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Tuesday – Quick Visit to Bishop Auckland (Part Three)

Setting off from Shildon railway station after my visit to the Locomotion museum, which has been here since 1825 and its siting here led to a great expansion of the village during the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, there’s not much here in terms of station infrastructure, even slow and steady improvements over just under 200 years should have seen more facilities. The nearby museum has though helped usage of the station and that is likely to increase from the expansion of Locomotion.

It’s a short rail journey into Bishop Auckland along the route of a line which is also original from the beginnings of the Stockton & Darlington Railway.

I don’t think that I’ve visited Bishop Auckland before and the main street from the railway station didn’t look anything particularly exciting, but then this rather grand and lovely market square appeared into view.

I thought as though I might as well pop into the JD Wetherspoon, the Stanley Jefferson. I clearly don’t know my comedy history as I assumed that this was some Victorian benefactor to the town, but instead:

“The Laurel Room, in Bishop Auckland Town Hall, is named after Stan Laurel. Born Stanley Jefferson, Stan Laurel is better known as the thin half of the famous double-act Laurel and Hardy. Stan’s parents managed the town’s Theatre Royal. Stan was christened here and, in 1903, attended the grammar school.”

Not overly decadent, but entirely satisfactory and there were also numerous power points to keep my devices charged. I seem to focus too much on that, but I can’t be one of those care-free people in life who wouldn’t collapse into a state of nervous tension if their phone died.

The pub seems well reviewed, but of course not everyone is surprised and delighted. I liked this one:

“4 Regular Real Ale enthusiasts Abbott Ale being our favourite. Today, no Abbott next choice 2 were pulled then off. Next choice also off. When we questioned it we were told “Well we don’t sell much Real Ale on weekends it’s mostly SHOTS ” !!!. What a load of insulting rubbish!!”

I make no comment on Abbot Ale as that would be cheap, but I was amused about the “on weekends it’s mostly shots”. I know a pub that was run like that…. Ah for the days of selling Apple Sourz.

St. Anne’s Church which is Grade II listed, but is relatively late for a town’s main church, with the building having been designed by William Thompson and dating from between 1846 and 1848. It was though built on the site of a former medieval chapel, but it’s not currently in good shape and is on the Heritage at Risk Register. It received funding a few years ago from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England but another project is needed to secure the building.

The town’s war memorial, which was moved a few years ago from its previous location on Station Approach.

A line was added in 1982 to note the Falkland Islands war. It’s a beautiful monument and in a nice area of the town, although those steps could do with a bit of tidying up.

Auckland Tower, which I had though was something to do with the fire service, but it’s actually a 29 metre high viewing tower. It was designed by Nìall McLaughlin and is meant to look modern but also to reflect the design of historic buildings. It has sweeping views over the castle and the Wetherspoons.

The town grew up from when in 1183 the Prince Bishops of Durham built their country retreat here, which later became Auckland Castle.

The entrance to the gateway, this area certainly feels salubrious.

The gateway from outside.

And a nearly identical photo of the gateway, this time taken from within the castle estate. The gateway was constructed in 1760 and was designed by Sir Thomas Robinson of Rokeby for Bishop William Trevor.

A rather glorious building, I can’t say I’ve seen one which has combined building materials like this.

One of the external walls to the castle.

And the reason I took the previous photo is that this interesting heritage board shows what they discovered on this site during recent archaeological digs.

Looking over to the gardens.

The entrance to the castle, which is open to the public during the day and there’s plenty to see during a visit looking at their web-site. If I come back to Bishop Auckland, I think I’d like to look around these buildings. I understand that the town feels it needs a major economic boost and it’s trying to create something of a tourist attraction of this castle, and other projects such as the aforementioned viewing tower and the gardens. They are aiming to encourage people to stay for a couple of days, rather than just briefly popping to the town. So, in short, trying to get people not to do what I did. The castle is still owned by the church and they use part of the site as offices.

Back in the market square and I was slightly surprised seeing such a grand building being used by Sports Direct (not that there’s anything wrong with that, but in a wealthier town it would likely by tea rooms or something). There were a fair few empty shops in the town and it didn’t have a vibrant atmosphere, despite all of the heritage and history all around.

Bondgate, a quaint street which is more what I’d expect from a provincial town and this was once the retail heart of Bishop Auckland. Shops down here are mostly independent retailers, similar to The Lanes in Norwich, something a little different from the usual number of chains.

Back on Newgate Street, walking back to the railway station.

I was rather taken by this building (not Heron Foods, but the former Lloyds) and it would probably make an interesting place to live, especially if there’s access to the bank’s former vault.

The number of shops to let is visible in this photo, there were probably around twenty along Newgate Street.

The town’s railway station (not Halfords, the building in the middle of the photo) which was opened in the 1980s after they had demolished the previous one. It was (in my view at least) yet another sad chapter in the history of British Rail, the demolition of a grand 1867 railway station to be replaced with a completely inadequate replacement. There are lots of photos of the old station, which is buried underneath Halfords and the other retail units, at http://disused-stations.org.uk/b/bishop_auckland/index.shtml.

The inadequate station is open for limited hours and for the rest of the time, passengers have to walk around the side to get access to the platforms.

The end of the line for the rail network, although the line continues on for 18 miles to Eastgate station as a heritage railway set-up. It closed long ago for passengers, in 1953, but freight services continued until 1992 which is why the line wasn’t entirely lost. Full credit for the heritage railway keeping it open, but this should ideally be opened to passenger services once again, and that has been suggested as part of the Government’s Restoring the Railways project. As it’s a very marginal constituency, it has a decent chance and I understand funding has been made available for a feasibility study.

With that the train to Darlington came in, another efficient Northern service. I had enjoyed Bishop Auckland, but I had expected it to be wealthier and not have quite so many empty retail units. However, they clearly have lots of exciting plans for tourists and I’d like to spend longer in the town.

Back in Darlington, ready for another peaceful night in the Mercure with the drinks in my little fridge being handily restocked again. And I got to use my welcome drink on a free Extra Smooth Ale from John Smith’s, albeit a little belatedly. How lovely (well, quite lovely in terms of the drink).

