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Pubs then

Started by Shoulders?-Stomach!, August 17, 2021, 10:18:59 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

greencalx

Interesting - don't think of C&B as being particularly picturesque, but there we go.

(I also preferred it when it was The Junction, but that was a looooong time ago...)

Blinder Data

How is it that Edinburgh has so many more pubs that are interesting, of historic/cultural value and worth visiting than Glasgow, when we all know that it's a more boring city? It's a weird one.

Blue Jam

Quote from: greencalx on January 12, 2022, 01:12:21 PMInteresting - don't think of C&B as being particularly picturesque, but there we go.

High ceiling, horseshoe bar, walls covered in old school brewery-branded mirrors... if nothing else it's a very "pubby"-looking British pub, perhaps that's what the BBC and Amazon Prime think US viewers want to see. Even if all those mirrors reflecting the crew and cameras are going to make post-production a nightmare.

Read a bit more about this and seen Jon HAMM was also spotted and photgraphed in there. Don Draper in the Cask and Barrel, blimey.

The Frank Butcher

May I break some ice here, to smithereens really, by telling you about a pub in Dublin I've made a bit of use of, but which doesn't feel fair to name?

Went there for the first time about a week ago, all went well, cosy, had some spontaneous company from a South African lady when I'm used to just sitting scribbling in pads. She went off for a dinner - I did a good job of not looking needy and desperate for her to stay, real progress there. I was feeling needy and was desperate for her to stay, but I've calibrated a particular smile now that looks convincingly easy come easy go.

Went back the next day and immediately noticed a strong aroma, one I associate with a sweating arse that continues to ripen in depressive stupor. I've only got in that state two or three times myself - five, tops - and it's its own lesson. Began talking to a man about Strumpet City, which I'd never heard of. He seemed convinced I can bring it back. I don't think I look like I've got a television let alone look like I'm in television. During the conversation I heaved a few times with the aroma but then, worryingly really, it started to seem to subside, on and off. I did think a few times of the poor bugger behind the smell and what the story might be. The place has character and would otherwise be a favorite - no one's trying to bring you a menu or refill your glass when you're only halfway.

I was not feeling great, though, and started to drink faster. I left, having accepted that a Strumpet City reboot is in my hands and mine only, and not twenty metres away from the place vomited. Then I heaved, then I vomited again. Then again, and again. Reached the room and heaved and vomited abundantly twice more.

I've never known this, vomiting from a stench - it was a stench, not an aroma or a smell; I've been trying to ease you in - and two hours later I could honestly feel myself mentally reeling from the experience as if it had been an assault. The next day, nearly two miles from the place I recalled the experience and heaved again, stopped in a doorway and steadied myself. I've got PTSD from something else so maybe the neurology of that weaved through the experience.

I did later wonder if it might have been a dog, but the flavour was very much human hopelessness, I think. Was I puking at my own potential fall?

If you're in the area, and it may or may not be fairly near Connolly Station, and if you enter a pub and catch this olfactory horror, leave please, leave straight away. If the state of the toilet's anything to go by, no one will have washed the affected seat. If the place caught fire they'd probably just let it die down by itself, mid-shift or overnight.

I do apologise, this is really no way to introduce myself is it, but I'm probably still reeling and I saw the word 'pub' here and flinched but needed to confess. I do apologise.

cosmic-hearse

Quite sad to see that the Tower Tavern in Fitzrovia has closed. A 20th century flat roof pub, sitting under the Post Office Tower, this was always a pleasant, spacious boozer.

Fitzrovia has several great pubs, & it's my locale of choice when drinking in the West End (along with Marylebone), but this will be missed. It's no frills appearance means it's unlikely to be saved & will almost certainly be demolished.

shoulders

Started the mammoth task of researching the Good Beer Guide for venues to add to my guide. Remarkable how many British pubs fall into the same category:

- Potentially characterful venues that have become dog eared and sad with declining quality and quantity of custom and no money to renovate. Fruities and Sky Sports keeping the show on the road

- Grey painted sterile renovations with hard surfaces, no softness or homeliness, all pub stuff removed, communal spaces removed (benches etc)... paeans to mediocrity.

- Country pubs that formerly had local customers but are now just dining rooms furnished like showroom houses. Tables already set for food.

- Chains/Brewery ties where you can already guess what they will look like inside just by the ownership.

