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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
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
Food from Every Stall on Norwich Market – Week 21 and Tasty House

It’s week 21 of my visiting every food stall on Norwich market and today’s expedition was to Tasty House (the more formal name is Tasty House South East Asian Street Food Emporium) which specialises in Asian street food including Thai and Chinese.

The menu is relatively extensive with some daily changing specials. There are some traditional dishes, vegan & vegetarian options and sides such as spring rolls. The menu and the pricing should be visible by zooming into the above image on Flickr.

I know it’s not something that I mention often as I don’t like to moan or complain, but it’s too hot in Norwich at the moment. So given that, I went for a Dr. Pepper as a refreshing cool drink. Oh, and the food, I went for the Chicken Green Curry with sticky rice. The regular size which I went for was £7, although there was a large for £8.50, with options also of Jasmine rice or noodles.

The kitchen area and the food was served promptly, but I had a minute or two to wait as James was allowing other people to be served before him in the queue. He’s very much a gentleman…. The stall usually takes card payments, but their machine wasn’t working today and so it was fortunate that we both had cash available.

I started to eat whilst standing at the counter, but a helpful team member mentioned there was a seating area at the end of the stall they run opposite. That stall specialises in serving Asian ingredients, with the back of some of the shelves visible in the above photo.

But, back to the food, which I thought was a sufficiently generous portion for the money. I liked the food, with the chicken being tender and moist whilst also still full of flavour. The sauce had a depth of taste with some heat to it, which I thought was appropriate for a green curry. The rice was sticky as expected, with everything being at the appropriate hot temperature. I felt full at the end of this meal, which isn’t always the case by any means, with the standard of the food being higher than I had expected. There was a small salad included, which wasn’t offensive (well, not more than a salad usually is) but it wilted rather quickly on the warm rice. Also, although the curry sauce was a little thin, that meant that it soaked up the rice well giving extra flavour to the whole arrangement.

James went for the crispy chicken which is deep fried in batter with a spicy sauce. Perhaps not ideally moist, James likes the crispiness to the chicken and the flavour of the spicy sauce. It likely wasn’t as spicy as he wanted, since he could do the One Chip Challenge about eight times over, but he was content and sufficiently surprised and delighted.

Back to the service, this was pro-active, friendly and confident. I stood in the wrong place to order, but that was because I’m an idiot rather than because it wasn’t clear. The team members were helpful and they mentioned the seating area, also noticing that we needed to throw the litter away at the end and they came to James’s aid. I felt welcome throughout and the surroundings were clean and comfortable. The food was excellent, they had cold Dr. Pepper and this is a stall that I’d merrily visit again and recommend because it felt reassuringly competent.

September 7, 2023
Streets of Norwich – Damocles Court

Part of my Streets of Norwich project…. [updated in September 2023]

Firstly, and annoyingly, I have no idea why this street has this name. Answers on a postcard…. Unless it’s a recent dig at the authorities, since Damocles is about the constant threat which is faced by those who hold positions on power.

The court isn’t named on the above map, but it’s the one in the centre, which leads off Pottergate. Indeed, it doesn’t seem to have been named anywhere before 1980, so it sounds like a modern name. The court did once lead into Wellington Square, which has long since been demolished.

Looking down the courtyard, number 100 Pottergate is on the right.

In June 1980, the Illustrated London News had an article about housing in Norwich City Centre, noting:

“Damocles Court is a mixture of upgraded old houses and new buildings in vernacular style on decaying backlands”.

I’m not sure that I’ve seen Norwich city centre defined as “decaying backlands”…..

So, for the moment, this one is puzzling and I shall wait patiently for someone to solve this little mystery.

September 7, 2023
Norwich – Rosary Cemetery (John Burrows)

[This is a repost with minor amendments, I’ve tried again to find out more about John Burrows but have had no breakthroughs of interest]

This grave at the Rosary Cemetery in Norwich caught my eye because of the use of Roman numerals, which require some thought (well, they do to me) to resolve…. It’s the grave of John Burrows who died on 16 January 1837 aged 78 years old. There are also two other names listed on the other side, also with Roman numerals used, which are Paul Thomas Edwards and Judith Edwards, but more of them anon.

