A trip to the seaside in the snow

Sitting in front of the fire at the Western it seemed a good idea when Bas Deacon and Karen Hobson suggested spending New Year in Blackpool,  Liz and I readily agreed as we knew that  meant a good selection of pubs to visit. Little did we know it would be the coldest for over 30 years in the North West.

An early start was made to ensure we could visit as many classic pubs as possible. Travelling along the M62, visible for miles we could see the North West’s rival to ‘The Angel of the North’ entitled ‘The Dream’ situated on top of an old mining colliery heap near St Helens. A concrete bust of a woman’s head, over 60ft high, at a cost of over £2 million it has gained much criticism, as an art piece we all thought it admirable, but time will tell if it is accepted as comparable to ‘The Angel’.

On to our first pub visit at Waterloo, Liverpool, The Volunteer Canteen, a back street old Higsons house, a superb start, it had atmosphere, period f&f, and an excellent pint of Black Sheep, none of the locals went to the bar, a nod of the head was all the pleasant bar maid needed to bring drinks to the table. Apparently the pub always had bell pushes for waiter service and the tradition continues.

Just along the coast at Sefton Sands near Crosby are cast figures dotted along the shore, over a hundred of them, made by Antony Gormley (creator of Angel of the North). entitled ‘Another Place’ all the figures made in his own image are staring out to sea. We were fortunate to see them as the tide was going out, giving the impression of figures rising from the shore. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.

On to Lydiate and The Scotch Piper, the oldest pub in Lancashire, the building itself thatched and multi roomed is certainly worth calling in, but we were slightly disappointed with the beer, Black Sheep and Banks. The barman too, was surly, maybe he was having an off day.

             The Scotch Piper reputedly the oldest in Lancashire c1320

From here on our trip started to take a turn for the worse, we travelled on to the Old Dog at Up Holland, it was closed.

Deciding as conditions were poor we would go on to Blackpool and book in our accommodation and find some of the town’s gems!

Pulling in the car park of the hotel  we were confronted by football shirted fans milling around, Blackpool were playing at home the next day, and our hotel overlooked the ground, we were going to need a deep sedative to sleep that night.

Quickly putting our bags in the rooms Bas Deacon had a couple of recommended pubs to check out. In weather you wouldn’t send Penguins out in, the four of us set off, after what seemed like an eternity walking we could see the lights of the pub in the distance, The Ramsden on Talbot Rd

Looking forward to a pint and a warm, on approaching, we found the pub was all taped off like a Christmas present, with ‘Police Warning tape’ and patrol cars standing by. Apparently a major incident had occurred and the police had closed the pub. Disappointed we decided to march on to our next recommendation, The New Rd Inn, reasonably close by. On entering greeted by an array of hand pumps we thought our luck was in. “Sorry” exclaimed the barman “no real ale”, we were gagging by now Ok we will have a Guinness, “sorry no beer at all we have had a flood, I can offer you one of these” and he pointed to four bottles of supermarket beer looking lonely and forlorn on rows of empty shelves.

 Not believing the flood excuse for a minute, and by now loosing the will to live, we politely declined and took our leave. We stood outside feeling like the four bottles of beer, desolate, not a soul about. Three pubs on the trot, closed or with no beer.

We started to walk in the direction from which we came and were rescued by a taxi driver who seemed as glad to see us as we were of him.

The taxi dropped us off at the Saddle, warm, friendly, six hand pumps and a pub grub menu.  Roosters, Cameron’s and Thwaites amongst others. All on top form.

We stayed there, until we departed to the hotel to a sleepless night for me, noise until 4am, Liz slept like a log (due to the wine) Bas Deacon could sleep through anything.

A New day and on to Morecombe, first stop the Midland Hotel and all its art deco splendour.  This building internally is jaw dropping, it is a must visit to any one who likes art deco.

              The Midland Rotunda bar in its entire deco splendour.

