Pubs of 2014

Right, here we go...... The purpose of this blog is to log all the pubs that I have visited and consumed an alcoholic beverage in during 2014. The rules are quite simple, the establishment needs to be a public house, it sounds straightforward but it may get complicated for example things that wouldn't count are a visit to the bar at the cricket, a pre gig drink in a concert venue, a drink at the Birmingham German market etc. As judge and jury my decision is final, and if I'm in any doubt I won't count it.



My prediction as at the start of the year is that the final number will be somewhere around the 200 mark though I won't go to pubs just to get the numbers up, it will be a true reflection of my pub visting year.



My posts will include information about the pub, the ambience of the surroundings, the choice and quality of the beer, any interesting or amusing anecdotes about my visit and, where possible, photographic evidence.



I will try and keep the information as accurate as possible noting that alcohol consumption means that at times this may prove difficult !!



The format of the posts is simple, the first visit to the pub will be the blog entry and that post will be updated for any subsequent visit.



Hope you enjoy it...



Cheers

UPDATE January 2015

Right, that's it, it's finally finished, some 259 pubs later !! It's been hard work but it's nice being able to look back and relive the drinking experiences of 2014.

I am pleased with the final result and whilst I've been reviewing it, I have actually laughed a few times at my own jokes !!

A word of warning, it does start off a bit slow (some of my posts from Bath are a bit dull) but stick with it. In hindsight the format of posting repeat visits to a pub on the original post at times doesn't work very well when reading the blog in its' entirety but on the whole I'm pleased with it and I hope that you enjoy it.

I have stated this in the blog but I will say it again, thanks to anyone that I have had a beer with in 2014 and special thanks to Shelley for her patience !!







Thursday, 13 November 2014

The Cross Keys

As pub choices go this was a strange one. the crowd of us, who were up in Liverpool celebrating Shelley's friend Lou's 50th birthday, got cabs from previous pub The Pump House to The Cross Keys, a back street pub in Liverpool's financial district. It wasn't that it was a bad pub, on the contrary, it was quite a decent venue, however the fact that it was situated in an area that is deserted at weekends meant that the pub was empty, and when I say empty I mean empty, it was ten o'clock on a Saturday night and the only people in the place were us and a barman who wanted to close up so he could go clubbing.

From a personal point of view I was delighted with the beer selection, Robinsons Trooper bitter, the beer launched and promoted by rock legends Iron Maiden, was available, it was only the second time this year that I had seen it in a pub. What a lovely birthday surprise. I got Shelley to capture the moment, unfortunately she displayed the technique of a nervy slip fielder as she nearly dropped the camera taking a snap as she fumbled with the device..



Before eventually regaining her composure. HOWZAT?!!



Our friend Sharon is a lively character and she managed to coerce us all into having a game of cards. My inability to grasp the rules of even the most basic of card games is legendary and the fact that we had been drinking for a good part of the afternoon compounded the problem so I had a bit of difficulty learning the rules of Chase the Ace. I'm still not sure whether I understood them but from memory you soon discover who your friends are and the fact that Sharon is a v*lla fan meant that birthday boy was never going to win !! To be fair it wasn't how I expected the night to pan out but I will admit the card game was quite good fun...



Although we were the only people in the place we certainly made plenty of noise. I'm not sure if Sharon would make a good poker player mind you as she serenaded the pub with the chorus of Pharell's hit Happy every time she got a good hand !!

We were conscious of the fact that the barman was only keeping the place open for us so even though we tipped him during our frequent bar visits we were in danger of outstaying our welcome so we thanked him and said our goodbyes wishing him well in his pursuit of female accompaniment later.

All in all the day was a great double birthday celebration for Lou and myself.
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