#266 The Globe Hotel, Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire : 1992 to 2019 RIP

Weedon Bec (usually just referred to as Weedon) is one of those villages on the canal that for part of my boating life has been a regular stopping off point, then it wasn't on the itinerary for a while...but now it is back!

In it's heyday there were many more pubs in Weedon, but considering it's modest size, five is still quite a good number in this modern era!

My first visit to Weedon was on my very first canal boating trip back in 1980 when Emma Jane was moored at Woodford on the River Nene. This made Weedon a regular stop and we were back there in 1982 and 1984, all before I started taking photos of every pub we visited.

For the first half of the 1990's, Emma Jane was moored on the Southern Grand Union Canal at Cowley Peachey and then Winkwell. So, our summer/autumn jaunts would take us up the Grand Union to Braunston and beyond...and then return the same way (hopefully stopping at different pubs on the way down!)

I can't say that the Globe was our 'go-to' pub, but it was a pleasant enough place to visit and this first time was on the evening of Thursday 24th September 1992.

We were there again on the evening of Wednesday 22nd September 1993, but it was so late that the photo isn't great!

We were back again at lunchtime on Wednesday 31st August 1994.

Largely unchanged, although the Rooms Available sign has been replaced by a hanging basket.

We returned a year later in what would be our last visit for a few years as Emma Jane was returning to her 'old' moorings at Lapworth.

This was on the evening of Wednesday 30th August 1995. Although the signage had changed, I think that everything else was pretty much as before.

For the next few years our boating trips didn't take us through Weedon until we decided to revisit the Grand Union on a trip to Aylesbury and back. This time we stopped at Weedon twice and visited the Globe on both occasions.

Evening of Monday 27th August 2001.

Evening of Tuesday 4th September 2001. Little change, again, but the hanging baskets had bitten the dust!

A few years later, we had a little bit more time than we'd anticipated, so we added Weedon onto our itinerary.

This was on the evening of Sunday 29th May 2005 and still the signage hadn't changed...apart from the missing 'O'.

With the new boat, Peggy Ellen, now being moored at Napton returned on the evening of Friday 19th April 2019 (Good Friday) to be greeted with this scene.

It is a scene that is repeated up and down the land as large pubs/hotels become less viable and are turned into Tesco Express (or Sainsbury's or Co-op or Morrison's...etc). Sad, but inevitable in the modern age.

Looking through the historic pictures on Google Street View, the Globe was largely unchanged in 2009 (earliest picture), boarded up by 2012 (with a new main sign!) and was a Tesco Express by August 2014.

 

Strolling Through Scouseland

It was time for another Beer & Pubs Forum Proper Day Out and it was one I'd been looking forward to as I'd never been drinking in the centre of Liverpool.

The 'official' report by Pub Curmudgeon can be found here and here. This is my more pictorial essay...but this time I did make a note of every beer that I drank!

The day started off drizzly and overcast as so many of these days out seem to. Arriving at Lime Street Station I tried to get my bearings on the local maps and on Google maps, thinking it might be complicated (first time in a new city, etc!) So, after five minutes wasted, I stepped out of the station...and there was The Crown Hotel!

The Crown Hotel, Liverpool

Inside I met up with Peter and Paul (aka the two 'Mudgies') which was to be our full complement for the bulk of the day. My first pint of the day was Hop for Heroes from the Rudgate Brewery, which I enjoyed (don't expect any NBSS scoring from me!). It was here that Paul got a message from Sheffield Hatter saying that he'd be joining us at some stage during our tour.

So, next on the itinerary was the Ship & Mitre. I was happy to follow Peter and Paul as I really had no idea where I was going for most of the day!

Ship & Mitre, Liverpool

It is an impressive, solid building that is pleasantly cosy and welcoming inside. I chose a pint of Lupa which is brewed by their own Flagship Brewery. Again, a pleasant pint.

Moving on to another impressive building, The Railway.

The Railway, Liverpool

This was our designated lunch stop and it served its purpose very well. It was nicely busy (we managed to find a table and seats!) and was appointed in a slightly more contemporary style...plenty of cushions! Anyway, the Scouse was very good and my pint of Dizzy Blonde from Robinson's was also good.

Almost next door was our post lunch venue, The Lion Tavern.

