Saturday 16th March
With Coventry thinking that the FA Cup is still a 'thing', a bonus blank weekend took me to the leading pub town to Chorley where I was six ticks away from 60% Good Beer Guide completion. Not to mention 11 ticks off a fully completed Lancashire for the first time ever.
A second visit here with Daddy BRAPA, it had wowed us in the 2017 Christmas Special and although most of the pubs we did on that day remain in the GBG, Chorley has invented 3 newbies. Carry on at this rate, it'll be the new Norwich by 2030, but with better quality ale.
DB like a caged tiger, ready for Chorley pubbing. On a cold but almost pleasant spring morning (15 degrees my utter arse!), a morale boosting market place 10am opener kicked things off.
Flat Iron, Chorley (2695 / 4856)
A first GBG appearance since 2009 when it was known as the Market Tavern, this punchy bruiser has folk streaming in like the morning sun, a picture of self satisfaction having completed their B&M discount Easter egg purchases. Talking of discounts, £2.60 for a pint of Blackedge with a CAMRA discount is a great return, pulled by an 'of age' Luke Littler type. Dad says the chap in the corner looks just like his Hull City mate from Fretwell's, who I associate with Nuneaton's Lord Hop (Coventry away last season, funnily enough) but we're still surprised when he comes over. It actually is him, he says "OF ALL THE PUBS IN ALL THE PLACES IN THE WORLD .... WHAT THE BLINKIN' ECK ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE?" He's visiting some new pubs before randomly watching Chorley v our old bitter rivals, Scarborough! I must let him do the GBG highlighting in the circs. Some Blackpool fans come in and I'm irrationally annoyed by their presence. "Shoo, you should be in Wigan, do you have Jane's permission?" I growl, and I'm glad when the Tangerine tosspints have to stand outside in the cold due to lack of space. A great start.
But BRAPA cannot live off Chorley scraps alone if I'm to get my six ticks in to take me up to that fabled 60% mark, so next up we catch the 125 bus in a Boltony direction.
Every bus stop is named after a pub, superb!
Horwich is the town in question, another place which has done well by me over the years. Pre-BRAPA football days at the Reebok, The Crown on an icy night, round the corner to the Old Original Bay Horse with great green tiling, post-Spanish holiday fun in the snow at the Victoria & Albert with Bulgarian Sky Sports showing Stoke in their Pulis pomp, and in more recent times, jolly brewery taps at Bank Top and Blackedge both doing the business.
B33R@33, Horwich (2696 / 4857)
Ignoring the most hideously named pub in the entire GBG, this friendly micro did pretty good by us. Our host Deanna greets us warmly, she's not like most staff, has a nice casual relaxed 'I've popped in off the street to help out' manner about her, genuine and not airbrushed, almost languid. The Socrates of the Brazil 1982 World Cup squad perhaps? She goes to close a draughty back door to warm us up, and googles 'Baby Stout' when I ask, because none of us are sure what it, or even Baby Guinness, really is. I was thinking of Baby Spice, but you can't blame me for that. Dad orders a delicious half of the most sensible beer Brew York have ever done, and my random Dalkeith brew is pretty top too. A nice swathe of green bench follows, we're soon join by this friendly Man City dude called 'Official Michael', better than those unofficial Michael's you get everywhere. He's joined by a chirpy young lass who nearly achieves a great BRAPA 'badge in' moment, only to hide it behind her chair arm. And it is only right that Michael gets to do the guest highlighting. Two in a row, you know when you come to this part of the world, you'll get chatting to folk. Good stuff. Not too late to change the name though - a few suggestions .... The Lee Lane Lion. Deanna's Drinking Den. Thirsty Thursday Thirty Three. You get 20% off all pints on a Thursday at the latter as long as you support a non Premier League club.
Bit of drama in the street next, as guest mascot Russell the Brussel rolls into the street and nearly ends up under the wheels of a bus! A lady laughs. Bet she has zero sprouts at Christmas dinner.
The driver of our next bus is a nobhead sadly, and then I miss our stop cos I'm too busy checking in the last pub, so we have a longer walk than we should to pub three. Sorry Daddy B! And it is spotting with raining again. AND despite it getting increasingly rural, private spots to have wee are few and far between.
I'd walked straight past this next pub two June's back on my excellent Rivington / Anglezarke #Thirstythursday circular and now here it is in the GBG!
Bay Horse, Heath Charnock (2697 / 4858)
Despite a foodier vibe where an army of young females blink at us expectantly, hoping we want a four course lunch to give them something to do, this place (or the main bar area at least) has retained a subtle stone walled, beamed, ancient fireplace, horse brassy, dimly lit ethos which makes it a pleasure to be in. My Old Peculiar comes in a rather over elaborate stemmed glass but drinks well, and Daddy B does amazing Daddy B things and orders two 'unsolicited' pork pies, which arrive with a ramekin of English Mustard so huge, I assume it must be watered down, until Dad puts a bit too much on, the whole thing goes up his nose, and he exclaims that his sinuses haven't been this clear in years! I'm enjoying the football chat of the trio in our room, vintage 90's Jay-Jay Okocha Bolton appreciation plus a Liverpool fan who says nice things about Gary Neville and admits he's a bit of a self styled Roy Keane! Coventry score two late goals to win their cup game (good news for us cos rearranged fixture is right next to the Semi) so I use that to insert ourselves into the chat - I mean who doesn't love a bit of Hull City referencing? No guest highlighter here, but an unprecedented third consecutive pub of chatting to folk, rural Norfolk you'll never sing that!
Half time, BRAPA FC 3-3 Chorley & District. it had been a cracking first half, and now it was time to trot back down the hill where I had a new pub in Adlington to do.
I'll give you a night off tomorrow cos I've been a bit 'blog heavy' of late, back on Thursday for part 2 as I'm not #Thirstying due to a crazy weekend and two upcoming mini-breaks,
Keep on pubbing, Si
