Another train strike day, so I took a bus up to Thatto Heath where I began my researches in the British Lion:
I entered the smaller side where there were no people, so I quickly swapped to the larger room to find a cheerful barmaid and three regulars. (Last time I was here one side was out of use.)
Everton were losing again on the giant telly, oh dear. I watched for a few minutes and amazingly they equalized.
I looked around, the place really is well decorated, plain but very pleasant, and I like the large mural of a Union Jack overlaid with a lion's head.
Next, towards the station (With no trains today) and the Springfield:
I couldn't see any Carling so had Carlsberg instead. As I drank, it occurred to me that over the last few years there has been a gradual change to special glasses for many of the "down-market" beers, my Carling in the Lion came in a Carling glass (I think they are a great glass) and my Carlsberg here is in one of their goblets. Wind back ten or twenty years and I think "ordinary" lagers usually came in a nonic or a tulip, unbranded. Is this a marketing thing pushed by the breweries?
Anyway, returning to the topic at hand, that is the Springfield, the decor in here is very good, once again carefully maintained, clean and tidy. The disco lights and speakers, and the wiring thereto, make the ceiling look a bit cluttered, but nothing to complain about.
Come on, folks, it's nearly three on a Saturday, we need more people in the pubs, I can't save them all on my own. I've ticked eight in three days, with two or three more lined up today, I can't do any more!
Despite trying hard to resist getting involved, I had to check Everton's result and they've got a point at last!
Next a quick check of the Vine Tavern which I believe is closed. But what do I know?
Another plain but very well cared for two sided boozer in which I found myself alone in the front room while there were quite a few customers in the larger back room.
There was plenty of cheerful chatter from the back but the main sound was "Now 80s" on the telly. Another Brick In The Wall, Pink Floyd's only number one single, I think. This was followed by Wham's Freedom with a video filmed in Beijing, it was very different from the Beijing I knew in the noughties: Everyone was on a bicycle in the Wham video, they would have been wiped out by the cars when I was there. I really enjoyed my time in China, I wonder if I'll ever manage to go back?
So, on to the Elephant just a few yards further down the road:
The differences are that the interior has been knocked through into one large space, and there are quite a number of regulars drowning out the music with cheerful chatter.
Another good boozer, busier than the other three but could still benefit from more customers. Come on, people, it's up to you; use it or lose it.
Someone won the jackpot on the fruit machine, the clanking of coins being dispensed going on for ages. He carried all of them to the bar, in a number of handfuls, presumably for the barmaid to convert to more portable currency.
There are two more pubs in Thatto Heath but perhaps I'll save them for another time and head for home. The bus ride will take ages, can my bladder cope? It did.
Pub of the day: The Springfield, but only by a narrow margin, they were all good.
Beer of the day: Carling
Miles walked: 1.6
Maybe coming soon: Wavertree
Well done Phil, 8 pubs in 3 days is impressive pub saving. What can you tell me about Thatto Heath ?
ReplyDeleteIt was ten pubs in three days eventually. In 2018 I visited 366 pubs, i.e. one per day, but I'm taking it a bit easier now!
DeleteNot much to say about Thatto Heath, it's a classic non-descript suburb, pleasant enough. On this occasion its great plus was that the bus outside my house goes there, very useful on a train strike day.
Was 2018 a leap year ?! Nowhere is completely non-descript.
ReplyDeleteOne per day, and one for luck.
DeleteOK, a classic suburban high street full of barbers and fast food shops, surrounded by housing old and new.