THE PUB AND THE PEOPLE

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

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.

 BELL RINGERS PRACTICE IN NANTWICH 

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.

ODDFELLOWS NANTWICH

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 BLACK LION NANTWICH 

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 NANTWICH

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.

ELSEWHERE IN ENGLAND

LIFE AS A RETIREE

Until recently I was unsure about an “idle” lifestyle. I was worried I about having to plan an entire day’s slate of activities in retirement. It was daunting. I was more comfortable wading through a myriad of work details and tasks. Before, I lived only for a future that would never arrive and which sadly is never guaranteed, and I was obsessed and worried over a past with its inevitable mistakes that are a part of the process of living. The present was completely overlooked.

Well, that all may seem ponderous doesn’t it, but truthfully it took a good while of adjusting and considering being elsewhere and enjoying the day rather than just surviving it. Janet helped immensely with a few well-timed slaps to the head and more than one kick in the pants. She is a deep well of support and tough love. The relaxed nature of our lives now allows us to be elsewhere whenever the mood, or the price, is right. Where once life was guided by stringent rules it now waifs along with serendipity and chance.

                                                                                                          

That’s why we’re currently in England visiting family. A few months back an air fare alert email from JustFly.com came to Janet. Air to Manchester from Philadelphia was $452, which is very cheap. Not having to think about logistics we jumped on the fare and now we’re back in the south Chesire town of Nantwich.

JUSTFLY.COM 

THE BAR AT THE CROWN HOTEL

Readers of this blog know that we have been coming here since her daughter’s marriage in 2011. Their English wedding was held at the Crown Hotel, a place that dates from the 1500’s (or so).  

 

CROWN HOTEL

Every time we arrive the in-laws say we’ll be bored here, but I have yet to tire of Nantwich. Yes, it’s a big world out there and someone has to see it, but Nantwich is a lovely jumping off point for everywhere else. This little town has become a second home for us. When here, the day brims with playtime with the grandchildren, drinks with the in-laws, toddling into town for a coffee and to listen for the bells of St. Mary’s marking the hour, or to market for the day’s supplies. That’s a lot to do! Of course Janet comes here more often. She was just here in January, but our current air fare was too inviting to pass up on a trip less than 4 months later. Since the wedding this is my fifth time here, with two trips here during the Christmas holidays and an extended trip in the summer of 2016.  

ST. MARY;S NANTWICH

Of course we plan little side trips while here, sometimes with the kids, sometimes on our own. Since our first trip we’ve visited Liverpool, traveled to Belgium to drink beer, crossed the Pennines to stay in York and spent a blur of an afternoon in Chester.

This year we’re off for a two-day trip to Lancaster, and Windermere in the Lake District.

LAKE DISTRICT

This will be two weeks of family time, which sadly was an entire lifetime more than I allowed myself when working furiously.

WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE

ORGIES AND TRUMP

Your favorite world travelers haven’t been getting much further than Nantwich, Chesire in the United Kingdom lately and that’s quite okay. Family is involved of course and that makes it really easy to return here again and again. Yeah, I know, it’s a big world out there, and there is a lot to see, but Nantwich has become a second home and Janet has been kind enough to share her family with me.

Janet visits this little town, south of Liverpool and Manchester and a few miles east of Wales, about twice a year. Her daughter lives here now with her husband and young children. I don’t make it here quite as much, but I have become quite familiar with the town. I have been here enough that people are beginning to recognize me from the last visit.

The in-laws are wonderful and we adults go out often for a drink at the pubs.

NANTWICH

I’ve been here often enough to know lots of things about Nantwich. I know the town had been a center for salt cultivation dating from Roman times. I know that the people who live here are called “Dabbers” which may or may not have something to do with the tanning industry that once flourished here; it all depends on who you ask. I know a WWII American airman is revered here for putting the town before his own safety when he veered his troubled aircraft away from Nantwich and crashed in a nearby field and that there is a memorial to his brave sacrifice.I know there are several festivals and events in Nantwich that are well attended. There’s the Nantwich Cheese Awards, and The Worm Charming Championships (actually held just outside Nantwich in Willaston). There’s the Nantwich Jazz and Blues Festival and the Nantwich Food Festival. I know that the best fish and chips takeaway is found at Coral Reef on Pillory Street.

WHAT IS A DABBER?

