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Delboy20
08-01-2010, 21:06
The recent "Nostalgia" thread got me thinking. I don't really remember buying my first pint.I was drinking in pubs from an early age, well before I left school I am ashamed to say;)

I do remember drinking in here quite a lot in those days - http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/38269/

My drink of choice was Tennents Extra on draught - you don't see that very often now:mad:

If I was a bit short of cash it was Springfield Bitter at 69p a pint

The gaffers - Don and Audrey - knew full well we were way underage but it didn't seem to matter in those days. In fact it was almost unheard of to be turned away or even asked my age.

Cheers,

Del.

hopwas
08-01-2010, 22:19
My drink of choice was Tennents Extra on draught - you don't see that very often now

Oh yeah I remember it in Tam'o'Shanter in Tamworth many years ago.. it was pretty awful and tasted like stale urine!

Before I discovered Real ales, Carling Premier or Castlemine XXXX was my choices.. Now you dont see them much nowdays.

Oggwyn Trench
08-01-2010, 22:49
We used to buy bottles of Newcastle Brown from the off sales hatch (any pubs still got these) at the Fountain in Wrockwardine Wood , right opposite the school while still in school uniform .

arwkrite
08-01-2010, 23:06
Started drinking here http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/32206/ sorry no photo.The beer was Double Diamond and the lager was gawd knows what. Copies of The Watch Tower and bags of cockles on a Friday night. No real night clubs then but the Music Hall, big hotels and pubs would put on dances of one sort or another.Lord was I ever that young ?

Oggwyn Trench
08-01-2010, 23:16
Started drinking here http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/32206/ sorry no photo.The beer was Double Diamond and the lager was gawd knows what. Copies of The Watch Tower and bags of cockles on a Friday night. No real night clubs then but the Music Hall, big hotels and pubs would put on dances of one sort or another.Lord was I ever that young ?

Know it well , its a Bankss pub these days , much better than the over hyped Boathouse and gets some very classy ladies in there during the summer

runningdog
09-01-2010, 01:31
I don't really remember buying my first pint.

I don't remeber where I drank my first pint, it was a hellavu long time ago, but I do remember the first one I bought. It was in the summer of 1950 at a little pub in rural Dorset, the Cross Keys, Mannington. The circumstances are a long, unimportant story.
Probably looking a lot more confident than I felt, I sashayed up to the bar and put me money down.
'What'll it be' the landlord asks.
'Pint of dark, please', at least I knew better than to call him John.
'Coming up' as he pushes the glass my way, I push me money to him. He grins, covers my hand with his, asks 'How old did you say you were, lad'
'Sixteen, sir' I'm nervous now.
'Funny that, I'd swear you're Granfer said fourteen' I didn't know he and me Grandad were drinking buddys.
That incident got back to me Gran, the lectures went on for months, she knew about the 'evils of drink' did me Gran. Of course, only three and a half years later I was being taught how to kill folk and was expected to get drunk on a regular basis. Heigh ho, those were the days.
I have no idea what it was I bought, I only asked for 'dark' cos it was what me Grandad drank. The brewery or even what the beer tasted like I have no idea.
A thought for anyone visiting my area, the Cross Keys is a treasure, one of Englands truly unique pubs. A must..........
Cheers anyone...:drinkup:... have you no beds to go to

arwkrite
09-01-2010, 08:33
Know it well , its a Bankss pub these days , much better than the over hyped Boathouse and gets some very classy ladies in there during the summer

I used to drink at the Hen and Chickens just down the road.The last time I was in Shrewsbury, about 3 years ago, the Chickens was closed. It had been modernised and turned into an eatery type pub some years before. It was a snug and public bar place when I drank there in the '60s as was the Crown in those days.The fish and chip shop in Coleham was one of the best.

RogerB
09-01-2010, 09:55
My first official pint would have been c1977 in the North Star in Chessington. I would only have been about 16 but would have looked older (unlike today of course where I look so much younger). No idea what it was - I would probably have just asked for " a pint of beer please" immediately exposing my naivety and arousing a few private sniggers around those congregated at the bar. The scariest thing was seeing all my schoolmates dads in there getting p*ssed and smoking away and swearing their heads off, totally in contrast to the sedate and sanitised home life I had always known them for.

oldboots
09-01-2010, 10:47
....right opposite the school while still in school uniform .

school uniform yes we used to do that as well at 15, pints of guinness in my case but I can't beat opposite the school :notworthy:

My first pint in a pub was probably Guinness in either The Baddesley Arms or the Bedes Lea near Southampton, it would have cost about 18p. My first pint of real ale was Whitbread Trophy (or Atrophy as it was usually called :) ) at the White Horse Ampfield before seeing the light and going on to Gales. First time on the HSB was in the Bay Tree opposite my further education college in Southampton. Luckily our morning tea break coincided with opening time :drinkup:

Tilly-Miss
09-01-2010, 11:30
Lovely to read all the posts,certainly brings back fond memories,i can remember necking bottles of barley wine and cheap wine before heading to the dance hall, then i found my favourite tipple a good pint of mild,sadly hard to get in the south, i think i have tried every beer a boozer can offer,but stick to lager because of the mild shortage, i also like a guinness, infact i like any beer, not allowed whiskey used to love JD but wife makes me stay away from it,as i get older i do not really bother now mainly due to smoking ban and sky,when i can sit in my own house and do what i want without being treated like a child, bring back the good old days please before we leave this world once and for all.