What's worse is how the independents and free houses are flocking not to be distinctive but copy the appearance and format of chains, sort of defeating the object in the process.

Somewhere inbetween all this are the real gems.

- One off family ventures and labours of love
- Brewery tied pubs that know what they're doing (eg. Joule's, often Theakstons, Thwaites to an extent)
- Some micropubs
- Unreconstructed, unchanged boozers that have a clear and obvious appeal
- The remaining genuinely unspoilt homely personalised country inns.

amateur

Quote from: shoulders on January 28, 2022, 12:57:21 PMStarted the mammoth task of researching the Good Beer Guide for venues to add to my guide. Remarkable how many British pubs fall into the same category:

- Potentially characterful venues that have become dog eared and sad with declining quality and quantity of custom and no money to renovate. Fruities and Sky Sports keeping the show on the road

- Grey painted sterile renovations with hard surfaces, no softness or homeliness, all pub stuff removed, communal spaces removed (benches etc)... paeans to mediocrity.

- Country pubs that formerly had local customers but are now just dining rooms furnished like showroom houses. Tables already set for food.

- Chains/Brewery ties where you can already guess what they will look like inside just by the ownership.

What's worse is how the independents and free houses are flocking not to be distinctive but copy the appearance and format of chains, sort of defeating the object in the process.

Somewhere inbetween all this are the real gems.

- One off family ventures and labours of love
- Brewery tied pubs that know what they're doing (eg. Joule's, often Theakstons, Thwaites to an extent)
- Some micropubs
- Unreconstructed, unchanged boozers that have a clear and obvious appeal
- The remaining genuinely unspoilt homely personalised country inns.


There's a guy ticking off every GBG pub on twitter who posts loads of photos of his visits.

https://twitter.com/StymieSi

It's a good insight into what pubs make the list, and all of the categories @shoulders has mentioned have been featured recently.

He's on over 2000, the madman. All his posts assure me I need not do this.

I've always gone by the Good Pub Guide rather than GBG as I would much rather have an absolutely fine beer in lovely settings, than a perfect drink in a bad vibe. GPG has its limits though.


shoulders

Quite agree, although the Good Pub Guide also has a peculier leaning towards food offerings and blind spot when it comes to what a pub is, there are some of these gastro/dining rooms that barely have a bar area let alone what I'd call a pub.

I follow Si/BRAPA on Twitter, a friendly character as you could expect from such a lot of practise meeting strangers. His travels have helped me unlock some venues I'd have passed over or not noticed. Definitely plenty of venues on there that are a full on waste of time too. I'm glad he's doing it with his money, not mine.

Here, I'll post a list of his faves he sent me via PM:


Vine Inn, Pamphill
Bell, Aldworth
White House Hotel, Peel
Nag's Head, Reading
Chequers, Little Gransden
Hand & Hart, Peterborough
Three Pigeons, Halifax
Harp, Little Nelson
Lower Angel, Warrington
Blisland Inn, Blisland
Blue Anchor, Helston
Mallard, Worksop
Manor Arms, Broughton-in-Furness
Elms Inn, Burton on Trent
Eagle & Child, Staveley
Alexandra, Derby
Dewdrop, Ilkeston
Holly Bush, Makeney
Grey Horse, Consett
Tap & Spile, Framwellgate Moor (Durham)
Barrels, Hereford
Jolly Farmer, Bramley
Surrey Oaks, Newdigate
Crossways Inn , Churt
Black Horse, Preston
Blythe Hill Tavern, London
Eagle Inn, Salford
West Riding Refreshment Rooms, Dewsbury
Loggerheads, Shrewsbury
Plough, Little London.

I've only been to 4 of those, all of them at least good, in my opinion.



phes

I've been visiting The Broomhill Tavern in Sheffield about once a fortnight. It's a great all-rounder that ticks boxes for football, cheap booze (affordable spirits), very acceptable beer (cask abbeydale pales/Tetley), proper quiz machine, all chuntering along in harmony powering the engine of nooks and crannies, populated by beleaguered furniture and loud, often boisterous chatter. There is nothing at all of note except for the quiet inclusivity of the balance that puts The Pub first     

amateur

Quote from: shoulders on January 28, 2022, 01:45:12 PMQuite agree, although the Good Pub Guide also has a peculier leaning towards food offerings and blind spot when it comes to what a pub is, there are some of these gastro/dining rooms that barely have a bar area let alone what I'd call a pub.

