Treat this as a note of caution...
First you browse the Good Beer Guide and count how many pubs in your home county you've been to. Perhaps add some ticks or colour the map.
Wonder how feasible it would be to visit all of them and maybe those in the neighbouring county too...
And before you know it, you're pub ticking in Dunstable on a Monday evening.
The Globe (43 Winfield Street, Dunstable, LU6 1LS)
I really liked the Globe - a fine trad street corner pub, the front door open on a warm evening and the sounds of conversation and laughter drifting out as I approached.
Step inside and the main space has wooden floors and lots of bench seating down one side. Bottles on ledges, old brewery signs, and a bookshelf packed with beer books and GBG's from the past 25 years or so. There's also another area to the right of the front door with some sofas for those who prefer to sink into their seating.
Cask options on the bar were locals Vale 'Black Beauty' and Tring 'Colley's Dog', and the less local Wadworth '6X' and Exmoor 'Gold', the latter with a homemade cardboard and marker pen pump clip.
I took a decent Black Beauty to a big table towards the back of the pub and marveled at how much noise the handful of locals were managing to make on a Monday evening.
Just under 10 minutes walk away, down the main drag, then right at the crossroads towards the police station is the second current beer guide listed pub...
The Victoria (69 West Street, Dunstable, LU6 1ST)
This looked traditional - red and white frontage, wheelie bins, and Union Jack.
Stepping inside, The Victoria is a small basic old fashioned boozer of the type lesser seen in my neck of the woods.
In the L-shaped room there is a grand total of 4 regular tables and 2 round posing tables with stools at them. Games machine next to the door, darts board tucked in a corner.
My wide-angle photo option to capture the whole pub hasn't done that chaps belly any favours - sorry!
The Victoria was quiet, the locals speculated to the chap at the bar that he'd be closing early.
First you browse the Good Beer Guide and count how many pubs in your home county you've been to. Perhaps add some ticks or colour the map.
Wonder how feasible it would be to visit all of them and maybe those in the neighbouring county too...
And before you know it, you're pub ticking in Dunstable on a Monday evening.
I really liked the Globe - a fine trad street corner pub, the front door open on a warm evening and the sounds of conversation and laughter drifting out as I approached.
Step inside and the main space has wooden floors and lots of bench seating down one side. Bottles on ledges, old brewery signs, and a bookshelf packed with beer books and GBG's from the past 25 years or so. There's also another area to the right of the front door with some sofas for those who prefer to sink into their seating.
I took a decent Black Beauty to a big table towards the back of the pub and marveled at how much noise the handful of locals were managing to make on a Monday evening.
Just under 10 minutes walk away, down the main drag, then right at the crossroads towards the police station is the second current beer guide listed pub...
This looked traditional - red and white frontage, wheelie bins, and Union Jack.
Stepping inside, The Victoria is a small basic old fashioned boozer of the type lesser seen in my neck of the woods.
In the L-shaped room there is a grand total of 4 regular tables and 2 round posing tables with stools at them. Games machine next to the door, darts board tucked in a corner.
My wide-angle photo option to capture the whole pub hasn't done that chaps belly any favours - sorry!
Two beers on offer: Adnams 'Ghost Ship' and my, rather ropey, house beer, Tring 'Victoria Ale'
The jukebox fired into action by itself - The Easybeats 'Friday on my Mind', rather rushing the week away on a Monday evening.
The locals berated Premier League football players and this weeks ludicrous friendly between Spurs and Newcastle in Australia. (They're too tired to play FA cup replays remember).
Tring beer drunk, I bade the few folk in the pub farewell and wandered down the street to catch a bus to Luton.
Handily completing my Dunstable sightseeing en-route...
The locals berated Premier League football players and this weeks ludicrous friendly between Spurs and Newcastle in Australia. (They're too tired to play FA cup replays remember).
Tring beer drunk, I bade the few folk in the pub farewell and wandered down the street to catch a bus to Luton.
Handily completing my Dunstable sightseeing en-route...
I missed the bus by seconds, but was happy to discover it was only 6-minutes to the next one on a frequent service. Dunstable and Luton are connected by a busway - where buses turn onto a dedicated track and little wheels kick into action to guide them for an 8-mile stretch.
It was opened in 2013, utilising the disused Dunstable railway branch line, closed by Beeching in 1965.
I've been keen to travel on this ever since getting over-excited by the Cambridge to St Ives busway. Single-deckers on this one, scuppering my picture.
I've been keen to travel on this ever since getting over-excited by the Cambridge to St Ives busway. Single-deckers on this one, scuppering my picture.
From Dunstable to the cosmopolitan environs of Luton.
So where to? The Bricklayers Arms, I think. A beer guide pub that I hadn't previously visited, located in the High Town on the northern side of the train station.
So where to? The Bricklayers Arms, I think. A beer guide pub that I hadn't previously visited, located in the High Town on the northern side of the train station.
The Bricklayers Arms (16-18 High Town Road, Luton, LU2 0DD)
I do quite like the giant Spoons with it's ever-present security guards, but I reckon the Bricklayers is probably my favourite Luton pub.
