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Liverpool Weekend (Day Three) – Aquarium at the World Museum

I love a good aquarium and I had hoped to visit the Deep in Hull, but a rail strike put paid to that little plan. Anyway, there’s a small aquarium set-up at the free to enter World Museum which is the first location that we headed to on the Sunday. In this photo, we have some fish.

And some more fish. I’m not a marine biologist, so that’s as far as I’m going on this.

A sea anemone I think. I wouldn’t be surprised if I win some sort of environmental blog of the year award this riveting and penetrating content like this.

This looked like a little shark. Anyway, back to marginally more useful commentary, this set-up is more recent, but the museum received its first aquarium displays in 1857 which was the second such facility in the world. The first was in 1853 when the ‘Marine Vivarium’ opened in Regent’s Park Zoological Gardens in London.

I say nothing but this allowed children and short adults to have a look at the fish from a different angle. It’s a pleasant floor to explore, with the plenty of information about the environmental impact on marine life. I obviously wasn’t entirely observant, as I note the aquarium has chocolate chip starfish, hermit crabs and a lobster, all of which I missed. It’s only a small part of the museum, but probably one of the more popular areas for kids, along the dinosaur displays.

September 21, 2023
Liverpool Weekend (Day Two) – The Globe

The Globe is a city centre pub which is listed in the Good Beer Guide and I was pleased that the area was quieter than Mathew Street. The building is from the 1880s and one of the features is a sloping floor and what could possibly go wrong with that arrangement? The building was once a hotel as well but is now a traditional Victorian pub with one main room and a separate room at the rear.

I went for half a pint of the Lightfoot from Theakston, a very average blonde ale but it was well-kept and I rather suspect that there’s a pubco behind this as the beer choice was a little generic. The service was immediate and friendly, although the front bar was quite wet which was just marginally sub-optimal as I then had a wet sleeve. But it was a Saturday night and the pub was otherwise clean and organised so it seems unnecessary to dwell for long on that.

It’s a cosy and comfortable pub which has won a number of CAMRA community pub awards. It was also unfortunately rather hot and sticky, but we had picked an overly warm weekend to visit Liverpool. I might have mentioned that though. There was a community feel which justified those awards, other customers were engaging and conversational so the environment was beguiling.

Some social history, this is Kitty Wilkinson who became known as the “saint of the slums” and there’s more about her contribution to the local area at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Wilkinson.

The back room is where CAMRA Merseyside Branch was formed in 1974 and there a few plaques noting that, with I imagine a 50th one being added next year. It’s above what CAMRA refer to as a wall length mural of the world, which is relevant to the pub name, but Bev criticised their usage of the word ‘mural’. Mind you, she’d had a few drinks by that point so we didn’t say anything.

It’s a decent pub with a warm welcome although I wasn’t overly engaged with the beer selection, but there was at least a choice. When I leaved I discovered that they had closed the front door and was fortunately told by the team member behind the bar before I looked an idiot trying to get it open. Steve however was less fortunate when trying to depart, but I’m not sure many people noticed so he got away with that.

September 20, 2023
Liverpool Weekend (Day Two) – Slightly Raucous City Centre

It would be something of an omission not to take in the centre of Liverpool during a weekend visit, although I’m pleased to have already visited locations such as the Cavern Club so I didn’t need to return there, exciting as they are. Now that I’ve reached just over 24 I’m far too old to need to return to loud places, I can’t be doing with raucous unless I’ve got muddled up and it’s someone’s birthday or within four months of their birthday when it might be acceptable.

The others in our group seemed more excited by the louder environment as we approached it. Given half a chance I wouldn’t have been surprised to see Bev dive into a bar to show off her dance moves, despite supposedly having a bad back.

