Pub gone to the dogs

 

The Talbot in Cheadle has now closed, possibly forever.  It's a shame; it was just an old boozer, but a great old boozer.

'Talbot' was the family name of the Earls of Shrewsbury, who owned lots of land in and around Cheadle, even into the last century. 
The dogs that you can see in the shield of arms are of course hunting Talbots, and it could be that this breed of dog is so-named because the family adopted them for their arms some 600 years ago.

 

 

Victoriana rules

 

The word most often applied to the Glebe Pub in Stoke town is 'stately' - and it is. This old Victorian was restored by the Joules beer company, and really is an asset to this already heritage-rich corner of the town.
The only shame is that we can't go there right now.  We are in the middle of a second Covid lockdown across all England.  Roll on the time when pubs can reopen!

The royal arms over the fireplace are the gasp-out-loud feature as one enters the pub.

Steadiness at the urinal

It's not often you fall into laughter on entering a men's toilet, but at the Roebuck Pub in Leek, you have to smile at least when you see this unusual structure.
The landlord/lady has kindly provided a head-cushion for the weary drinker who may probably have had .... let's say, more than a few. Unsteady on his feet he can lean forward whilst using the urinal and, placing his forehead on the cushion, keep himself in an upright position.
I deem this a kindly & considerate act by the owners. There's even a handle too.

Junction that is not a junction

It's turned warm now, and sitting on the Junction Inn terrace watching the canalside activities around is a good way to relax...
The surrounding waterside is called 'Norbury Junction' but in fact it's no longer a junction: the adjoining Newport Canal is now derelict. 
Still, there are shops and maintenance yards, and it is in the countryside, so families still turn up in numbers.

Micro pub

A micro-pub is one that looks back to the very (very) old days - being more like a drinking parlour or beer-shop rather than the 'gastro-pub' so prevalent today. 
And, it's quite a new (if very old) concept...

The Crossways MicroPub in the centre of Blythe Bridge is, as you can see, pretty basic.  It's just an unadorned room, with no piped music - and with low prices (£2.80 a pint!).  The most exciting thing on offer, apart from the excellent (Peakstones Brewery) beer is ... card-games.

Will micro-pubs succeed?  The Crossways has only just opened, so it hasn't had to take on an English winter yet... but, yes, there is interest from the town.

Guitar heroes at the bar

You might have done a double-take looking at this photo.  What is it?  Well, it's the bar at The Rigger rock pub in Newcastle under Lyme - where guitar fret-boards take the place of bar-pump handles...!
Stylish or what?

The Rigger is a proper rock dive.  On the walls (painted black obviously) are inscribed quotes from bands such as Metallica through to Thin Lizzy.  Skull & crossbones designs (naturally) line the walls; and there is live music of the loudest kind most nights.  So it's no surprise that guitars have pride of place at the bar.

And this is no jumped-up newcomer.  As far as I'm aware, the Rigger has a history as a home of rock for nigh-on forty years; and maybe more than that.  One day the history will be written!

This post was featured on the City Daily Photo Portal

Olde worlde tavern?

Why this pub was ever given such a daft name - 'Ye Olde Manor Inne', complete with antiquated spelling - is beyond comprehension.  Such a title might well be suited to a country tavern in a quaint village, but this is a no-frills pub built slap bang in the centre of an industrial area.
Yes, there was a Fenton Manor once upon a time, but I suspect (I could be wrong) that it had been pulled down long before this building was erected in 1895.
I'd like to know for sure though...

Power to the people

The last post was about the fate of rural villages, most of which are seeing their local services diminish, dwindle and disappear.
But n Seighford, they were not having any of that!  When their local pub, The Hollybush, couldn't find a buyer or a tenant, the villagers stepped in and set up their own pub company to run it.  Under this new management system, the pub has been running successfully for almost two years now.
People power indeed! 

George & Dragon looks back

It's the month of St George, whose feast-day is on the 23rd.  As far as saints go, it's a safe bet that he has more pubs named after him than any other.
However, as more and more pubs close, so, inevitably, there will be some bearing his name.

The George & Dragon in Uttoxeter does not open for trade any more, and is now a private home.  However, rather sportingly I think, the owner has chosen to retain the old inn's leaded-lights windows.

Thatch for Christmas

The thatched roof on the Crown & Anchor gastro-pub in Stone is undergoing restoration - which is why it looks so tufty right now.  New thatch is being brought in and bent and laid to give it a proper Christmas look.

