NANTWICH PUB
CRAWL…AGAIN
I
have to admit I enjoy the pub culture in England. It’s relaxed and friendly and often the pubs are old and
picturesque. Many feature outdoor gardens, some with playgrounds, some with
animals. Going to a pub in England doesn’t have to be a drunken soiree. It’s
usually a gathering of friends and family.
The
pub culture is a major thread of life in England. Going to a favorite pub is
more than getting a pint. It’s a community center. It’s a place for games like
dominoes and darts are played. It’s a place to watch a televised football
match. It’s a place where dogs sit patiently as their humans banter about
everything. Pubs are where new parents go to “wet their baby’s head” to
introduce them to the world. It’s a culture that dates 2,000 years ago when tabernae,
basically wine bars, were quickly set up along roads catering to the invading
Roman armies and which eventually evolved into the pubs of today. And, every time
Team VFH heads to England to visit, it is to the pubs where we meet up with the
in-laws and catch up on things.
 |
| The Black Lion Nantwich |
Stools
are rarities at the pubs. No one comes in to hunch over their pint with their
back turned to the room. It’s a convivial atmosphere and people mill about with
pints in hand or sit at tables. Oh, there’s a lot to like about going to the pubs
of England, except for this humble imbiber, their beer, but only because it is consumed in vast
quantities.
POOFTA
Yes,
the English like their beer and they like to drink a lot of it. I’ve been told
going out on a typical night is to drink 6 to 8 pints. Catering to this
lifestyle the beer is weaker, typically around 3.5% alcohol content whether
it’s a bitter or a colder lager. I’ve been told that you don’t want a stronger
beer if you’re out with friends because you’ll not be able to drink that much.
For the English the purpose of going to the pubs is not to get drunk, but to
live.
Personally,
I can’t keep up with our hosts, so I don’t even try. Sheer volume, despite the
lower alcohol content has me bloated quickly. Of course, I could sneak in
half-pint pours; a woman’s drink; but being labeled a poofta is a serious consequence.
I try to pass on rounds as much as possible, that’s why I like buying the first
one, for I enjoy the camaraderie of going out to the pubs when visiting
England, I just can’t drink that much.
MY
GOODNESS MY GUINNESS
This
past trip I started drinking Guinness Stout. Having slurped my way through a
myriad of bitters and lagers, some with less than enjoyable results I took
Janet’s advice and went with this famous stout. It’s served in every pub.
It
is said that Guinness doesn’t travel well. I once had it while on a brewery
tour at St. James Gate in Dublin and then a week later in New York I had a Guinness
that was unpalatable. England is close enough to Dublin and it has become my
beer of choice. I’ll toss in an occasional bitter and my hosts are none the
wiser.
Now,
there is a thriving craft beer culture in England. IPAs and stronger brews are
being concocted, but in Nantwich they are only available in specialty shops,
like the Beer Dock.This micro pub, sells mainly craft beers for on and off premises consumption, sells pints and fills growlers from 10 rotating taps and has roughly 600 beers offered for sale. There's lots of foreign beers on their shelves. This is very unique though and far different than most of the other pubs in town. The place is tiny with picnic
tables filling the center and taps on the far end. The only other place I know that has "other" beers is the Crown Hotel bar. They offer a Leffe Blonde and a couple of German beers along with the typical cask conditioned beers found in the pubs.
 |
| THE BEER DOCK NANTWICH |
The Beer Dock doesn't have the atmosphere of the pub. It's all industrial and it's like sitting in the middle of a store. You can spend a lot of time ogling all the beers available. Quite different from the regular pubs, which are often "tied-houses", meaning they are owned by a particular brewery and serve mainly their beer. For example at the Red Cow it's Robinson's. Hydes is at the Vine and Marstons at the Talbot.
PUB
ETIQUETTE
Another
part of the pub culture is buying rounds. Because of my lack of ability to keep up, I
use this to my advantage and try to buy the first round. Later, when asked I
can skip a pint and pace myself.
 |
| THE RIFLEMAN NANTWICH |
THIS
WILL DRIVE YOU TO DRINK
If
may seem to the casual reader that this whole pub business is a chore, but I
have come to really enjoy the times spent in the pubs with family. We’ve been
here so many times I recognize people and say hello and look forward to
familiar pubs and new pubs. In Nantwich there are quite a number of choices,
and we usually get dragged off to the pubs that are currently favored by our
in-laws. An early destination in our travels to Nantwich was the Rifleman,
affectionately known as “the Gun.” When we first started coming to Nantwich the
Rifleman, also a “tied-hiouse” meaning it was owned by Robinson’s Brewery, was
run by family members of the in-laws and so was the place to go. Since then
though someone else runs the place and it’s fallen off our radar.
When
the father-in-law and I go out we often go to the Nantwich Club, a private club
right near the medieval era St. Mary’s Church. Beers are very cheap here and
he’ll mention it more than once that it’s the cheapest in town (in-between
winning hands at the dominoes table). Though it was as much charm as going to the local VFW Hall, we've spent a few New Year's celebrations here. Although the
average age is dead (an old Borscht-belt quip), we actually have had a great
time and no one ever broke a hip on the cha cha line. At midnight everyone piles
out into the square of St. Mary’s to listen to the bell ringers greet the new
year. On a side note the bell ringers practice Thursday evenings from 7 to 9.
On
our recent trip we ended up on a pub crawl with the in-laws that had us going
to some standard destinations and a couple of new ones.
 |
| ODDFELLOWS NANTWICH |
THE ODDFELLOWS ARMS
On
Welsh Road the place evidently boasts a lovely garden, but we sat at a massive
table with a number of other couples. They offer live music here, but we were out too early. It was our first time here. The place first opened in 1767 as the White Lion, but since 1844 it has been called Oddfellows. I had a Guinness.
 |
| THE BLACK LION |
THE
BLACK LION
Also
on Welsh Road, (evidently the border with Wales was once just over there). We
had been here before and this especially charming place has a warren of nooks
and fireplaces and tables scattered throughout. One of the oldest pubs in Nantwich, the building dates back to 1644.The father of one of our
in-laws would sing here on occasion. I had a very nice bitter.
THE
CROWN HOTEL
We
try to have a pint at the Crown every time we visit Nantwich. The night of our
pub crawl I drank a couple of half pints of a strong Belgian Leffe Blonde (the
only way they serve it). No Poofta alert needed.
 |
| THE CROWN HOTEL BAR |
The earliest records found about the Crown Hotel date from 1572.
THE
VINE
Another
regular stop for us is in Nantwich is the Vine on Hospital Street. We’ve been
here on New Year’s Eve, before heading to the Nantwich Club. A tied-house to
Hydes, I’ve seen this place packed to the gills. There’s an outdoor area in the
back beyond the WC but this night was filled with kids. I scurried back to the
geriatric table to fetch my Guinness.
 |
| THE VINE |
THE
BOOT AND SHOE
Our
last stop on this pub crawl was also on Hospital Street. More austere than the
rest on this particular crawl, the interior of the place was empty although there was a large bunch of kids in the smoking area out back. Although the building was built in 1572, survived the great Nantwich fire of 1583, it was somewhat an anti-climactic end to our 2019 Nantwich pub crawl. I'm glad I stopped in, but it was just okay.
 |
| THE BOOT AND SHOE |
We sipped our beers quietly in the threadbare seating area (Guinness for me) before walking
through the paths and alleys that brought us home. Everyone walks here. I
actually led the way; I know Nantwich that well.
No comments:
Post a Comment