September 17, 2022
Monday – Former JD Wetherspoon in Middlesbrough and Meander Back to Darlington (Part Two)

After a lingering visit at one of the craft beer bars in Middlesbrough, I thought I might as well tick off the second JD Wetherspoon outlet in the town, which is the Swatters Carr. One again, I’ll pinch the pub’s history from their web-site:

“This has been a public house for more than a century. Mostly, the three-storey building (which extends along Victoria Road) was the Empire (not to be confused with the nearby Empire Theatre – now a nightclub). The Empire was originally named the Empire Hotel. The building is recorded in the 1891 census as the Swatters Carr Hotel Public House – Swatters (or Swathers) Carr after the isolated farmhouse, first recorded on a map dated 1618.”

Something of an art installation with some history, I thought that this was suitably quirky. The pub is one of the better reviewed pubs in the JD Wetherspoon chain and I thought it seemed well managed and organised. It’s a large venue, but it was clean, comfortable and peaceful. My laptop and I were quite content here for some time.

I was pleased to see that the pub had Plum Porter from Titanic Brewery on, so I had a half of that for not much more than £1. I made another mental note to go and visit some pubs owned by Titanic, mostly around the Stoke area, perhaps I’ll do that in 2024.

This enormous building was opened in July 1923 as the Elite Cinema, designed by James Forbes and with 1,900 seats. As with so many other cinemas, it couldn’t sustain sufficient trade in the 1980s and it was converted into the Crown Bingo Hall. That didn’t last long and it was turned into a pub in 1996 and I can only imagine that JD Wetherspoon had a think about getting involved, but it later on became operated by Stonegate as the Crown pub. They rather abandoned it in January 2015 by flogging it off to a property developer and it has been slowly falling into dereliction over recent years. The council is currently making warning noises that they’ll compulsorily purchase it if nothing is done soon, which seems the most sensible plan. At least the council are suggesting that they won’t countenance its demolition, which is perhaps what the property developers had hoped would happen. Urban explorers visited the building a couple of years ago, there’s a lot worth saving but it’ll cost a fortune to fix that up. I trust that no little incidents will happen to the building which would justify it being demolished.

The former Masham Hotel and what a beautiful frontage for a building, although sadly it’s no longer a pub. The former nineteenth century pub closed a couple of decades ago and was initially turned into shops and is now in use as an office.

The same pub company and a not dissimilar frontage to the Masham (not least as it was done by the same designers, Kitching and Lee in the 1920s), with a similar fate of this no longer being a pub. It’s a little sad, but this one closed its doors as a licensed premises in the late 1990s, although there has been talk of giving it another go as a pub. I hope they do, it just feels like a pub with character.

I was quite intrigued by the Isaac Wilson pub for a number of reasons, it’s a converted courthouse built in 1901 on the site of a Quaker burial ground, which is also named after a Quaker who opposed drinking. I bet he’d be thrilled. It’s also a former JD Wetherspoon pub and they closed it in 2017 and sold it to another company.

What I was a little surprised by is that the new owners have effectively just kept running it in exactly the same way, so even five years later it looks the same as it did other than there’s now a pool table and darts board. I can’t complain about that, if I took over a former JD Wetherspoon pub, I’d do the minimum possible, just paint out the old signs and leave everything else. So the signage, tables, carpet, bar and even pictures are unchanged. The new operator is Tees Inns, who also operate the former JD Wetherspoon King Johns Tavern pub in Hartlepool.

The pub had maintained low prices and I went for half a pint of the York Chocolate Stout from Rudgate Brewery, a reliable beer which was well kept. The team member was friendly, politely querying why I was ordering halves, but he was satisfied with my answer that it lets me visit twice the number of pubs. I can’t say that I struggled to find a table, but to be fair, late Monday afternoons aren’t really the peak trading time for pubs.

The frontage of the railway station, currently undergoing what looks like quite a restoration.

This feels like a proper railway station, it almost felt like a castle in the tunnels under the platforms.

I did comment yesterday on the random foliage on the platform, but to be fair, they have made a big effort elsewhere in the railway station.

I always like to see a board about history and I’m especially pleased to see them in railway stations. I suspect that I really should get out more….

And what a lovely waiting area, there’s a hint of decadence here.

I’m not sure why I was disappointed by the platforms, I think it’s just that other parts of the railway station felt like they were dripping in heritage and this just looked like most other stations.

My Northern train back to Darlington. On time, clean and efficient.

The photo is because I liked the Ukrainian flag. I still regret not going back to the country this January when I had chance, but I hope to return as soon as is even vaguely possible.

What looks like a random photo….

But I took the photo there because I was standing where this window is marked out in what was the Manor House, a grand and substantial building overlooking the river. The property had originally been built in the twelfth century and it was used by the Bishops of Durham. I think they fancied having a property in a rather grander place and so it fell into disrepair before it was demolished in 1808. The site was then turned into a workhouse for the poor, but this and the remains of some buildings from the manor house that had survived were all pulled down in the late nineteenth century.

In their place, Luck’s Square and Luck’s Terrace had been built on part of the manor house’s land.

However, in the 1960s this too was pulled down, as they wanted the land to build themselves a nice new Town Hall. Although, being honest, it looks a little like it was near to falling down anyway. It’s a much nicer area now, there are benches overlooking the river and it’s rather peaceful. The calmness does hide just how much this site has changed in usage over the last two centuries, from a grand manor house to a rickety building that needed pulling down, then a workhouse, then terraced housing and now the large green area outside the town hall.

And after all that excitement, I went back to the Mercure hotel that I was staying in, pleased to note that they had restocked all the free welcome drinks in the fridge. How really rather lovely.

September 13, 2022
Monday – Failed Visit to Piercebridge But More Success in Middlesbrough (Part One)

My intention had been to visit Piercebridge, promoted by the area’s tourist authorities, which is the site of a Roman bridge. I had watched the Time Team episode filmed at the bridge a year or so ago and though that it looked like an interesting site. I abandoned that plan when I discovered that the bus was going to cost £6.60 for a return ticket, despite it being a 12 minute bus journey. Normally I would have just walked it instead, but it was raining and quite bleak.

