BRAPA in .... HAPPY NEW GOOD BEER GUIDE DAY : WHAT'S THE DAMAGE?

At 23:07 on Monday night, as I took my Stabilo to the ever reliable Victoria in Withington, Greater Manchester, I had completed the cross-ticking exercise for another year, and as you can see from the above expression, it is GOOD NEWS!

Minimal churn compared with last year, what relief.

236 pubs lost, bringing me back down to 2444 (54.2% completion).

It might sound a chunky enough loss, but to put it into perspective:

Last Year - 315/2464 = 12.8% churn.

This Year - 236/2680 = 8.8% churn.

4% less brutal!

Now that's got to be worth a small bottle of ESB before bedtime. Or more tea and fig rolls, I'm going to turn into a fig at this rate! I could join Colin & co. on the shelf.

I knew early on in the cross-ticking exercise that the pub choice in the new guide felt more solid and less experimental than last time. When I gained +2 in Bedfordshire without visiting the place all year, I knew I was onto a winner.

Cornwall felt like a 'greatest hits' of my four holidays there unlike last year's horror show. And to only lose seven in Greater Manchester and two in South London was fantastic, two massive places which I neglected in 2022/23.

The only tragic stat is that I've not only dropped below my 2023 GBG total, but also my 2022 total (by 20 pubs) so my first challenge is to get 20 quickfire ticks under my belt to erase that horrid stat from my mind!

I'd like to think I've helped minimise the 'churn' by making a concerted effort to get into new counties and turning a blind eye to new entries in easier to reach places like Durham, Lancashire and Greater Manchester, for fear of forever 'chasing my tail'.

Having said that, the cruellest churns were understandably in those 'new' places, the worst offenders being:

Edinburgh & the Lothians - 28% loss

Leicestershire - 24% loss

Wiltshire - 20% loss

Norfolk - 19% loss

"Neen Sollars?, where the effin' heck is that?

SEVEN pre-emptives come good. Lower than usual. So to end this brief (for me) blog, let us induct them into the BRAPA hall of fame, in no particular order ......

1. Ampersand Brew Co, Diss

A speculative visit this summer whilst I was ticking the (unfairly) de-guided Saracen's Head Hotel, I'd been recommended this brewery tap (the POTY so actually not THAT speculative) on the outskirts of town by Suffolk legend Steve Gray. Sadly I'd been looking at shop hours rather than bar hours .... well 10am opening on a Monday morning DID seem a bit too good to be true! Still, I got inside, briefly talked to a man, got two cans from the fridge cos I like the colours yellow and green, apart from Norwich City, and supped them on the benches outside before by bus to weird rural areas. And yes, the tick counts because April/May 2021.

2. Vintage, Hull

Look like lost Norwich fans to me

27th November 2018 when Daddy B. and I popped in here AFTER an evening home game, a 0-0 home draw against the afore mentioned Norwich City. What possessed us? Very rare for Dad to want to do a pub post-match. Maybe we'd been bored out of our skulls? Anyway, it was fabulous. Free sarnies, live folky men, and this beautiful chocolate stout that tasted like play doh, in a good way, plus ultra personable perky staff in true 'Ull tradition. Was surprised it didn't make the 2019 GBG. Controversial opinion coming up, but I don't think Hull's GBG entries are a massively strong suite. Occasionally I've mentioned to Dad, 'how come you've never been back?' but he just mumbled non committal noises or indicated he thought it had shut for good. Well, there ya go. Good ticks come to those who wait!

3. Dukes, Halifax

10th July 2021, and our annual 'Welly' summer outing brought a gang of us to that most underrated of pub towns, Halifax. The plan was never to do Dukes when we set out, but one of my required ticks, a music pub, had failed to open post Covid so we had a gap. I'd noticed Mr Pub Halifax, Chris Dyson had recently blogged about this place, and what he doesn't know about the 'Fax pub scene ain't worth knowing. Plus Lizzie had bought a vintage jacket in the attached arcade. So this place was staring right at us, in our conscience, and although I'm not even sure I got cask, it was a (slightly too) bright, funky modern place with a sense of humour.