I follow Si/BRAPA on Twitter, a friendly character as you could expect from such a lot of practise meeting strangers. His travels have helped me unlock some venues I'd have passed over or not noticed. Definitely plenty of venues on there that are a full on waste of time too. I'm glad he's doing it with his money, not mine.

Here, I'll post a list of his faves he sent me via PM:


Vine Inn, Pamphill
Bell, Aldworth
White House Hotel, Peel
Nag's Head, Reading
Chequers, Little Gransden
Hand & Hart, Peterborough
Three Pigeons, Halifax
Harp, Little Nelson
Lower Angel, Warrington
Blisland Inn, Blisland
Blue Anchor, Helston
Mallard, Worksop
Manor Arms, Broughton-in-Furness
Elms Inn, Burton on Trent
Eagle & Child, Staveley
Alexandra, Derby
Dewdrop, Ilkeston
Holly Bush, Makeney
Grey Horse, Consett
Tap & Spile, Framwellgate Moor (Durham)
Barrels, Hereford
Jolly Farmer, Bramley
Surrey Oaks, Newdigate
Crossways Inn , Churt
Black Horse, Preston
Blythe Hill Tavern, London
Eagle Inn, Salford
West Riding Refreshment Rooms, Dewsbury
Loggerheads, Shrewsbury
Plough, Little London.

I've only been to 4 of those, all of them at least good, in my opinion.

Lovely list, good to have in the back pocket.

I've only been to one, Blythe Hill Tavern which is brilliant and appears on a lot of lists. Hype deserved!

Quote from: phes on January 28, 2022, 02:18:47 PMI've been visiting The Broomhill Tavern in Sheffield about once a fortnight. It's a great all-rounder that ticks boxes for football, cheap booze (affordable spirits), very acceptable beer (cask abbeydale pales/Tetley), proper quiz machine, all chuntering along in harmony powering the engine of nooks and crannies, populated by beleaguered furniture and loud, often boisterous chatter. There is nothing at all of note except for the quiet inclusivity of the balance that puts The Pub first     

That's what I'm after. Had a lovely experience in Sheffield as far as pubs go, particularly given the one is the rail station is a brilliant start.

phes

Another nice thing about the Broomhill Tav is that it's opposite the Itchy Pig micro, so you can dip in there first to take your pick of a wider selection of beer and gins. The draft Bendiktiner is pretty fair and last week they had a blackberry and apple sour by Brew York, which was great as those kettle sours go   

king_tubby

Ha, I pretty much lived in the Tav from 1994 to 1996, due to renting at the top of Westbourne Road.

shoulders

Likewise, we did the pub quiz there after Richie left Notty House and the Sports quiz we frequently won there stopped. I'd never especially recommend Broomhill Tavern but you're right that it's sort of fulfillingly normal and it does serve the community really well.

poodlefaker

Good Pub Guide is more for destination pubs, often food-led as has been said. I have found some great pubs through the GBG that I would never otherwise have discovered. Those CAMRA lads do their research, but often go too far, I think. One of London's best pubs is the Seven Stars on Carey St (good beer, great food, independently run, loads of character) - GBG ignores it in favour of the Wetherspoons a few doors down.

shoulders

Quote from: poodlefaker on January 28, 2022, 04:45:07 PMGood Pub Guide is more for destination pubs, often food-led as has been said. I have found some great pubs through the GBG that I would never otherwise have discovered. Those CAMRA lads do their research, but often go too far, I think. One of London's best pubs is the Seven Stars on Carey St (good beer, great food, independently run, loads of character) - GBG ignores it in favour of the Wetherspoons a few doors down.

Yes, which is unfair as they should really highlight pubs that you wouldn't think would have as good ales but do, rather than Wetherspoons where everyone knows you can get many ales in each of them. CAMRA is still too in bed with those cunts, and don't help things with the vouchers giving people even more money off already dirt cheap pints in Spoons.

Making matters worse, there already isn't space to put every pub serving good ales in there, so venues will drop off. Stating GK and Spoons pubs, along with some of the others, isn't adding value or promoting the actual lifeblood of pub culture.