Oggwyn Trench
09-01-2010, 13:06
I used to drink at the Hen and Chickens just down the road.The last time I was in Shrewsbury, about 3 years ago, the Chickens was closed. It had been modernised and turned into an eatery type pub some years before. It was a snug and public bar place when I drank there in the '60s as was the Crown in those days.The fish and chip shop in Coleham was one of the best.

The Hen and Chicks was up for sale last time i heard about 3 months ago , it was badly damaged by flooding a few years back and never really recovered . Apparently the freehold is available for a ridiclous sounding £140,000 , but the rumour is theres a collapsed sewer under the pub putting off potential buyers

ROBCamra
09-01-2010, 15:07
The Hen and Chicks was up for sale last time i heard about 3 months ago , it was badly damaged by flooding a few years back and never really recovered . Apparently the freehold is available for a ridiclous sounding £140,000 , but the rumour is theres a collapsed sewer under the pub putting off potential buyers

It was sold by Punch for £122,000. The new owner is planning to live upstairs but has no plans to reopen the pub in the near future. How else could you get a 2 bedroom flat for £122,000 in central Shrewsbury?

ROBCamra
09-01-2010, 15:09
Know it well , its a Bankss pub these days , much better than the over hyped Boathouse and gets some very classy ladies in there during the summer

It also sells guest ales from the Marston's stable. I had a pint of Ringwood something or other in there late last year. I like the Boathouse as well though.

Oggwyn Trench
09-01-2010, 15:39
It also sells guest ales from the Marston's stable. I had a pint of Ringwood something or other in there late last year. I like the Boathouse as well though.

Trouble is i only get to Shrewsbury on weekends when all the chavy knobheads from Lloyds , Hole in the Wall etc tend to include the Boathouse on there binge drinking crawl

runningdog
09-01-2010, 20:51
How else could you get a 2 bedroom flat for £122,000 in central Shrewsbury?

Central anywhere really..........

arwkrite
09-01-2010, 22:42
Trouble is i only get to Shrewsbury on weekends when all the chavy knobheads from Lloyds , Hole in the Wall etc tend to include the Boathouse on there binge drinking crawl

Thats a fair walk . If you go via Frankwell I remember The Wheatsheaf and may be The Swan ,not bad small pubs. The only pub on The Quay I have used is The Armoury and that was not long after it first opened. Both are a good stretch of the legs from the BoatHouse, in fact a good dog walk. OK perhaps for a balmy summers eve but the chavs are wasting valuable drinking time.The last time I visited The Boat House it had not been adapted for wheel chair users.

Oggwyn Trench
10-01-2010, 12:58
Thats a fair walk . If you go via Frankwell I remember The Wheatsheaf and may be The Swan ,not bad small pubs. The only pub on The Quay I have used is The Armoury and that was not long after it first opened. Both are a good stretch of the legs from the BoatHouse, in fact a good dog walk. OK perhaps for a balmy summers eve but the chavs are wasting valuable drinking time.The last time I visited The Boat House it had not been adapted for wheel chair users.

Most people use the footbridge and cut through the park , its only a few minutes walk to the centre .
Acctually this thread has got me thinking about all the town centre pubs that have closed in Shrewsbury over the last few years , Elephant & Castle , White Hart and the Mardol Vaults (all within about 10 yards of each other) the Plough (was one of my favorites) and there was one whos name escapes me behind the Hole in the Wall , The Castle Vaults .
It used to be a good mini crawl , Start in the Plough then out the back door down the alley to the Hole in the Wall , up another alley to the pub whos name i forgot then across the road to Ele & Castle next door to White Hart cross the road to the Mardol Vaults , out the back door to the Proud Salopian , happy days

arwkrite
10-01-2010, 16:34
Oggwyn, when you go all wistfull and dream of Salop in days gone bye I almost weep to think what has been lost over the years. Other members will to have such memories but when its all part of your youth it brings a lump to the throat. I must track down that missing pub. I am sure a small pub called the Dragon was around there in the 60's but I won't trust my memory that much.

arwkrite
10-01-2010, 20:38
Been Googling all evening with no luck . Wish I had a Kellys Directory or even a 1960's phone directory for the area.GGGGRRRRRRRR. Must calm down and take a chill pill or preferably half a bottle of scotch which gives me the option of the other half. Green Dragon perhaps ? Dooh.

Oggwyn Trench
10-01-2010, 20:51
Been Googling all evening with no luck . Wish I had a Kellys Directory or even a 1960's phone directory for the area.GGGGRRRRRRRR. Must calm down and take a chill pill or preferably half a bottle of scotch which gives me the option of the other half. Green Dragon perhaps ? Dooh.

