August 2026. Skegness. Lincolnshire
As you’ll know I’m not intending to complete the Beer Guide again, once in a lifetime is scary enough, as David Byrne sang.
But I still like visiting the new GBG pubs, and colouring in the maps, and a lone micro had prevented me licking Lincolnshire for too long.
So, after visiting Dad, we took the drab Fenland way through Spalding and Boston to Skeggy, and hoped Crafty Ale House wasn’t shut for a christening/winter break/the hell of it
Crafty looks like it’s open all the time to be fair, more converted guest house than converted shop.
Scooter in the porch,
chalk board on the wall,
pork pies in the fridge,
those unidentifiable bags of sweets on the bar.
The guvnor was trying to get shot of Rudgate at £3 a pint, just like in the early days of Kent micros, but I stood my ground and had Plum Porter.
Mrs RM, who seems increasingly suspicious of cask this summer, had a can of stout from a Whitby micro.
It was quite sharp, even from a fresh can, and she took my Titanic (GOOD, while I had it) instead.
Young Simon had described the place as cosy (good range of seating) but fusty last month, and that’s fair.
Bonus point for more deep cut Bee Gees,
and in truth I’d have been happy to stay there with that bargain Rudgate a while longer.
But a man can’t come to Skegness and not be attacked by seagulls on the beach, can he ?
retiredmartin 