Birkenhead

Not a "pub survey" this afternoon, just a few drinks over the water with friends.  We started in Wetherspoon's Brass Balance: 

As with all the 'spoons I've visited post-lockdown, this was doing pretty well, with plenty of drinkers and diners keeping the staff busy.  My pint of Abbot was rather muddy, but it tasted fine.

Next, on to the Stork, where we found one customer, one member of staff, and no real ales.

We moved on immediately to the Riverview where we again found no ale.

Just next door is Gallaghers which seems to have gained a mural:

Here, they were ticking over nicely, four real ales were available including Plum Porter but I chose White Rat which was perfect.

We adjourned to the beer yard which has been nicely done up since my last visit, making for a very comfortable and pleasant experience.

Next, on to the Swinging Arm where we again found a lack of real ale.  We decided to stay anyway, and I enjoyed a pint of Shipyard.

Finally, we ended the day with a couple more of the excellent White Rat in Gallaghers, before catching the train home.

Pub of the day: Gallaghers

Miles walked: 1.2 miles

Maybe coming soon: Crosby

Dale Street

Called to do my duty at the Blood Donor centre, I took the opportunity to visit a few pubs along Dale Street, starting at Rigbys:

Here I found compulsory table service, hand gel and form filling, and just two other customers.  (I later spotted some more in the courtyard at the back.)   The three staff had very little to do.

There were just two real ales on, I had a superb pint of White Rat.

Just a short stroll along Dale Street is the Vernon Arms:

There was a chain across the entrance and I had to sign in and be allocated a table before being allowed in the pub.  They had a full range of real ales on offer, but the rum porter was somewhat past its best, the first off pint I've tasted post lockdown - I really should have rejected it.

The place was ticking over nicely, with almost every table in the front part occupied, so I was assigned a table in the back room, on my own.  Are they trying to tell me something?  Perhaps the patch on my arm was off-putting.

A little further up is the Excelsior:

The barman insisted I treated my hands as I entered (I would have, anyway) but there was no requirement for ID.  Only two real ales on, and I selected Landlord which if I'm being really picky was maybe a little over-chilled but pretty much spot on when it was brought to my table.

I must complain that a strongly lemon scented hand wash spoils the flavour of the ale until it wears off ones hands, a more neutral gel would be much better.

Only one member of staff was visible, ably looking after the six or so customers here.  As with the other two visits today, the soundtrack was quiet muzac and chatter.

I was glad to see the pubs back in action, especially the Excelsior and the Vernon which I had noted boarded up a couple of months ago.

The First Week

Here's a list of all the pubs I've observed during this first post-lockdown week.  After careful consideration I have decided I am not going to maintain or update this list because (a) it's a lot of effort, (b) it's not fair on the many excellent pubs who lose out purely because I haven't walked past them yet and (c) the information will get out of date on a daily basis.

My general feeling has been relief and pleasure that I'm back in the pub, but I'm concerned that if the current restrictions continue long term then many places will not survive.  I haven't visited any at traditional busy times yet, but I noticed some had queuing markings outside the door; the day I have to queue to get in to a boozer is the day I switch to drinking at home.

Huyton

Pub	Day	Status
Crofters	Friday	Open
Stanley Arms	Friday	Open
Swan	Wednesday	Open

Liverpool City Centre

Pub	Day	Status
Ava's	Thursday	Open
Blarney Stone	Thursday	Open
Blob Shop	Thursday	Open
Butterfly and Grasshopper	Thursday	Open
Celtic Corner	Thursday	Not open when I passed.
Crown	Wednesday	Open, with a very limited range of real ales.
Dispensary	Thursday	Open, excellent ale as usual.
Excelsior	Thursday	Open
Jimmy's	Thursday	Not open. Signs say opening Thursday.
Liffey	Thursday	Not open when I passed.
Molly Malone's	Thursday	Not open when I passed.
Nelley Foley's	Thursday	Open
Nook	Thursday	Long closed.
Pogue Mahone	Thursday	Closed and tinned up.
Richmond	Thursday	Open (I noted the decorators were in a couple of weeks ago.)
Rose and Crown	Thursday	Open
Shakespeare	Thursday	Open
Ship and Mitre	Thursday	Open, great ales.
Smokie Mo's (Charlotte Street)	Thursday	Open
Sweeney's	Thursday	Open
Tess Riley's	Thursday	Open
Vernon Arms	Thursday	Open
Vines	Thursday	Not open when I passed.

