Walking. Gossip. Travel.

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Liverpool Weekend (Day One) – Ye Cracke Pub

The next pub on the itinerary was the Good Beer Guide listed ‘Ye Cracke’ pub, perhaps most notable for being a haunt of the young John Lennon. There’s also a plaque on the wall to The Dissenters, a band of sorts which included John Lennon, Bill Harry, Stuart Sutcliffe and Rod Murray.

The pub was busy so it was a little difficult to take too many photos, but here’s the inside of the front window. Readers can build their own story up here about how it’s likely John Lennon looked out of it or something…. It saves me being creative when my two loyal readers build up their own picture of a pub.

A brief moment of quiet at the bar. The service was friendly and efficient, with the venue feeling more of a locals’ pub, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t welcoming. The prices were reasonable and the pub itself was clean and organised.

The Sun isn’t the most popular newspaper in Liverpool for numerous reasons, but mostly the Hillsborough disaster reporting in 1989.

I had a couple of beers, nothing really of note but they were well-kept. The Dangerous Dave from Empire Brewing sounded promising though, but I’m not sure where the danger came in. That’s not Dave in the photo, that’s Steve.

Bev helpfully collected up some chairs from around the pub so we could sit at the end of a table meaning we could then all spend some considerable time gossiping about matters in general. This is the first time that Bev and Steve had visited Liverpool and their first impressions were positive. I’ve been a few times, but never before to this pub, which had a traditional and back street feel to it.

The pub is generally well reviewed on-line and it had a lively, but safe, atmosphere when we visited. There were some slightly different beers to the norm and there is a heritage element given the John Lennon link, so there are worse places in the area to visit.

September 11, 2023
Liverpool Weekend (Day One) – The Philharmonic Dining Rooms

I’ve visited this historic venue before, but its interior is of note and so I thought I would surprise and delight the group by taking them here. It takes its name from the Philharmonic Hall which is diagonally opposite and it was constructed between 1898 and 1900 for the Cains Brewery. Robert Cains had done well, he had started his business in 1858 at a young age by buying a pub and brewing his own beer, with over 200 pubs in the empire by the end of the century. On that subject, we visited the former brewery site during this weekend, but more on that later. Incidentally, these metal Art Nouveau gates are apparently one of the best examples in the country.

It’s a Grade I listed building and designed to be part of the Gin Palace design of pubs which were constructed in the late Victorian period. Many original features remain, including the marble counters and the mahogany fireplaces.

It’s a Nicholson’s pub, so I wasn’t overly excited in advance at the beer options. They had four real ales, but all a little generic. In fairness to Nicholson’s, the pub is reasonably well reviewed and so clearly most customers are happy with the whole arrangement. Although they did upset one customer who commented:

“Unfortunately the staff knew little to nothing about beer and couldn’t pour a pint, I felt embarrassed for them! I’ve never seen a pint pulled in such a way..”

I was humoured by the pub’s answer:

“It seems as though you are referring to a new member of the team who had been learning how to work on a bar as they never had before. I don’t think embarrassment is the emotion in this situation, but patience and empathy as alternatives”.

I went for half a pint of the Tribute from St. Austell Brewery, a reliable beer and it was well-kept and at the appropriate temperature.

For those who don’t want to enter through the decadent gates, there’s also another entrance with a suitable amount of character with its mosaic floor.

There’s perhaps a need for some restoration to parts of the building, but it still hasn’t lost its grandeur.

The highlight for Bev, who wandered off to get permission from staff to have a little look in, was the male toilets with their imitation marble. I make no comment, but she doesn’t get out much. I think that the group were impressed at our surroundings and Steve was busy taking photographs for other groups in the pub, but he’s very social like that.

This is a delightful pub, although it is part of a national chain and there’s perhaps nothing particularly exceptional about the food or drink. However, the service was friendly, the beer was well kept and there was no shortage of history in the building. Probably more of a venue for visitors to the city, but recommended for those who haven’t been and want to see a fine Victorian pub building.

September 11, 2023
Liverpool Weekend (Day One) – Bundobust

I’d heard of this small chain before and seen that it had some decent reviews, with the combination of Indian street food and craft beer being rather tempting. It wasn’t entirely clear what to do when entering, but fortunately the others had blazed a trail so I could just go and join their table. On the positive side, this will be the first post in several days where I don’t complain that it was too hot as there was sufficient air conditioning to meet my temperature needs.

The food menu which is vegetarian and vegan based, with the suggestion that individuals should order around two or three items each.

The beer menu which is also available on Untappd, although it wasn’t quite up-to-date on there. The atmosphere in the restaurant was chilled in terms of both the temperature and the ambience, with seating similar to the wagamama set-up.