INTERNATIONAL CHEESE AWARDS

WORM CHARMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

NANTWICH JAZZ AND BLUES FESTIVAL

NANTWICH FOOD FESTIVAL

THE HEART OF ENGLAND

Now, I am here like Janet to visit the kids. I love this precious family time in this lovely little town, but I have to admit I also look forward to going out to the pubs; although not necessarily for the beer, (I can’t keep up.) Pubs, short for public houses are the focal point of social life in England.  Men, women, children and dogs all gather at these drinking establishments for beer, cider, wine, sodas and food, games like darts and dominoes and pool. They gather at the pubs to watch games on the television. They pop in for a quick pint in the afternoon, or for an evening of 8 or 9. They go to free houses and tied houses. The free house pubs choose what beers they want to sell and the tied houses serve beer from a particular brewery. I’ve been to Nantwich so many times now that I’m a regular in a few of the pubs and this humble “Yank” is no longer a novelty. I’m just another patron.

In fact, just the other night at the Nantwich Club, located in the center of town right by the 14^th Century St. Mary’s church looming beautifully in the evening air, I was approached by an older woman who recognized me from the New Year’s celebration a couple of years ago as “the Yank”. She was waiting for a place at the dominoes table and she shook her shoulders as she sidled up to me and reminded me that on that night they got to “really rock and rolling.”  I feigned embarrassment and said, “Ah, jees….,” which she took to mean orgies. The rest of our time there she kept fawning over me. I may be a regular, but I still can’t speak the language properly. (I gotta work on my accent.) 

Indeed, many things are lost in translation, even though we are all speaking English, and over the years I’ve learned some “American” words that are commonplace are absolutely rude over here. The other day one of the kids was trying to climb on the front window sill of the house and I said his mom would get pissed if she caught him.... Janet said getting pissed means she's drinking. Well...I don't know if she needed a naughty boy as an excuse to start drinking, and I won’t go into the English interpretation of some other words, but you don’t really talk about “fanny” packs or “growlers” or “trumps” in polite company. 

Well, if you must know, “TRUMP” is the English word for fart.

St. Mary's Church, Nantwich

NANTWICH PUB CRAWL DAY #1

Team VFH visited family in northwest England over the Christmas holidays in Nantwich, Chesire, and as promised our time there brimmed with family and friends and featured hours of couch sitting and conversations, catching up with the in-laws and the kids, watching a lot of “Patrick TV” (Janet’s year old grandson) and plenty of trips to the area pubs. Before our departure for England Janet worried it would be a boring time for me, but I could not disagree more. Life is fleetingly short and days can be a blur and it was quite comforting to just let the days unfold for once. We often scurry about to get the most for our airfare, which for me was just over $1,000, but our pace in Nantwich was just perfect. There was some idle chatter about traveling to Chester, just to be tourists, but logistics got in the way and that destination thankfully dissipated. No, we basically hung around the Bereton Drive home of the in-laws, crawled our way to a number of pubs and began Sweet ’16 drinking and dancing at the Nantwich Club. As midnight loomed we all trundled out into the nearby square and listened to the bells of St. Mary’s Church chime in the New Year.

SHORT AND SWEET

I was in England for all of 6 days, with work constraints holding me back and I did not land until Monday. Janet was able to celebrate Christmas and Boxing Day with her extended family in England. Boxing Day is the day after the holiday and the day servants were traditionally finally able to celebrate the holiday with their family rather than waiting on their masters. Often the servants were sent home with boxes, containing gifts, bonuses and sometimes leftover foods… Now it’s really when all the after Christmas sales kick in, and a really great excuse to get drunk.

TIED AND FREE HOUSES 

As Boxing Day fell on a Saturday, the following Monday was the “bank holiday” and the “official” closing of everything….except the pubs. After I had a quick nap we embarked on our sojourn through to some of the favorites of our hosts. Janet had already gone out on Boxing Day, but was up for the challenge. … of course.

 

THE TALBOT

Our first stop was The Talbot Bar and Grill on Beam Street under the pretense to see a football/soccer game, but also to drink. The Talbot serves food and has musical acts and  mostly serves Marston’s Beers.

I’m not sure if The Talbot is “tied” to Marston's beer, meaning it was a public house or “pub” required to carry a particular brew, whether it was owned directly by the brewery and managed or mortgaged through the brewery or just a free house. It is too complicated for me to ponder such things for what is for me a difficult libation to quaff.

