Wales and Liverpool

In July 2006, we decided to spend a long weekend visiting pubs and friends in Wales, with a day trip to Liverpool on the Saturday. In total, we visited 19 pubs over four days, and boy did we have fun!

Friday

As we were setting out from Gloucestershire, we didn't have to go too far out of the way to visit a few Cheshire pubs, and our first stop was the Harrington Arms at Gawsworth. We arrived just before noon, and had to wait what seemed a lot longer than four minutes for it to open, but other people turning up for a midday opening is always an encouraging sign of a good pub. A Grade II-listed National Inventory pub, the Harrington is that rare
beast, a pub that forms part of a working farm. It has three main rooms: a big, basic drinking room with big wooden settles, and two smaller rooms (one a snug) with a motley collection of chairs and settles. The main bar area is a kind of through-passage between the rooms, and also has a big wooden settle, together with a hatchway through to the snug (probably not original). The beer here was a bit bland, but clear and bright: Robinson's Hatters Mild (3.3%) at £2 a pint and Unicorn (4.2%) at £2.10 a pint. On Saturday evenings they host special Thai Curry nights on a fairly regular basis. There are several posters advertising the "Annual East Cheshire Sports day" held on the field opposite the pub (and still part of the farm), where crowds of several thousand would gather to watch people race for pretty good prize money (allowing for inflation). Both the ladies' and men's events had races split into "married" & "unmarried" categories!

The Grade II-listed Commercial at Wheelock is a real working men's pub, only 50 yards from the canal (part of the "Cheshire Ring") and unaltered since a refit around 1930 with a huge billiard room, a bar, a snug and a smaller no-smoking room. The no-smoking room is currently dwarfed by a pool table, large parrot cage (noisily occupied) and a very indolent dog (but it was warm out!), but the landlord told us he planned to make better use of the space by moving the pool table into the billiard room, so that this smaller room can once again be put back to its original use, complete with piano. Sounds good to me! The pub has a large garden, a former bowling green, which looked inviting; but we opted to stay indoors (due to the number of steps and the complete lack of shade on what was fast turning into a very hot day) chatting to the friendly occupants and listening to the landlord's choice of background music (dodgy heavy metal) whilst supping our beers: of the three on offer we tried a pint of Weetwood Ales Best Bitter (3.8%) and a half of Thwaites Play Maker (4.2%), which came to £3.07 and were both very well kept, although not to my personal taste. The pub normally has more beers than this, but they were awaiting a late delivery when we arrived.

The Hawk Inn at Haslington is also listed Grade II, probably for its back room, which is what earned it its place in the National Inventory. The bulk of the pub is nondescript, but the back room is impressive, with sumptuous panelling said to have come from the cabin of a ship that was part of the Spanish Armada; and the games room had an interesting panel that shows the fabric of the original building behind a glass front (lathe and plaster). A bottle of Mann's Brown Ale and a pint of Robinson's Hatters Mild together came to £4.06, and we paid £1.25 each for a couple of uninspiring baps. I should have had a bottled beer myself, as the mild was cloudy, bland and generally unimpressive (presumably the heat wave had penetrated their cellar/shed). However, I wouldn't want to put people off trying the pub; it might just have been having an off day, and we did only try the one pint.

Our next stop was the Loggerheads in Shrewsbury (part of a desperate search for shade), which was Pub of the Year for its local CAMRA branch in 2004. The beer certainly did not appear to have deteriorated in the intervening period! Six handpumps were available, offering five regular beers and one guest. I had an excellent pint of Banks's Original at just £2.05. The pub has a "gentlemen's room" with old panelling and a Victorian inglenook fireplace, which did not admit women until 1975. A separate snug has a window through to a tiny passageway, and has built-in upholstered seating all the way round the room apart from a small gas fire in one corner. There is also a smallish bar, and a larger darts room with a hatchway through to the bar. The walls were full of interesting prints, drawings and poetry (some of them humourous), including some interesting details of the voyage and design of the Beagle.