I had ordered three beers as a flight and so was given this discount without asking, but others in the group had ordered two beers and the team member hadn’t though to tell them about the 10% off offer.

If I’m being honest, I found this a little shoddy which was giving me the three beers without telling me which was which. Oddly, the member of bar staff must have felt they looked sufficiently different for me to be able to easily tell, but I was less convinced. I worked them out by taste, but it’s rare for no effort to be made in situations such as this.

The Mango Lassi from Northern Monk was the best of the three beers, a drink I had to order given for my preference for mango lassi when eating at Indian restaurants. The East is East brewed by Bundobust Brewery themselves was though also a juicy and hazy IPA which was smooth for a 6.5% ABV beer, and the Dhoop also from Bundobust was a fruity wheat beer.

I went for four different items from the menu and I liked the presentation of the food, although the waiting staff had got muddled up with who ordered what, despite them taking our names at the till to prevent such a problem. The ‘Smacked Khakri’ is cucumber with lemon, garlic, chilli and black salt, all combining to be about as good as cucumber is likely to get. I had thought they might do something slightly more decadent with it, but they intend it to be a palate cleanser.

The ‘onion bhajis’ at the back left had a crispy exterior and a depth of taste, whilst the ‘bhel puri’ was pieces of puffed rice and broken samosa pastry, with pomengranates adding some texture. Finally, on the right are the ‘aloo and dhal kachori’, which are fried potato patties. All the food was enjoyable with a range of tastes and textures, so I can see the popularity of the concept. The portion sizes aren’t substantial, but they’re sufficient and I like the opportunity to have a number of different dishes. Indian food is my favourite cuisine, so this was a different take on the food and it was positive to try some dishes that I hadn’t previously heard of.

For those in Liverpool during the week, there are lunchtime offers. The on-line reviews for this restaurant are very positive and they seem to have quite an efficient service going on in terms of the food service timings.

Overall, I liked the concept of the restaurant, but wasn’t entirely sure about the delivery and the engagement from the team members. It was formulaic without always having a formula if that’s possible. Anyway, the beer choices were interesting, the prices weren’t unreasonable and the food did taste of a decent quality. I’d likely visit another one of the restaurants in the chain, there’s one in Manchester and another in Leeds at the moment.

September 10, 2023
Liverpool Weekend (Day One) – And Another Delayed Train

I walked relatively quickly from Cloudwater to Manchester Oxford Road railway station, as I’m always slightly nervous about being late for pre-booked services of any kind. It’s a slightly odd railway station, constructed in 1849 and reconstructed in 1960, now looking and feeling dated and it feels like it is ready for a major refurbishment.

They’ve put quite an attractive frontage on the building at least.

I arrived with eight minutes to spare until my train departed, with the boards showing that it was running on time. Marvellous, I would be in join Susan, Steve and Bev for the evening meal and still have time to get to my hotel to check-in. The signage at the station was clear and it was a fifteen second walk to the platform.

The 16:46 train to Liverpool Lime Street via Urmston cost me around £3.50, this was not an expensive train.

The Northern train pulled in on time, it all boded well after the delays of earlier on during the day.

It wasn’t particularly busy and I’ve moaned enough times before about how they shove seats onto these services with minimal thought for comfort. There was though a USB power supply which was useful to top my phone up a little.

The view from the train window, just as there was an announcement that trespassers on the line at Warrington had caused a delay to the service. This felt sub-optimal as we sat there for ten minutes. Pesky interlopers.

We got to Birchwood and there was an announcement that the service was delayed and might be cancelled.

On the bright side, a more promising announcement was made and once again my train was likely to arrive something like 33 minutes late so I would get 50% off the fare. Given how cheap the fare was this was hardly a big bonus, but nonetheless, it would pay for a drink.

We arrived safely at Liverpool Lime Street. Taking into account the Delay Repay refunds, it meant that my journey from Norwich to Liverpool had cost just over £15, which is hard to complain about. I felt that the delays were just perfect insomuch as getting a partial refund, but without being majorly delayed and eating into my time in Liverpool.

The delights of the station concourse and it was great to be back in Liverpool once again. I haven’t been travelling much recently, so I’ve been very much looking forwards to a weekend away and it was rather lovely to finally arrive. I then just had to head to my hotel and then go to the Indian craft beer bar that I suggested we all meet at, a plan was coming together.

September 9, 2023
Liverpool Weekend (Day One) – Manchester and Cloudwater

Pleased with my visit to Track Brewing, located just over the road, I had enough time to visit Cloudwater for a beer still spending the Delay Repay train money on this little treat. I’ve visited the Cloudwater taproom on the Bermondsey Beer Mile a few times, but this is the first time that I’ve visited the set-up in their home city.

After a momentary bit of confusion as to where the tap room was, I found the steps up as it’s located on the first floor.

