Grimsby Pub Explorations

Where next after enjoying a great start to the week in Nottingham?
I opted to catch a train into the top corner of Lincolnshire to visit Grimsby.
In the week prior, I'd discovered that you get met with some blank looks when you tell your work colleagues you're going to Grimsby on your holidays.  

Straight off the train, I headed into the Yarborough Hotel, handily next door to the station.  This was my home for two days - my first experience of a Wetherspoon hotel.

Yarborough Hotel (29 Bethlehem Street, Grimsby, DN31 1JN - web)
I got to know the sprawling multi-sectioned layout of the ground floor bar quite well over a couple of days, calling in here for beer, evening meal and breakfast.

Beer-wise, the Yarborough is a regular local CAMRA award winner, and featured a showcase of Oakham Ales on this occasion.

After dropping my bags off and grabbing a bite to eat, I followed a rather long route through town and into New Clee...

And the Crow's Nest in Cleethorpes somewhere off the bottom of the map

To begin with, a stroll through Grimsby's main shopping arcade, emerging onto a square where you'll find the buses to Cleethorpes and a pub on a barge.

The Barge (Victoria Street, Grimsby, DN31 1NH - web)
Apart from a small snug on the upper deck, the majority of the seating and the bar counter are located down in the depths of this old grain barge.  Handily empty for a photographic opportunity, with the early afternoon custom enjoying the sunshine on the picnic tables on the quay.

There were two real ales on offer - Charles Wells 'Bombardier' and my pick: Navigation 'New Dawn'.  Which was fine, although I reckon everyone else was on the lager and dark fruits cider.
I was quite content, sitting at the side of this nautical bar, enjoying the grunge soundtrack.  I  vowed to come back in the evening to see it when it was busier - but I never did manage to.

From the Barge I walked up past the Tesco Extra, over the railway lines on a pedestrian bridge and onto Freeman Street.  I'm afraid I'm too timid to go exploring the select pubs of Freeman Street, even though that would probably make for a much more interesting blog post.

Turning right at the top of the road, I headed down Cleethorpes Road until finally reaching an alleyway with a sign pointing me to the Rutland Arms.

Rutland Arms (26 Rutland Street, Grimsby, DN31 3AF)
I saved the external pub picture for my departure, with quite a crowd of folk in the doorway and hanging around outside, none of whom looked as though they'd especially want to be in my photo.
Here's the beer line-up in the Rutland...
A 'Grimsby Mild' for me, at a budget-friendly £2.70 a pint.

The punters who'd been stood outside returned back to liven up the place.  A chap made his jukebox selections and realised his mistake when he returned to the table, The Police pumping out the speakers.
"Aw...I've picked the wrong fuckin' Roxanne, haven't I?"
Turned out he was after something by Roxette, but this didn't deter him belting out the chorus enthusiastically along with Sting.

The next song had everyone on the three tables around me singing along with gusto.

Finally Meat Loaf appeased the old boys table in the corner, with some diligent foot-tapping and nodding of heads.

A quiet moment in the Rutland Arms, pre-jukebox singalong

Oh, and the mild was gorgeous - a great easy-drinking dark ale in good condition.
And I never did let Roxanne/Roxette man know it wasn't Guinness, as he seemed very sure that I'd traveled miles for the best pint of Guinness in the region.

After some entertaining music, someone had to pick Ed Sheeran...time to move on.
I had a 1.1 mile walk into suburban New Clees to reach the next Beer Guide entry.

The Spiders Web (180 Carr Lane, Grimsby, DN32 8LN)
This is apparently a three-room pub, but not being open-plan I only got to see one of them.  Not wanting to disturb the ladies nattering in the right-hand doorway, I entered through the left-side which left me stuck in a bar room with pool table taking pride of place in the middle.

Not really the choice of local ales I was hoping for: Sharps 'Atlantic', 'Doom Bar' or Wychwood 'Hobgoblin'.  I really didn't fancy any of them, so ashamedly ended up with a pint of big brand fizzy cider.  Ho hum.
Well, a bit of Rancid blasting out the music system will improve the pub visit, won't it?  Except the bar staff decided it was too noisy and switched it off midway through to be replaced by some turgid pop.  Bah.
 
A further ½ mile walk took me across the border into Cleethorpes and my next pub...

