As I sit here writing this I'm contemplating my four and half mile walk to the pub. My arch nemesis First Bus can't be bothered to run a service on New Year's Day. Perhaps they have joined Dry January? Well they won't stop me. Walk there, walk a mile back down to the Ship and phone a cab. Taxis won't come up the lane, it is so pitted and rutted. (A bit like the first day of the Somme, it looks as though it has been freshly shelled). A taxi from the Ship won't even be that much dearer, so take that First Manchester.My last beers of 2015 were both from Hawkshead. Damson Stout and Wild Wheat. Both interesting and not in the English meaning, but the German one. I've just listened to Henning Wehn on the radio and now am perfectly clear on the difference. "Interesting" in English is NOT interesting at all and interesting in German IS interesting. Who'd have thought it? Enough of that and back to beer. I liked the Damson Stout and though British sour beers don't tend to do it for me, enjoyed the Wild Wheat too. My last cask beer of 2015 was a surprise to me, as with with its usual incompetence, my local Middleton JDW had very little on cask wise, so I plumped for Otter Claus which was a surprisingly rich, bittersweet beer, so good in fact that I had three of them.
Today my first beer of 2016 will likely be Lees MPA if it is on, or Lees Bitter if it isn't. It's what I mostly drink, though this year I have made a bit of a resolution to get out more, but after today that'll have to wait. Manchester Beer and Cider Festival will take up most of my time and I'll be writing about it.
Finally, you'll have heard of the recent floods up here I suppose? My Wednesday haunt, the Regal Moon in Rochdale was severely inundated and will be out of action for a yet to be determined period. All the staff have been redistributed throughout the JDW Greater Manchester Spoons. This is hard for them as expected shifts may not materialise and there will be financial hardship. I know the people there and feel for them. Flooding is a terrible thing. Do spare a thought for them today when you are cosy in the pub.
Happy New Year to one and all. Even First Manchester.
I hope to see many of you at Manchester Beer and Cider Festival. It will be
I didn't do Golden Pints this year, but my favourite blogger is Seeing the Lizards. If we can't laugh at ourselves.........
We've got buses here in sunny Southport: good old Arriva.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you and the lovely E, TM!
Happy New Year up the grim North!
ReplyDeleteWhat's this about German interesting vs. English? If he's saying the Germans don't use the word as a friendly euphamism for "shite" or at least "not great", he's fooked, because they do when talking about food. Beer probably not, since, well, it's German beer and so is just what it is, can't be anything but gut.
Sorry about all your people suffering with the weather up there. Need to make it to Rochdale someday. It rained here yesteday, if it makes you feel any better.
Why should taxpayers subsidise buses on New Year's Day so pissheads can get to the pub? If the buses were profitable, First would run them.
ReplyDeleteOne possible answer to your question, Mr Toad: to reduce the temptation that some idiots might have to drink and drive, perhaps? Besides, it's not just pissheads who go to the pub; ordinary social drinkers do too.
ReplyDeleteMr Toad, you should know that very few buses are profitable. I don’t have any problem with local authorities subsidising the odd bus route, especially as I will qualify for a bus pass in a few years time.
ReplyDeleteNot sure about the buses here on New Year's Day. But as the Moorbrook's shut today, there's no reason to bother finding out. Generally, the local services (Preston Bus) are reasonable, but the county services (run by Stagecoach) are either not run at all or horribly at variance with their published timetable.
ReplyDeleteMr Toad misses the point. It isn't just pub goers that are inconvenienced by having no buses. What about poorly paid shop workers - the shops are all open in Manchester - and what about the shoppers, people carry shopping from supermarkets? People who work in distribution etc. etc. New Year's Day is a working day for many people.
ReplyDeleteI can walk to the pub, but can all these walk to work as readily and at leisure?
Daft.
Nick: Henning is German and he is talking about business largely, not beer or food. But in a general sense he is alluding to Germans being quite literal. Like you goddam Yankees.
ReplyDeleteI think being a born German he might understand these points rather more clearly than you surely?
Interesting reaction. Is this radio bit archived online somewhere?
ReplyDeleteForgot to mention that Mrs & I were pretty well shocked to learn that basically all mass transit seems to shut down on both Xmas and Boxing Day as well as on the 1st all over Kent. It's odd, because the shops are open, compared to here, but you can't get to them by bus. Here, you can get around by bus, but nothing's open on those days.