January 2024. St Helens. St Helens doesn’t haven’t much for the tourists, bar a glass museum on the Pilkington site, two award-winning ale houses, a raft of basic boozers and a rugby league team of some repute. I’ve never been to a rugby league match, saving my debut for Castleford’s Jungle. There were coachloads of… Continue reading ST HELENS – A HEART OF GLASS
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BY GEORGE ! A ST HELENS STUNNER
A Friday in St Helens. Is this Woollybackland ? Let’s assume it is and offend someone. The folk heading back to Merseyside from Victoria were upset enough on Friday lunchtime, the toothy messiah having announced his departure from Anfield this summer. At Wigan, I had to run faster than Jurgen encroaching on the pitch to… Continue reading BY GEORGE ! A ST HELENS STUNNER
A HOLT IN THE VICTORIA TAP
January 2024. Victoria Station. Manchester. Some Universities teach pointless subjects, like philosophy, and French, and football studies. The very best of them run courses on Pub Blog titles, where I learnt you can substitute halt for Holt when you order a pint of Cheetham Hill’s finest. After than disastrous Saturday afternoon in Preston (never mind… Continue reading A HOLT IN THE VICTORIA TAP
HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 38 – SOMERSET
I’m a big fan of Somerset, and so is Baa Baa Toure. He accompanied me on a never-ending series of campervan adventures in 2021-22 to the South-West, stopping in car parks from Exmoor to the Somerset levels to Cheddar Gorge. I still don’t think I’ve got the hang of the county, but I did make… Continue reading HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 38 – SOMERSET
LAURA J MARTIN AT THE FERRET, PRESTON
January 2024. Preston. Last post from last Saturday in our premier pub city (I think it really is), then you get a St Helens write-up. Iron Fist in the Vinyl Tap, hairy fist in the Ferret, A rather unnecessary stamp to prove you’ve paid your fiver for a night of quirky alt pop in the… Continue reading LAURA J MARTIN AT THE FERRET, PRESTON
Motörhead
January 2024. Preston. For those of you at the back not keeping up, or confused by the nightly “Half A Dozen Pubs…” this is STILL Preston. What a night, though not one I want to repeat this lifetime. A quick check of the set times revealed it wasn’t worth tipping up at The Ferret for… Continue reading Motörhead
THE CHAIN HOUSE, PRESTON
January 2024. Preston. We (finally left) the Black Horse for our gig in Preston’s student-land, relatively bright and breezy as well as full of pastry, gelatinous jelly, pork and chilli jam. Even the Old Black Bull looks appealing after an hour on the Old Tom. Duncan had been recently and described the Chain House tap… Continue reading THE CHAIN HOUSE, PRESTON
HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 37 – SHROPSHIRE
A great county, and not one over-dominated by its county town, either. Tough picking six; was spoilt for choice in Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth, though pickings get a bit slimmer towards the north-east. Shrewsbury – Cross Foxes No tour of England is complete without a wander round Shrewsbury’s medieval streets and health food cafes. I might… Continue reading HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 37 – SHROPSHIRE
“Another pie, then ?”
January 2024. Preston. Sorry for a two part post about one pub, my first such extravagance since a similarly photogenic wonder in Plymouth. Mrs RM had spotted the bargain pies, and if anything is guaranteed to fuel appetite for pork in pastry in Old Tom and Plum Porter. A marvellous combination, in a pub with… Continue reading “Another pie, then ?”
WHERE DID THAT OLD TOM COME FROM ?
January 2024. Preston. Short posts from the front carriage of the inevitably delayed Manchester to Sheffield EMR service. Leaving NICOs after mixing beer and wine, Mrs RMs first words were, “That looks nice we should go in there” No, we shouldn’t. We had to be sensible with a gig in a couple of hours. Somehow,… Continue reading WHERE DID THAT OLD TOM COME FROM ?
