I took a random wander around the, er, what is it called? The entertainment district? Ropewalks? Anyway, on a cold windy and wet Thursday afternoon most places were closed. Eventually I found Merchant:
On entering I spotted a counter where someone was ordering a pizza. For a moment I thought this might not count as a pub but looking the other way I could see a proper bar counter. I soon selected Neck Oil for my first drink of the day.
The decor in here is distressed brickwork and plaster, I think they might have borrowed 1936's sledgehammer! (Or maybe this place belongs to them?)
Anyway, a pleasant enough ambience although it could do with a little more heating. At two o'clock it was very sparsely populated, just a handful of customers. The ones I could see were eating, I think I was the only drinker. Needless to say there wasn't much use made of the garden area.
Where next? There are lots of places around here worthy of a visit, but on a Thursday afternoon my chances are low! I'll wander randomly and see what I find...
This place is clearly aimed at diners and their menu of burgers looks extremely tempting. However, they are happy to serve drinks at the counter, and I chose the house lager.
There were very few customers at two thirty.
The decor in here is hard to describe, the word fun comes to mind. I was also pleased to find it was comfortably warm, the previous tick was decidedly chilly.
By a supreme effort I resisted having one of the very desirable burgers. I don't think I've ever seen a menu with the word bacon so many times on one page!
Quite a lot of walking around failed to find any more places open that I wanted to visit, so onwards to the Pilgrim:
A bit of a questionable tick, this one. I've been here with friends on a number of occasions since the ever expanding 1936 Pub Co took over, but there is a better choice of real ales upstairs in the Mayflower, so I haven't actually drunk downstairs in the Pilgrim since 2021. I failed to note which ale I selected, but it was a very good pale one.
This place hasn't really changed over the years, a pleasant cellar bar with booth seating. The only change 1936 have brought is an improved cask ale offer. I think the upstairs part was for concerts and functions, now it's the Mayflower. To be honest, if you can only do one I'd recommend going upstairs, but both are worth visiting. (And to maximise my stats, I count them as two different pubs.)
Anyway, this one was remarkably busy, certainly compared with today's previous calls. The background music was mostly drowned out by cheerful chatter from a number of groups. Once again, the 1936 lot are doing well.
After my extensive wandering I think I've found all the ticks I can so is it time to go home?
Beer of the day: Whatever I had in the Pilgrim.
Miles walked: 2.1
Maybe coming soon: Eccleston