The Arriva bus driver was very helpful and tried to work out on his machine if he could find an alternative, but he was unable to do so. He apologised on numerous occasions for the price gouging of his employer, but it was hardly his fault. His bus departed shortly afterwards with just one passenger on board. If I had wanted a day ticket for the wider area it was nearly the same price and I realised why the company hid the prices of single and return tickets on their web-site. As an aside, the Government has demanded recently that bus companies publish a list of all of their fares, but they’re presented in a complex format which makes it hard to unpick without some IT knowledge.

I accept that this is yet another complaint I’m making on this blog despite trying to be a permanent ray of sunshine, but it’s no wonder that increasing numbers of people are moving away from using the bus network. Since this little failed adventure, Grant Shapps has announced (before being sacked) the new £2 bus fare maximum from January to March next year, which would have meant that I would have made this journey.

Instead, I decided to walk back to Darlington’s railway station to get a day return to Middlesbrough. This was a cheaper ticket than the bus would have been which pleased me greatly. The rail network very often produces remarkable value for money, particularly on advance fares, so the day was looking more interesting. And Middlesbrough has more beer than Piercebridge. It did mean traipsing back to the hotel en route to pick up my bag, but at least that meant I could have my laptop for the day.

Another photo of the grand interior of Darlington’s railway station.

My train would be departing from Platform 3.

And here thunders in the Northern train that I needed to catch, on time and in the right place. Still in a slight mood about the bus fares that Arriva charge, I decided once again that I’m really more of a rail person.

Clean and functional. I had purchased an off-peak return and wondered what times I could return, but the helpful guard said that there was no limit in the afternoons.

Wooo, power.

Welcome to Middlesbrough.

The railway station felt just a little bleak. The town had a railway station as early as 1830 when the Stockton and Darlington railway line was extended here, although the current building is from 1877. It was badly damaged during an air raid in August 1942 and apparently has been restored recently, although I’m not sure which bit. Please do though enjoy the beautiful greenery that the station has as its floral display.

What a graceful building, the former National Provincial Bank on Albert Road which opened in the 1930s. I’m not sure that its current usage is quite as decadent, but at least the building is still standing. For anyone interested, some helpful individual has placed the architect’s plans on-line.

The beating heart of Middlesbrough. I quite liked the town, but they had a lot of empty premises, including some large shops which are currently boarded up. It’s hard to see how they’ll fill those, but the atmosphere felt suitably vibrant. Like many cities and towns, Middlesbrough has had to transform itself from an industrial and manufacturing town into a more service and IT based economy over recent decades.

I thought I might as well tick off a JD Wetherspoon outlet first and this is the Resolution. The large Lloyds pub explains on its website:

“This pub is part of the Captain Cook Square development, named after Middlesbrough’s most famous son. The pub takes its name from Cook’s flagship, Resolution. Between July 1772 and July 1775, Cook undertook an even more ambitious voyage. He was given two ships, with the Resolution as his flagship. He successfully completed the first west-east circumnavigation in high latitudes, chartered Tonga and Easter Island, discovered New Caledonia in the Pacific, the South Sandwich Islands and South Georgia in the Atlantic.”

For reasons unknown, but which I assume relate to price testing, this is the cheapest JD Wetherspoon outlet that I’ve seen in a long time, this meal and drink came to £5. It’s quite a well reviewed pub as far as these things go, although they annoyed one local:

“I work in a bar an night club so I know how to treat customers right your polite and not rude it’s called manners whiclh your staff don’t have. There ill mannerd and are walking around like lifeless zombies an a face like Margret thatcher” [sic in several places there]

I tried to picture this whole experience in my mind, but perhaps I shouldn’t have done. Anyway, my lunch was delicious just in case anyone wanted to know. I accept that I have no idea who might want to know that, but there we go.

The coffee was lovely as well. There was then a chat with another customer, not instigated by me obviously, that distracted me for around half an hour, although he said early on that I had a posh southern accent. When I said I was from Norwich, he replied that he thought my accent was from somewhere posher such as Surrey. I was annoyed at numerous levels with that, but there we go…. Bloody Surrey.

I approve of this, a number of streets which are more accessible for pedestrians and where outdoor areas have been created for restaurants and bars. Who would have though Middlesbrough would be so on trend? But what would I know, since I come from Norwich and not Surrey…..

Very appropriate for Baker Street. This road, along with Bedford Street, had an abundance of micro-pubs, I was really quite impressed. They had so many micro-pubs that I’m very tempted to visit Middlesbrough again, it was an unexpected delight that was only limited that I didn’t have time to get to many on the day I went.

Although some of the micro-pubs weren’t yet open, I felt the need to visit one and I went for the Twisted Lip, which is a former terraced house turned into a micro-pub. It has been trading since 2014 and seems to have quite some following, with a range of craft and keg options which were all keenly priced.

I ordered, in my upmarket accent, the Thunderbridge Stout brewed by Small World Beers of Huddersfield, a very decent and rich stout.

I think it would be hard for anyone to deny that this interior was anything other than quirky.

The pub seems to get busy, but it was relatively quiet in the afternoon. The service was friendly and I was rather taken with the surroundings of the venue. I’d merrily recommend this pub, it sets its own style and avoids being formulaic.

Anyway, more about my little meander around Middlesbrough in the next blog post including a former Wetherspoons pub which I thought was quite intriguing…. And, not wanting to go on about it, there is nothing less decadent about Norwich compared to Surrey.

September 9, 2022
Saturday – Pubs of Darlington and the Town Library

The view from my Mercure hotel room in Darlington over the town square. It looked damp and cold (outside, it was lovely inside), which was a great relief to me. It’s a bit prosaic, but I did think about previous guests from long ago who shared this view, as this hotel was once one of the grandest in the area when it was described as a “temple of luxury” when it opened in the 1890s. This wasn’t just some Travelodge of the Victorian period, it was really quite decadent. Indeed, there has been a hotel on the site, albeit a couple of metres further forwards, since the middle of the seventeenth century. As an aside, in the former building, the meetings of the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company were held in its rooms, one of the world’s earliest railways.