The Rotunda bar has real ale, although only J W Lees was available on our visit.

Leaving the Midland we made our way along the prom towards ‘Erics’ statue that stands looking towards the Tivoli Real Ale pub. A word on Morecombe’s promenade, much money has been invested on the front and a credit to the architects and their ‘seabird’ theme that’s runs throughout. We vowed to revisit.

 Back to the car we noticed a familiar name on the front ‘Brucciani’s ,

We just had to call in, and what a surprise, untouched since it was built in 1939, the lady serving told us she was from the Brucciani family, and this was the only one outside Leicester, it now has a listed building status.

Leicester folk especially the older generation will remember Luigi and his two shops, one in Horsefair St and one in Fox lane. Memories of Ice buns and knickerbooker glory.

A trip down memory lane in the interior of Morecombe’s Brucciarni’s untouched since 1939. now listed, Leicester take note.

Before it became to dark we made our way back to Blackpool via Lower Heysham, to call in at the Royal, multi roomed, panelled walls, leaded glass and a fireplace reputed to be the original from 1504. Thwaites Mild & Lancaster Bomber were the beers tried, good too.

On to the Ship at Overton an unusual layout where the bar and corridor are the same, two hand pulls both serving Thwaites Original. An unusual aspect in this pub was the vast Victorian collection of birds eggs.

Victorian Bar, Minton tiles, also one of the many displays of birds eggs,

Not to everyone’s taste, in fact I found them quite off-putting, but egg collecting was a popular Victorian pastime. The Ship. Overton

On to the Victoria  at Cleveleys just outside Blackpool, a 1930’s Sam Smiths pub, a large road house type pub, many wonderful leaded windows, two vast rooms largely intact, even down to the carvings of garden mammals on the oak benches. Only Sam Smiths bitter on, but wonderful it was, you have to hand it to Sams they have some of the most ornate pubs in the country.

Back to Blackpool we almost passed the Ramsdon which had been closed by the police the previous evening, we called in,  the pub is in danger of demolition in a development scheme. Glad we called in as we found a friendly bunch in there, no one seemed to know what had happened the previous night or were not saying. When we asked, one of the locals replied ‘Ach it was just a murder’ The beers however were excellent including Brysons Brewery from Morecombe, the only time we had come across the local brew.

We made our way to the hotel, stopping briefly at the Saddle before having fish & chips at the ‘Cottage’. It is what it says, a cottage serving some of the finest fish and chips in the country. Licensed too. Liz & I first went there 20years ago, the chippy, eat in or takeaway still going strong, a must if you are in Blackpool.

Next morning before we set off home, called in at the Tower and its ballroom, whether you like ballroom dancing or not a visit is essential, especially the ladies.

Karen’s photo of the Tower Ballroom, complete with Wurlitzer organ.

No real Ale but it does have a champagne bar.

The drive home gave us time to reflect on our pub visits, the conclusion was a pretty depressing one, although we found a few gems, mostly we found boarded up and for sale signs, from our last visit some 10 years ago we could not find one of our preferred real ale pubs still open.

The motorway was at a standstill so we pulled off and called in at the Coachmakers at Hanley in Stoke, another pub under threat from developers.

Plans have been passed to demolish the pub to make way for another shopping centre. 

The wonderful Coachmakers at Hanley, Stoke. A brilliant thriving pub with eight real ales, mostly rare breweries, super condition. The local CAMRA have together with the regulars enlisted the help of many influential people including MPs to fight the plans, so there is some hope.

That does not apply to other parts of the town were we sadly saw more ornate pubs boarded up waiting for the bulldozers to arrive.

CAMRA won the war on providing real ale years ago, but there is a great danger of the providers ie the pubs disappearing, more effort is needed to fight these closures. The reasons for this are many; our traditional drinking houses are in grave danger. Once closed they rarely reopen. A concerted effort is needed; it should be led by CAMRA.

Barry Lount

This page last updated: April 15, 2011

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