There is no shortage of derelict buildings in Blackpool, but it seems sad when a beautiful building like this is left to go ruin. Yates has another venue in the centre of Blackpool, but this one closed in March 2022 and was put up for sale for £900,000. I think it’s a fair guess to suspect that there weren’t many takers at the time.
If they don’t repair the building soon, it’s not clear that it’ll be able to be saved.
An urban explorer’s look at the building from a few months ago.
Well, that was bloody dreadful. I had intended to walk along the seafront to the railway station, but it was genuinely impossible as the wind was blowing me off my feet and I’m hardly lightweight. I walked along the road parallel and that was challenging enough, not helped by the amount of debris flying about. A lovely lady crossed the road to tell me that I should cross over as there were tiles coming off a roof (just visible in the photo above) which was kind. I also started talking to one of the refuse collectors and he said that they were out working as the bins were flying everywhere and they were trying to secure them. Proper hard working refuse crew that, they were struggling to stand and were having to almost catch bins.
I hardly dare take many photos as I worried the wind might blow my phone out of my hands, but there were bins all over the place and debris was going everywhere where bins had spilled over.
More on this later, but I got to the railway station to find my train cancelled, although I’m making progress towards Sheffield now. I made such slow progress that I was glad to have left plenty of time to get to the railway station. Stay safe out there and all that….
I saw this when on the little expedition that Liam had arranged and it looked suitably tempting as I can be quite greedy on occasion. I reserved a table on-line the previous evening, although I guessed that this wouldn’t really be needed. One thing that did slightly annoy me is that you can book on-line any table size from 2 people to 50 people, they seem to have forgotten about the option for 1 person. The venue is one of the three in the chain, the other two being located in Scotland.
It’s a sizeable place and I can imagine it gets very busy during the summer months. Less so on a cold windy weekday lunchtime in January. The venue did get hit with a 1/5 food hygiene rating a couple of years ago, but they’re back to top marks again now. The welcome was friendly and engaging, although they did try and overcharge me, but that seemed a genuine error.
There are rows of these, it’s the largest lunchtime selection at an all you can eat that I’ve seen. There were plenty of curries, stir fries, random fried food and they had some live cooking stations as well. Everything seemed clean, tidy and organised to me.
Don’t judge me on the beer, I thought it was the best available option. It’s the Birra Moretti and it tasted a little generic, but it was refreshing and clean so it had to do. I very much like brown food I’ve realised, but there is evidence of vegetables in there for the more eagle eyed of my four blog readers. I won’t post every food photo as I don’t want to look greedy, although, in fairness I think I was quite restrained.
I liked the window seat that I was given, it was really quite peaceful. You don’t normally get that sort of things at restaurants like this, it usually feels a bit more for a free for all.
The dessert selection.
Delicious.
The end result is that I didn’t need anything to eat for the day, although I probably over-did it as usual. It would probably be best if I could sign up to some sort of national self-exclusion database from all you can eat locations, as I can get overexcited…. Anyway, I thought the value here was rather good for £18 including the food and drink.
I’m not in the epicentre of Storm Éowyn (I’m not actually sure that storms like this actually have epicentres, but I like the word so it’s staying) as I’m in Blackpool at the moment. But, with a hotel room that looks out onto the Irish Sea (or the American Sea if Trump has renamed that overnight) it’s making quite a noise here as well. I now have the excitement of a 45 minute walk along the coast to get to the railway station, but one of the advantages of not being thin is that I needn’t worry too much about being blown away.
The train I’m taking to Manchester is currently operating as normal, although the rail industry itself is entirely confused as to what happens when trains are cancelled when “Do Not Travel” warnings are issued. Here’s the guidance, which makes some logical sense, but it still relies on some goodwill from rail operators.
This concept is really for my amusement, but I’ll document it anyway as I’m like that.
This was the first image that Liam sent, along with the clue:
“This arty boy can be found between the wish.com Eiffel Tower and a park where Henry VIII had a cottage”
To be honest, I thought this would be easy even without thinking about the clue. There is what could be described as a bloody great clue in the image itself.
