Where's the Good Beer Guide update, you may be asking. My early copy was lost in the post so here we are on publication day and I still haven't seen it. Hmph!!
Anyway, off to St Helens today to mop up a few odds and ends, starting in the Royal Tavern:
(Due to a camera malfunction I didn't get a picture today, this one is from 2021.)
This is a plain comfortable boozer and it was ticking over well at two on a Thursday. I enjoyed my first Carling of the day, costing £4.10.
A quick scan of the glasses on the table showed that this is not one of the places I'm used to where everyone is on Carling. I could see Coors, Fosters and Moretti just in my end of the knocked through space.
Cheerful chatter and banter filled the room, with muzac very much in the background.
I checked out the Wheatsheaf over the road. Inside I could see a counter with beer taps, but there was no furniture, just a decorators ladder in the middle of the room. I'm sure that's exactly what I saw five years ago as well?
Next, resisting the excellent ale as I passed the Sefton I headed on to the Ice Bar:
This one looks a bit run down, maybe, from the outside, but inside it is a rather stylishly decorated one room place. It looks almost night-club style, I wonder what it is like in here at ten on a Friday night? There is a tiny DJ booth in one corner.
At three on a Thursday there were four or five customers, just one conversation and very quiet music mixing with racing commentary from the telly.
I enjoyed another Carling, only £3.40 in here.
Next, on to the Cornerstone, formerly the Sportsman and the Talbot:
This one's has been refurbished since I was last here, I think. I entered the lounge side which has traditionally styled decor with wood panelling on walls and counter front, some bare brick.
I selected at random from the three cask ales, Bullet Tooth Tony was a sweet hazy one from the always good Tiny Rebel. And only £3.40.
I was a little sad to see the place was almost empty, just three other customers in the lounge side and, I suspect, zero in the taproom side. As I enjoyed my pint more regulars came in. The beer snob in me tutted as one had Carling and the next Staropramen, but of course I'm wrong and just because I prefer cask ale doesn't mean everyone should. If the lager drinkers keep the place going then I can enjoy my cask.
What great music. Green Day's Time of your Life, then Steely Dan's Joker. On Tuesday I went to see Jon Anderson who was wonderful, but I'm not sure And You And I is really pub music!
Just a couple of doors down was the Newsroom which I see is now the Copper Fox, but it's not open yet so I'll have to come back some time to try it. Next door is a new one, the Townhouse, same problem.
Next, back towards the station and a pub I fear might have closed (Google is no help.) but let's try the Union Inn:
Oh good; it's open. A plain clean and tidy two sided boozer, this one ought, if any, to be a dump but it isn't. Plain, yes, scruffy no. The true dump has died out in the last twenty years, thank goodness. Mind you, if I recall correctly this one wasn't a dump when I first came here in the year 2000.
Confirming that this is not a Carling town, the friendly landlady/barmaid poured a pint and a half of Carling down the sink before offering me a pint. "Have a taste" she said. I assumed it was the first out today. She seemed rather surprised when I reported it was OK. £3.40 I think.
I was a little worried that my lager would taste off as I drank the pint but it didn't, so no complaint at all.
Racing was on the telly, and I think all three of the other customers were watching it.
I was joined by a regular and had a good chat about pubs, the future, and what we miss from forty years ago. If you are reading this, hello John, it was good to meet you. He reckoned the Union wouldn't last much longer, I really hope he is wrong, we need proper boozers like this one to survive.
OK, now it's time for home. Or should I call in to the Royal Alfred by the station. Obviously yes:
Not a "required" tick, but a pint of White Rat is always good, and I haven't been in here since its most recent refurbishment. [Memory failure! Oh yes I have, I ticked it in April and indeed it was recorded in this blog.] Today I sat in the back space on a comfortable bench seat.
At five on a Thursday this nicely decorated pub was fairly busy, I had no trouble finding a table at which to sit, but quite a few were occupied. I couldn't see anyone eating although the menu looks quite good; fish and chips £14.95.
With a somewhat up and down history, this pub has at last settled into a great situation, I think, and I hope it continues for ever.
Definitely time for home, if Northern Trains can be bothered...
Beer of the day: White Rat
Miles walked: 2.0
Merseyside pubs visited in the last five years: 1,026
Maybe coming soon: Undecided
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