Right, all my pub pics have been loaded up...got some nice ones of the Bartons![]()
I'm a bit late on parade with this (taking advantage of the final two days of the Spoons festival) but I'll add my thanks to everyone who was there on Friday for an enjoyable day's drinking. I think Conrad wins the 'best memory' award for his excellent summing up of the day but I'll add my own personal memories.
On nervously entering the Wellington I was lucky (I think that's the word) to be faced with the only PuG member that I knew, a_e_m, aka Father Jack, so was put at ease and also had a quick chat with Quinno who was at the bar before joining the main group who were 8 at that point. The next hour was spent on a succession of introductions as others arrived to join the party. I did note that Conrad and Dave sneaked in and stood at the back for a while before we spotted them. With all the chatter going on we were perhaps getting a bit loud for a lunchtime in the Welly and moved off in three waves to the Joint Stock, just a hop skip and a jump away. Had an excellent Titanic Iceberg in here which RogerB insisted hadn't been on 10 minutes earlier.
It was here that Gill, along with self-proclaimed 'silent partner' Ray, showed how seriously this crawl was being taken by producing maps of the city marked up with the location of the best pubs. On deciding to go to the Bartons Arms next a number of others got out notebooks and scraps of paper to check pre-researched bus numbers and routes - I felt a little under prepared. Local knowledge bought us to the bus stop, or more correctly equidistant between two bus stops with the instruction "if it's a number XX we have to run to that stop over there and if it's a number XX we run to the one round the corner". Two usages of the word 'run' in one sentance was a bit of a shock but just as I was looking around for the youngest and fittest member of the group (probably Quinno) to undertake this task a bus came around the corner and with a shout of "It's a 51" Gill set off like a greyhound from the slips with us all following in her wake. Here a_e_m's infamous knowledge of the transport ticketing system of the whole UK came in handy but the, now equally infamous, instruction to 'pair off into fives' didn't help the general chaos of fifteen or more drunkards trying to get on the bus - I suspect the driver was longing for the relative sanity of the school run.
The Bartons Arms (the lack of apostrophe will no doubt get it's very own thread) was a wonderfully decorative pub with good beers to match, most from Oakham. I got chatting to a guy from Worcester here and handing him a card suggesting he searches for this thread and introduces himself. No sign yet but we may get a new member. A couple more bus trips amongst startled locals takes us to the Anchor, where it becomes apparent that 15+ people walking into a pub with one barman and ordering drinks seperately probably isn't the best idea. Next a stroll to the White Swan where I think I had something called Huffink. Next was a epic trek through the industral areas of Digbeth that Scott of the Antarctic would have been proud of. I felt quite safe following Old Boots who was striding out ahead, but a little concerned when he turned around and asked "are we going the right way?"
Eventually we arrived at the Lamp Tavern and I recall drinking Acorn Blonde whilst discussing the merits of the bags of cockles being sold at the bar with EG, a_e_m and I think PoH. The Old Fox next and a double pinter, an excellent stout from the Malvern Hills Brewery. I think it was called Trevor's and was my beer of the day. Quick pint at the Welly before catching the 20:10 train back. I managed to wake up at Watford where I saw Trainman just as I was getting off, no doubt Roger had his foot up somewhere. Finished off the evening with a pint of Guinness while waiting for a take-away curry.
All in all a very enjoyable day and great to meet up with you all.
I've just joined Alcoholics Anonymous - I still drink, just under a different name.
Aaah yes, the bus. So, just how many 'fiver' tickets did we get in the end? Seems I strolled past the driver safe in the knowledge that my ticket was being purchased (by? Yes, that probably didn't help), only to find that no such transaction occurred!. Bought a DaySaver on the way back, so didn't feel so guilty then.