Fun Down the Pub

Last Wednesday after attending the final Oldham Beer Festival Planning meeting in Oldham, I hot footed it to Rochdale to meet my chums as usual. Well I say hot footed - more cold footed really - as the inepts from First Manchester Buses skipped a bus on the half hourly 409 route, leaving me and many others in Ice Station Zebra for a further 40 minutes. (Oldham is at least two overcoats colder than most places.) Sorry for the digression, but a rant about these buggers always makes me feel better. See tweets passim for more such.

Our usual haunt, the Regal Moon is still being renovated after the floods, so our new temporary home is the Good Beer Guide listed Flying Horse nearby. It is rather a good pub, with nice staff and immaculate beer. No hardship to drink there at all and I joined my pals while nodding to other Regal Moon outcasts.  We aren't the only ones in that boat. The company was excellent and once I thawed out I really enjoyed myself. It was jolly with banter, laughter and conversation and the beers, all of them, were at the peak of cask conditioning. It was a really good night and even the unheated 17 home didn't dampen my cheerful mood that much.

So, I had a fun night on the beer in the pub, what's the big deal?  Well there isn't one, but I make this point.  I do remember looking at the pumpclips of the six or more beers on offer, all from breweries I hadn't heard of and choosing my beers based on the colour samples that were in font of each handpump in little jars, or, the pumpclip description. I couldn't remember the names or breweries of any of the beers on the way home and reflected that I'd had four pints from three different breweries and just enjoyed them for what they were and the occasion for the company. The beer was kind of incidental.

Sometimes, and maybe the best times, is when beer is an accompaniment to fun rather than being the fun itself.

Boundary Park, Oldham FC's ground is often called Ice Station Zebra, but I think it applies to the town equally. It's a bloody cold place.

I discovered a photo on my phone from the night. So I might have been drinking Spike's Gold, but then again, maybe not.  And yes, it was topped up. 

Simon H Johnson

I was in Prague when I heard the terrible news that Simon had died.  It was a shock.  It always is when someone you know goes and getting older as I am, it happens with monotonous regularity. But Simon wasn't old and that makes it worse in so many ways.  We all know that I think. 

A couple of years ago, Simon sent me a message.  He was coming to Manchester and would I meet him and show him round?   I intended only to stay for a little while, but of course that lasted a lot longer than planned and I tottered off home while Simon, heading for the station, thought he'd check out the Port St Beer House.  Or did I go with him?  You see what I mean?

I last saw him by arrangement a summer ago, in the Euston Tap, but this time I was saved by my train.  He was good company as so many say and hard to get away from in the best possible way.  His infectious enthusiasm will be missed, as will his lack of pretension about beer, though maybe the merkin won't be!  He was indeed a reluctant scooper, but in his own way, he was one nonetheless, but he never forgot that beer is best when enjoyed in good company, rather than as a status symbol or a notch on the bar.

He (somewhat surprisingly) sent me a direct tweet last year asking me if he could have an opinion from me about whether he was "being an arse" over something or other. I agreed of course, but then he then later said there was no need.  I have no idea what is was and now never will. It was a bit of an odd incident, but there you go. I am glad he asked me, even if it came to nothing.

He was a good lad and you can't say fairer than that.  He'll be missed.

I don't half look a tit in these socks. Hope he's grinning about that somewhere.

What's The Matter With Beer Drinkers?

Thanks to William Lees-Jones of Lees Brewery, I learn that Virgin Trains have reached their 100,000 e-petition target in just about a week.  A week! They want the Government's decision to award the West Coast Mainline franchise to First to be reviewed. I am quite sympathetic to that aim - Virgin run a pretty good (but bloody expensive) service and there are doubts about First's ability to deliver on its promises,  but really?  Clearly so many people think Virgin so fantastic that they sign the e-petition in their thousands.  Why? It really beggars belief.

It seems that many more people care about a possible future problem on the West Coast Mainline train franchise than care about the excessive duty on beer in this country. The e-petition on beer is still struggling at around 80,000, after weeks of earnest endeavour. CAMRA members could have done this in a trice, but they are the minority of beer drinkers. Where is everyone? There are far more beer drinkers than Virgin West Coast passengers, but clearly they don't feel as motivated.  What is going on?

Nobody cares after all it seems.  Except Virgin passengers. There's nowt queerer than folk.

I haven't signed the Virgin petition. Not that sorry the Grinning Bearded One is going to get no more of my money, but will no doubt be picking up a bill in due course when it all goes tits up. Lose/lose situation.