Wales itself was now beckoning, and our first stop over the border was in Welshpool, where we visited the Grade II-listed Grapes, which opens at 5pm. As the landlord served us a pint of Brains SA (£2.10), he warned us that he thought the barrel had "gone", but that a local in the other bar seemed happy with it; one sip each and our expressions told him all he needed to know as he rushed down into the cellar to put the new barrel on. He
apologised by turning the pub TV over to the cricket for us, and our new pints were (obviously) considerably better. The Grapes boasts a lounge bar with a "Bullshit Corner", two games rooms, and a snug; the lounge bar and the snug both have hatches through to the bar. The toilets are across an enclosed yard, which has become a covered patio area.

We drove up into Snowdonia National Park for the second last pub of the day, the Goat, in the tiny village of Llanfihangel-yng-Ngwynfa (and no, I can't pronounce it!). The Goat is unlisted and from the outside it looks nothing like a pub, unless you just happen to spot the small and inconspicuous sign above the door; although an ugly concrete shed (the "Gents") and some empty barrels in the garden at the side are subtle hints. It doesn't open until 7.30, and as we arrived early we spent 15 minutes watching swallows diving to and fro, utilising the eaves of the houses opposite the pub. There are no handpumps, as they do so little trade that barrels are only ordered in for planned parties and parish council meetings, but I enjoyed a perfectly good bottle of Marston's Single Malt, which cost £2.30. There is one main room here, a long oblong space with an assortment of seating around the edges and a simple bar along one end, with a couple of optics. An overspill space through which you enter looks more like a corridor, but does have a small settle and a piano. The Gents is outside, but I was personally shown to the Ladies at the top of the stairs! The pub is incredibly peaceful and we felt very relaxed here, although Andrew was disappointed to observe that it had been refurbished since his last visit about eight years previously, when none of the 14 chairs/settees matched each other.

From the Goat it was a scenic drive up past Lake Vyrnwy to Bala, and down to Llandudno and our B&B. We headed up to the Kings Head, adjacent to the Great Orme tramway, to meet some friends, but it was loud, full of "grockles", and the special Tramway Bitter had run out, so a rather ordinary pint of Felinfoel Best Bitter was endured.

Saturday

The hosts of the B&B where we stayed in Llandudno kindly gave us a slightly early breakfast on Saturday, so we were able to catch our train to Liverpool in plenty of time. We met up with our friends John and Hayley at the Crown, a huge place with panelling galore, sweeping staircase and a very ornate ceiling. We sampled some perfectly drinkable Cains Bitter at the astonishing cost of £1 a pint, whilst discussing why such an attractive pub wasn't in the National Inventory, before moving on to our first National Inventory pub of the day, the Grade II-listed Lion (opposite Moorfields Station).

Anyone who has bought the National Inventory will be familiar with its front-cover photo of the Lion's curved bar featuring decorative tiles andengraved glass, and I was delighted t o see it "in the flesh" at last (although the photographer must have been leaving the Gents on his knees!). As well as the tiling, which extends around the whole bar, there is
also an impressive domed ceiling of stained glass, and old engraved lettering on the external windows. The main bar is the old smoke room, and there are two other seating areas off the corridor, with hatches through to the corridor from the bar. They were selling the recently published "CAMRA guide to Liverpool's Historic Pubs". Our list of five "must do" pubs for the day had just tripled, but the Crown was in there. A round of Highgate Mild (3.4%), Jennings Cumberland Ale (4%) and two pints of Hook Norton Old Hooky
(4.6%) came to a reasonable £9.20, and the bar also offered Banks's Mild as a guest beer. Another couple joined us as we discussed our schedule, and over a few more halves we decided to head for the Roscoe's Head (as it was only an 80 yard detour from our planned route).

The Roscoe's Head has a smallish bar and standing area, a snug and a second seating area. Most of us went for the Jennings Bitter at £2.25; not a bad pint at all. There were three regular handpumps and three guest beers here, all bitters.