With all that history floating about in my mind, I went to drink copious amounts of coffee at one of the town’s two JD Wetherspoon outlets, the Tanner’s Hall. They themselves note:

“Skinnergate was once the location of Darlington’s Skin Market. In 1621, the local council decreed: ‘Noe tanners shall bye any skins, but upon the Skynnehill.’ The long-gone tanners are remembered by the name of this Wetherspoon pub.”

The view of the interior, a little bit dominated by AWP machines, although the volume was turned off as a compromise. It probably needs a refurbishment at some point, but it was a comfortable enough place to visit. I enjoyed my numerous cups of coffee for £1.25 and they provided electricity for my to stay fully charged. A bargain.

And this is what it looked like in 2005, so it has been here for a fair while.

The town’s library is currently being refurbished and renovated, but they’ve kept the building open.

It’s light and airy inside. Although every time I think of that word I’m reminded by Basil Fawlty responding to the “is it airy?” question with “well there’s air in it”.

There was a little display about the history of the street names in the town.

And the local history room, although the books looked a bit locked away for the most part.

The library was opened in 1885 thanks to a donation from Edward Pease, who for a long time it was named after. This is when they built entrances to libraries to be functional, rather than to look like a shopping centre.

This photo is from the time that the library opened, I think it’s a beautiful building. The town should be pleased with itself that they haven’t let some idiot demolish it.

As an irrelevant aside, Wetherspoons ‘up north’ (defined by me as anything to the north of Cambridge) seem to have a lot more things going on than the ones down south.

I’m not going to get distracted writing about carpets in JD Wetherspoon pubs, but this is perhaps one of the best I’ve seen. It is a nod towards the name of the pub, the William Stead. As the chain notes:

“This pub is named after a former editor of the Northern Echo who went on to become one of the most influential men of his age. William Stead submitted several articles to the Northern Echo which were so well received that, in 1871, he was offered the editor’s chair without ever having set foot inside a newspaper office. He was in charge at the Northern Echo for nine years, before moving on. His new journalism paved the way for today’s tabloid press. One of the most influential men of his age, Stead was one of those who lost their lives on board the Titanic in 1912.”

The fish was much larger than the photo looks and it met my expectations.

It was a nice enough pub, very busy and more modern than their sister outlet that I’d been to earlier on in the day. It’s one of the few outlets that responds to reviews on social media, and I suspect it’s against company policy since Wetherspoon withdrew from social media as I assume they couldn’t cope with the deluge of negativity. I liked this one:

“I have a DEAD vape in my pocket which doesn’t work or produce vape… as I use it as a placebo.”

The pub replied they’d had a little look at CCTV and seen him vaping. Do people carry placebo vapes around though? Is that a thing?

And a review from what I assume was a 12 year old….

“It was vile and disgusting the food wasn’t what I ordered it says nothing about kids ordering food without an adult my food wasn’t nice I hated it it’s disgusting don’t go”

Anyway, it was time to move onto some more decadent and interesting pubs in the town.

The House of Hop and this is a pub that I really liked, with a suitably on-trend and inviting feel to the arrangements.

All clean and organised. I think I was the first customer of the day, the service was personable and engaging as well. All good.

Free sweets on every table, which I’ve decided should be a requirement in every bar in the country.

The Sticky Toffee Porter from Three Brothers Brewing and this wasn’t under-poured, it ran out during pouring and they gave it to me for free. A rich flavour, lots of toffee, I was pleased to be able to try it at least.

The Pape Jangles Voodoo Stout from Totally Brewed in Nottingham, a perfectly acceptable stout which I’ve had before.

I like how the beer is stored, keeps it chilled but also accessible.

And the mixture of cask and keg options that was available.

There are some lovely little alleys in the town.

One of the alleys led to Crafty Merlin’s Coffee House & Micropub.

For a small bar, this is an exceptional choice.

Beefy Seabrooks, what a time to be alive! I got a bit like Liam and was quite excited by the pump clip of the Dr Morton’s 4 Yorkshiremen of T’Apocalypse and although it was well-kept, it was a bit generic.

I treated myself to the Molinillo from McColl’s Brewery from County Durham, an excellent little number which has chilli to add some heat to the beer, as well as rich chocolate flavours. The barman, who I assumed was the owner, was conversational and friendly, there’s a laid-back feel to this venue and I wasn’t surprised that it was so busy.

The Mercure was quite expensive on the Saturday night, so I switched to the Dalesman for my accommodation, which was very reasonably priced. I was returning to Mercure the next day, but this was perfectly pleasant.

All very functional and they fixed the room door after there was a little issue with it…. I was going to go back out to visit a few more pubs, but it poured with rain and I wanted to save some of them for the next few days.

September 1, 2022
Thursday – Metro into Newcastle, Craft Beer and Peace at the Travelodge

Continuing on from the earlier riveting blog post, I was safely at Newcastle airport and ready to get to the city centre using the Metro system. I’ve used it before on a few occasions, but I’d entirely forgotten nearly everything about it. But, that’s the advantage in having a blog, the memories can all come flooding back.

Fortunately, there were plenty of signs saying which ticket to buy as well as numerous machines which were easy to operate. It’s formally known as the Tyne and Wear Metro, although often commonly referred to as the Newcastle Metro. The network isn’t as popular as it once was and it feels a little tired, it’s not really a surprise that passenger numbers are lower than they were in the 1980s when the Metro opened.

I like using different public transport systems and this one seemed to run regularly, although the signage wasn’t always particularly clear on platforms. The prices are also expensive, but yet the penalty fare for not having a ticket is set at just £20. They’ve already increased fares by 10% at the beginning of 2022, so they’re going to struggle to raise them again, or at least, they’ll price even more people off the network. However, they get some lovely shiny new trains next year, so that might boost ridership. It’s notable though that the £3.90 to get to the city centre is more than to get from Heathrow to central London, which is £3.50.

It’s quite a complex network, but the airport service goes directly to the city centre and there’s no need to change.

It was all clean and comfortable, although I didn’t see any staff on platforms or walking through the trains.

After having arrived safely into Central Station, the next task was to check-in at the hotel, which was a very reasonably priced Travelodge on the Quayside. I had forgotten just how many steps I had to go down to get to the hotel, which was a reminder of how many I’d have to go back up later on.