4. John Fielding, Cwmbran

So many random 'Spoooons in the GBG this year I've not seen before, that is one recurring theme I've noticed during the cross-tick. This was incredibly speculative on a very wet October night in Cwmbran a year ago, I needed a piss (what's new?) and my train was miles off (what's new?) The young staff duo took the piss out of me for being a Hull City fan, bit harsh coming from Cwmbran Town, then told me they thought I was bonkers for doing BRAPA, but with great sincerity, told me they were passionate about getting their ale to a GBG standard. This impressed me. The Kirkstall Dissolution (a great beer normally) however, left me errrm, disillusioned. Shame. Plant potted the last inch. Thought to myself "they've got a ways to go!" so I am actually pleased to see less than 12 months on, they've got their ale in order to the extent it made the cut. Every 'Spoons is a very safe pre-emptive bet, note to self!

5. Black Bull, Morpeth

11th Sept 2021 and again, it was more speculative than pre-emptive ticking, Daddy B was understandably getting restless as our Morpeth tick 'the Office' had zero space inside, a chilly Northumbrian wind was blowing outside, and with ages until the train to Newcastle, we thought it'd be nice to finish our day somewhere warmer. Well, this cavernous place felt a bit 'beginning of a party night', more bar than pub, but I remember commenting on how the quality on that Anarchy Blonde Star was as good as anything we'd had all day, then fellow ticker Eddie F. said it had been in a previous GBG, and although I never checked, I thought 'well, this might actually be a decent pre/post-emptive shout for the future after all'. And it was!

6. Scottish Stores, King's Cross

Potential fight for the BRAPA bonus point on my SS debut?

If you thought Vintage Hull was a slow burner, we go way back to 16th January 2016 (the day I completed Bedfordshire for heaven's sake!) when I first visited this one. It was brilliant. Not only a gorgeous ornate interior, but tonnes of immaculate ales. Astonished when it didn't make the 2017 GBG the following September. Parcel Yard was going through one of its tatty, shitty, dirty, messy spells it has from time to time, so SS became my London-York end of night train regular, and the staff were on my Twitter loving that I was loving it. But with each visit, it deteriorated. Soon the beer numbers were dwindling, which is no bad thing alone, but it was like they'd stopped trying. Staff were suddenly all sullen London, place felt less 'polished', you got fancy dressers and Sheffield Wednesday fans (arguably the two worst groups of pubbers), and on my last two visits, about 2018, the beer was pure babby dishwater and no one gave a shit. I reflected "well the local CAMRA obviously had this place pinned all along". Parcel Yard returned to form with ESB to die for, and prices to make you weep, and rest is history! Until now that is, I might just give it another stab next time I'm down there with 40 mins to kill.

7. Tite & Locke, Lancaster

Absolutely convinced this one would make the GBG from the second I took the first sip of my ale on my debut here 11th June 2022. Been back since and was equally good. Lancaster is such a transport interchange if you're ticking NW Lancs / SW Cumbria, it has been staggering how far you have to walk to the nearest decent boozer. RetiredMartin once blogged that exact thing. Not any more. Right on the station, but a lot more 'composed' than most station pubs. Mature and classy. The outdoorsy bit probably shades it as the room next to the bar feels a bit closed off. Lancaster is a top pub town with 3 or 4 nailed on beauties, but such is the high GBG allocation here, it always manages to find room to squeeze a couple of flimsy shitters into the mix, so this place certainly should help counteract the flimsy shittery.

I've wittered on long enough so I'll save my 'strategy' for the 2023/24 season for when I write the September month end blog in a few days time, just need to do a bit more research work out my revised percentage completions in each county. Scientific stuff this!

Thanks for caring, Si