Pub Nostalgia Thread

[GoblinAhFuckScary]

When I walked past my local pub the other evening, The Lord Palmerston*, I noticed someone had left the fruit machine on and it made me incredibly nostalgic for the place, with it looking like it was still desperately trying to somehow stay alive yet all but failing too.

Can't say I'm a big pub fan these days if only because all of my favourites have been renovated and turned in to modern bars and gastropubs, which makes me sound like a very old man indeed, but I do miss a few dives that still remain.








*Pitt The Elder.

Walthamstow?

[The Crumb]

At .com/2018/02/11/klub-invalida-kotor/] Klub Invalida, Kotor, Montenegro.

Kotor is fast becoming another day tripper venue.
It isn't Dubrovnik's size so when the tourists descend it can get pretty choked in the old town. The town is perched underneath a ring of mountains which surround the bay of Kotor and there are a lot of highly localised thunderstorms as a result.

One of the few authentic Caffe bars left in town is Klub Invalida, a retired sportsman's club which is essentially for old farts to knock about in. Cigs, beers, natter. Even they realise they hold a prime location so have made a perfunctory effort to set up a few tables and chairs outside. They'll even serve you if you're polite.

Entertainment in the venue comes via a battered old 90s TV set and as it was Easter, they had kindly provided us with an ashtray filled with two dyed purple hard boiled eggs. We ordered a few Niksicko pivos, the only real Montenegrin beer you can get.

By the end of the first round of beers the weather turned from baking hot and sunny, albeit windy, to alarming violent thunderstorm. The stone streets don't offer much drainage and so it only took about 15 minutes until we were effectively flooded-in.

But then we got a tap on the shoulder from the 'bartender'. Zvolite (?) 2 more beers arrive without us asking. Then another round, and another. Here were are trapped in a Montenegrin working men's club with no mutually intelligible language to communicate. Only stern Balkan formalities, boiled eggs and gruff acts of kindness from smelly old cig trolls. We end up watching Serbian football which intermittently cuts out due to the clear electrical interference issues. Every now and again we peek out of front to see if we can walk home without being in 10 inches of water, we can't. Not until the early hours, having been plied with rakija as a fucking off present. One that stays with you, that.

Dubrovnik and thunderstorms reminds me of a beautiful night there. After a day swimming and hiking, we found a lodge type place on the edge of the woods for dinner. Litres of beer and big grills, just what we wanted. As we were about to leave, a massive storm broke. We ended up staying for several more hours. Sitting under the pine trees with litres of ozujsko watching the lightning break over the mountains in the background was incredible. Less incredible was deciding to get some more rancid 7.5% dark beers from the bar opposite our villa as we staggered home. Although there is a certain beauty in watching a man try to headbutt open a pomegranate. 

[Captain Crunch]

"Opposite the Bannister and Shamrock, which used to be the Rose and Crown"

For us it was the Frog & Radiator, formerly the Ship & Billet.  It then changed again to the Duchess of Greenwich and failed spectacularly when the owner left and the customers took over.  An extract from the council report:

"The licensing officer returned to speak to [name redacted] who obviously had no knowledge of running licensed premises. She was unaware who the licence holders were as she had never met them. She had no idea what a Designated Premises Supervisor was, nor the opening and closing time of the premises. Asked when she planned to close for the evening, she replied: 'When I feel like it!'"

Get her.

[Ferris]

^Merry from Peep Show?

[Small Man Big Horse]

Walthamstow?

It is indeed. Are you another E17 resident? Or just a fan of pubs called The Lord Palmerston?

[Captain Crunch]

Two for the price of one.  The Ordnance Arms in Canning Town which was repurposed as charity shop:



I loved going in there when I worked nearby; loads of stock, really cheap but my god it was dark.  You'd come home, try on your new grey jumper and realise it was actually green.

Also had a childish name back in the day when it became the Orange Kipper.  It reverted back before closing down.   

[GoblinAhFuckScary]

It is indeed. Are you another E17 resident? Or just a fan of pubs called The Lord Palmerston?