I was down by Blackpool Pleasure Beach and it was evident that Liam’s clue was about two miles north, but I wanted to walk that way anyway. Here’s the South Pier which was built in 1893 as the Victoria Pier, but renamed in 1930 to its current name. As a fun engineering fact, the pier is unusual for being built with the Worthington Screw Pile System. I mean, I have no idea, but Liam knows about piling and banging things into the ground whilst making a huge noise.
I had got around three minutes into the walk before I realised I hadn’t had any lunch and it was by now evening. Sometimes, I just have to go for convenience.
£2.80 as I had a 15% off voucher. I used this time to work out where the image was taken from and realised that this might be a challenge as although the Blackpool Tower is quite obvious, the photo could have been taken from three different sides. I decided to have a think about the clue itself, but can’t say that entirely helped me. Liam had been cleverer than I had expected and he’d done this very quickly.
Blackpool Illuminations. I understand that I’m in the off-season for Blackpool, but I counted that there are over 60 hotels in the town for sale at the moment with some at very low prices. I walked by more derelict buildings than I had expected and this does feel like a challenge for Blackpool given just how many hospitality businesses there are fighting for what appears to be a limited trade.
There’s Blackpool Tower starting to appear in the distance. What is evident is just how long Blackpool seafront actually is.
I thought I’d pop in some amusements to see if I could find 2p. I was the only person in there and so thought I might look a bit out of place. I didn’t find 2p.
The King of Rock and Rollercoasters.
The remnants of the Christmas decorations, most of which have been removed now.
Luckily for blog readers, I was in Blackpool in December, so this is what they looked like lit up.
I didn’t realise that the Houndshill shopping centre was shut at night, but they left a little bit open which meant I had to leave from a door I hadn’t expected…. This is the level of top drama I have in life…
It comes out near the Winter Gardens.
It was by this time I realised that I couldn’t find Liam’s location by walking about and I couldn’t work out the clue, it went right over my head. So, I went to the Layton Rakes pub to have half a pint of the Burn’s Auld Sleekit. Under-poured, but it cost 90p and so I couldn’t much complain, and it was a reasonable beer which was creamy with some toffee. Odd service though, the manager forgot to process my card payment so i stood there at the bar whilst he looked at me annoyed why I was hanging around. He proceeded to ignore me until he tried to process the next customer’s payment and couldn’t as he still had my payment on the till.
Anyway, I decided I’d have to take drastic action at this point and sit there with my laptop to work this situation out. Through walking around the roads to the north and south of the Blackpool Tower, I worked out that the photo had to be taken from the east side. Which meant some looking at Google Street View to narrow matters down. It was then when looking at the map that I worked out that Liam’s clue referred to Kingscote Park, which I should have realised earlier. With the options narrowed down, it took just a few minutes to find where the image was taken from.
That meant I knew where I needed to go.
And here we are. I have no idea what the locals through I was doing, but hopefully they thought I was taking a photo of the Blackpool Tower from a weird angle.
Some wall art. Liam sent me the next part of the clue which was “now look right whilst heading to the pub of the extinct dog”. I decided that as it was dark, I’d complete this the following morning. But not before I had walked by the all you can eat restaurant Mr Basrai’s World Cuisines and I decided to book a table for that the next lunchtime as they had 15% off as a January offer.
At this point I popped to the pub.
Back again the next morning, this is the Salvation Army Citadel building, although it was constructed as the Raikes Road Technical School between 1904 and 1905.
My lunch at Mr Basrai’s World Cuisines, as mentioned (but more about in another post as I was suitably surprised and delighted here), before going after the final part of the clue. It took me a while to realise that the pub he meant was the Talbot as I hadn’t realised that this was an extinct dog. Every day is a learning day….
And here we are, Liam’s chosen location. This was painted in July 2022 and it was first thought to be a Banksy, and I’m sure that the home owner got very excited. It’s actually by Mr Eggs, a Manchester street artist.