Getting busier and there’s the Cavern Club. There’s enough information elsewhere on-line about the history of this venue, but in short it’s a different location to the original club which was closed due to suit the needs of Merseyrail. The replacement club is on a similar footprint and they’ve used some of the original bricks, but it isn’t entirely historically authentic. Sgt Peppers had a tagline of “live music eight nights a week” and it’s open until 01:00 on weekdays and 04:00 at weekends, hours that Julian would be positively delighted by. Both the Cavern Club and Sgt Peppers have formidable reputations and are key parts of Liverpool’s music scene.

The Cavern Pub is run by the same operators as the Cavern Club offering free live music every night of the week. The whole area around Mathew Street (which is named after the local merchant Mathew Pluckington who was about in something like the eighteenth century) is certainly worth visiting for anyone who likes live music, vibrant street scenes and is either deaf or doesn’t mind losing their hearing. I can be very dull 🙂

By this stage I felt that it was best to move the group on from all this excitement as there was a Good Beer Guide listed pub that I wanted to visit and I anticipated it might be rather quieter.

September 20, 2023
Food from Every Stall on Norwich Market – Week 23 and Thai Bubble Tea

It’s week 23 of my eating at every food stall at Norwich Market, this expedition was to Thai Bubble Tea. They specialise in, it’s no surprise to note, bubble tea which first became rather on-trend in the UK during 2021 and 2022, with many shops popping up.

The menu board which seems clear, although I must admit that these drinks are somewhat alien to me. However, nothing ventured and nothing gained with there being plenty of choice. Indeed, one of the advantages with this arrangement is the variety that can be offered in a single drink, something which might encourage customers to return. As I understand, the drink has a tea base which is then mixed with milk and a little ice, with the popping balls then added.

The stall isn’t entirely logically laid out as food service is from the other side only despite menu boards being located on all sides. I didn’t realise this, although then another customer told me as she said she’d found out the hard way. James went around to order for us whilst I reserved the seating, but better signage might prevent the confusion. I’m not sure that James knew what he was doing either, but the team member was helpful and patient, guiding him through the ordering process.

I’m sure that there was almost some alchemy going on here, with so many ingredients around the place.

Not really knowing what I was doing, I ordered the banana milk tea, but I was asked what popping balls I wanted in it and so I went for blueberry without realising I had a choice.

James went for a waffle and the bit I tried seemed to taste fine, although I think he had hoped for something slightly more decadent and rich in flavour. What was evident at this stage was the long delays in service, with the sole team member having taken 19 minutes to serve this.

29 minutes after ordering, my drink arrived. I felt sorry for the sole team member as she seemed to be managing things efficiently and remembering who had ordered what. I wasn’t in any great hurry, but I think some sort of warning of service times might have been useful as this is by far the longest we’ve waited at any market stall.

But, onto the drink. It’s an odd experience as I’ve never had bubble tea before, but the little bubbles (which are more precisely known as tapioca balls) at the bottom go shooting up the straw and they then burst. In terms of adding texture and innovation to a drink I found them rather appealing and the rest of the drink was just a tasty banana milkshake. The drink cost £4.50 and they accepted card purchases.

James was worried about choking on the popping balls and then promptly nearly did as we walked back, adding to everyone’s amusement, or perhaps it would be better to say bemusement. I will say that as soon as there’s no liquid left, they do become more of a challenge to deal with. It’s fair to say that these drinks should be consumed carefully by children or irresponsible adults, preferably under the supervision of a responsible adult.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience but thought that that the service time was excessive for a market stall where no warning was given of the potential wait. I liked the engagement of the team member and she was working hard, although ideally there would have been someone to help here. The stall was clean throughout and everything seemed organised, with the atmosphere feeling inviting and warm. It’s not necessarily something that I’d rush to again, but I enjoyed the experience and it’s worth trying at least once.

September 19, 2023
Liverpool Weekend (Day Two) – Bridewell Pub

Next on our Liverpool drinking agenda was the Good Beer Guide listed Bridewell pub. CAMRA’s Whatpub notes that it’s where the band Frankie Goes to Hollywood was formed and I note this having no idea whether that’s true, but I’m using this fun fact as I’m pleased that I’ve heard of a band.

