The Country Girl

I'd probably not been in The Country Girl for over twenty five years and had absolutely no recollection of what it was like from my previous visit. We were visiting Shelley's Dad Mick who was in nearby St Mary's Hospice. He was a bit poorly when we called in so, rather than go back to Shelley's Mum and Dad's house before returning to the hospice, we decided to pop in for a pint and some food at The Country Girl.

The weather was mixed to say the least, we were bracing ourselves for the backlash from Hurricane Bertha that was due the next day but it was literally the calm before the storm when we arrived at the pub so much so that it was nice enough for the four of us, me, Shelley, Shelley's Mum Jan and Shelley's Auntie Barb. to find a seat in the pub's beer garden.

Here I am as the thorn between two roses, noting than Jan was sporting her very fetching new shorter hairstyle..

Not only was there a couple of real ales on offer (I chose a pint of Adnam's Broadside) there was a twenty pence off a pint reduction for CAMRA members. Result !!

When it came to our food choice it was like match day at Old Trafford we literally were the prawn sandwich brigade with all four of us going for the same sarnie selection. Unsurprisingly I clumsily spilt thousand island dressing on my jeans that were clean on for less than ninety minutes !!

A couple of women on the table next to us were really getting stuck into a drinking session. They'd already polished off a bottle of Moet and Chandon champagne and had now moved onto pints of Peroni. A bit of a strange mix but, how can I put it nicely, one of the ladies had the constitution to be able to take a large amount of alcohol !!

We saw off our drinks and left to see Mick..

UPDATE 9th August

This is a bit unprecedented, I don't think I've ever done an update on a pub on the same day I've visited it but technically this was a return visit.

We had gone back to St Mary's Hospice to see Shelley's Dad Mick and he was sleeping, so, after waiting for a bit we decided that the best thing to do was to go back to the Country Girl and return later when he was due to have his medication.

The weather was on the turn so we sat indoors on this occasion where I stuck to the winning formula from earlier, a pint of Adnam's Broadside. Unfortunately the winning formula didn't stretch to my football team as the pub's television confirmed that Blues had lost two nil away at Boro. I fear that the expression 'Blues lost' is one that I'll use time and time again over the course of the next few months !!

Unbelievably the champagne quaffing girls from earlier were still going strong during our return visit and were ordering more pints of Italian beer Peroni. Mamma Mia !!!