Then there's the cask vs keg war. If you are more interested in craft keg then a lot of even more recent editions are extremely unhelpful and ignorant. Even though the GBG itself often mentions when pubs have 'continental lagers and bottles'. The editorial is still extremely suspicious of anything than they think diminishes cask beer, and I suppose they put a lot of work into reviving it.


Psybro

#495
Loving the shout out for the Broomhill Tavern as one of the true great all-rounders.  I most recently had a nice pint of Bradfield Blue in there as their sole customer on a midweek lunchtime in November.  I loved it at uni because I could get my lager-drinking normie mates in there whilst I had cask Tetley's, which was a perfectly fine beer bearing no resemblance to the keg bastard and seemed to only be served in there, the old Ranmoor Halls bar and possibly the Washington? in the whole country.  I could also take my dad to eat in there as he is very much a pint and burger bloke.  It had sport on incidentally rather than centrally.  A much easier sell than the Wellington when we lived a couple of hundred yards down the road from there.

It felt like in the late noughties the community pub with sports died a death in favour of a clear division between sports bars and beer pubs, possibly because Sky put up their rates?  The philistinic refurb of the Banner Cross being a symptom of same. It was nice last year to find the Station Inn in Whitby was a proper multi-room pub unashamed to have Serie A football on a big screen on a Sunday night.  Similarly, the only decent pubs I can think of that still have quiz machines are the Broomy T, Cobden View and the Three Legged Mare in York.

Just been in the Fat Cat to find they didn't have anything dark on in midwinter except Erdinger Dunkel, which was disappointing.

Quote from: Blinder Data on August 18, 2021, 10:32:23 AMLink to previous thread about pubs: https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,50743.0.html

In the state right now and you're right, it's a good one, cheers thanks mate fuck it post

In my village we have an Old School Boozer, a Sport and a Community/Country Pub, which is a decent offering. Perfect for a lightweight's pub crawl.

Still, now that I've moved from the big city, and COVID has happened - plus the arrival of baby - I sincerely miss jumping into a city centre boozer for a swift one.

Edinburgh is much better for real ale than Glasgow, but for ambience Glasgow's are undoubtedly better - you will get worse beer but much better chat. Glasgow pubs are often so full of people getting mwi that I find them off-putting at weekends. If you don't care about the beer, just do a tour of the pubs surrounding Central station and you'll have a memorable night out.

For me, the north of England hits the sweet spot for the pubs that have the ambience, interior and decent beer that make you want to spend all day in them.

Shoulders, if you ever make it to Glasgow, a short list of city centre pubs worth visiting:
- The Pot Still (small yet contains an unbelievable amount of whiskies)
- The Bon Accord (like a bigger version of the Pot Still, though probably same amount of whiskies! Weird location tho)
- The Scotia (oldest pub in Glasgow, chain-owned but characterful)
- The Horseshoe (similar to the above, right by Central station)
- The State (regular winner of best pub by CAMRA)
- The Laurieston (untouched since the 60s, best pub in the world imo)

There's lots of bars in the Merchant City (Blackfriars, the Babbity Bowster) but none of them stand out as a "must-see" in my view. No doubt others might contribute West End suggestions but I would defer to their knowledge (and make that a separate day).

Dunno what went on there. I'm in the state and I am a state. It's great thanks and soz

Now in slouch, also very nice. Ok cheers everyone

shoulders

Somehow been up and down Prague without visiting Konvikt. Until last night.

If you like yellowing walls, vaulted ceilings and shabby furniture you'll love it.

Appeared to be largely Czechs in there as well, surprisingly.

Wouldn't bother turning up there until 10 or 11pm though

Mr Eggs

Quote from: shoulders on January 28, 2022, 01:45:12 PMQuite agree, although the Good Pub Guide also has a peculier leaning towards food offerings and blind spot when it comes to what a pub is, there are some of these gastro/dining rooms that barely have a bar area let alone what I'd call a pub.

I follow Si/BRAPA on Twitter, a friendly character as you could expect from such a lot of practise meeting strangers. His travels have helped me unlock some venues I'd have passed over or not noticed. Definitely plenty of venues on there that are a full on waste of time too. I'm glad he's doing it with his money, not mine.

Here, I'll post a list of his faves he sent me via PM:

Lower Angel, Warrington


Be advised the glorious pair of homosexuals that made that pub get into top tier level have fucked off to Wales.

