Real Ale, Real Music - A Hop Over To The Coast....
Visit Real Ale, Real Music
A day beside the seaside checking out a few of the pubs in the Lancashire coastal town of St Annes-on-the-Sea....
I had never been to Lytham St Annes in my life as far as I could remember, but I'd noticed that it was the home of several pubs in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide which, along with a train journey of less than 2 hours, made it a viable option for a Saturday day out. The town is made up of four different main areas - Lytham, Ansdell, Fairhaven, and St Anne's, the 'Ribble Riviera'.. My original plan was to go first to the furthermost area, St Anne's, and then stop off at Lytham on the way back if time permitted, with both Ansdell and Fairhaven excusing themselves on the grounds of having no Good Beer Guide Pub. In the end I only did the St Anne's bit, so Lytham awaits for another visit.
The journey details; I caught the train from Halifax to Preston, the usual loud noise and bluster from the regular hen parties that travel on this line. After a quick changeover there, I was soon on the slow, one-track train to St Anne's through the lush farmlands of Fylde, which reach westwards out from Preston towards the coast with kiss-me-quick Blackpool, fishermen-friendly Fleetwood, and the more genteel resorts of Lytham and St Anne's on the northern side of the Ribble estuary.
And so, half an hour after leaving Preston, I alighted at the station of St Anne's-on-the-Sea, the sign displaying its full Sunday name, along with the tantalising prospect of the International Kite Festival, whenever that is. St Anne's was developed as a planned town from 1875 by the St Anne's Land Company, the same year that the railway station had opened, and with its wide straight streets it retains much of its original layout. It became a popular resort with the pleasant setting, a self-styled 'garden town' with its large beach, and an outdoor swimming pool providing a welcome respite from the daily grind of the Lancashire mills, although St Anne's always attracted a generally older number of customers. It can claim to be the original home of Premium Bonds who with their prize-generating electronic random number indicator equipment, or ERNIE for short, were based in the town until they upped sticks and moved along the coast to Blackpool. St Anne's was also the home of the English Football League between 1959 and 2017. It was a major setting for sand yacht racing until the early 2000's when a fatal accident led to the sport's demise here. Nowadays it is a popular holiday resort with young families attracted to its wide expanse of golden sands, and being very flat, it is still very popular with the grey market. Famous former residents have included Les Dawson and George Formby.
I arrived in early afternoon sunshine and set off walking down St Anne's Road West which heads down from the station towards the beach. After just over 5 minutes I spotted one of the pubs I'd earmarked. Sandwiched between a Barnardo's charity shop and a Subway, and with a palm tree in the verge at the front of the Pier Inn, a modern white bar with large glass windows situated below a dental implant centre it looked more like a cafe than a pub. I walked in, with its brightly coloured furniture and ceiling, which is apparently a recreation of a feature found in many of the houses built by the St Anne's Land Company, and white walls and bar, it maintained that look. I couldn't see anyone on the bar but as I approached a lady popped up from a low stool at the far end of the bar. Not much of a greeting, maybe a mumble, and from a bank of 6 hand pumps with beers predominantly from Saltaire and Titanic, I ordered a pint of Steerage from Titanic and went and sat at a table by the window across from the bar. It was quiet, a couple of older guys sat on their own reading their paper. The beer was ok without being anything outstanding (NBSS 3). A few more people popped in and sat quietly, subsumed by the quiet atmosphere. Sorry to have to report that - aside from the bright colours - this was one of the dullest pubs I have visited for a while, but maybe I was just unlucky on the day.
I left and headed down to the promenade. Here there is a pier, which reaches out towards the sea but peters out on the way there. It is home to the usual seaside features of amusements, gift shop, cafe, and fish and chip shop, although I'm sure a decent micropub wouldn't go amiss. Mmm, fish and chips were tempting, so I succumbed. I placed my order; the lass behind the counter asked if I was paying by cash, and before I could answer she told me she'd got fed up of asking if customers were paying by card because due to her accent they thought she was saying 'cod', which can cause some confusion if you work in a fish shop! My order duly arrived, and breaking first rules for eating fish and chips at the seaside, I went and sat on a bench in the bright afternoon sunshine looking out over the golden sands. Where were the usual seagulls that can be a pain if you are Scarborough or Whitby? Well I am pleased to report that the seagulls here maintained a discreet and polite distance as I tucked in, pretty much like the town itself. The most hassle I had was from a couple of inquisitive starlings who kept approaching a solitary chip I had dropped beside my foot.