I was rather pleased with this whole arrangement as I got to see some parts of Blackpool that I wouldn’t have thought of visiting and it meant I got to go to a pub that I really liked and also found an impressive lunch spot for the next day. As a reward, I’ve decided to let Liam do some more of these.
The next in my visit to Good Beer Guide pubs up and down the country was Cask and Tap which is a micro-pub that opened in September 2020 and has received positive on-line reviews. Before this, the building was home to the Nour Lebanese Restaurant and before that the Buddiez American Grill and then before that the Reggae Hut Jamaican Restaurant and then before that the Autumn Leaves carvery. The sign-writers have had a busy few years here.
The beer and cider selection. There were several customers sitting at the bar, but I was welcomed promptly and the environment felt welcoming. I don’t like a blocked bar when I can’t see what beers are available, but they are clearly chalked up to make matters easy.
The first beer (on the left) was the Hollywood Smile from Wensleydale Brewery, a creamy ale with a fruit and hoppy taste. The crisps were OK, better than Walkers but not quite as decadent as Tyrells or Pipers.
This was really very lovely, the Baked Alaska from Yonder Brewing. A beautiful beer with a suitable level of sourness, a bit of lemon meringue flavour, berries and all together a decadent liquid dessert from Yonder.
It’s a bright and vibrant interior, which felt comfortable and cosy. The bar shuts a little earlier than some other nearby locations, which is why I couldn’t make it when I was last in Blackpool, but I can imagine that this avoiding very late night trade is sensible. A very decent selection of beers and ciders in a peaceful environment with the prices being reasonable, so all rather lovely.
For the sake of completion, since I wrote about my visit to the other JD Wetherspoon in Preston (the Twelve Tellers) before I went on a tour of the Preston pubs that are listed in the Good Beer Guide. This is the Grey Friar, a modern venue and JD Wetherspoon note about the name:
“This is named after the Franciscan monks (known as Grey Friars from the colour of their habit) who founded a nearby friary in the early 13th century. The friary was founded around 1220. It gave its name to Friargate, but was actually in Marsh Lane (formerly Friars Lane), between Lower Pitt Street and Ladywell Street. The Franciscans, or Grey Friars, are also remembered in the name of this pub.”
I went for the Hoppy Christmas from Conwy Brewery and it wasn’t great, it was well kept but there was no depth of taste here and an almost unpleasant bitterness. It was tolerable and I had thought it was the best looking of the three Christmas beers that they had. Not that I wanted a Christmas themed beer, it was just the only three guests that they had were all Christmas themed. Service was slightly sluggish, but I wasn’t in a rush and it was all polite and friendly enough.
As usual, I felt that need to have a look at the reviews as some of the angry ones at a Wetherspoon pub often entertain me as I don’t get out much.
“Ive been coming to Grayfiers for the past 10 years, being nearly 30 and recently been a great place to meet my friend who works at country hall. Tonight the lady serving me (assuming manager) decided to ID me. Since bring a regular, local and with contactless i no longer bring my wallet out. I dont look under 25 and have facial hair. Yet she refused to serve me. Although flattering ive not been ID’d anywhere now for over 3 years. Today was my last day i will step foot in greyfryers. Its also the last day all of my fellow club members will meet for socal gatherings in fryers. A short walk to 12 tellers and ive been served here. So i guess we will all meet here from now on.”
All because they ID’ed a 30 year old that they thought looked 25? I love a bit of drama.
“Went for breakfast before shopping . Food was served freezing cold, hard egg and what looked like a chewed up piece of bacon. I had to eat because we didn’t have time to wait for more food. I did complain and the young boy said “oh sorry” no offer of refund or free drink.”
I never really understand these, it looks awful, eat it and then wonder why no refund…
“I called in for some lunch this afternoon I will not be returning!!!! I have never felt so insulted and belittled in my life. My food didn’t arrive and when I questioned politely we’re my food was got a mouthful of abuse from a member of staff. I am 40 years of age and dined in pubs for years I have never been spoke to like that. I will not be returning and would recommend others do likewise, my family and friends will be.”