The standard Travelodge set-up, this was once seemed to have been modernised relatively recently and it had air conditioning which sort of worked. It was nice and bright, with everything working as it should.

The windows didn’t open, but I was pleased at the views over the River Tyne.

As the hotel was next to the Quayside pub, operated by JD Wetherspoon, I popped in there on my way by. It’s not the first time that I’ve been here, I remember going here with Liam a few years ago. The pub seemed organised and clean, but the real ale selection was the weakest I’ve seen in any Wetherspoon pub, just some generic options from the generic Greene King. It’s a quite a well reviewed Wetherspoon though (well, relatively), although I’m puzzled by the recent review:

“Can’t believe I’ve just been turned away from the Quayside for wearing shorts on a hot bank holiday weekend”

I can’t imagine how bad they must have been for a Wetherspoons to turn someone away, I’m quite intrigued.

There didn’t seem much point in staying at the Wetherspoon pub if there was nothing interesting in terms of beer, but I was more excited about the next venue, the Head of Steam Quayside which was just a short walk away along the Tyne.

Views over the Tyne to the Sage Gateshead, and a BAM hoarding for those with good eyesight (or just strong observational skills).

The beer list at the Head of Steam Quayside, which is one of two venues that they have in Newcastle and I hadn’t previously been to either of them. The pub’s Untappd list was out of date when I visited, but it has been updated since. There’s a decent selection of cask and keg, with a range of different beer styles.

A quirky interior, I liked it. All very laid-back and comfortable, this is a pub that I’d visit regularly if I lived a bit nearer to it. It’s not actually as well reviewed on Google as the Wetherspoons that I walked into and then out of again, which seems odd. It mostly seems to be reviews about the food and service times, customers seem much happier about the beer.

I thought that this was creative (the light, not the arrangement of safety devices at the back).

The barman complimented me on my strategy of ordering three one thirds, so I decided that I liked him and that he had excellent judgement. He was conversational and engaging, indeed there was an inviting atmosphere to the whole arrangement. I had the Jellyfish Nebula pale ale and the Spree & Easy IPA from Tooth & Claw Brewing, although the little star of this show was the Maris the Dank Engine 2 from S43, an 8.1% Double IPA.

There’s an outside seating area as well for those who like sitting in the street, although it’s not really my thing.

As there are quite a few more pubs for me to still write about from my evening’s meander around Newcastle, I’ll break that into a separate post. I would claim that it’s to increase anticipation, but it’s realistically just so I can make progress in a slow and steady manner in actually posting things.

August 5, 2022
Tuesday : Ealing, Angus Deayton and Heathrow

I liked the Ealing Ibis Styles, my first time there and it was a quiet and peaceful hotel with some strong movie related theming. The reviews aren’t great for the hotel and some are complaining that the hotel is charging for luggage storage, which is odd as I’d have thought that should have been included. I was fortunate to get this hotel for a reasonable price, the cost of staying in London is becoming ridiculous at the moment, well above pre-2020 prices. I hope for selfish reasons that this trend doesn’t continue permanently otherwise I’ll hardly be coming to London at all. At the moment, a single night at a city centre Travelodge is the same price as seven nights in an Accor hotel in some parts of Poland.

It was a pleasant day (well, too hot really, but I nearly always think it’s too hot as soon as the sun comes out) and this is Christ the Saviour Church in Ealing. It’s not that hard to guess the designer of this beautiful building, it’s Sir Gilbert Scott. Built in 1852 when Ealing’s population was starting to rapidly increase, it was damaged during the Second World War, but sensitively reconstructed and there’s plenty of foliage today around the building.

Fortunately, the underground strike of the previous day had come to an end, so the District Line was open again at Ealing Broadway Underground station. Note the old style signage of the station in the background.

It’s visible on the right hand side of this photo as well TFL note that these are originals, with the design dating to the early twentieth century. As an aside, you can buy original signage from the Underground at https://www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk/vintage-shop/underground-signs. It’s the kind of thing that I’d like, but it’s far too expensive and it’s not clear to me why I’d want a sign from London Liverpool Street in my flat. Although I would, I’d even appoint my friend Liam as the civil engineer responsible for the installation work.

All credit to TFL for this signage to help those coming from Ukraine.

Not many commuters on the Tuesday morning District Line service into central London. They try and paint the poles the same colour as the train service, so yellow for the Circle Line. It doesn’t always work out though, the District Line is green, but sometimes the lines share trains.

A quick Wetherspoons breakfast alongside countless refillable coffees, although it’s not entirely clear to me what they had done with the sausages, but I’d probably be best not knowing. I’m very productive in these surroundings and the coffees were delicious.

It was too hot so I went to St. James’s Park for a little while, a 57 acre park which was once land owned by the Palace of Whitehall.

This canal was added in the seventeenth century, although it doesn’t really go anywhere and is now more of a lake, they just diverted the Tyburn I think to fill it.

I was here a couple of days after the Jubilee weekend, so a lot of the barriers were still present and endless flags, although they might be permanent. The Government seem to be trying to put the union flag in as many places in London as they can and Priti Patel seems to spend most of her time standing in front of one. Anyway, I mustn’t get distracted back into politics.

I was annoyed at the heat so sat in Green Park trying to avoid the sun. The park was landscaped in 1820, but is one of the plainest of the parks, just lots of grass, but that suited my needs on this boiling hot day. Bloody global warming.

I had free tickets to the recording of Alone, which is a BBC Radio 4 comedy. It’s been going for a few years, but I’d never heard of it and half the audience also put their hands up saying they hadn’t heard the show before. This was by far the quietest of the shows that I’ve been to, the audience were only in the first few rows, although I think they had enough people to make it all work.

Another one of my hopeless photos, but this was the break and the performers (or whatever the word is) were just leaving the stage. There’s Angus Deayton, Pearce Quigley, Abigail Cruttenden, Kate Isitt and Bennett Arron. I like watching the process of recording these shows and how much of it has to be re-recorded because someone has made a mistake, there’s been a sound issue or something else went wrong. I hope the others wouldn’t be offended (although it hardly matters, they’re not going to read this) but I’d only heard of Angus Deayton and Pearce Quigley, the latter from the Detectorists. Anyway, it was all very entertaining.