One of the draws of the pub is its history and that’s evident from its name, it’s a former prison. The word ‘Bridewell’ comes from part of Bridewell Palace in Westminster was used as a jail. The former prison cells are part of the venue and we were hoping to be able to sit in one of them. The venue is very well reviewed on-line and it seemed to attract a diverse range of ages and a mixture of locals and visitors. I liked this review:

“Not allowed to play live or loud music what’s the point”

Good. Anyway, I digress.

The pub has a comprehensive history of their building on their web-site:

“The Bridewell – Argyle Street bridewell and fire station was built in the 1840’s at a cost of £2675 and was mainly used as a lock up, playing host to over refreshed and excitable seamen and dockers, there were 7 cells which housed over 100 “guests” each month, bread was free as was the floor – if you required use of a bed or better food then these would have to be paid for. Charles Dickens was sworn in as a special constable for one night only in 1860 whilst researching his novel “The Uncommercial Traveller”

The Building ceased to be used as a prison in 1932 but was brought back to life during the second world war by the US military – rumours of German POW and conscientious objectors – but as these activities were shrouded in mystery for fear of letting the enemy discover, any evidence has been lost in the passages of time.

A nightly bucket of Guinness was supplied to The Bridewell patrol from the Guinness boats that were tied up at the nearby Salthouse Docks, and there are tales of staff from the nearby Guinness bottling factory on Norfolk Street bringing buckets of Guinness to encourage the Sergeant to let their friends and family out.”

Here’s another of my Untappd photos. The beer is the Three Swords from Kirkstall and it was well kept and at the appropriate temperature, a reliable pale ale.

After a bit of waiting, we were able to sit inside a former cell and I then immediately decided it was too hot. I like to add my constant joy to proceedings. They clearly didn’t worry much about air conditioning for these prisoners in the nineteenth century.

Oooh, another Untappd photo. This beer is the True Grit from Millstone, a slightly thin pale ale where I couldn’t detect the grapefruit aroma that the brewer mentioned.

We got talking, or rather more accurately Bev got talking as is her wont, to a local who gave us a list of places that he thought we should visit. He was a friendly soul and keen to help, although many of his suggestions seemed to involve getting a train to somewhere else which seemed to take away a little from the point of visiting Liverpool. But I always enjoy getting some local insight and I’m impressed him briefly, for around ten seconds, with my knowledge of Everton football club in the 1980s. Always up-to-date I am…..

There were lots of elements to this visit that I liked, although I’ll put how busy and hot it was to one side as that’s not really the venue’s fault that they’re popular. Well, it is, but I can’t be negative about that. The heritage was of course exciting, it reminded me a little of the The Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in Keswick. The service was prompt and despite being busy the team members were mostly serving customers in turn, which often isn’t the case and it’s sometimes a little sub-optimal. The landlord was visible throughout the service, whether serving drinks, fixing things or trying to gather customers back in to his licensed area outside the front of the pub. It’s definitely a recommended venue as far as I’m concerned, I’d visit here again as it’s evidently very well run.

September 19, 2023
Liverpool Weekend (Day Two) – Head of Steam

Hmmm, apologies for the blurred photo, that’s somewhat sub-optimal. Anyway, I’m something of an advocate for Head of Steam bars and I’ve visited most of them, including this one in Liverpool which opened in 2017. The chain is operated by Camerons Brewery and most of the venues are in the north of England.

I’m reminded that I haven’t been on an adventure including train beers for some time. When I was at Peterborough Beer Festival this year, a volunteer told me that he had a great idea of branding a series of drinks as Train Beers and I have some sympathy to his intentions. Anyway, I digress already. The service in the bar was polite but all over the place, the server hadn’t heard of Brew York despite them stocking two of their beers and she didn’t know where the third measure was on the glass so just over-poured it to a half. I can’t say that I was disappointed with that arrangement, indeed, I was quite pleased at the lack of staff training.

