retiredmartin

July 2026. Sawley. Derbyshire.

Another month, another top pub crawl, again organised by the estimable Shawn Collier of Leicester.

Long Eaton station for Derbyshire’s Sawley and the Trent; can this unsung corner of the East Midlands match Nottingham, Derby and Burton ?

Only 43 minutes on the train, 42 minutes of which were used up politely turning down offers of EMR catering.

I’d barely sat down to admire my (front facing) single seat and powere socket when it started;

“Coffee ?” No thanks.

“Are you SURE ?” I’m fine, thanks.

“Water ? , anything ?” Slight sigh, shake of head.

Fives minutes later.

“Cheese scone ? Fruit scone ? Tapas ?“. ****ing leave me alone. Will reckons I was in First Class, though I didn’t notice, and they’d thoroughly checked my ticket before I had time to sit.

10 minutes walk to a noon start at the White Lion,

by which time our gang had already split into factions determined to detour from Shawn’s immaculate itinerary, so I walked ahead to see if the Bass was drinking well.

ice looking community all-rounder,

a What’s On board for fans of AI generated posters,

plenty of hooks,

Suede and Jermaine Stewart (!) on the soundtrack and “Haggis and Bubble and Squeak Balls” on an ambitious snack menu.

The curated survey party turned up when I’d nearly finished my decent if never sparkling pint (NBSS 3). Stafford Paul got the first one out of the fresh barrel and declared it a winner.

Note top blogger Oxford Nick relegated to the back table away from the local branches as per CAMRA rules.

I hadn’t the heart to tell Nick he’d arrived a month too late for the “Fun” day.