A pizza from the very reliable and affordable Pizza Union chain, although I was conscious at this point that I should really get a move on to get to my hotel in Heathrow. I always have a slight fear that my hotel room will be resold and that would be a faff to resolve.

I had an hour’s journey on the Piccadilly Line from Holborn to Hounslow Central, where I would get a bus to the hotel. To my great annoyance, Heathrow still haven’t reinstated the Free Travel Zone around the airport, so I thought I’d get a bus from Hounslow instead of faffing about at the airport.

The Ibis Styles Heathrow Airport room, where I stayed a few weeks ago, and the room has a modern feel and I tolerate the lack of desk as that small table is sufficient. That also isn’t an oil slick on the floor, it’s the design of the carpet, which is clever as it hides any stains that guests might leave by just looking like it’s stained anyway. No problems though with my stay, quiet and comfortable with everything as expected.

The free welcome drinks, with the excitement for me that I was going overseas the next day. I never tire of that excited feeling and I wonder if I ever will.

June 25, 2022
Wombwell – The Horseshoe (JD Wetherspoon)

Just as a separate post as not to upset the flow of my beautiful prose (ahem) on the LDWA 100 posts. I’ll keep this post short to avoid any one of my flights of fancy.

This is the Horseshoe pub in Wombwell, which was built in the 1930s and more recently taken over by Wetherspoons. There was also a pub on this site before then, dating to around the early nineteenth century.

As an aside, Wombwell is a small town located not far from Barnsley, with coal mines once providing its wealth. Unfortunately, the good times seem to have faded somewhat and the town is need of some funds to restore some of their grander buildings. The local press are saying that this building may now be redeveloped, after ten years of mostly standing empty.

Arguably slightly underpoured, but this is the Gorlovka Imperial Stout from the nearby Acorn Brewery, very keenly priced at £1.20, especially given it’s 6% ABV. Well-kept and suitably delicious, no complaints from me about that.

It was busy on a Saturday afternoon and had something of a community feel, but the pub’s location means it’s unlikely to get too many visitors from outside of the area as I’m not sure that Wombwell is known for its tourist industry. It’s relatively well reviewed on-line for a JD Wetherspoon pub, with everything seemingly well managed. I did quite like the recent review of:

“Youth club. Full of bratty teenagers strutting around, thinking they own the place. Staff couldn’t care less. They congregate in the toilets. Going to the bar and sitting with free coffee refills for hours and on end. Obviously been dragged up. Zero manners. Why in earth the staff don’t throw them out is totally beyond me. If I was the manager they wouldn’t step one foot over the threshold. Spoilt the enjoyment of the evening (from a hard full time working adult).”

I’ve heard complaints of younger adults getting drunk in pubs and causing a nuisance, but not so frequently of youngsters binge drinking coffee and being annoying. I was quite disappointed to miss out on this extravaganza though as it wasn’t taking place when I was visited. It’s quite a large pub with one of the more modern interiors, it feels like they have the best maintained building in the area in terms of the exterior. It can’t have impressed enough local CAMRA members though, as it doesn’t feature in the Good Beer Guide.

June 24, 2022
Sunday : Returning from Daventry via St. Neots

Leaving the Mercure in Daventry, which had provided us with a quiet and restful night after the bravery of the previous day. Wetherspoons makes another appearance here, we (technically Liam did most of this) drove to St. Neots to visit the Weeping Ash, which means that I’ve now visited every one of the chain’s outlets in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. Getting to these pubs is often quite challenging for me on public transport and Liam provides an excellent chauffeur for such adventures, I think I will use his car driving services again.

Safely arriving into St Neots, a war memorial at Tan Yard, a road named after a tanning yard where cattle hides were made into leather.

This piece of land was used as a baptist church, since demolished but some of the graves remain. They’ve made a nice little park area from the site, but it feels sad that the church has been lost, it would have been so important to many people in the nineteenth century.

The pub we had come to see, the Weeping Ash. Pinching the text from the company’s web-site about the pub’s history:

“This former post office stands on part of what was once a much-admired Victorian garden belonging to the house across the road – the home of William Medland, an important man in St Neots. Bank manager and town commissioner, Medland died in 1872 in his late 60s. His widow lived in the house until the 1890s, when it was bought for the Conservative Club, which is still there. Medland’s garden was well known for its many fine trees and shrubs, particularly for its ‘magnificent weeping ash’.”

I have no complaints about the pub, it was clean, well managed and sizeable. The reviews on-line are a little less impressive, with the usual sneering type:

“It’s full of lads in white trainers and white socks that are really excited but have no idea what their excited about and badly dressed girls”

Fortunately, we didn’t have white trainers or white socks to avoid clearly offending this customer.

“They gave me a empty coffee cup without saying I needed to go and fill it up myself like I’m supposed to know this”

I do see this occasionally, often when the empty coffee cup is traipsed half way across the pub by a staff member, and then the confused customer has to traipse the same distance back to get their drink.

I find simple things entertaining, so was very excited to see a new type of coffee machine at a JD Wetherspoons. Now, I accept that I should get out more rather than spend time writing drivel like this, but it pleased me. For £1.20 for unlimited hot drinks, a complete bargain as far as I’m concerned.

It was a little early, but I did get a quick half with my hot drink, just so I could comment on the beer quality. I’m very dedicated to ensuring beer quality, but I do it for very selfless reasons of course. I went for the Jemima’s Pitchfork from the Glamorgan Brewing Co, a not particularly interesting beer, but at least well-kept.

The very keenly priced avocado muffin, my new go to breakfast option since the recent price hikes on the traditional breakfast.

And that is pretty much that, a really fun weekend and I won’t mention my bravery on the zip-lining again as I mentioned it once yesterday. Road trips with exciting things like craft beer (or just beer), adventure and Greggs are one of my favourite things, a rare event as I’m nearly always on public transport which is of course also exciting, but a change is good for the soul.

Thanks to Liam for marvellous company and I’m already looking forward to the next one (although I’m not sure my one or two blog readers can cope with even more bravery comments, but there we go…..). Although I might make him get Untappd for the next trip.

