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 !!







Sunday, 16 November 2014

The Grapes

It was day two of our Liverpool weekend, the birthday crowd from the previous day left at breakfast leaving Shelley and myself to explore the city on our own. After doing the mandatory touristy tasks, take a ferry across the Mersey, wander round the Albert Docks and visit The Beatles museum (all of which were great) it was time for a drink. We had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves on Mathew Street the previous day so made our way there.

The fact that we had a lorra lorra beer at Cilla's old stomping ground The Cavern (amongst others) the day before meant that even though it was mid Sunday afternoon I was still feeling a bit delicate so a beer in a nice quiet pub was what I fancied, what actually happened was quite the opposite, we stopped for a drink at The Grapes...



The joint was jumping, not only was it full, there was a bloke belting out 1960's classics. Help !! That was my cry of anguish rather than a number from his repertoire !! The Grapes is certainly the place to go on Sunday afternoons in Liverpool.

There was an impressive selection of beers served by a friendly barmaid, I opted for a pint of rarely seen Caledonian Flying Scotsman with Shelley on the more traditional Strongbow, for a bustling city centre pub the £5 round seemed like a veritable bargain.

It wouldn't be unfair of me to suggest that the stereotypical impression that some folk have of Scousers is that they can be a bit light fingered but the evidence would suggest otherwise, a bloke in The Grapes went out of his way to let me know that I'd got something sticking out of my back pocket, admittedly it was my Liverpool map, but he didn't know that. What a decent chap.

Once again this was another pub with Beatles connections, The Cavern didn't sell alcohol so the Fab Four used to pop into The Grapes for a pint, there is a photo showing them in there and the seats that they used to sit in still remain..



The singer was still going through his set and brought things a bit up to date with a few more recent numbers, Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline saw a sing a long a Shelley moment complete with jazz (singer) hands, well hand actually..



The Liverpublian wit is legendary and it was certainly evident when we were in The Grapes. We were sat by a window/hatch and we had no end of people poking their heads through and cracking a joke. One inebriated old fella was particularly amusing, he asked for fish, chips and mushy peas every time he passed..



We were getting well looked after in The Grapes, we were offered free sandwiches (or butties to use the local terminology) by the barmaid and we were given a few pub recommendations by a very friendly girl from Widnes who we got talking to, with Flanagan's Apple and The Glass Onion being a couple that she said were pretty decent on a Sunday afternoon/evening.

It was that good in The Gapes that we stayed longer than anticipated and my hangover eventually disappeared due to some nice beer and plenty of Liverpublian hospitality.

We left and headed for Flanagan's Apple...

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