From there it was a quick gallop to the National Inventory and Grade II*-listed Philharmonic (our planned last stop, but it had started to rain and we were only 300 yards away), built in 1898-1900 and described in the book as "the most spectacular historic pub in England". It would be difficult to disagree. The first thing we noticed was the big central island bar with eight handpumps; we tried York Liberty and Bath Ales Wild
Hare, but I have no note of the prices as it was John's round! With a pint in my hand, I was able to relax and look around at the immensely impressive and imposing interior with its superb glasswork. There is a seating area at one end, a "Grand Lounge" dining area at the other, and snugs in between labelled "Brahms" and "Liszt", both with sumptuous upholstery. There are also a couple of cubby-holes off the main bar area. I was particularly impressed to see a notice telling customers that they should ask for a top-up if the head was too big, and all the beers we tried were in very good condition. The service seemed a bit abrupt, but it's a busy place, and they did tell us the short-cut to our next pub, so they are forgiven.

The recently re-opened Grade II-listed Belvedere offered a noticeable contrast: a very basic main bar with a built-in wooden bench, a second drinking room, also plainly furnished, and a drinking lobby comprising a corridor with a hatch through to the bar, and a small table and chair in the corner. Two halves of Adnams Discovery, a half of a Belgian beer and a half of a German beer (sadly I didn't note the brands) came to £8.50. The pub has some fantastic glass windows etched with nature scenes, and a single
unisex loo!

Our next stop was Peter Kavanagh's, another Grade II-listed building. It was refitted in 1929 in what the National Inventory describes as "eccentric fashion", and extended next door in the 1970s. It is an absolutely incredible place. Its most striking feature is the big painted murals in the two main drinking areas, but it has a long history. We were given a detailed tour of the pub, including the cellar, by a friendly chap who had worked behind the bar for some 12 or 13 years and knew a great deal about the history of the pub. Peter Kavanagh was the orignal owner of the pub, and designed the whole of the original pub area including the tables and the gargoyles that appear around the ceiling and on the ends of the benches. He was by all accounts a fairly unpleasant character (as the locals will explain!), but we loved his pub, not just for the decor but also for the excellent beer. I enjoyed a pint of George Wright Kings Shilling, and Andrew sampled a special World Cup beer from the Station House Brewery. I seem
to remember he sampled it again before we left, as it rivalled the Lion for best kept beer of the day. This pub can get very busy in the evenings, so a lunchtime visit is required if you wish to peruse the myriad architectural details. The Fly in the Loaf is not a National Inventory pub, but is listed in the GBG, and was supposed to be known for its food (which was ok, but we were rather disappointed by the limited choice). The beer likewise was good, but was limited to a range of bitters, although they did include Dr Okells IPA, my first Manx beer. It was not my palate, and I think that the previous pubs we'd visited would have sold a better pint of it. The pub itself has no outstanding features other than its size!

Our last pub of the day, the Grade II*-listed Vines, offered us more to look at but less to drink - it doesn't sell real ale, and from that point of view was a disappointing note to end on. However, the disintegrating handwriting on my notes at this point demonstrates that we didn't really *need* another pint, and the pub was certainly worth a look: a big gin palace with an island bar, heavy oak panelling throughout and elaborate etching on the outside windows. It was built in 1907 by Walter Thomas, the same architect as the Philharmonic. We made the Vines our last stop because it was conveniently close to the rail station (and only 50 yards from the Crown), from which we caught our train back to Llandudno.

Sunday

We spent most of Sunday morning at the Welsh Highland Railway in Porthmadog, where my uncle is Chairman of the Board of Directors; it was the first time I had visited the railway, and as we chose (by chance) a Gala Day, there was a lot to look at including model railways, mini steam engines and an old hearse carriage. On leaving Porthmadog we stopped at the nearby Brondanw Arms (otherwise known as Y Ring), a 17th century inn with entrances on different levels, one from the road and one from the rear carpark, the entrance to which is round the corner and down the hill! The pub isn't in the National Inventory, and we chose it because it had a good reputation for its lunches (we were hungry); but it was worth a visit, with some interesting artefacts and a lovely view of the mountains from the upstairs window. The food was good and the beer in reasonable condition; a pint of Robinson's Unicorn, a J20 and two meals came to £19.20, and there was a second beer available on handpump.