It might look like it, but I didn’t incompetently meander into this bit as it’s signed off as staff only, but I did take a photo.

There’s the beer board and there was a personable and friendly team member ready to take my order. She was conversational and engaging, it all felt a comfortable and inviting set-up.

I accept it might appear to be sub-optimal going to a brewery’s taproom and then having a guest beer, but I have worked through a lot of Cloudwater stuff already. Cloudwater beers are delightful and exciting, but I was intrigued with the Green Nebula beer from Uchu Brewing. This was really rather complex, it was dank, decadent, smooth and had flavours of key lime pie. I very much like key lime pie, so all told, this was one of the best beers that I’ve had in a while.

The interior of the taproom, which was clean and organised, and there is more seating downstairs. It’s under-stated and functional, all fair enough as the priority here is the beer.

The food options and that chicken curry pie tempted me, but I was restrained, not least because of the limited time that I had before going to get my next train which would sweep me into Liverpool.

I don’t often play them but I don’t dislike board games, this board game day is something that Tony from the Hop & Vine (the best pub in the country) does and there’s lots to be said for gossip, beer, board games and perhaps some cheese. I know how to live…..

With that it was time to make the 20 minute walk to Manchester Oxford Road railway station, but I was very pleased to have had chance to pop into this taproom. I liked the relaxed nature of arrangements, care had been taken with selecting the beer options and the team members were all friendly and welcoming. All really rather lovely.

September 9, 2023
Liverpool Weekend (Day One) – Manchester and Track Brewing

Safely into Manchester Piccadilly railway station, I was getting 50% off my fare due to Delay Repay which meant I thought I’d use that to visit Track Brewing and Cloudwater.

It’s around a fifteen minute walk from the railway station to Track, although I did walk at something of a speed to maximise the time that I had. Which inevitably mean I over-heated as, something I might have mentioned, it was too hot. There are quite generous opening hours for a taproom, it’s open from 14:00 until 22:00 on Tuesdays to Thursdays, from 12:00 until 22:00 on Fridays & Saturdays and from 12:00 until 20:00 on Sundays.

I didn’t find it the easier beer board to read due to how it angled back, but I was more interested in the beers than the internal decoration. They didn’t have many sour beers, it’s primarily pale ales and the like but it looked all rather interesting. They’ve usually got around 20 keg beers and 3 cask, something for nearly everyone. Oh, and what looked like a bucket of bar snacks.

Everything was reasonably priced, so I went for four different 1/3 measures (the more astute readers will notice one of these isn’t in the photograph). All the beers I ordered were brewed by Track and they were the ‘Sonoma’ Pale Ale, the ‘Half Dome’ Pale Ale, the ‘Not Equal To’ DIPA and the ‘Made in the Shade’ porter. The highlight of the arrangement for me was the DIPA, which was dank, smooth tasting and hazy in appearance.

The taproom looks over the brewing area and there’s also a food section selling pizzas. I would usually have been tempted, but alas, time was not on my side. Being able to see the brewery set-up always gives an air of authenticity to matters.

The pizza menu. The pepperoni, hot honey and N’djua one sounds quite delightful and also reasonably priced given how inflation seems to be taking its toll everywhere at the moment.

There was also an assortment of shrubbery to look at. They hold numerous events here, including brewery tours and samplings, as well as a chess, cheese and beer evening. I’m not sure any of my friends are particularly engaged in playing chess (and those who do are unlikely to be excited by the combination with craft beer and cheese), but that does sound a rather tempting event. Not that I can play chess very well, but I always remain enthusiastic with such things.

They’ve got a leaflet explaining the history of the brewery. Frankly, they’ve made more effort than many pubs do which have hundreds of years of stories to tell. The online reviews for this taproom are very positive and they’ve annoyed only a few people over the years which is always good going when there’s alcohol involved.

I liked it here as it was airy (important when it’s so hot), bright and not too busy. The service was friendly and there were plenty of different beers available. I was pleased to have made the effort to walk out to the brewery and it also meant that I had time to visit Cloudwater which is located over the road.

September 9, 2023
Liverpool Weekend (Day One) – Delay Repay and the Perfect Delay

I’m pleased to confirm that my train got in 33 minutes late into Manchester and so I’m getting a 50% refund on my rail fare. This is very optimal, a delay that doesn’t inconvenience me unduly but it’ll fund all my beers at Track and Cloudwater which I’m going to rush to visit. What a time to be alive! The rest of the journey incidentally was quiet, just some problems with the train which caused a few delays at a number of railway stations. But, I’m happy, this is all very handy for me, a minor delay and so free beer.

