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Volunteer Canteen pub, Waterloo
Posted by Mike Chapple on July 23, 2008 9:13 PM
NO POOL. NO JUKE BOX. NO FRUIT MACHINE. NO FOOD.
To put such a sign at a pub entrance could be considered the commercial equivalent of placing a shotgun under the chin and blasting your brains out.
But there it is in gilt capitals on a bold red sign outside The Volunteer Canteen pub, in Waterloo. There is a post-script underneath which emphasises that there is PLENTY of good traditional beer to be had.
And, indeed, there is at this marvellous little boozer tucked away in Waterloo, a convenient goalie's drop kick away from the station one way, with the balmy sand dunes t'uther.
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Coach and Horses, Greasby
Posted by Mike Chapple on July 17, 2008 12:18 AM
ONCE in a while, the Pub Column stumbles on an alehouse with which it immediately falls in love, a traditional British local where good ale and conversation are the watch words.
And its discovery was all thanks to faithful PC companion Lady Penelope of Pensby, who has a knack of being able to track down some of the best boozers in her Wirral homeland.
Indeed, no sooner had the information "Find quintessential ye olde pub" been punched into her data banks, we were off in FAB 1 to arrive soon afterwards in the ancient village of Greasby and the Coach and Horses pub.
Now, when we say ye olde, we mean very ye olde.
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The Grapes, Knight Street
Posted by Mike Chapple on July 8, 2008 10:12 PM
AS THE rest of Liverpool city centre reinvents itself, on Knight Street one place is unearthing its past and keeping hold of it.
The Grapes pub has been a favourite for some time, and especially since it was taken over by husband and wife team Anna Slater and Paul Agoro, in February, 2003.
Anna, originally from Herne Hill, sarf London, and Liverpool lad Paul, decided to take the plunge and move into the pub business after returning from a stint as teachers of English in the Chilean city of Iquique.
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How the love affair with the pub began for me
Posted by Mike Chapple on June 15, 2008 10:55 PM
THE realisation that pubs and Yours Truly were set for a lifetime’s romance came one Christmas Eve at 16 years of age.
Our Kev and I had been grafting hard for seasonal pocket money on the local farm, and the older lads who worked there full time invited us along to make a hefty dent in our brown pay packets at the local, the Blue Anchor, on Aintree Lane.
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The Pollard Inn, Willaston, Wirral
Posted by Mike Chapple on April 13, 2008 12:17 PM
AS YOU might expect, it being the eve of the clocks going forward and the start of British Summer Time, it was, as they say in politer terms, chucking it down.
Undeterred, the Pub Column, with faithful Wirral good pub sniffer dog Lady Penelope of Pensby on the leash, decided to stick to our original plan – to explore and hopefully discover the first pub for the new season worthy of a grand day out in the sun amid the verdant fields of Albion.
Sometimes it’s a tough task though.
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4p on a pint is a bad blow for pubs
Posted by Mike Chapple on April 13, 2008 12:15 PM
SING along now: “Oh my Darlin’, oh my Darlin’, oh my Darlin’ smarmy swine,
You have lost the plot forever, to commit a ghastly crime.�
A puerile adaptation perhaps, but it’s as nothing compared to the insults many city publicans and “responsible� beer drinkers would have hurled at the Chancellor if he’d popped his head round the door of their locals after Wednesday’s budget.
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The Clock Face, Prescot
Posted by Mike Chapple on March 27, 2008 12:22 AM
THE trouble with “some people� is they don’t understand how fundamental the application of the wisdom of Bill Shankly is to living a full and happy existence.
That’s in relation to the great man’s famous quote: “Some people think football is a matter of life and death – I can assure them it’s far more important than that.�
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The Crown Hotel, Lime Street, Liverpool
Posted by Mike Chapple on February 29, 2008 11:01 PM
FIRST impressions are lasting impressions. Right? Right.
And the primary place the city burghers should want to get right for the first time visitor alighting from the train in this its Capital of Culture year is Lime Street.
Right?
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2008 beer festival
Posted by Mike Chapple on February 16, 2008 11:03 PM
IN PAST columns, the traditional image of the male strain of the real ale drinker has come under the spotlight.
He’s a Captain Birdseye type figure, with Space Hopper tum, beard, and ruddy cheeks who has a penchant for whipping out the squeeze box hidden down his dungarees and subsequently warbling a selection of English folk songs about the glory days of black puddings, canals and the utilitarian advantages to be found from living in a brown paper bag.
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The Heather Brow pub, Claughton, Birkenhead
Posted by me on February 9, 2008 11:03 PM
RECENTLY we found a great little local, the Heather Brow at Claughton in Birkenhead.
It was blessed with a God’s Waiting Room.
Far from being morbid, this is a dry, charming expression which takes an irreverent bow to the inevitable for a part of a pub where older men – and women – will meet their friends. Inevitably, as the Brow’s owner Tony Houlihan – a veteran himself – confirmed, the talk would sometimes turn to days gone by and drinking chums who had moved on, metaphorically speaking, to the room upstairs.
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