I mean, who knows, but how can “I questioned politely” go to a team member deciding to insult and belittle a customer? I’m always intrigued about the missing part of the story.
“Went with my friends to this weatherspoons today, ordered a glass of milk, mushy peas and a buiscuit. We waited around a hour for this order, before asking one of their workers where it was. He then said “oh do you want a glass of milk”, we said “yes of course” then my friend said “if there’s anything else on the order, could we have it”, he then said “I might do”. This was a very rude response and he completely lacked in customer service skills. We then decided to go to the till after waiting half a hour for our order, and they said “well we thought it was a joke, so you’ve been refunded” stating this in a very snotty and unprofessional way. Even the manager was very rude. I will never be returning to this weatherspoons again”
Oh, the Wetherspoon game, order a load of rubbish to a table, wonder why it isn’t brought out and then rate the pub 1/5 after trying to put the staff in an awkward position.
“We were enjoying ourselves when got told to turn our music off as they don’t have a license which I thought was unjustified as only we could hear it”
Good.
“I went to Preston for a city break. I usually go to Wetherspoons when in a new town, and headed straight there. All the staff were chatting to the locals – fair enough – got served my pint amid gales of laughter from all. Again – fair enough – after all I’m a stranger. But then I realised they were laughing at me, because I’d ordered a Carlsberg and not a real ale.”
If that is true, that is horrendous, although Wetherspoon seem to sell a lot of lager, so it seems a bit odd. Anyway, I digress and I’m pleased to note that no-one commented on my Christmas drink purchase, so all was well. It’s not the most exciting of interiors, unlike their sister pub not far down the road, but it’s cheap, cheerful and sizeable. A reliable pub and there’s cheap coffee, it’s one of those which is charging £1.04 for unlimited hot drinks at the moment. What a time to be alive and all that….
With an hour left until my train, this was the last pub in Preston that I was able to visit in my little expedition around their Good Beer Guide listed venues. It was known as the Otter’s Pocket when it opened in November 2018, but was renamed to its current name in March 2020. Prior to that it had been a shop and then previous to that it was a Mediterranean restaurant for several years.
The pub interior, it’s relatively spacious as there are a few more seats at the rear, but it’s still ultimately a micro-pub and I can imagine that it gets full relatively quickly.
That’s not a lined glass, so this is a short measure. It’s the Jelly Swirl Trifle pale Ale from Play Brew Co, but it had considerable flavour for a cask beer. It does what it say on the can (well on the Untappd screen), sweet, jelly and like a dessert.
My second beer, which was a third of the Gingerbread Latte from Vault City Brewing. Often Christmas beers really aren’t very good, but this is one that I can absolutely get behind. It was smooth, boozy, decadent and had an excellent mouthfeel with tastes of ginger and cinnamon.
I didn’t take a photo of the screen, although their beers are listed on Untappd for anyone who is interested in perusing their menu. The service was polite, but the atmosphere felt a little stilted and it wasn’t perfectly clean as the table was sticky and the handwash in the toilet had run out, but I accept that these things happen. They weren’t doing food when I was there, but they have pies, burgers, salads and light bites on Wednesday to Sunday lunchtimes and Wednesday to Saturday evenings, a relatively large menu given the size of the premises.
Certainly an interesting venue and I can see why they’re in the Good Beer Guide with their choices of real ales. The craft beer selection was excellent and that Vault City beer was a joy to behold, a beautiful beer on which to end my little trip to Preston. All really rather lovely and I look forwards to visiting again to see what craft beer that they have to surprise and delight me.
Next in my Good Beer Guide expedition was the Guild Ale House, which was the town’s first micro-pub when it opened in February 2016 in place of the former Hospice charity shop who previously occupied the premises.
The only two customers in the entire pub were sitting in front of the bar pumps, but fortunately they had a drinks screen which made matters easier. There’s a choice of cask and keg on the screen, but they also have a bottled selection as well including some Belgian options.
