Meols and Hoylake

On a very sunny Friday I headed under the river towards Hoylake, first stopping off at the one-pub town of Meols to revisit the Railway:

This imposing 1930s (I'm guessing) roadhouse contains a pleasant popular Hungry Horse chain dining pub.  Nothing historic remains inside.  ChatGPT tells me it was built in 1938 replacing a pub of the same name which dated from 1866.

At one on a sunny Friday they were doing a good trade, mainly in food, with umpteen groups tucking in to standard pub fare.  With fish and chips under a tenner I'm not surprised it is popular. 

You never know what the ale quality is going to be like in a pub like this but my Landlord (In a Greene King glass) was excellent. 

Who programmes the music in these places?  I never expected to hear the wonderful Fade In To You by Mazzy Star but there it was.

I am getting lazy in my dotage so instead of walking nearly a mile to Hoylake I hopped on a bus. Having reached Hoylake I had to suffer the down side of researching for the guide:  Instead of a pint of cask in the Ship, the Wetherspoon, the Black Toad or the wonderful Plasterers, my first target was the Lake, last ticked in 2017:

This is a rather fine back street boozer, the knocked through front room's interior is comfortable and pleasant.  There's another room and counter behind, which I didn't view. The cheerful barmaid soon poured me a Carling.

Not much custom at two on a Friday, one or two in the sunshine outside and just two of us indoors.  My notes from last time I was here described it as busy, I hope they still get enough custom to survive.

Next, also in the back streets but very different in style is the Green Lodge:

Two handpumps on the counter, I had Wainwright Gold.  Is this one of those "fake cask" beers, it tastes OK but I've had better.  The pump clip did not have "Fresh ale" on it, so maybe I'm worrying unnecessarily.

There were quite a few people outside in the sunshine, I sat inside where I could only see two others.  The interior is very well done, perhaps a bit twee for my taste. 

I can't comment on the menu because there wasn't one on my table, the far end of the space has a "please wait to be seated" sign, presumably I'd get a menu then.  There was also a rack of them available and my two fellow customers ordered something.  Fish finger sandwiches, I think.

My notes from 2017 described it as "surprisingly quiet", so no change eight years later.  They must get more custom at other times, the place was full of waiters and waitresses who need to be paid. 

Next, how about a brand new (to me) one, Arthur's:

Something of a posh wine bar this one, but with eight keg taps it certainly counts as a bar.  I had something I've never tried before, Stella Artois Unfiltered.  What a con, it comes in a special frosted goblet so you can't actually see if it is hazy or not.  Anyway, a pleasant refreshing lager. 

Another place that doesn't seem to have the custom they need, about five minutes after I sat down the two other customers departed leaving just me and the two staff.  Ten minutes later three more customers sat down outside but I doubt that's enough to pay the wages?

I looked around; this is a rather well done space, they deserve to do well, I feel.  There's more seating upstairs according to the sign, not needed at the moment. 

The three women outside, on glasses of wine, tried for some free nibbles but were refused! 

Gradually more customers arrived, all sitting outside and, unusually, all older than I!  More arrived, some younger.

Finally, another never visited bar, it used to be called Quadrant and before that the Portrait House; but now it is Twenty First Amendment:

Presumably they are related to the bar of the same name in Wavertree.  The 21st Amendment to the US constitution was the one that abolished prohibition. 

A fine interior here with dark green and bare brick decor, I regret not trying the previous incarnations but one can't tick them all.  There were plenty of TVs, perhaps for sports events, but today they were all off.

Again worryingly quiet at four on a Friday, five of us inside and a handful outside are hardly going to pay the wages.  Having said that, there was a steady trickle of customers, mostly sitting outside in the pleasant sunshine.

Here I had a tasty pint of Staropramen which, naturally, came in the proper branded glass.

Time for home.  Tomorrow I'm on a work reunion pub crawl in Prescot, but I doubt I'll be capable of writing a blog entry!

Pub of the day: Green Lodge
Beer of the day: Landlord
Miles walked: 1.6
Maybe coming soon: Undecided.