The Lion Tavern, Liverpool

The pub is named after a steam locomotive that now resides in the Museum of Liverpool. Inside it was cosy, characterful and an 'old school' city pub. I had a pint of Salopian Lemon Dream which wasn't as lemony as I remembered, but still good.

The Lion Tavern, Liverpool

This was the view looking up!

Moving on (no rest for the Pubmen on a day out!) and our next stop was Ye Hole in Ye Wall.

Ye Hole in Ye Wall, Liverpool

This was another 'old skool' boozer largely unspoilt with the passage of time. I had a half of Noble Pilsner from the Lancaster Brewery. I was glad to only have a half as this experiment, to make a cask ale that tastes like a lager, didn't work for me!

Moving just around the corner (and passing two other pubs) we came to Thomas Rigby's.

Thomas Rigby's, Liverpool

Housed in another impressive building this was another proper pub where I had a pint of Red Star Formby IPA which was pleasant. I was amazed that this one street corner housed four pubs and one bar/nightclub which is more than some small towns have in total!

After the luxury of (twice) almost walking next door for the next pub, we now had a long stroll to our next destination, the Baltic Fleet.

Baltic Fleet, Liverpool

By now the rain was long gone and the sun had come out giving a rather pleasant afternoon stroll along the docks of Liverpool. The Baltic Fleet is an impressive building. Designed to resemble the prow of a ship it has chimneys and masts on the roof to give an even more nautical ambience.

Inside, I was less impressed as the décor was much more contemporary with pastel shades and bare brick walls. My pint of Wooden Ships from Neptune Brewery was good.

Baltic Fleet, Liverpool                                                                            © Photo Digital Art 2019

Then it was the long(ish) stroll back to the centre via Liverpool One where, remarkably, we didn't get lost. (I take no credit for this as I didn't really know where we were going for most of the day!)

We arrived at the White Star to find it packed and with live music on!

White Star, Liverpool

With the live guitarist bashing out Beatles and Oasis songs and there being little room to sit down I didn't expect us to stay too long. So, I decided that what I needed was a half of Carling from Molson Coors to refresh my palate. It was cool and refreshing as always and the Draught Bass wouldn't have achieved the same effect! Although we found some plastic temporary seating, we didn't stay too long...but it is a lovely pub and well worth a visit outside of prime time!

Our next, and final pub wasn't too far away.

Globe Hotel, Liverpool

The Globe is another great little city centre boozer, largely unspoilt by progress and not quite as busy as the White Star had been (but there wasn't much free seating). Here I had a pint of Wainwright from Marston's which was also pleasant.

As we were now quite close to the station, Peter and I had time for one more in The Crown whilst Paul's train was due and he left us (to be fair, he'd done the other 10 or so Liverpool heritage pubs the day before, so we understood!)

The Crown Hotel, Liverpool                                                              © Photo Digital Art 2019

Now it was early evening the place was heaving, but we managed to find seats in the back room. I finished with a pint of Gritchie Lore which was a nice way to end an excellent day's stroll around Scouseland.

Good beer, great company and some magnificent boozers - all-in-all a superb day out!

#265 The Wheatsheaf, Banbury, Oxon : 1998 to 2019

This pub is one to file away under..."What? Really? We've Never Been Here Before!"

And I'm going to break with a tradition that I've maintained over the years I've been doing this blog...I'm going to give you the 'Now' picture first!

It was lunchtime on Saturday 27th July 2019 and we were slightly lost, trying to find Ye Olde Reindeer. It was a number of years since we'd been to Banbury and we couldn't get our bearings having ventured through the Castle Quay Shopping Centre. We were getting a bit thirsty, saw The Wheatsheaf and went inside.

Not a particularly inspiring place; a typical back-street town boozer decorated inside in 'music venue black'. Neither I nor my fellow traveller believed that we'd ever been here before. I didn't give it another thought until I'd returned home and was going through my old pictures looking for candidates for the blog. This is what I discovered.

Obviously the same pub although the exterior decoration has been completely changed over the past 21 years. Checking back through the old logs, we were in Banbury on the evening of Monday 7th September 1998 when we'd obviously done a bit of a pub crawl.

This vindicates my whole raison d'etre for taking these pictures, but it is still frustrating to have forgotten whole pubs!

At least it is good to see that it is surviving and found it's own niche!