Food consumed, I went back into the town and back down St Anne's Road West, and came to the spectacular exterior of Fifteens of St Anne's, which is based in a former bank building. Aside from large amounts of wood panelling and the bank's old vault, it doesn't retain much of its former life. A large bar stocked with hundreds of different bottles runs down the side of one wall. There were 10 hand pumps dispensing cask ale from a variety of breweries such as Oakham, Mill Valley, and Half Moon, from which I went for a pint of Moorhouses Premier Bitter. I took my pint and sat at a table facing the bar. What a contrast to the previous place it was; it was busy, there was music in the background, there was the sound of conversation and laughter. Horse racing from Navan was showing on several TV screens situated around the pub. The friendly lady behind the bar had asked me if I had my CAMRA card, so my pint was something like £3.20 a pint, which didn't break the bank. And whilst I would give the beer a similar rating (NBSS 3) to the beer at the Pier Inn, this pub had much more going for it overall, and is well worth calling in if you are in the town.
A short walk away on Wood Street. set back from the main drag was the best place I visited all day. Situated on a corner of a quiet street only a minute or two's walk from the railway station was the Hop Shoppe, a modern bar in a former shop featuring a range of cask and keg beers which unlike the previous pubs was targeted at the more modern-thinking and discerning Fylde drinker. And the odd hipster was there; designer stubble, flat caps, and the usual accoutrements, mingling in with couples with dogs at their feet, young families, and lads out for a few cheeky ones before hitting the fleshpots of Preston or Blackpool. It was busy, and with seats at a premium a couple kindly allowed to perch at the end of their table while they saved some seats for family and friends who were due to arrive, and then insisted I stayed when they did arrive, which summed up the friendly atmosphere of the Hop Shoppe.
The only downside was a pillar-induced bottleneck in front of the bar, which with a number of seats around it limited the area where you could get served. But fortunately the crew behind the bar were attentive and kept the drinks flowing. There was a decent choice of beers to choose from: 4 cask beers, 16 keg, and there was a decent selection of cans in the fridge. I went for a pint of Cloudwater If I were a Song, a 5% hazy premium pale ale from the cask, and this juicy beer was the best beer I had all day (NBSS 3.5). I liked the atmosphere in the place, which only opened in 2021, and so once I had finished my pint I went back to the bar, this time returning to my seat with an old keg favourite, Rivington's Never Known Fog Like It. As delicious as ever, this 5.2% New England IPA with its hop combo of Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe, and Chinook provides a fresh and juicy experience which never disappoints. If you only have time to visit one place in St Anne's, the Hop Shoppe is that place.
Which is to take nothing away from the final place I visited here, Keg 'n' Cask, which is just across the road. It was quieter than its neighbour across the road but there were still plenty of people enjoying a drink in this large micropub which is based in the double-fronted former home of St Anne's first post office. There were two older guys behind the bar, serving beers from 5 hand pumps which had beers from mainly Lancashire breweries like Reedley Hallows and Lancaster. I went for a pint of the 4.5% Reedley Hallows New Zealand Pale, which provided a pleasant citrussy hit (NBSS 3), and enjoyed it as I sat on a stool where I could rest my beer on a shelf and catch up with the latest football scores with the season throwing up plenty of drama as it heads towards its conclusion. I enjoyed my visit to Keg 'n' Cask, it was quite a chilled place where the murmur of conversation was the order of the day which played host to a generally older clientele than the Hop Shoppe.
And from there it was just a couple of minutes' walk back to the train station, where I only had to wait for a few minutes before the train arrived to take me back to Preston. I'd had a pleasant first visit to the town and enjoyed three of the four pubs I had visited, but even allowing for leaving out a 5th St Anne's pub in the Good Beer Guide, I left feeling I'd seen most of what there was to see here. So next time I come to Fylde (unless it is for football) I will aim for Lytham as the main focus, maybe pop here to re-visit the Hop Shoppe, and/or stop off at Kirkham where there are a couple of pubs, one of which is a brewery tap.
I was back in Preston half an hour later, and with 35 minutes or so to kill before my train back home I decided to call in the nearest pub to the station, the always popular Old Vic, a Good Beer Guide stalwart on Fishergate that I have visited many times over the years. With a choice of 7 beers on handpump, a wide menu ranging from filled barms/muffins (not quite sure where Preston fits in on this constant debate, so I'm hedging my bets!) to proper meals, live sport showing on several TV screens scattered around the pub, and a warm/friendly atmosphere, there is something for everyone here in this prominent white-painted pub. And with plenty of train passengers amongst the shoppers, solitary drinkers, and groups of lads out for a few beers there is even a display showing the arrivals and departures at the station. From the beer range which also included brews from Thwaites and Lancaster, I ordered a pint of Kodiak Gold from Beartown which I had seen on sale in one or two of the pubs I'd visited in St Anne's. I went to sit at one of the tables opposite the bar where I have sat before to enjoy my pint (NBSS 3) and catch up on the pub and beer scene from a copy of the always-excellent local CAMRA magazine Ale Cry before I needed to head back to the station.
I finished my pint and then it was time to negotiate crossing the busy Fishergate and make my way to catch the York-bound train back to Halifax which arrived shortly after I'd got to the platform. I'd enjoyed my hop over to the coast and another afternoon in Lancashire, following my recent visit to Accrington. I had better be careful or else at this rate, like the girl in the fish shop, I may run the risk of saying cod when I mean card....
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