The Crows Nest (Balmoral Road, Cleethorpes, DN35 9LD)
Arriving at the entrance, I was struck by the dominant signage...
"No One Under 18",
"Cash Only",
"Mobile, Tablet and Laptop Free Zone"? 
Who do they think they are, Sam Smiths?

Oh, they are.

Yep, I'd completely forgotten that this was Samuel Smith house.
And a completely different one to those I've encountered previously which have been in old historic buildings.

Instead, this is a large estate pub dating back to 1957.  It's rather lovely inside, spacious rooms with fitted seating curving around the walls and the bay window.

The cask 'Old Brewery Bitter' was on pretty good form here.
The main room in front of the bar was where the regulars were sat in a line along the back wall.  I took my beer through to the comfy but quiet side room.
And having taken my couple of illicit pictures, I diligently observed the digital ban for the rest of the visit, sitting quietly, supping my ale.

From the Crows Nest, I walked the short distance for my first glimpse of the sea at Cleethorpes.  As I was pottering about I realised that the last remaining Grimsby tick closed at 9pm, so hopped aboard a bus to get back to the brewery tap in time.

Docks Beers (The Church, King Edward Street, Grimsby, DN31 7JD - web)
Docks Beers began brewing in this converted church back in October 2018.
They had two cask beers on offer, alongside a fair number of kegs and fridges full of cans with funky designs on them.
And friendly staff, helpfully pointing me in the direction of the fruitiest craft ale in a can to take home to Mrs PropUptheBar.

Most importantly, Docks Brews provides May's shiny brewing equipment picture...

I opted for one of cask ale options - a 'Humber Bitter' which was nice enough.  But nicer still was the 'Graveyard Shift' milk stout on keg, which I popped back to the bar to order before closing time.

And that brought my days explorations to an end.  Time to had back to the Yarborough for a good nights rest, as I had Cleethorpes to tackle the following day.

North Nottingham Pub Crawl

In which I make the most of a £5.60 Robin Hood area day pass to visit a few locations in the north of Notingham.  I found myself admiring the spectacular buildings of not one, but two of the cities old brewing giants.  And drinking in heritage pubs, community locals and regular beer guide entries.

To begin with, I traveled up Mansfield Road to Daybrook and a pub worthy enough of having a bus stop named after it.

The Vale Hotel (Mansfield Road, Daybrook, NG5 3GG - web)
This pub was built between 1935 and 1937, designed by local architect T.Cecil Howitt for the nearby Home Brewery.
It's all gorgeous shapes on the outside and wood panelled loveliness within.  The Smoke Room, with original woodwork, doors, windows and decorations is where I settled, with heritage pop hits on the music system starting with Belinda Carlisle.

Real ales on offer were a Blue Monkey 'Infinity' or Acorn 'Old Moor Porter', with a possibility there may have been a couple more hidden on another part of the bar.  I was happy with the porter, which was on great form and very drinkable.

Roundels bear the Home Brewery initials

Just a few minutes walk up the main road from the Vale Hotel is the old Home Ales brewery office building.
It's a stunner...

Home Ales Brewery Offices, built in 1936

Home Ales was a family owned brewery until it was sold to Scottish & Newcastle in 1986, along with their estate of 450 pubs.  Brewing was scaled down and moved to Mansfield, before the site closed completely in 1996.
The 'N' for Nottingham County Council replaces the word 'Ales' on the signage, with this listed building now providing the council with office space.

Right, enough admiring brewery architecture - let's walk up through Arnold and visit a one-time Home Ales pub.

Robin Hood and Little John (1 Church Street, Arnold, NG5 8FD - web)
Fair to say this wasn't the central hub of Arnold's afternoon action, as I doubled the customer numbers on arrival.

The pub is one of Everard's Project William jobbies, run by the local Lincoln Green Brewery.  They offered up a huge range of beer - some would say too many. 
I picked a Lincoln Green 'Buttermuch', a 5.5% sweet dark ale, mainly to make the absent Mrs PropUptheBar jealous that I was drinking butterscotch beer.  However dubious it may sound, it was very nice.

Fans of breweriana will be very happy here - the walls were covered with frames full of old beer mats and bottle labels, alongside trays, signs and mirrors.
Another very good pub named after Robin Hood - I'm telling you, all Robin Hood pubs are great!  