September 8, 2023
Norwich – King’s Arms (Two Julians)

Another day, another study tour and Julian and I were continuing our visits to pubs in Norwich. This is the King’s Arms on Hall Road and they’ve made a substantial effort with their floral arrangements. I know this pub reasonably well, a few of us used to visit every Friday night as they let you take your own food in from the nearby takeaways. Indeed, not only that, but they also provide sauces and plates for free to make the whole thing even more comfortable.

The pub is listed in the Good Beer Guide and it’s been serving alcohol to the population of Norwich since the 1830s. The pub was free trade for a few years when Greene King sold it in 1998, but it is now a Batemans pub. They’ve got twelve different ales available which are all clearly displayed above the bar, several of them from Batemans. To give a little snapshot of what to expect, the pub states on their web-site:

“There is no music, machines, pool or darts but this adds to, rather than detracts from, the great atmosphere – the King’s Arms is often described by regulars and newcomers alike as ‘a proper local’.”

I incidentally approve of that arrangement, I can’t be doing raucous.

I went for the XXXB from Batemans and it tasted as expected, but it wasn’t quite as cold as I would ideally have liked. Although, it was insanely hot on the day of our visit and both Julian and I turned up separately at the pub rather unsteady with all the heat. Roy was also there showing off his green finger, but enough said about that the better.

There’s a traditional and cosy feel to the pub and everything was clean and organised. The service was warm and friendly, with the pub taking cards and cash. The pub is positively reviewed on-line, but I feel for the venue as they’ve picked up some negative reviews from pubs with similar names. I’ve just tried to get a couple of the negatives ones that are evidently about somewhere else removed from Google in a bid to assist the pub, although I can’t imagine I’ll be successful. They have angered one local though who posted what appears to be piffle, with the pub commenting:

“Dont put rubbish reviews on just because you are barred. It only shows you up, not us.”

I like a pub that stands up for itself.

As another one of my random meanderings into irrelevance, I like these hand dryers that let you divert the air to a different direction. When it’s very hot, which I may have mentioned it was during our visit, the cool blow of air was actually quite useful. These are much better than those Dyson hand dryers where there’s a pool of odd smelling moisture at the base of them. Anyway, I digress as this series of posts is meant to be about pubs and not hand dryers, fascinating as that subject is and there’s probably already a niche web-site somewhere about them.

Looking towards the front of the pub, there’s a conservatory area off to the right.

Namely this one, with a garden area out the back as well.

Overall, this felt like a reliable and competently run pub and the welcome was warm and friendly. There were plenty of beers to choose from and the environment was inviting and comfortable. There were no negative issues that we encountered and it’s a useful destination to bring a takeaway meal into whilst enjoying a drink, knowing that there are cutlery and plates on hand.

September 8, 2023
Liverpool Weekend (Day One) – The Train has Broken Down

The good news was that a friend recommended the delights of Cloudwater and Track for my two hour craft beer bar stop in Manchester before I boarded the thunderbolt rail service to Liverpool. The bad news is that the East Midlands train, which my two loyal readers may have noted I referred to earlier as rickety, has broken down at Chesterfield railway station. I’m not particularly disappointed as Delay Repay is kicking in now so I’ll get some of my rail fare back, but my time in Manchester is ever decreasing…..

Currently nearly 30 minutes behind schedule and we can’t hear what’s wrong as the speakers in the train aren’t working properly. But even that delay is still over an hour of craft beering in Manchester if they hurry up and come up with a new plan. Although I suspect I might be rejoining the train one hour behind which Bev is on. Susan and Steve are sensibly on trains via London, they’re living the life of luxury on their services.

September 8, 2023
Liverpool Weekend (Day One) – This Situation is Sub-Optimal

Carrying on my random complaint of why can’t this train have more carriages given that it is at capacity in terms of passengers and luggage, it wasn’t the most ideal situation from Norwich to Peterborough. A friendly man sat opposite me, but a pair got on late and asked him to move next to me so they could sit together. He ignored these interlopers so they sat opposite each other, he complaining that he’s got to get a long train journey to go to court and she seemed just exhausted. It wasn’t ideal that she started to fall asleep into me but my passive aggressive nature meant that she woke up, apologised and moved. People often say travel is a marvellous thing and they’re not wrong, but it certainly has its moments.

I have no idea what happened to Bev, I hope she’s escaped this train at Peterborough. I’m pleased to say that we’re rolling on now and will be going through Grantham, Nottingham, Ilkeston, Alfreton, Chesterfield, Sheffield and Stockport before arriving into Manchester. It’s quite relaxing now.

I’m not sure that I know anyone who is available and who can give quick advice on which craft beer bars to visit in Manchester, I shall have to perform my own research endeavours on what is possible in the short period of time I have there. But, more importantly, I hope this train remains relatively peaceful.

September 8, 2023