Saturday Morning - The Gloria Gaynor moment (I Will Survive)
I'm not particularly good this morning, but nothing that a double shot of Resolve Extra shouldn't sort out. The remnants of a fish supper are in evidence which I have vague memories of picking up on the long walk back to the hotel around 11pm last night. The day started at 10:15am with a Breakfast Bloomer at JDW on Deansgate and from then on consisted of a large number of beers, Thwaits Wainwright in JDW then Holts Bitter at the Egerton Arms until the inevitable decline towards Mr Jack Daniels and Karaoke. I did manage to sneak out with the Happy Frenchman for a chat and we visited the nearby New Oxford and Kings Arms. Grailhunter will I am sure like both pubs, I'm sure I recall seeing a chocolate stout, and I think we'll go back today.
GH should have arrived in Manchester yesterday as should have Chris, or Fizzy Piss (FP) as he should be known after the Bath Tour, who I think is checked into this hotel. The Happy Frenchman is also possibly staying somewhere in the City Centre and we made vague plans to meet up today before he gets a train to Ipswich. But that's all in the future, what I need now is another couple of hours kip and to let that Resolve Extra kick in.
Saturday Morning - The Rain it Raineth Every Day (It's the Law)
How it pours, pours, pours, in a never ending sheet
How it drives beneath the doors, how it soaks the passer's feet
How it rattles on the shutter, how it rumples up the lawn
How 'twill sigh and moan and mutter, from darkness until dawn.
Well dawn has come and gone and it's still bleeding raining. Not ideal crawling weather but the forecast for tomorrow looks more promising. I'm not sure if we made any definite plans for today, although it's loosley based on Manchester around midday then into Salford later to maybe meet up with ROBCamra. I need to round up the troops and see who is around. The Happy Frenchman either stayed with Andy or checked into the Britannia Sachas, maybe Andy stayed there as well. Chris should be in this hotel somewhere or out walking in the rain. Grailhunter fell for one of those Lenny Henry adverts and has booked a cheap Premier Inn somewhere on the Scottish border. Actually it's somewhere out near Swinton.
Just had a call from him, he's on his way to Manchester and we're meeting in the Piccadilly Wetherspoons for breakfast at 10:30. Let's see if the Happy Frenchman is around.
Sunday Morning - These Foolish Things Remind me of You
When you've had a long day drinking, as we did on Friday, it's usually half way through the next day when you start remembering what happened and people bring up events in conversation that you either hadn't remembered or had missed. Well yesterday there were two events that came to light falling into the second category. On the basis of 'what happens on tour stays on tour', there will be no names mentioned here :cool:
Firstly there is the tale of one of our party wrestling on the floor of a pub with a big bird in a pink dress who at one stage was attempting to wrap her legs around his head (this apparently constitutes foreplay in Manchester). On extricating himself from this precarious situation he was found to have lost his glasses, which were later found in a mangled mess on the floor. Somehow he managed to find his way home though.
Another tale is of a gentleman propositioned by a lady of dubious virtue outside a fish & chip shop. You know what it's like, you're innocently tucking into a late night supper and someone wants to talk about 'business'. You don't know whether to hold onto your virtue, your wallet or your chips. Thankfully our nameless tourist held onto all three. Apparently there was some confusion in that he enquired about getting hold of some tartar sauce and ended up with a saucy tart - well at least that's what the court will be told anyway :whistle:
Sunday Morning - Reviewing a 'Quiet' Day
My apologies for not providing your nightly entertainment yesterday, I didn't even fire up the magic box last night, you can blame ROBCamra for that. After four days on tour I had rather 'hit the wall', I was feeling a little jaded and looking forward to a quiet day, well that's how it started but it wasn't how it finished.
The day started exactly as the previous one had, with breakfast and a pint of Thwaits Wainwright in a Wetherspoons, this time the one on Piccadilly. A truely awful place that warranted a police presence even at 10:30 in the morning. Along with it always having to rain, I discovered another law in Manchester, on a Saturday morning everyone is required to dig out their best tracksuit and have breakfast in a Wetherspoons. The Happy Frenchman joined us and I was the last to arrive finding that Chris' influence had worn off on them and they were all sitting there drinking FP :(
After that experience we then went walking in the rain to the Crown & Kettle where we eased ourselves a little further into the day with a couple of pints watching the first half of the Villa v Wolves game. Beers were Longboat from somewhere and Titanic's White Star. As the rain eased we headed towards the station and said our farewells to The Happy Frenchman who was heading back home, via Ipswich, via London. So just the three of us now, me Grailhunter and Chris. We had a pint in the Crown & Anchor (Deuchars, Landlord and Fosters) then walked to Piccadilly to pick up a bus to Salford.
Eschewing the scene of the previous day's activities (the Egerton Arms) I took the guys to the New Oxford, a fantastic pub with somewhere around 15 handpumps and about a dozen proper lagers for FP to choose from. Beers that spring to mind are Simply Stout from local Rochdale brewery Greenmile, Run of the Mill from Arkwrights, Boggarts ESP and Reverend Day (?). We pumped a small fortune into the quiz machine and I was starting to get over my jaded feeling and finding my drinking head again. This was just as well as we were about to encounter Mr & Mrs ROBCamra who, after a couple more in the New Oxford, took us in a tour of the local area.
(Hang on a sec, just going to put the kettle on and make myself a cup of tea - mustn't make the same mistake as Grailhunter though, he's still walking funny)
First stop was the Kings Head where I'd called into briefly the previous day. A good pub this with a fair bit of history. Beer of choice was a Walk on the Mild Side but they seemed to have had a busy afternoon and many of the clips were turned around. Off next to what appeared to be the entrance to a subway but turned out to be a decent little cellar bar, the Mark Addy. Had a nice Leprechaun Stout from the Banktop Brewery. We said farewell to Grailhunter now who, to be fair, did have a long journey ahead of him back to his hotel. Final stop was the Black Lion where conversation flowed as effortlessly as the beer. ROBC went for a Full Malty and my eye was caught by the range of bottled bers from the St Bernardus brewery. These range from around 5.5% up to the blue labelled one that comes in at around 10%, can you guess which one I went for? :rolleyes:
That just about finished my 'quiet' day. It was good to meet up with Mr & Mrs ROBCamra (and I got to know where the name was derived from). It also gave them a chanced to tick off another couple of PG members as I believe they have met a few of you over recent months. Chris and I headed back to the Centre and I graciously let him 'dump the old boy' and go off clubbing somewhere. As for myself I returned to the hotel and considered ordering room service but fell asleep before I could do so. Well at least I think I did, let me check outside the door for a cold pizza. No it's OK nothing there.
Sunday Morning - Another Day Another Beer
Today is the day of the Stockport pub crawl. I'm still not sure what route we'll be taking but I think trainman's suggestion of doing the Crown first is a good one, then we'll try to get to as many of the Swan with Two Necks, Queens Head, Arden Arms, Railway and Ye Olde Vic as we can.
Grailhunter should be on the 5:40am Cross-Country Express arriving Manchester Piccaddilly around 11am and Chris and I will take the short stroll to meet him there. It's possible that Andy might meet up with us at some stage if he has recovered from Friday.