It has a great feel to it - wooden floors, a few big barrels to perch on, two rooms, loads of Hatters memorabilia.
There was also a good choice of ales on offer from Ossett, Oakham, Vale, and my delicious Roman Way 'Ad Astra'.
It happened to be pub quiz evening, so the front room was busy, relegating me to a perch in the back where I contemplated the questions for the first couple of rounds and figured I wouldn't have been a great deal of help to any quiz team.
Just a short walk along the bustling and interesting High Town Road took me to the Painters Arms.
I do quite like the giant Spoons with it's ever-present security guards, but I reckon the Bricklayers is probably my favourite Luton pub.
It has a great feel to it - wooden floors, a few big barrels to perch on, two rooms, loads of Hatters memorabilia.
It happened to be pub quiz evening, so the front room was busy, relegating me to a perch in the back where I contemplated the questions for the first couple of rounds and figured I wouldn't have been a great deal of help to any quiz team.
Just a short walk along the bustling and interesting High Town Road took me to the Painters Arms.
The Painters Arms (79 High Town Road, Luton, LU2 0BW)
This is the local Heritage Pub gem, featuring tiling, old fireplaces, and big wooden partitions.
A doorway leads you into a wood panelled porch with doors to the Bar, Saloon, and Jug Bar.
I headed through to the saloon, where they've gone all out with the Luton Town flags.
This is the local Heritage Pub gem, featuring tiling, old fireplaces, and big wooden partitions.
A doorway leads you into a wood panelled porch with doors to the Bar, Saloon, and Jug Bar.
There's no real ale on offer here and even the John Smith's smooth was off, so Strongbow or Guinness is your best bet to sip whilst admiring the heritage interior and watching horse racing on TV.
They did have the best soundtrack of the day - a bit of Hendrix, AC/DC, and Fleetwood Mac met with my approval.
They did have the best soundtrack of the day - a bit of Hendrix, AC/DC, and Fleetwood Mac met with my approval.
I'm glad I've visited the Painters and I enjoyed my cheese & onion Tayto's. Not sure I'd want to rush back and stay until the 3am closing time on a weekend, though.
Back across the other side of the railway line, on the pedestrianised street leading into town, you'll find another pub that gets a mention on the Heritage pubs site.
Back across the other side of the railway line, on the pedestrianised street leading into town, you'll find another pub that gets a mention on the Heritage pubs site.
The Great Northern (63 Bute Street, Luton, LU1 2EY)
I've visited this old pub a couple of times and there's something I quite like about it. Step round the corner onto Guildford Street and there are young folk on benches playing rap music and smoking pungent reefers. Venture into the Great Northern and you're in a whole different world of old blokes singing along to Smooth Radio and talking about WWII fighter planes.
They only have the one ale on: St Austell 'Tribute' this time, but it was Tribute on pretty good form.
I've visited this old pub a couple of times and there's something I quite like about it. Step round the corner onto Guildford Street and there are young folk on benches playing rap music and smoking pungent reefers. Venture into the Great Northern and you're in a whole different world of old blokes singing along to Smooth Radio and talking about WWII fighter planes.
They only have the one ale on: St Austell 'Tribute' this time, but it was Tribute on pretty good form.
That was to be my last pub in Luton on this occasion.
Maybe they'll be a surge in real ale pubs when CAMRA move their HQ to the town later this year.
I hopped back aboard a busy bus and whizzed along the busway again, returning to Dunstable. The remainder of the evening was to be spent in a very modern Wetherspoon's pub...
The Gary Cooper (Grove Park, Court Drive, Dunstable, LU5 4GP)
The outdoor patio had been packed earlier in the afternoon, in a pleasant location next to Grove Park. Only the hardcore remained outside in the evening chill and most seemed to have gone home with the high-ceilinged expanse inside pretty empty at 9.30pm.
The Gary Cooper has retained a place in the Beer Guide for a fair few years now, with Evan Evans 'WPA' and 3 Brewers 'IPA' the guests on offer alongside spoons regulars.
And they're definitely in contention for a place in my Best Statues in Spoons list...
Maybe they'll be a surge in real ale pubs when CAMRA move their HQ to the town later this year.
I hopped back aboard a busy bus and whizzed along the busway again, returning to Dunstable. The remainder of the evening was to be spent in a very modern Wetherspoon's pub...
The outdoor patio had been packed earlier in the afternoon, in a pleasant location next to Grove Park. Only the hardcore remained outside in the evening chill and most seemed to have gone home with the high-ceilinged expanse inside pretty empty at 9.30pm.
The Gary Cooper has retained a place in the Beer Guide for a fair few years now, with Evan Evans 'WPA' and 3 Brewers 'IPA' the guests on offer alongside spoons regulars.
And they're definitely in contention for a place in my Best Statues in Spoons list...
That was the end of my Dunstable pub explorations...for the time being at least.
My appreciation for anyone who's stuck with the post and read the waffle or just looked at the pictures of pubs in these lesser loved towns.
Cheers 🍻
My appreciation for anyone who's stuck with the post and read the waffle or just looked at the pictures of pubs in these lesser loved towns.
Cheers 🍻
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