I set off in glorious sunshine on Thursday morning and headed for Southport with some trepidation. Today's plan included a number of outlying Southport pubs, and the effects of COVID and dryanuary might cause some of them to be shut, resulting in a long walk to no avail. Oh well, the weather's lovely, let's see what happens...
My first target was the Cock and Rabbit, and as I feared, the door was locked:
Not a good start. At least one source, my own database in fact, reports this is closed so I wasn't very surprised. So is it closed permanently or just shut on a Thursday afternoon? Who knows?
Only a short distance further, and I reached the Mount Pleasant:
Would my luck improve? Oh yes. A rather fine multi-roomed place, aiming at the dining market but with a large "bar side" for drinkers. Two handpumps were in operation, and I had a great pint of Landlord, served in a Timothy Taylor's glass, as it should be.
I relaxed in comfort on a leather sofa, quickly moving to a second one because the sun was in my eyes. Too many cushions, I think. (In my opinion one is too many!)
Quiet background music mixed with chatter here, plus the occasional bang as the landlady hung up some decorations in one of the side rooms. No offence is intended but I felt she was a little too old to be climbing up ladders. Perhaps I'm just being sexist and ageist?
While I'm being ageist, I noted that all of the customers I could see were older than me.
Just a short walk to my next target. In this quiet empty suburban street it can't possibly be open, can it? The Zetland:
It's open! I last drank here in 2002 and I have to say it hasn't changed much since then, when I wrote "a nicely looked after traditional free standing pub with two bars". I was very pleased to see the place has survived through the intervening years, including the recent crisis.
Twenty years ago I enjoyed Burtonwood Bitter, a favourite of mine going back to the 1980s. No chance of that fondly remembered brew now, but the Jennings Cumberland was good, if perhaps a touch overchilled.
The music was a little too loud, maybe, but not overpowering.
The real fire under the dartboard wasn't lit. I wonder if any darts ever fall in the flames, could be an interesting extra hazard if you hit the wires.
I relaxed on a traditional bench seat along the wall, one of those with a gap between squab and back, a classic place to lose one's mobile phone (White Horse, Woolton last year.) I've often wondered why seats are made this way. Could it just be because it makes a great place to put the heating? Certainly there was a comfortable warmth emerging from the gap. Actually, I should note at this point that both this and the previous place were comfortably warm, something you can't always rely on on cold January days.
I continued to look round. There's a double mains socket on the skirting board that is upside down. Perhaps because it's so low that there's no room for flex to enter the plugs from below. I wonder how that rates in the 18th Edition[1]?
What a great pub. If this was my local I'd have to give up pub researches and just come here every day!
I dawdled over my pint because the next target only opens at three, according to Facebook; the Rabbit being closed had put me ahead of schedule.
On to the Blue Anchor:
Aha, this one's open as well. What a wonderful building, I wonder when it was built. 1920s?? Great stained glass, anyway.
No cask I'm afraid (I must update whatpub) so I asked for Guinness. This came from a can with the use of a surger, I haven't seen one of these for years. The procedure seems to involve a shot glass of water poured onto the machine, presumably to couple the vibrations to the glass. I must say it does provide a creamier pint than a plain can, or am I just fooled by the theatre.
No other customers I could see, just the fruit machine repair man who was replacing a circuit board. I was rather amused to hear him borrow a pound from the barmaid to test the machine, surely his toolkit includes such an essential!
There was a rattle of pool balls from the other bar, so I guess there are other customers, but probably not many.
So, three out of four targets ticked, not too bad. Should I retrace my steps and try the Rabbit again? I think not. I headed back towards central Southport...
Despite it being located less than 100 yards from the station, I've never actually been in the Monument, so now is the time:
A plain but very well done boozer, one l-shaped room with a long l-shaped counter. No cask, but the Guinness is real keg this time. It has more body than the surged can version, I reckon.
Ticking over slowly at four on a Thursday, the music mixed with intermittent chat in here.
I guess I'm not the first person to wait for their train here, there is a departure screen provided, although I couldn't read it from my seat and had to use the app instead. The current offering of half service seems to be working OK, although I'm not sure how it fits with the return to work announced yesterday. Luckily I'll be travelling against the peak.
A check of my database shows I've got umpteen more targets to aim for in Southport, so I think I'll be back before too long. For today, four ticks, three never done before, is a good score, giving me a grand total of 1,367 visited.
[1] BS7671 Wiring Regulations. I've done some research (Thanks Google) and it seems an upside down outlet is not a fail. I am not an electrician, so this information is worth exactly what you paid for it.
Miles walked: 2.6
Maybe coming soon: Garswood
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