The statue you see on the left is the 'Tommy' soldier that stands at the top of the town's war memorial.

A crooked pub

Yes, this pub is literally tipsy. One end is actually four feet higher than the other, because the sunken end is dipping into subsidence. 
There are odd optical illusions that occur - like seeing a marble roll over a table upwards, and grandfather clocks that appear to be ever on the verge of falling over.

Actually, the weird thing is that The Crooked House was declared unsafe (not surprisingly) in 1940.  But a local brewery decided it would be fun to preserve it - and sure enough, despite its remote location, it has been a tourist attraction ever since. 
Regular checks are carried out to ensure it's not slipping dangerously...

Family serves beer for 100 years

Some old pubs just won't fade away...  The Anchor at High Offley has been in the same family for more than 100 years; and the old settle-style benches in the bar look as though they could even have been there at the beginning. It's a proper 'heritage pub'.
It mostly caters to narrow-boat visitors (this view has been photographed from the canal towpath), as it is a couple of miles from the village itself.

Even the bar has been made from the remains of a former narrow-boat...

Railway station? Pub?

Codsall has come up with a very neat solution to the problem of what to do with the redundant parts of its railway station's buildings:  convert most of them into a very successful pub - as you see here!

The Station Pub, as you'd guess, has a lot of railway memorabilia; and is the only place I know where one can pace one's drinking by the number of trains going by the window.
Strangely enough, the rail service at Codsall Station seems to have gone from strength to strength in recent years.

Landlord is just a walk-over

Arthur Rigby was, the story goes, such a popular landlord at The Wheatsheaf Pub in Tunstall that the regulars had this mosaic threshold made in his memory when he died in 1937. He'd been the publican there for almost thirty years.

The Wheatsheaf holds on to its traditions so much that the mosaic is still there to this day, and you too can remember Arthur as you walk in its front door.

George & Dragon in trouble

Oh, the plight of the English pub!
On St George's Day today, I guess it's a good idea to reflect on the disappearance of so many of our pubs. An astonishing number of eighteen pubs a day are closing in this country.

I like pubs a lot, though I'll only have a pint or two on each visit; I won't stay all day.  And maybe it's people like me who are causing the demise; we just don't drink like we did in the old days. 
However, it's as well to remember that pubs have been diminishing in number since the 1870s, so it's not entirely a new phenomenon.

The George & Dragon at Rough Close has been closed for some years now, although a forlorn To Let sign is still erected on the roadside in the bid for some saviour to come along.

This post was featured on the City Daily Portal 'St George Day' theme

Yoxall is top in the east

The winner of this year's Best Kept Village in East Staffordshire is Yoxall, which I passed through the other day.
Just like in any typical country village, the church and the pub are facing each other...

For the record, the winners overall in the county were Weston (large village) and Haughton (small village).

Art Deco faces bulldozer

This fabulous Art-Deco decorative piece on the front of The Bird In Hand pub in Oakhill tells a sad story. The pub closed down a while ago, and doesn’t look like re-opening.

To hear of yet another pub closing is not new, but people forget that some pubs really do have some remarkable assets in terms of popular art.
The rest of the pub’s façade is pretty dull; but I hope this section will be saved.

Murder most foul

This grisly painting hangs in the function room of the famous, historic Leopard Pub in Burslem. But it's an odd painting, you'd think, to be displayed in a place of relaxation...

But the Leopard is not just your usual pub, being redolent of lots of history (and ghosts). What's more, I'm told that this painting is by none other than Arthur Berry, the famous North Staffordshire poet, writer and 'primitivist' artist.

And... it is a depiction of what was supposedly a true event in the building. This young lady had her throat slashed in a back room of the pub some hundred or more years ago.
It's all rather too gory for me, and I tend to sit (whilst with my pint) with my back to it...

No respect for Bear

The Bear in Stafford looks out over the main street through the town and has done for many years, so (you'd have thought) he deserves some respect.
However, the pigeons just don't seem to care...

Piano music Star

The Star Inn at Copmere is one of the few pubs in Staffordshire I know that has a piano – and visitors are welcome to play it.

This young lady was having a drink with friends when she sat down to play; and I was expecting the usual stumbling rendition of Fur Elise. But, blimey, she turned out some beautiful Philip Glass.
It was a very special few minutes.