It was worth coming to the pub for this beer, which is the Adrenalina from Brew York. It had a cinnamon edge and it was a moreish and smooth pastry sour which is one of the better beers of this type that I’ve had. Unfortunately, the other Brew York beer had sold out and the venue wasn’t being that sharp on updating Untappd.

The pizza was adequate, not exactly the explosion of meats that had been mentioned, but it tasted OK although inauthentic. Susan opted for the pizza where the middle was hollowed out and replaced with salad, but the kitchen forgot to hollow out the pizza and just dumped the salad on top. I gained from this as I was given a couple of slices of the pizza, so another win for me there. The beer in the photo is the Pemberley from Chapter Brewing, which I thought was rather lacking in flavour and I struggled to get the hints of roast and molasses.

The on-line reviews for the bar are generally favourable, with a healthy number of complaints to add to the mix, but most praise the venue. They received a complaint:

“Pubs great, a bit dark but I remember it as Halford years ago. However I called in with family just before the lock down and embarrassing I collapsed. It turned out I have Atrial Fibrillation and an irregular heartbeat. This has now classed me as disabled. I called in at the weekend and was embarrassed to be told I was barred and after I explained the situation the reply was your disabled”.

There’s always two sides to every story, evident with the pub manager’s reply:

“Unfortunately there a few inaccuracies in this review and yes indeed you are barred from the venue. The manager didn’t mention anything about being disabled. That was just what you were shouting as you were walked out of the venue.”

There’s something classy about adding “as you were walked out”. I’m pleased to say that I’ve never been walked out of a bar and if I had, I’m not sure that I’d be leaving a review about it.

And a complaint about the music:

“They played Gary Glitter’s Leader of the Gang. Upon objection, the bar staff said “it’s just music”. The ale’s really good. Not that good.”

The manager didn’t reply to that one. Another person was disappointed by the lack of Guinness:

“A wide range of beers but not to my taste, a Guinness substitute no thankyou”

I’d add that there are about ten keg beers, four real ales and plenty of cans, so I’m puzzled as to how not one of them is to someone’s taste, but each to their own. The manager also wasn’t surprised and delighted by the review, noting:

“A 1 star rating for not stocking a product is interesting we have 3 other stouts and porters available”

I still enjoyed my visit here and the environment was surprisingly quiet for a venue in the centre of Liverpool on a Saturday evening. But, I don’t like raucous (unless it’s at an event I organise, in which case it becomes positively desirable and on at least some occasions leads to some form of argument) so that suited our needs. The food was acceptable and the team members were doing their best, but they seemed short staffed and under-trained and that’s not the fault of those hard workers at the bar. Anyway, once again I’ve digressed, but I’m looking forwards to visiting more venues in the chain to complete my list (and as my friend Des comments, I do like ticking things off on lists……) It proved to be a satisfactory start to our evening out in the city centre and to my amazement, Bev liked her food. I suspect that she was probably still quite tired and unable to articulate any issues, as it’s rare that she’s content with her meal (but, of course, I don’t say anything).

September 18, 2023
Liverpool Weekend (Day Two) – Closed Angel Vaults Pub

Excuse my brief flight of fancy here, but it felt slightly sad to leave the former Cain’s Brewery to walk down the nearby Stanhope Street to see what was the Angel Vaults pub which is now boarded up. Actually, it’s been boarded up for over fifteen years, meaning that its future looks troubled to say the least. It felt a little sad that there are all these people heading to the Baltic Market and bars on the former brewery site, but this pub is somehow not viable. What was perhaps once a centre of the community was raided in 2010 when the police discovered that it was being used as a cannabis farm, with the building not used since. The carvings above the windows are at least mostly in decent condition and if this pub is ever reopened I imagine it’s have plenty of character.

