Peterborough Pub Crawl

A Sunday excursion to Peterborough, which would take us to micro pubs, a barge, evening meal in Spoons, craft beer, and a heritage pub.
Look at the lovely midday sunshine and blue sky.  Just our luck that it'd be raining by 3 o'clock.

After a short trek around the city centre, we set off south across the River Nene and into suburban Fletton where our first micro pub of the day awaited... 

The Wonky Donkey (102C High Street, Fletton, Peterborough, PE2 8DR) 
On our arrival there was just one couple sat at a table tucking into a cheeseboard - "I'm setting aside this knife as it's contaminated with brie" was the announcement that greeted us.  I'm assuming it was communal micro pub cheese, although they seemed like they were undertaking a challenge to demolish the lot.

A chap trudged back and forth from the rear room/garden, loading his car with his northern soul and 2-tone DJ booth and catering paraphernalia.  Apparently we were one day too late for the Pirate Party.  A fair few locals trotted in, filling all the front room tables, all complaining of sore heads from the previous night's frivolities, although that wasn't putting them off ordering bottles of German lager.
I picked the Leatherbritches ale, guided to it by the Queen connection and 7" style pump clip, rather than the Jester, Chinook, and Citra hop mix.

Good value at £4.40 a pint, with plenty of other ale and cider to pick from if you're fussier than me.
A decent start in a very local micro pub.

Moving on, we headed back to the riverside and to Charters Bar, spectacularly situated on a Dutch barge which dates back to 1907. 

Charters (Town Bridge, Peterborough, PE1 1FP)
This used to be always be a port of call for me on football visits, being just a couple of minutes from London Road.  The difference now is that the outdoor area has dramatically multiplied in size.
We climbed the gang-plank, a Thai restaurant in the top section, the bar in the depths of the boat.  It's a bar that I love - full of character and serving up a choice of beers that could keep you here all afternoon.

One bank of hand pumps serves four local Oakham ales at very reasonable prices; another bit of the bar features the guest beers, as well as  there being some decent keg and cider on offer.
As it was, I opted for the strong (6%) Xtreme 'Xporter', a marvelous dark brew, accompanying a platter of Thai food.

Departing from Charters, we back-tracked on ourselves, venturing into a quiet side street to seek out the Coalheavers Arms.

Coalheavers Arms (5 Park Street, Peterborough, PE2 9BH)
This is a characterful little pub, open-plan, with dividing walls creating three distinct areas.  Most of the punters were settled in the middle part, on bar stools and tables in front of two TV screens showing Sunday afternoon footy.

An interesting fact about the Coalheavers is that it's the only pub in the city to have been hit by a WW2 bomb - this penetrated through to the cellar but didn't explode - the pub opening as usual later the same night.
Cask ales on offer included a couple of Greene King seasonal brews and a Goffs 'Jester 31'
The Goffs for me - top tropical murk...

We took the beer and settled on benches in the rear corner, surrounded by a selection of motorbike racing pictures and memorabilia.  The staff flicked the TV nearby us onto the football and I found myself hooked on the north London derby.
Half time - a quick trip to use the facilities...

Then we were off, making the 5-minute walk to Oundle Road in a handy gap in the rain showers that had come out of nowhere.

Yard of Ale (72 Oundle Road, Peterborough, PE2 9PA)
I was cheerful to see screens in every direction on which I could follow the second half of the footy in the Yard of Ale.  Tough luck if you don't like football, although a couple of chaps defiantly sat reading their books in front of the TV.  There was a nice split of people supporting both sides, plus a man in a Forest shirt in the back room (we won a game, donchaknow!).  I got chatting to him on the way back from the loos leading Mrs PropUptheBar to think I'd absconded through a back door.
 
There was a great selection of cask at the Yard of Ale, from which I opted for the Black Lodge Brewery 'Anytime Cowboy', a viciously strong and fruity 'proper' IPA.

One omission from this Peterborough pub crawl was the Palmerston Arms, just a couple of doors down from the Yard of Ale.  But the rain seemed to have stopped again, and we wanted to try and get back to the centre and check into our hotel without getting drenched.
That done, we ventured back out to our second micro pub. 

The Bumble Inn (46 Westgate, Peterborough, PE1 1RE)
Opened in 2016, this micro is located in a former chemists shop.  It has been a hit with the local CAMRA folk who've named it the branch Pub Of The Year in 2024.

It's a micro of the authentic variety - one room, one WC, no distractions - talk to each other etc etc.
Cask ale on the bar came from Rudgate, Daleside, Hobsons, Thirsty Moose, and Black Hole Brewery.  A sensible 3.4% Thirsty Moose 'Belta Blonde' session ale for me.  

Without football on a telly, we just had the woodland scene on the opposite wall to stare at, with it's hidden ewok and bambi.

Right, enough of these Beer Guide places. 
What we needed next was some sour beer whilst listening to Audioslave.

Blind Tiger (11-13 Cowgate, Peterborough, PE1 1LZ)
This modern central craft bar is well worth a visit.  Seating ranges from the comfy cushioned bench I was on, to high stools, or those rather tragic swing seats suspended from the ceiling.
We arrived to a Sour Beer Showcase, so decided to go with the flow.
Now, here's some proper beer.... (!)

 

All very colourful stuff.  All pretty good as well, although we reached our sour beer capacity for the day with four 1/3 pints between us.
The bar was quiet, just half a dozen other customers, the barman looking thoroughly bored as he counted down the clock to the 8pm closing time.  At least he had a decent grungy alt rock soundtrack to listen to.
There is also some (short-lived, in my case) entertainment to be had from the arcade machines and a table-top Ms Pacman console.  Seriously, is it even possible to get past level 2?!

Leaving the Blind Tiger, we called into the Drapers Arms Wetherspoon branch for a bite to eat and a ginger beer.  A bit of sustenance and fizzy pop gave us the energy to make a 20-minute walk north into the suburbs of Peterborough, a heritage pub our target.
Dusk had fallen by the time we arrived, the un-illuminated frontage plus parking cars making for a tricky pub picture.

The Hand & Heart (12 Highbury Street, Peterborough, PE1 3BE)
It looked so dark on approach that we feared it may not be open, but there was light spilling from the doorway.
This leads into a corridor, with an off-sales counter and doors to the Bar, Smoke Room, and back yard where you'll find the outdoor gents.  The back room was locked, so I didn't get to see that.  Which left us joining the handful of Sunday evening customers in the front bar.

It's an outstanding pub room.  No nonsense seating around two walls, fireplace with darts above it, bookshelf full of beer guides, and a TV showing Allo Allo.
At the end of 2023 we found ourselves in the St John's Hotel in Hull watching Steptoe and Son.  The Hand & Heart provided my second classic British comedy in a pub experience, all the punters keeping at least half an ear on the show and chuckling at the latest mess René had gotten himself into surrounding the stolen Madonna with the big boobies.

There were three cask ales available, with a couple more pump clips turned around.  Mine was a reasonable pint of Brewsters 'Outsanding in their Field'.  A handwritten 'cash only' sign took away the "cash-card-which do you prefer-either" exchange and ensured the staff member got back to his game of cribbage quickly.

A great pub.
Leaving us with just enough time - and barely enough room - for one last beer in The Ostrich.  Another dubious night-time picture.

The Ostrich is somewhere I'll have to visit earlier in the day next time I'm in Peterborough.  I suspect it would be one of my favourite pubs had I started there, or visited when they had live music on.  But this time, I was ready to drink up and make for my bed.

Peterborough had been a winning destination on this occasion - a good variety of places visited and a whole lot missed which should necessitate a return visit.

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.