertainty.

But it looked in good health on a Friday afternoon,

though in truth the foamy Bass was a bit “rough” (NBSS 3+).

Never mind the beer, it’s a comfy pub, and I enjoyed a chat with a bloke from Dawley in Telford, an occasional visitor to Burton who’d never been to Coopers.

Sitting on your own in a pub with a pint, facing a stranger, how do you judge you can start a conversation, whether about the beer, the weather, or the bus service ?

I was glad I did, he was informative on Telford’s pubs without being beery cheery, waiting for a bus to meet a mate in Hartshorne, “the posh village” I told him. In truth, it’s not THAT posh.