Retracing my steps, I popped back to Arnold's main shopping drag where I'd spotted the signage of Nottingham's Blue Monkey brewery.

The Organ Grinder (133 Front Street, Arnold, NG5 7ED - web)
'Close to Asda...frequented by shoppers during the day' says WhatPub, and to prove a point a chap came in just after me, dumped his shopping bags on the barrel by the door, recaptured his escaped orange cordial which went rolling across the floor, ordered a beer, and joined the locals around the corner. 
This was a nice little town centre pub with a L-shaped room and garden to the rear.  
On the bar were six real ales.  I figured I should really have a Blue Monkey beer in their pub, although the North Riding 'Rum and Raisin Mild' was sorely tempting.
I plumped for the 'Infinity Plus 1', a stronger version (5.6%) of their standard IPA, which was most enjoyable.

I ambled round the tables looking for all six pieces of the Blue Monkey jigsaw beer mat, until the lady at the bar told me, "if you want the whole set there's a stack of them at the end of the bar".   And there I was thinking I was being subtle and no-one was watching!

Happy beer mat collecting!

I hopped aboard Bus 25 which more by luck than planning happened to take me to Mapperley, where there was a pub I'd hoped to get to.
It's actually in a run of three neighbouring pubs on the Woodthorpe Drive junction: The Plainsman, Woodthorpe Top (Spoons) and the Bread and Bitter.

Bread and Bitter (153-155 Woodthorpe Road, Mapperley, NG3 5JL - web)
This is located in the site of the old Judge's bakery.
Here's the old ovens, retained in the back room...

Re-enacting the scene from Goodfella's, where they threaten to throw the postman in the bakery ovens, not allowed.

Being Castle Rock, you're assured of a strong beer range including both their own concoctions and guest ales from mainly Midland brewers, and a big digital screen listing all the craft kegs, bottles and cans.
I picked the Little Critters 'Sleepy Badger' oatmeal stout, diligently tasted by the barman before he served me to check it was okay.  Which probably meant it had been on for a few days, but it tasted just fine to me.

Finishing my beer at the Bread and Bitter, I caught a bus back into the city, then switched to a number 28 to Bilborough.

Someone who knows what they're doing much better than me is the person behind Pub Gallery - check out their blog post on Art Deco pubs for some great pictures from Nottingham.

Then browse the rest of the site and question how on earth they've managed to go everywhere in the sunshine?!!!!

That site inspired me to try to get out to another of the cities early 20th century Art Deco pubs. 

The Beechdale (483 Beechdale Road, Bilborough, NG8 3FE - web)
This looks wonderful from outside - just don't hold your hopes out for inside.   Similar in design to the Vale Hotel, it shares that distinctive rounded projection at the front, with the pub name emblazoned around it.
It was built in the 1930's at the same time as the surrounding Beechdale housing estate and was originally run by Hardy & Hanson's Brewery.

Greene King these days.  
This wasn't somewhere to come on the ale trail - when I reluctantly opted for the sole hand pump dispensing GK IPA, I was told this wasn't on and pointed in the direction of bottles of Old Speckled Hen or keg 'Icebreaker'.  Just a half of Icebreaker, then.

Unlike the Vale, any historic fixtures and fittings are long gone and it's a spacious, modern community pub within.
There were a fair few folks in, despite my picture suggesting otherwise.  Including the locals outside who'd given me some very dubious stares having clocked me taking pictures of the pub.
On the left side of the building is more seating and a big games room with darts, two pool tables, and - a first for me in a pub - punch bag arcade machines...

Revitalised by Icebreaker, I caught a ridiculously busy bus along Ilkeston Road to a tram stop in the centre, then traveled northbound to Shipstones Street.

The Lion (44 Mosley Street, New Basford, NG7 7FQ - web)
It's been a long time since I've made it up the tram line to this cracking Victorian pub.  Walking from the tram stop I could see the grassy slope of the pubs sunny beer garden, with the Black Iris Brewery their next door neighbours.   
As the sun had come out, the garden was busy, leaving barely a soul inside.  No-one admiring the bare-brick walls and old well in the middle of the room.

Super beers on offer at the Lion.  As we were next door to Black Iris, I picked their quite fantastic 'Ngaru Nui' 6% NZ IPA, fearsomely easy to drink for that strength.