Jockice

I haven't been in the Broomhill Tavern for probably a decade, although it is one of the nearest pubs to where I live. Or even thought about the place, until I bumped into one of my neighbours last night when we happened to return from nights out at the same time. He described it as 'ever exciting.' I wouldn't go that far but it was okay. I'll have to pay it a visit soon. I hadn't looked at this thread for yonks either. Coincidence or what?

I'd been to The Bath. Which is also okay.

shoulders

Always admire the bloody mindedness in The Bath of keeping the dartboard right where most people enter the pub.

Jockice

Quote from: shoulders on January 29, 2022, 03:25:16 PMAlways admire the bloody mindedness in The Bath of keeping the dartboard right where most people enter the pub.

Good point!

cosmic-hearse

I'll second the Blythe Hill Tavern - probably neck & neck with the Dog & Bell in Deptford as the best pub in SE London.

Ostensibly a Irish sports pub, the front bar tends to have racing on, whilst round the back it's rugby, hurling, football or what have you. But this is no Sky Sports horror show, & the TVs don't dominate.

They always have a few decent ales on tap, plus an incredible - dare I say award winning? - cider selection, perfect for summer afternoons in their ample beer gardens.

The clientele is a real mix, long term Catford locals happily coexisting with the new bourgeois families that live in every formerly unfashionable London suburb now. That's not meant as a snarky comment - far too many pubs seem divided (by class, ethnicity, age etc ) & the Blythe is the antithesis of that.

Also the staff all wear a shirt & tie, a final small touch of (admittedly anachronistic) class

Fr.Bigley

Three legs, Headrow, Leeds.

11am karaoke, smackhead meat bags at astronomical savings and more disability scooters than a thora hird stairlift convention.

If one wanted to cull fraudulent DSS claims, there's your boozer.

Stinks of shattered dreams and piss, stale beer adorned the space like a council glade plug-in. You'll oft find ancient Teddy boys sans a leg to diabetes mixing with toothless mums spanking the family allowance on dark fruits and the skunk selling boyfriend, mostly screaming at "madison", "Harvey" or whichever moniker is popular for kids on the estate.

The thought that Greene King bought the place yet kept its prices the same is a testament to the predictable (and profitable) micro economy generating in that place.

For some, it's a nightmarish living bosch painting, for the patrons, it's a social utopia free from the constraints of polite society, reason and soap. All in all, it is someone's paradise.


Give it a try.


shoulders

Headrow used to be a pure boulevard of mischief... Hoagys, 3 Legs, Vine, Horse & Trumpet so Legs stands out more than ever.

The absolute basement sub-economy of people willing to sit drinking cheap piss while others bawl karaoke hits
.. sometimes as early as in the late morning is one I wouldn't have seen coming pre-austerity but makes total sense.

In some ways I like it. An inconvenient carbuncle on Leeds centre's shiny corporate projection.

I don't like what Craft Union have done with the city centre Pack Horse though. Vandalism is putting it mildly. Whatever history existed may as well be a fleck of errant makeup on the tart they've turned it into.


phes

Three legs was the first pub that I went to in Leeds when I got off the bus in 2011. A terrifying man warned me to steer clear of an even more terrifying woman (for my own benefit). I would cross the road to pass it now but like shoulders I'm glad it's still there. Midday disco with people already legless outside is pretty real

Fr.Bigley

Quote from: shoulders on January 29, 2022, 04:37:00 PMI don't like what Craft Union have done with the city centre Pack Horse though. Vandalism is putting it mildly. Whatever history existed may as well be a fleck of errant makeup on the tart they've turned it into.



The lasses that took over had never run a pub either, it shows, the place went from semi-respectable (even had a pie minister concession) to straight up pre 2000s Ship. I popped In out of curiosity and can attest to it being an incongruous greyscale dogshit mcpub. Leeds' actual oldest pub but left to the doldrums of corporate handovers.

I despair to think what would happen if the shit heads got their hands on the victoria as rumours have suggested.

 

Psybro

I like how behind the Three Legs you have the Victoria Arcade, which is the opposite of that.

Reminds me of going to the Sheaf Island Wetherspoons as it was the only place we could get a cooked breakfast at 9.30 on a Sunday, and seeing people get stuck into a session. In 17 years I've never actually set foot in the Banker's Draft.