It was the Market Vaults , closed in 1985 and knocked into one pub with the Hole in the Wall , found it on Historical Hostelries , a very intresting site

arwkrite
10-01-2010, 21:02
Found that site earlier its very good. The timing is about right . The Hole in The Wall was unrecognisable the last time I visited and that was with the first mrs ages ago . Wish I had a map with the pubs on. Should have made one as part of a project at school but I don't think Meole Sec. Modern was that progressive back then. Perhaps something for the old age if I can combine it with a degree.

ROBCamra
11-01-2010, 11:41
Thats a fair walk . If you go via Frankwell I remember The Wheatsheaf and may be The Swan ,not bad small pubs. The only pub on The Quay I have used is The Armoury and that was not long after it first opened. Both are a good stretch of the legs from the BoatHouse, in fact a good dog walk. OK perhaps for a balmy summers eve but the chavs are wasting valuable drinking time.The last time I visited The Boat House it had not been adapted for wheel chair users.

There's also The Anchor. Across Frankwell bridge and turn right rather than left.

It's a Punch house but the landlady is putting up a hell of a fight with them to stock what guest ales she wants rather than what Punch dictate, which is why it now sells Hobsons Bitter!

There's also Ye Olde Bucks Head, which is full of unfriendly gits who think they own the place!

arwkrite
11-01-2010, 14:01
Cross Welsh Bridge into Frankwell and its like crossing in to the land time forgot.It is a bottleneck to motorists who curse it twice a day. The Council keep knocking bits of it down and have built a theatre which I doubt the locals have much use for and further agravate the parking problems. At least one of its best buildings ended up at the AvonCroft Museum but one suspects the council would like to see the rest of Frankwell transported there.That could solve Shrewsburys long time parking shortage for a while.On a quiet Sunday it is an interesting place to wander around and has an industrial past that has largely been obliterated. Frankwell has survived quite well compared with other suburbs simpy because it used to flood quite regularly in past times and investment has been wary of the place.Before the theatre one of the biggest jobs was a massive traffic island but Frankwell and Welsh Bridge were incapable of being widend. Perhaps the locals took RobCamra to be an undercover council official, seeing as he was a stranger, and were worried what daft scheme the residents of Frankwell were going to get stuck with next.

ROBCamra
11-01-2010, 14:53
Cross Welsh Bridge into Frankwell and its like crossing in to the land time forgot.It is a bottleneck to motorists who curse it twice a day. The Council keep knocking bits of it down and have built a theatre which I doubt the locals have much use for and further agravate the parking problems. At least one of its best buildings ended up at the AvonCroft Museum but one suspects the council would like to see the rest of Frankwell transported there.That could solve Shrewsburys long time parking shortage for a while.On a quiet Sunday it is an interesting place to wander around and has an industrial past that has largely been obliterated. Frankwell has survived quite well compared with other suburbs simpy because it used to flood quite regularly in past times and investment has been wary of the place.Before the theatre one of the biggest jobs was a massive traffic island but Frankwell and Welsh Bridge were incapable of being widend. Perhaps the locals took RobCamra to be an undercover council official, seeing as he was a stranger, and were worried what daft scheme the residents of Frankwell were going to get stuck with next.

You're never a stranger for long in The Anchor, it's that sort of pub. :)

You'd still be a stranger after 30 years in Ye Olde Bucks Head, it's that sort of pub. :(

Oggwyn Trench
11-01-2010, 16:47
I used to drink in the Anchor back in the 80s , next door was Dave Steel at the time one of the best Tattooists in Europe .

Oggwyn Trench
11-01-2010, 16:55
You're never a stranger for long in The Anchor, it's that sort of pub. :)

You'd still be a stranger after 30 years in Ye Olde Bucks Head, it's that sort of pub. :(

You think Ye Olde Bucks Heads a bit unfriendly you should try up the road in Ditherington , The Coach , Six Bells , Compases and Steam Wagon are all a bit dodgy to say the least

ROBCamra
11-01-2010, 17:03
You think Ye Olde Bucks Heads a bit unfriendly you should try up the road in Ditherington , The Coach , Six Bells , Compases and Steam Wagon are all a bit dodgy to say the least

But if you go up the other road to Copthorne you find The Bull In The Barne, which is very friendly and an excellent pint of Salopian.

arwkrite
11-01-2010, 19:05
I lived in Hafren Road for a while , just around the corner from the Bull in the Barn. Oggwyn mentioned The Steam Wagon, the only pub in which the barmaid accused me of being underage and told me to get out. I can't complain because I was only sixteen. I reckon she must be well into her 70's by now.
Anybody remember the dances they held at the Lord Hill Hotel. One of them places the females would dance around a pile of their hand bags on the floor.Girls always came in pairs, a Liner ( OK) and a Tug (urrgh) looked alright after three pints though. If only I knew then what I know now and I aint talking beer!;)