The first burial in the Rosary Cemetery was in 1821, but as the established church didn’t really engage with this non-denominational site there weren’t that many more burials over the next decade. This means that John’s birth of 1758 is probably one of the earliest in the cemetery.

John was born on 30 November 1758 and was baptised on 3 December 1758 at St. James with Pockthorpe Church in Norwich, which is now better known as Norwich Puppet Theatre, and he was the son of John and Mary Burrows.

John was married on 22 October 1780 to Judith Yeomans of Trowse in the same church as he was baptised. They had their first child, again called John, who was born on 4 November 1785 and was baptised two days later, again at St. James with Pockthorpe Church. They had another child, Judith, who was born on 15 May 1791 and baptised seven days later, with no prizes for guessing at which church….

Judith, the wife of John, died at the age of just 42 on 24 June 1804 and was buried at St. James with Pockthorpe Church, yet another event for the family at this particular church.

John died on 16 January and was buried in the dissenters area of the cemetery on 22 January 1837. This is interesting, as something has happened that has made John not want to be buried at the church in which he was baptised, he was married, where his children were baptised and where his wife was buried. Instead, he’s deliberately been buried and listed as a dissenter.

I mentioned at the beginning that on the other side of the grave were the names Paul Thomas Edwards and Judith Edwards, and Judith was John’s daughter and Paul was his son-in-law. They married in January 1833, with John being listed as now living in Thorpe Hamlet and Thomas was working as a lime burner. And more about them in another post.

But, I can’t yet resolve what happened to John between the death of his wife in 1804 and his own burial in 1837, a period where his religious beliefs either changed or he felt able to freely express them. That meant that he ended up being buried along in the Rosary Cemetery until his daughter and son-in-law were buried with him a few decades later. I’m sure that there’s a fascinating story here, but I’m less sure that the documentary record exists to tell me what it is.

September 5, 2023
200 Years Ago : Dangers of Surry Street and St. Stephen’s

Reported in the Norfolk Chronicle 200 years ago today, there was the story of how a robbery had taken place near the Crown Inn on St. Stephen’s (long gone, it closed in the 1830s). Of more interest perhaps is how the newspaper felt obliged to warn the local denizens of just how dangerous this part of the city had become. They wrote warning of murder:

“In noticing this circumstance, we feel it incumbent on us to animadvert [isn’t this a wonderful word? It means to speak out against] upon the danger to which passengers and property are exposed in St. Stephen’s and Surry Street, from those two principal thoroughfares being at this time of the year, in point of fact, neither watched not lighted. The extreme darkness of Saturday was not relieved by the glimmering of a single lamp, and as for the watchman, not only robbery, but murder, might have been committed with impunity, for any thing that the nocturnal guardian of the district in question, was at hand to do.”

And for anyone who believes Norwich was safer in the past, the newspaper stories from 200 years ago suggest a city where crime was common and residents were in fear. Surry Street is actually what is now called All Saints Green, whereas Surrey Street connects All Saints Green to St. Stephen’s.

This map is from the 1850s, but All Saints Green (Surry Street) is the larger area below the church, whereas St. Stephen’s is the road shooting off to the left.

September 5, 2023
Two Julians – Norwich Index

It’s our intention to visit every pub in Norfolk and Suffolk, such as the commitment that Julian S and I have to this project. Our back catalogue is available at http://www.norfolksuffolk.org.uk/ for your delight and perusal. Or something like that anyway….