MARSTON'S BEER, UK

THE TALBOT NANTWICH 

BITTER ABOUT BITTERS

Served usually in 20 oz pints and weaker alcohol content and flavor than the current U.S. rage of hoppy IPAs bitters are good, for one. But, when you’re out on a pub crawl, especially on a long weekend holiday like this, you have to make a show of it. Truthfully though I could never drink like our hosts no matter what, but the filling, low alcohol bitters usually served gives me a bloated feeling more than a buzz. So I nursed the pint given to me and happily paid the next round.

A DABBER’S PARADISE

Despite all this carping on my part about the beer I thoroughly enjoy going out to the pubs in Nantwich. The atmosphere is pleasant and the company is great and I get to experience a Dabber’s life while out and about.

Like the whole bit about tied and free pubs the meaning behind Dabber is equally complicated. Suffice it to say that anyone born in Nantwich is a Dabber, whatever the hell that means, but being a Dabber-by-proxy is fun if not expansive.

To read about the complicated and convoluted history of the Dabber name, here is a great little article.

WHAT IS A DABBER? 

If you are interested in becoming a Dabber-by-proxy by managing a pub or mortgaging the property with a "soft loan" from the company; many of the main breweries have properties for your own franchise if not in Nantwich then somewhere in England. Here are current Marston opportunities:

MARSTON'S PUBS FOR SALE 

PROPER AND POSH

Well the game at The Talbot was an illegal feed and was buffering too slowly so we moved on to the recently renovated Vine on Hospital Street. It was crowded with a whole different selection of beer. I believe it once was a “tied” house, but is now “free”. The game was on a big screen though one had to feint and weave to catch a glimpse. One thing I noticed about crowded rooms in England is that the participants are very tactile, a trait somewhat unnerving at first for this “don’t-invade-my-personal-space” New Yorker, where another person can get within an eyelash of you, as long as they don’t touch! Colin, our host, clapped me on the back at one point while at the Vine and said this was a proper pub.

THE VINE NANTWICH

Later we trundled across the River Weaver to Welsh Row and The Chesire Cat, a posh bar, restaurant and inn. It was labeled as such by Colin. A former disco with weaving corridors and an open outdoor garden in the middle, the Chesire Cat had a lot of women inside. Many of the ladies were related to our hosts. Everyone remembered me from the kids’ wedding in 2011, though I just smiled broadly with every hello to cover up my faulty memory. The place was relatively empty of men, especially when compared to the crowd at the Vine. It was like the “he-man women haters club” was meeting there. 

THE CHESIRE CAT

Regardless, the “Cat” is set in a charming 17^th century building featuring the magpie design of many buildings in town.

We drank some more beer, but I couldn’t tell what it was and at this point I was drinking whatever they handed me.

THE CHESIRE CAT NANTWICH

Almost directly across Welsh Row from the Cat is the Black Lion and yet another place to drink. Julie’s father used to sing at the Black Lion years ago and we HAD to go. I had to kind of get pushed in because my belly got stuck in the door jamb, but I’m glad we stopped here. Very charming and cozy, the Black Lion is one of the oldest pubs in Nantwich, dating from 1664 and offered Weetwood Beers which included some ales as well as a number of “guest” beers. Deviating from the bitters was very acceptable to me. Our little group settled in at a table near a roaring fire and smiled contently. It was a really great stop.

THE BLACK LION 

BEERS AT THE BLACK LION

WEETWOOD ALES UK 

MUNCHIES

Differences in customs and cultures notwithstanding you have to eat, especially if you’ve been drinking! I remember fondly some street side suspect hamburger kiosk in Sarajevo while working the Olympics there. The “Big Mec” burgers were topped with yoghurt… I think. …

The Nantwich equivalent is Coral Reef, a takeaway fish and chips restaurant on Pillory Street. Brightly lighted and greasy smelling and serving up the best fish and chips and “proper” mushy peas! We’ve been there before and I was quite happy we ended our night with a cache of grub from this place.  

Now, everything in Nantwich is kind of near everything else in Nantwich. It’s not much more than a 10-15 minute jaunt from one end of town to the other, or if you’re like Colin 5-10 minutes… he does walk fast. We ended the night around the kitchen table devouring our still hot fish and chips and life just seemed like a Dabber’s Paradise.