Also, apologies for the washed out photo, but it was too hot and the searing and overheating sun stressed my phone.

September 18, 2023
Liverpool Weekend (Day Two) – Baltic Market

The next stop on our little tour of Liverpool was the Baltic Market, the first street market in the city and it’s still all rather on-trend and exciting. It’s on the large site which was formerly Cains Brewery and it’s open on Thursdays to Sundays. I very much like these slightly upmarket (well, as opposed to those sites with the Holy Trinity of McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC) food courts, they make it easy to take a group of people to a venue and then there’s still a choice of cuisine. Often there’s someone in the group who still moans, but at least they’ve got their favourite cuisine to moan about so it’s a win-win.

It’s a bright and airy development which is spacious, although it was at near capacity in terms of the seating when we visited on a Saturday afternoon.

There are numerous food venues around the site, served by one central bar. The food venues include Polpetta who sells subs, Christakis who sell Greek food, Spice Thai who it will come as no surprise sell Thai food, Pattersons who sell fried chicken, Little Furnace who sell pizzas, Hafla Hafla who served Middle Eastern food, Richie’s who sell burgers, La Bistroteca who served bistro food and the Midnight Delivery who serve desserts. That’s quite a variety and should surprise and delight most people, although the prices are towards the higher end of the scale.

There was a little space on the upstairs area, which also had the advantage of a fan and these views over the market. I thought that the music was too loud, but to be fair, I’m now over 29 and I often think that the music is too loud so I’d advise my two loyal readers to take that with a pinch of salt.

I went for the Big Wave beer from Kona Brewing and it was refreshing, but uninspiring and rather generic. The pricing was also odd, my half pint was less than half of the cost of a full pint which seemed strange. I wasn’t massively engaged with the beer options here and for an on-trend venue there are surprisingly few Untappd check-ins. They need some Funky Fluid, that’s what they need. Back to the subject of Untappd (which I mention frequently and don’t forget I’m always after new beer friends so do add me at https://untappd.com/user/julwhite), I can’t recall taking the photo but I’m sure that I had Untappd in mind.

We were going to come back the following day to eat here in the evening, but Bev found another food court in the city centre and so we opted for that one. There was a laid-back atmosphere at the Baltic Market and it’s well reviewed on-line although one person said that “it’s set up to appeal to a young, less discerning demographic”. Nothing like a little age based sneering…. I respected the set-up here, the informality worked for me and the staff were keeping everything clean and organised. It’s perhaps not a hidden gem, it’s all a bit busy for that, but it seems like a place where you feel at least some of the action in the city is occuring.

September 18, 2023
Liverpool Weekend (Day Two) – Yellow Submarine Bar

After some cathedral visiting, we decided to walk to the Cains Brewery Village which is the former site of, well, Cains Brewery. The first thing that we noticed was a Yellow Submarine and since I quite like tacky things, I thought it was worth investigating. Steve agreed with me, so off we went in the hope that the other two wouldn’t object to our rapid decision.

The Liverpool Echo say that this submarine was installed here in 2018 and it was previously used as a floating hotel on the Albert Dock. Before that, it was used as a prop in the Sean Connery film ‘Hunt for Red October’, so it’s had something of a history. Incidentally, Bev wanted us to sit at this table, but I was conscious that people would want to take photos of this and I felt no need to be in them.

The interior of the submarine with the bar area at the rear.

And a little tribute to the Cavern Club at the front (or back, I get muddled up with these pointy ended things).

My Blue Moon beer acquired. I was quite happy to sit in the cold inside, but Bev wanted to sit outside in the sun to complain about the heat. I didn’t say anything.

Some of the wall art.

The others were faffing with their drinks orders, so it seems that I decided to take numerous photos of the interior with my beer in hand. I can’t remember what I was doing, probably trying to get the ideal Untappd photo or something.

My brief attempt of sitting in the cold inside before I was near forcibly dragged outside.