Let's bring things to a close with a shot of the magnificent Shipstone's Brewery, just around the corner from the Lion Inn...

And some Home Ales breweriana...    Cheers! 🍺

Nottingham Forest Are Magic!

Some brief West Bridgford pub explorations on the day of Forest's first successful navigation of the Play-Off semi-finals.

To start with though - in the city centre - here's the Playwright pub.  I've never visited and it didn't really appear appealing enough to divert me from my planned route around Nottingham real ale and heritage pubs.
But I stopped to look at it from outside, as this used to be the Clinton Arms and is where Forest were founded in 1865.

The plaque to prove it...

And here's Cloughie...

I used to be a regular at the City Ground when I lived in London and could get a good value East Midlands train up on a Saturday morning.  Not so much so now, with the trip from Oxford involving 3½ hours at the mercy of Cross Country trains and fearsome rail fares.

In those days of yore, my most regular pre-match routine was to walk out past the ground, lunch at the Test Match, followed with some fine ales and a pre-match buzz at the Stratford Haven.
I planned to revisit both those on this visit.  But first a new one to me, from the 2022 Good Beer Guide...

Poppy and Pint (Pierrepont Road, West Bridgford, NG2 5DX - web)
It's not in the most obvious location for a pub...through a housing estate, then down a side road into a car park with tennis courts at the end.

Pub's down there somewhere

The Poppy and Pint is multi-functioning, opening early as a cafe, with beers served at the bar from 10am.  As I was there pre-noon, it's perhaps not surprising that the clientele consisted of pensioners eating cake.  I was the trouble-maker, ordering my half-pint of pale ale by Totally Brewed Brewery, recklessly early.
(I did have a break planned during the afternoon - my pre-match boozing wasn't really starting 8 hours before kick-off...honest)

So, it wasn't the most traditional of pubs, but it was a nice enough place. They offered the usual Castle Rock extensive beer range alongside guest ales from interesting breweries. 

I walked back across Radcliffe Road, alongside the park to the West Bridgford shops, with the Test Match being my next point of call.

The Test Match (Gordon Hotel, West Bridgford, NG2 5LP - web)
This is an essential visit for anyone with a passing interest in the Heritage Pubs guide.  Built in 1938 for Hardy & Hanson's Brewery, the design is lavish and elaborate, with lots of great Art Deco touches which remain intact.

It's a Greene King pub, with a decent beer range including local ales.  I went for the Dancing Duck 'Ay Up', pronouncing it wrong to show how long I've been away from these parts.
Lovely beer and lovely staff: "Are you going to stay for another one?  What'll you try next?", I was asked when the glass was almost empty - I almost caved in and settled in for the afternoon.

 

But...time was flying and I had plenty of places I wanted to see in the city.
I passed by the Stratford Haven, which I would return to later closer to the match.
Here it is looking very quiet and peaceful...

Stratford Haven (2 Stratford Road, West Bridgford, NG2 6BA - web)
The Stratford Haven was previously a pet shop, so fair play to Castle Rock who've made it look as though it's been a pub forever.
You step through the front door into a small porch where you're faced with three doors, all of which lead to the same place.  Within, there is a snug to the right and the bar to the left, opening up a bit at the back. No chance of seat this time.  Even perching spots were at a premium.
My definitions of 'busy' have changed a bit post 2020.  But this was old school busy...

No idea what choice of beers they had on - although I could glimpse a fair few pump clips through the crowd.  I was stood at a selective part of the bar in front of the Castle Rock 'Harvest Pale', so that's what I ordered.  Not fair to make the staff squeeze up and down the bar to a beer at the other end when it's heaving like this.
The Harvest Pale was cool, crisp and delicious.  

I shall write nothing about the match, as whatever I say I think I'm gonna jinx our chances in the final.
Just a picture of the Trent and the City Ground instead...

Sadly, there is unlikely to be a Football Tourist Guide (what d'you mean that's copy-writed by someone else?!!) to Wembley.
My ability to get to games recently has been very lame and there's no priority ticketing for those of us who traveled around League One grounds in the noughties, freezing in cold winter months whilst the likes of Oldham and Walsall thrashed us.
Hopefully we've put times like that way behind us, with a bright future.
COYR!