Here’s a list of the Norwich pubs we’ve visited:

Adam and Eve [January 2025]

Alexandra Tavern [August 2023]

Belle Vue [August 2023]

Berstrete Gates [February 2025]

Chambers Cocktail Company [March 2025]

Champion [February 2025]

Cinema City Bar [March 2025]

Coach and Horses – Thorpe Road [March 2025]

Coach and Horses – Union Street [February 2025]

Coachmakers Arms [February 2025]

Compleat Angler [March 2025]

Fat Cat [August 2023]

Fat Cat and Canary [March 2025]

Freemason’s Arms [September 2023]

Glass House [March 2025]

Hop Rocket [February 2025]

Jubilee [March 2025]

King William IV [March 2025]

King’s Arms [September 2023]

Nelson – Closed [August 2023]

Robin Hood [January 2025]

Rose [January 2025]

Rumsey Wells [March 2025]

St. Andrew’s Brewhouse [March 2025]

Strangers Tavern [March 2025]

West End Retreat [August 2023]

York [February 2025]

September 5, 2023
Norwich – Belle Vue (Two Julians)

Next on our list of pubs to visit was the Belle Vue and I’ve already written something about how the licence of this venue came about in my post about the Alexandra Tavern. It received its licence in 1878 and has gone through a number of owners, including S&P, Bullards, Watney Mann, the Norwich Brewery and now Enterprise Inns have it so it might well be doomed. Certainly the last few years have been troubled, it has faced a series of temporary closures and it’s on the back foot given that the nearby Good Beer Guide listed Alexandra Tavern is free of tie. This venue reopened in 2022 and the management posted on-line that “we are now open, new owners and new team. Food led, wood fired pizza oven, craft ales, wines and cocktails”.

There’s plenty going on here, I admire the effort being put in by the publicans. As a first impression, this gives a proper community feel to the whole arrangement.

There were four real ales, the Dizzy Blonde from Robinsons (now removed of females on its pump clips after a series of complaints), Black Wolf from Wolf Brewery, Golden Jackal from Wolf Brewery and Ghost Ship from Adnams. For what I’m assuming is a tied selection, this seemed quite reasonable and a perfectly acceptable range. They accept cards and cash, with the whole transaction being efficient and prompt.

I went for the Black Wolf from Wolf Brewery which wasn’t at its best. Served slightly too warm for my preference, which is likely just through sitting in the line, it wasn’t crisp or refreshing. I wasn’t entirely confident that this beer had been pulled through recently, but either which way, it wasn’t quite the quality I hoped for, but it remained drinkable.

I can’t say that I find the interior particularly cosy, there are a range of decors which are in places quite dark and it doesn’t feel light and inviting. It was clean throughout though, the publicans have made an effort to ensure that surfaces were dry and not sticky, with no empty glasses left on tables.

A view from the other end of the pub, this feels like it needs something of a makeover. There was some promotional material around the venue which was out of date which was hardly important in the scale of things, but felt a little sub-optimal. However, it would be wrong not to mention that the service was timely, friendly and conversational. We were greeted on entry and thanked on departure, so there was no absence of welcome. I felt comfortable during the visit and it felt like a pub that someone new to the area would find welcoming if they wanted to meet new people.

I noted the owner’s comments last year about bringing in craft ales (although I’m not sure what that phrase means here, I assume craft beer), but I didn’t see any during our visit and I can’t see any evidence of that judging from entries on Untappd over the last year. I’m struggling to add much more here as the pub’s web-site has disappeared and they stopped updated social media, so other than the board outside the pub it’s not entirely evident what they’re got going on. There is food served, but the hours are minimal for what they claimed last year is a food led pub, so I’m not easily able to write about the venue’s USP. I suspect from the signage that the karaoke, quiz night and free pool evenings are key drivers for the venue, so a visit on one of those evenings might be recommended for those who want to see the pub at its best.

However, I accept that a lack of web-site and the like might be fine as I will add my normal caveat that it is entirely possible that the venue is performing very well and they don’t need any more trade, which is a perfectly acceptable position. It remains very positive that the pub is still open serving the local community and it deserves plenty of praise for remaining open during these challenging times.

September 5, 2023