I went for the Bullet Tooth Tony from Wilde Child Brewing Company, which was well-kept and had some fruit tones, but I found it quite bland. I’ve always rated Wilde Child’s darker beers rather better, but it wasn’t an unpleasant beer.
The pub’s interior which is spacious and there’s a reasonable amount of space. They frequently have live music and other events, although they don’t play background music which is something I think they’re doing right.
I noted CAMRA’s comment of “worth noting they may close earlier than stated times dependent on footfall”, so I didn’t risk going in the evening and went at lunchtime. The venue is though very well-reviewed and in the eight years they’ve been trading they haven’t picked up a single 1-star review on Google, and only have two 2-star reviews. That’s a fairly impressive piece of pub management, so it’s no surprise that they’ve also won several CAMRA awards. Anyway, this seems to be a consistently good real ale pub and long may it continue.
The Twelve Tellers in Preston is a JD Wetherspoon operated pub and isn’t in the Good Beer Guide, although I managed to visit just about all of the central Preston pubs that are in the book.
That’s a quite impressive view. I visited at 11:00 and so wasn’t going for alcohol, my unlimited coffee cost just £1.04 and the pub is on one of the lowest price bands for the chain in the country.
Those two doors are located either side of the main room.
The twelve tellers which the pub is named after and one of the doors is also visible here.
It’s just about readable. but there’s a longer version on the JD Wetherspoon web-site:
“This imposing grade II listed building now occupied by J D Wetherspoon stands on the site of the former Preston Savings Bank, Church Street, that was purpose built. The foundation stone was laid by WP Park, chairman of the trustees in October 1905 and the building opened to the public in 1907 as the company’s headquarters. The bank later became part of the Trustee Savings Bank Group where the public was served inside the grand banking hall by twelve tellers from behind the 65-feet long counter.
The former bank stands on the site of an older bank, established in 1776. It was originally a private residence and in 1715 was owed by Mr Eyre. Later that year, Jacobite rebels entered Preston and proclaimed Prince James Edward Stuart King of England. They used Mr Eyre’s house as their headquarters until it was ‘recovered by a large party of dismounted troops’. The marble and mosaic flooring in front of the counter includes the arms of the Borough of Preston. Preston derives its name from the old English words ‘Presta’ and ‘tun’, meaning ‘priest’s town’. The Holy Lamb emblem is centuries old, associated with St Wilfred, a patron saint of the City of Preston.”
The TSB closed the bank in 1997 and the building could have easily fallen into disrepair, with Bass trying to turn it into a super pub in 2000, but those plans were rejected. It’s, I think, an undeniably careful and thoughtful conversion into a public house and there’s plenty more seating in the rear part of the building, and another area upstairs in what was formerly the board room.
As for the reviews, I’ve found that nearly every JD Wetherspoon venue gets a score of between 3.8 and 4.1 on Google Reviews, with this one no different at 4.0%. Looking at the reviews…..
“My wife and I waited for 18 minutes but no one showed up to take our order, one waiter was on the phone the whole time we were there. He kept on looking at us but didn’t bother coming over or sending someone else”
I think I can work out the problem here with the customer wondering why the waiter didn’t come over.
“Me and my partner walked in here 50 mins ago and ordered 2 drinks each on the app. Drinks still not arrived. Been sat here waiting nearly an hour, yet I’ve seen people walk up to the bar and walk away with their drinks within minute. There is no way to cancel an order on the app so we are stuck here indefinitely. Rubbish. Will be leaving whenever they finally arrive.”
I think I might have walked over to the bar at this point. I wonder if they’re still there.
“THANKS FOR SIMONELLA POISNING! There food is absolutely awful me and my 16mouth daughter got Simonella poisning from the chicken and burgers.”
Interesting spelling. And likely complete piffle.
Anyway, I didn’t order any beer, but I noted that they had four guest ales including from Oakham, Sambrooks, Robinsons and Batemans, all at £2.29 a pint which is something of a bargain. I thought that the whole arrangement was interesting and well managed, and it maintained a decent atmosphere despite being of quite a cavernous size.