June 19, 2022
Friday : Off To Wales (Part Three – Gloucester and Beer)

In part three of this riveting series of posts, Liam and I have managed now to navigate our way around various Greggs across the country, have faffed about at a National Trust property and have now arrived in Gloucester. I admit, the Wales element of this trip is still a little way off in writing terms, but I’ve called it that as I was very brave in Wales and that’s how I want the weekend remembered.

We got to Gloucester and Liam mentioned that we had managed to park on Cromwell Street, which is perhaps best known for being where the crimes of Fred and Rosemary West took place. I hadn’t realised that this was in the centre of the city, I had just assumed it was in some obscure outlying area.

I’m not normally into dark tourism, but this is where the property was, now demolished and replaced with a small green area and a widened road. It’s odd to think of the crimes committed there, but there was no point dwelling on that as I’m sure the city has wanted to move on from this for some time.

We walked into the town centre and this is the signage relating to the East Gate.

And there are the remnants of the structure. These defences to protect the city were built by the Romans soon after they had established Gloucester as a settlement in AD 68. A thirteenth century tower was placed on top and the structures have been much changed, but some Roman remains are still there nearly two thousand years on.

A quick walk across the main square, or at least, a big square.

We were trying to kill an hour before moving the car to the hotel’s car park, as it was much cheaper after a certain time. As we were visiting the decadent pubs in city later on, we popped to the Wetherspoons outlet, the Regal, for a quick drink.

The interior of the pub and I did feel watched throughout by someone.

But I was too busy with my 50p Mini Cheddars to worry about people looking at me, whilst Liam had rather more decadent crisps. The beer is half a pint of Wychert from the Vale Brewery Co which was well-kept and slightly under-poured. I thought that I’d better have a quick look at the pub’s reviews, a little towards the bottom end of JD Wetherspoons outlets.

“This Wetherspoons has recently started offering Pizza on the menu. We have tried them a couple of times and they were delicious. However, today we ordered them expecting the same quality,but they were disgusting. There was virtually no topping on them, they were not even the correct shape! I complained about it, and I was given another one, which was much the same as the other one, but with dollops of cheese here and there. Needless to say, we will not be ordering a Pizza again.”

I don’t disagree with this review, as JD Wetherspoon pizzas are in my view cheap rubbish that would be best lifted off the menu, but obviously enough people like them. Anyway, there are two cultural references here that I liked, the dollops reminding me of Friday Night Dinner and the needless to say bit reminding me of Alan Partridge.

“Was served a pint in a badly chipped glass. When I complained I was told that they could not replace the drink as I had consumed some. The best they could do was tip the drink into a fresh glass. Very poor”

Always tricky, pubs usually do pour it into a new glass instead from my experience. This review could have done with photos so I could assess the badly chipped glass.

“Ladies toilets smell horrible and a notice on the door to warn of male workman being in there would of been helpful”

I wonder if there’s more a back story to this one.

“Got charged for a drinks mixer I didn’t order when brought my complaints to the manager nothing was resolved. In short this experience has turned me against pubs, first time going to one since lockdown ended & also Last time I will make that mistake, #StayHomeStaySafe #boycott #ItsMoreFunToDrinkAtHome”

It isn’t more fun to drink at home, so I ignored this review (beyond carefully reading it, copying it and commenting on it).

“The waitress brought out a plate with a very small jacket potato and a small chicken breast on it, the presentation was disgusting. We had to ask for a side salad for my friend. They could of at least put some peas, sweet corn or carrots on the plate with it to make it look appetising.”

Presentation of a meal is disgusting because there are no vegetables?

“salad was NOT fresh when spoke to manager about the salad she told me thats how it comes its pre cut and if they would make fresh salad no one would get food as they would spend all day cutting it”

Spend all day cutting it, that’s a classy comment I think, they should have given the manager some praise for that.

“This is honestly the most disgusting place I’ve ever been”

Some people need to get out more.

“Asked if EURO2020 could be put on the TV instead of the news which no-one was watching, but was told ‘no, we don’t do football here’”

And that’s a 5/5 from me. But that’s enough reading of reviews, I have a blog to write.

When I booked the hotels for this weekend several weeks before the event, the prices were high across Wales and England, the cheaper rates of the last two years have certainly gone away. I don’t know why the Travelodge in Gloucester was relatively cheap, but I picked it because I hadn’t been to the city recently, it was a short walk from the centre and there were nearby pubs.

I went to check-in whilst Liam parked the car, taking advantage of the cheap rate of £2 overnight. I had to wait a few minutes as the staff member was being ill outside, but the staff were so friendly that I felt entirely welcome. Travelodge might have some problems, but they do recruit some excellent staff, although whether or not they should have someone so ill behind the counter is a different point. But they gave me a heap of coffees on request and the booking was all as I expected.

There are two centres to Gloucester, or in leisure and hospitality terms anyway. There’s the Quays area and then the city centre, around a twenty minute or so walk between the two. We started in the Quays area as that’s where the hotel was located.

We weren’t entirely sure where to go for food, but I’ve been to some other outlets of Brewhouse so we thought we’d try there as they haven’t annoyed me in the past.

It’s not the best craft beer around, but it’s credible enough for my liking. The staff member at the door was helpful, saying that they were at near capacity, but she then worked out that a table would be available for us in around twenty minutes. I appreciated the helpfulness as they certainly were busy, and I decided I would ideally stay here for food.

There was some standing at the bar for around twenty minutes waiting for a table, but they kept us informed.

The beer choice. I work through the list in my mind, thinking about the beer styles, cross referencing them to Untappd and then having a final think about what I want. Liam decides which beer name he likes the best on that particular day. He doesn’t even have Untappd. I had two beers, the Unite Celebration, a creditable sour, and the Jamaic Ann Oatmeal Stout, which was a little lacking in depth of taste and mouthfeel.

They brew some beers here themselves, including the two that I had.

I liked the lighting. I had a lot of time to take photos of the decor as the food took over 40 minutes to be served, but to be fair, they had said they were busy and I was just pleased that we were getting food at all.