Afraid I was an N15 resident, but I knew the Lord Palmerston and couldn't help but internally scream PITT. THE. ELDER each time I went past it.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Afraid I was an N15 resident, but I knew the Lord Palmerston and couldn't help but internally scream PITT. THE. ELDER each time I went past it.

I do the same thing, and walk past Palmerston Road about 8 times a week and do the "Pitt The Elder" thing each and every time, I genuinely find it annoyingly but can't help myself.

[Golden E. Pump]

I've been in the Lord Palmerston as part of a Victoria Line pub crawl. Pretty nice pub as I recall.

[Ferris]

I've been in the Lord Palmerston as part of a Victoria Line pub crawl. Pretty nice pub as I recall.

PITT. THE. ELDER!

[wooders1978]

As it gets gradually more summery I was out walking my dog on Saturday afternoon, a ritual that usually finishes in my regular haunt, a lovely pub in town for a couple of pints of cider - felt a real pant of nostalgia for the pub, and sadness that my ritual is unlikely to return this summer

The last pint I had in a pub was a pub near my mums - a fucking ghastly pint of Stowford press, crap at the best of times, which I chocked down in the setting of an empty, drab pub, with a disinterested kid behind the bar - a sad note to finish on

[idunnosomename]

For what it's worth I don't think you can really compare Pitt and Palmerston as they represent very different eras of British imperialism.

[Blinder Data]

I miss The Laurieston.

Hopefully it can get back up and running when the lockdown is eased. I think the landlords own the building and it's cash only, so you'd think they're well-placed to avoid the same fate as those tied to pubcos etc.

[Danger Man]

Where to start with Glasgow pubs?

The beer is still miles behind England but the banter...fucking hell.

[Captain Crunch]

The Brig?

[Fr.Bigley]

I miss Whitelocks, Leeds. Down the dark alley on Briggate into a warm, inviting 17th century luncheon pub with its copper bar, its leaded glass and the immaculate pint of old peculiar. always a nice place to sit for a few hours and listen to the locals and Norwegian LUFC Fans get loved up before kick off.

[Pink Gregory]

The last pint I had in a pub was a pub near my mums - a fucking ghastly pint of Stowford press, crap at the best of times, which I chocked down in the setting of an empty, drab pub, with a disinterested kid behind the bar - a sad note to finish on

Wept.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

https://[SPAM - REMOVED].com/2018/07/12/whitelocks-leeds/

Also one of my favourite pubs. You're damn right about the Old Peculier. A pint of Landlord is usually pristine condition in there too, as it ought to be for the price.

[imitationleather]

It was all downhill after I got a blowie by the pool table in The Blind Beggar.

[Paul Calf]

https://[SPAM - REMOVED].com/2018/07/12/whitelocks-leeds/

Also one of my favourite pubs. You're damn right about the Old Peculier. A pint of Landlord is usually pristine condition in there too, as it ought to be for the price.

Never managed to get a seat in that pub; it's justifiably permanently busy. The White Swan on Swan Street was one of my favourite pubs in Leeds until City Varieties reclaimed the lease and turned it into some ghastly pre-theatre cafe-bar that serves cheese toasties for 12 quid a pop.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Aye, I think it was Leeds Brewery that took over White Swan. Improved the beer selection but yes, pretty much a temple of bland now, and not even that nice bland, just utterly generic and uninspired. Fish and Chips £12.95, 2 for £21 - fuck off.

As for Whitelocks, getting a seat is one of the perennial frustrations but it has a high turnover in the early evening. If you loiter for 15 minutes a seat usually opens up. You get waves of punters too, I've seen it go from having 6 people in the bar area to about 35 to back again in the space of a half hour.

Not many places are worth of digging in like that but I'd say Whitelock's is one. Tempting to just fuck off up to the Angel all the same.

My personal view is that they should allow anyone in the 'dining area' and reduce the food offerings, but that would trash the luncheon bar tradition I suppose.