From there it was a scenic drive over Snowdonia, and east to our only National Inventory pub of the day, the Grade II-listed Fox at
Ysceifiog. We sampled Brakspears Bitter (£2.10) and Brains Bitter (£2.20), both of which were in excellent condition, but declined to try the Greene King IPA. This pub had changed hands only a few months earlier, and is larger than it looks, with four rooms, one of which was closed when we were there but was to be reopened as a dining room. Of the other rooms, one is a large comfy lounge with a hatchway to the bar, one a snug with an interesting variety of seating and a sliding door to the passageway, and then there is the small bar itself, with an old fireplace in the corner.

Time was getting on by now and we headed straight back to Llandudno, where we had a meal at a friend's house, before she took us to the Snowdon, an ex-GBG pub. We couldn't work out why it had been omitted from the GBG as there was certainly nothing wrong with the beer (rumour said that the local CAMRA guys had told him that he'd lost out because he didn't do food!); we had good pints of both Bass and the seemingly ubiquitous Landlord. The pub was a bit "spit and sawdust", but the barman and the locals were perfectly friendly, although we weren't too impressed with a bunch of loud idiots around the corner (bloody tourists!).

Monday

On leaving Llandudno on Monday, we made a bit of a detour back to Merseyside in order to visit the Stork Hotel at Birkenhead, another Grade II-listed pub which was the local CAMRA Pub of the Year in 2002-3. We spent some time chatting with barmaid Diane, who was very friendly and helpful, not to mention knowledgeable about the pub. Between us we sampled various halves - including Cottage Brewing Company GWR Dark (5.4%), Robinsons Sunny Jim (3.8%) and Station House Skoolz Out (4.4%) - at a total cost of £2.94, and we noted that the pub offers a Happy Hour with real ales down to £1.45 per pint. The central bar has hatches through to the corridors and seating areas, with engraved glasswork and carved wood in between. There is a"news room" with impressive upholstered benches, and a central corridor/seating area with a mosaic floor and some rather impressive tiling/wallpaper. A large end lounge also has upholstered benches, and the bar has yet more tiling together with internal as well as external stained glass. Diane told us that the bar hatches were original, and in the old days they used to come down when the bar closed (hence the term "batten down the hatches"). The corridor tiling even extends into the toilets, with huge stylised flowers on a lovely blue background.

Our "nineteenth hole" and final pub (as the Prince Arthur at Walton was shut, being a Monday lunchtime) was the Scotch Piper at Lydiate, a Grade II*-listed building and a fantastic place with which to end the trip. This 14th century inn (it was built in 1320) has stone-flagged floors and, for the large size of the pub, one of the smallest bars I have seen. A drinking room to the right of the bar has upholstered benches complete with headrests, and a tiny snug in one corner by the fireplace - a small fireplace with a huge brick surround. An open-sided wall (half-height with vertical beams to the ceiling) separates the drinking room from a corridor
with a lounge bar at the end. The bar itself has more built-in bench seating, with a tiny serving area tucked into the corner of the room and another open fire. There is an interesting extension flap from the right-hand side of the bar that offers a great place to put drinks on! No space is wasted here; there is even a small stool and table wedged beneath the underside of the stairs opposite the bar, and there are lots of the odd little corners that are so typical of very old buildings. Of course, we didn't look around without having something to sustain ourselves: a pint each of Banks's Bitter and Hopback Summer Lightning came to £4.10 and both pints were clear, bright and very drinkable.

All in all, I think this was one of the best trips we've done in terms of the variety in both architecture and beer, and I would heartily recommend visits to almost all of these pubs, although it must be mentioned that Merseyside has the best kept beers of any major town we've visited so far. Praise where praise is due!

Sophie