I went for the half beer can chicken, which seems to be what they shove the poor bird on to keep it tender and moist (after it’s already dead I’d add). I didn’t know what corn ribs were, but they’re essentially just bits of corn cut to make them easier to eat, which I appreciated as corn is unnecessarily fiddly. I thought that this was all very delicious, plenty of meat, the sauce had some flavour to it and everything was at the appropriate hot temperature. Liam had some pie and I don’t recall him complaining about it, so all was well and I think we were entirely satisfied with our choice of restaurant.

Next was TANK, an odd place which was poorly laid out with one clearly competent staff member and some less aware colleagues. I know this not only through my own observations, but because the competent staff member mentioned it as well. It’s listed in the Good Beer Guide as it has some cask options, but their keg selection was more exciting in my view.

I went for the Dockside Dark from Gloucester Brewery, who operate this venue as a sort of taproom, and this beer is available on cask and keg, although I went for the latter. It was OK, not rich enough for my liking though, but still very drinkable. They didn’t have any tables available when we got there, although we moved inside soon enough and I noted quietly to myself the staff could do with cleaning the place. But, I mustn’t complain.

The docks at night.

Between the docks and the city centre is this sculpture which didn’t offend me, but which was voted as one of the worst in the UK a few years ago.

We then decided we’d better make the walk into the city centre and we went to the Good Beer Guide listed Pelican Inn, which was delightful in every way. The menus were on Untappd and it had that community feel to its arrangements. I think the service was a bit lacking in enthusiasm, but Liam got this round and so I can’t comment much more about that. He doesn’t ask interesting beer questions of staff though, he’s too busy seeing which beer has got the name he likes the best.

I’ve just realised that Stuart from the LDWA, who does have Untappd (unlike Liam) as I got him into that, had been to this pub. Another handy feature of Untappd is that I know that, although it’s not clear what I can do with that information. This happens a lot with Nathan, who seems to have been to every pub in the UK. I went for the Wholesome Stout from Wye Valley Brewery, which was excellent, rich, full-bodied and, well, wholesome. It’s always a delight to see Untappd screens, not least so I can look at little pictures of myself at the bottom of the screen and remind myself I need to change my profile photo on the app.

A decorated postbox. I’d never have the patience to do this and I would be highly annoyed if I had spent hours on it and then someone pinched it.

Gloucester, including some photos of the Cathedral, at night and some of these came out better than others. I’m still playing about with my new phone to get photos look as I want them.

We thought we’d have one final drink when we were back at the Quays, ticking off the JD Wetherspoon outlet which has the intriguing name of the Lord High Constable of England. Below is the history of the pub name that I pinched from the pub’s web-site:

“This building stands on the east side of the docks, between Llanthony Warehouse (now Gloucester Waterways Museum) and Llanthony Road, where it crosses Llanthony Bridge. The name ‘Llanthony’ is taken from the now-ruined medieval priory on the west bank. Llanthony Secunda Priory was established by Miles de Gloucester in 1136. Like his father and grandfather, Miles was High Sheriff of Gloucester and was also Lord High Constable of England.”

This pub is better rated on-line than their other pub in Gloucester that we had visited earlier in the day and I was surprised how busy it was. We got the only table that was still available and the atmosphere was calm and sort of welcoming despite the busy venue. It could have all been a little cleaner, but it was towards the end of a night and it was busy, so perhaps I’m being a little aspirational there given that it’s a Wetherspoons outlet.

“I and my partner apparently had a ‘complaint’ made against us for kissing in a booth, out of view and restrained”

There weren’t many reviews that caught my eye, although this one makes me wonder how they were out of view.

“I brought an alcoholic drink from bar without being asked to show my id and then later was asked to show my id to a higher member of staff witch by law you cant do that once you have been served”

I don’t think there is such a law…..

“I would give it a 0 if I could, the tables were disgusting, the management and staff were so rude and I wanted a refund and she refused to give it to me because they “already started making my food” which isnt allowed?since I work with food and if the customer wants a refund, its law tou have engine them one!”

What laws are the residents of Gloucester following?

I went for the Old Thumper from Ringwood Brewery which was OK and well-kept, but I wouldn’t write home about it (although evidently I popped my thoughts here).

A quick couple of photos from the Quays, before it was back to Travelodge ready for our day of bravery starting the next morning. A suitably busy day, evident that it’s taken me three blog posts to write up.

June 17, 2022
Luton – The White House

I wasn’t in Luton for very long today, but I had chance to pop to the JD Wetherspoon outlet as it’s listed in the Good Beer Guide. The company did have two pubs in the town, with the London Hatter being open between 2011 and 2016, but it couldn’t have done well for them given the short amount of time that it was open. The venue is still closed, clearly it doesn’t tempt any other operator either.

But back to the White House, which I think is a marvellous name for a pub given my surname (I’m easily pleased). It’s a cavernous venue with two different bars, both of which were staffed when I visited just before lunchtime. As for the reason for the pub name, this is what the company say:

“In the late 19th century, the Crown & Anchor Brewery stood on the site of this Wetherspoon pub, a short walk from the site of Luton’s first brewery. Founded by Thomas Burr, in 1780, it stood next to his family home, known as The White House.”

The brewery isn’t noted on this map from the late nineteenth century, the pub is located just above where the PH is indicated on the map, so it’s nice that the site is still used by a beer selling venue.

This is an odd JD Wetherspoon insomuch that the toilets aren’t upstairs, as they’re usually tucked away in the furthest corner of the pub. Despite being a modern building, there’s been some effort with decorative features and I liked the number of power sockets that were available. Plenty of books on the shelves upstairs as well, they add character to pubs and I approve.

I went for a half a pint of the Devon Darkness from Hanlons Brewery who are based in Exeter, the same place that Tim Martin lives (I mean the city, not that the owner of the company lives in a brewery). The beer was well kept and at the appropriate temperature, and keenly priced at £1 for a half so there’s nothing much to complain about there. There was nothing of particular note about the beer, but it was an acceptable enough dry stout.

The pub has about the same review score as the average JD Wetherspoon outlet, so it seems to be running as efficiently as most others, and I felt that the staff were friendly enough. There was a good choice of real ales, seven different ones across a variety of beer styles, all keenly priced. There’s nothing exceptional that I can note, but the pub seemed to be well managed and I can see why it’s been listed in the Good Beer Guide.

January 19, 2022