There’s the main former Cains brewery building in the background. I couldn’t help but wonder what the workers of fifty years ago would have thought if they could have known that their site would have been closed and a yellow submarine placed in the grounds.

The Blue Moon beer was served with a slice of orange and was at the appropriate temperature which is all to the good, but I was more surprised that it was keenly priced given the location. The atmosphere here is laid-back and the music wasn’t too loud, which is fortunate as I can’t be doing with raucous. It’s something a little quirky, and perhaps a little touristy, but I enjoyed my visit here although I suspect matters get somewhat louder later on in the day.

September 18, 2023
Norwich – Squash at Wensum Sports Centre

Just under a year ago I accepted an invitation from a friend to play squash at Wensum Sports Centre. As an advocate of trying things once, unless it might involve my passing out, I accepted but was confident it wouldn’t be a very good idea. I’ve heard some people concerned that they’ll close given the developments at Wensum Lodge, but they’re separate operations and this one looks secure for some time to come yet.

There are two squash courts at the centre and this is the waiting area to them. Games cost £5 for 40 minutes and there’s a £12 annual membership fee, which all makes it rather reasonable. It’s located on King Street in Norwich, so it’s centrally located for those wanting a game and there’s a car park available for those who need to drive in.

Court two, which is the one I don’t like quite as much as it’s a little more overlooked on the gallery above. The reason that this post has taken so longer, after a flurry of activity from my two loyal readers demanding a squash update, is because I rarely play on this court and it’s taken me a while to get a photo. However, the courts can get heavily booked in the evening and sometimes there’s not much choice which is why I was on the court last week. I play in the day against one friend and there’s rarely anyone before or after, which makes it rather more relaxed.

For reasons I’ve never worked out, they have different colours in the two courts, this is the blue of court two.

And the red of my favourite court one. There’s rarely anyone looking over this court and I soon give them a passive aggressive stare so that they move on, as I’m not keen on being watched.

It looks oddly grubby from squash ball action in this photo compared to real life. As an aside, I always hate having to knock on the door to get the previous players off the court, so I tend to knock and then hide further down the corridor so they think it was someone else. I can be quite British sometimes…. I’m also sometimes a little alarmed at just how much noise some people make, with shouts, squeals, grunts and odd bangs, so I do wonder what is going on.

Anyway, I’m still not really very good at squash, but merrily try and play when I can drag people over. I’ve got a new squash friend (ooooohhh, new friend) from bar billiards who I think I’ll be able to beat, but I haven’t said that to them yet as I can’t imagine what might happen and I don’t want to be over-confident. I’m left with playing three people regularly, one I always beat, one who is equal in ability and another who smashes me around the court every week. The friend who initially took me I haven’t played in months, but I suspect they’d beat me despite their excellent attempts to train me up in the first place. I’ll find out one day 🙂

All told, I think this is all rather positive for mental and physical health, with the 40 minutes always going quickly. I’m conscious some people injure themselves playing squash, but I’m not moving about fast enough for that and it compresses a fair amount of exercise into a relatively short period which is much more efficient than a day of walking. The staff at the centre are friendly and helpful, especially when I was playing someone and they managed to head butt the wall and bleed which was highly sub-optimal as it wasted my game playing time.

The only downsides are that the courts can get a little warm and I may have mentioned occasionally that I don’t like things being too hot. And the other minor issue is that the whole thing is so popular that it can be hard to get a court in the evening at short notice, but that’s positive as they’re doing so well. They also have badminton courts and a gym at the centre, but I don’t involve myself with those.

It’s a case in point of trying new things, as I would never have thought I’d be interested in squash, but I’ve found it all quite therapeutic. It’s not expensive and they will lend people any equipment that they need for a small charge, the only thing that a player must have are shoes which won’t mark the court. All really rather lovely.

Right, I really must get back to the Liverpool write-up, but I’ve been somewhat distracted with London trips this weekend.

September 18, 2023