I have omitted Wetherspoon's from the table, as far as I know all of them are open and the ones I have visited have all had decent real ale.

The New Normal?

I headed into town to do some shopping which allowed me note the status of some pubs as I passed.  See the following post for a list.

Having completed my appointed tasks, it was time for a pint.  I headed for a favourite, the Dispensary.

I had to zap a QR code with my phone and then text the government before entering!  Presumably there's another procedure for less well equipped drinkers.  I was guided to a table and handed a menu.  The waitress soon returned to take my order for a pint of the wonderful White Rat.  I paid by contactless of course.

The place was quite busy in post-lockdown terms, with only one or two vacant tables, dropping to zero while I was there.  A gentle background of chatter mixed with the quiet music.  The beer was excellent.  I noticed the waitress was very on the ball in offering another as people's glasses neared empty.

Having had a haircut on Tuesday I was on the lookout for any lockdown hair disasters amongst my fellow drinkers, but I didn't spot any.

So, not a bad experience for my first non-Wetherspoon pub, but there's no way it will scale to a busy Friday night.  If these restrictions continue long term then I fear the pub as we know it is doomed.

I walked on, pleased to note that the boarding up had gone from the Vernon Arms and the Excelsior, both of which were open.  I aimed for another favourite, the Ship and Mitre.

This is basically unchanged, apart from being asked to fill in a track and trace form, and reminded not to stand at the bar once served - What a great improvement to pub etiquette this is, no more bar hogs blocking my view of the pumps!  They currently only have about half the usual number of real ales on, with all the pumps in the back room being out of use, but the pale one I had - I forget what it was - was spot on.

No music in here, just a gentle background of chatter

Moving on to Friday, and a couple of pubs in Huyton, beginning with the Stanley Arms.

Apart from an orderly queue at the counter nothing has changed in here, and on a Friday afternoon it was busy with families enjoying meals, as well as groups of drinkers and some solo ones as well.

Quiet music mixed with chatter and the occasional rattle of crockery, as I enjoyed my Guinness.

On down the road to the Crofters.

A similar experience here, except that half the pub is reserved for diners, guarded by a waitress who directed me to the drinkers' end.  A short queue of people standing at the bar didn't take long to process and I was soon served.

Again, quite busy but not completely full, even with the significantly reduced capacity.

Reborn On The Fourth Of July

It was with a mounting feeling of anticipation that I headed out this morning, my destination was Wetherspoon's Barker's Brewery.  Will there be any decent ale?  Will there be a queue?  Will I need ID to get in?

No queue!  I headed in, walked up to the bar, and ordered a couple of pints of Big Bog Willo-The-Wisp, and sat down at one of the tables.

Wonderfully, nothing much seemed to have changed.  OK, the tables were more scattered, some screened off, and there were screens around the tills at the bar.  But the basic experience was unchanged, the ale was very good, the staff were friendly and chatty.  Most of the Saturday morning crowd seemed to turn up, although overall I felt it was slightly less busy than a normal Saturday and very few breakfasts were served.

The manager stopped for a chat, bemoaning the difficulty of ordering real ale last week, many breweries being sold out, but luckily Big Bog had come up trumps.  He said the choice might be a bit limited, we advised that one decent real ale was enough to be going on with!  (Actually, I later had a Porter also from Big Bog, so that's at least two decent ales.)

So, a gentle return to something approaching normality, let's hope it continues like this.

Another Update

Not much to report, as I don't think "pub research" is a valid reason for wandering around.

The Excelsior has joined the Vernon Arms in being boarded up:

Thanks to the demolition of the flyover, it is now much easier to take a picture of the Ship and Mitre:

Lockdown Update

The last two pubs I visited were the Oak Tree and the Swan in Huyton, in the afternoon of "Lockdown Friday", the 20th of March.  The landlady in the Swan was busy putting up Mothering Sunday decorations, not knowing they wouldn't be used.

I was tempted to nip to Wetherspoon's in the evening for a farewell pint or two of decent real ale, but in the end I didn't bother.  I may come to regret that more as the weeks drag on into months.

Today (Monday) I headed into town on the train to visit the Blood Donors.  The city was very quiet, of course, with all pubs shut, but I was particularly concerned to see the Vernon Arms was boarded up - They're obviously not expecting to re-open any time soon, if at all.

By the way, if you're short of supplies, the Lidl on Lime Street had plenty of bread, milk, eggs, rice and toilet rolls, a few bags of pasta and even some antibacterial liquid soap.  And it wasn't busy.