Pubs Galore - the UK pub guide

With the almost without warning closure of the White House at Stockley Park last Sunday and the closure of the Thornton Heath Flora Sandes by mid May the two new ones in Norfolk last month have been cancelled out. The White House was a Lloyds so thy all remain ion the endangered list and was arguably the most obscure of Greater London JDWs. The Aberdeen Airport one closed recently although they are rather transient. Bizarrely this was a GBG entry but that CAMRA branch seem to want to make up their quota regardless of other considerations. The only new definite opening is one at Liskeard, Cornwall in June but it looks like the much awaited one at Midsomer Norton in Somerset could open in September, Meanwhile existing outlets are being converted to JDW Hotels with Andover having been converted and Canterbury to open next month. They have loads of planning applications in, including unlikely places like Barkingside not far from me, Blackburn and the infamous Bright Helm in Brighton.

[QUOTE=sheffield hatter;92717]It seems a shame about the Freebird, as it's one of the GBG 2018 entries. It's only a few minutes from the Bridge St and Hopwater at the northern edge of the town centre, so would be easily doable. It's just that 5pm opening time... The landlady of the Hopinn did say that she might be amenable to opening early, but I got the impression she would prefer something not too much too early - say 3pm rather than 1pm. She asked me to phone nearer the time to negotiate, so we need to develop a clear idea of when we might arrive and how many of us there would be. My initial thought was to start at the Greyhound, but perhaps finishing there might be better. The No.11 bus passes close by, or if anyone still wants to do the Sanctuary after my damning review, the No.25 stops not far from that one. [/QUOTE] If the Hopinn are prepared to open early than that's a double incentive for me to get to the Greyhound area along with the Cask Bar. It mrans that starting in the centre makes more sense but I really think that Freebird is best left for a Saturday visit or for anyone staying in town. [QUOTE=sheffield hatter;92717] I really fancy doing the Holy Inadequate, and this can be fitted into the schedule by taking a bus out there, a bus back to the Hopinn (plus Victoria (wild card)?). Arriving at the Hopinn at 3pm would mean a bus from the town centre around 1:55 if doing the Holy, or 2:55 if not. So not doing the Holy gives more time in the town centre. Given a choice of around 10 pubs in town (plus 'Spoons), and a maximum of five mins walking between neighbouring pubs, it's certainly doable, depending on arrival times of trains and buses.[/QUOTE] Personally I've no interest in out of town extras as I'll be going Lite anyway. Obviously that doesn't mean I'm against others having a go! I'm beginning to detect the semblance of a route. On the only occasion I've been to Newcastle I went to the JDW, what was a Hop Back pub up to the North, The Lymestone Vaults, The Old Bulls Head, the Cupinn and the Greyhound. One small point, I'd rather do the furthest micro in Bridge Street then walk back rather than the other way round. I've no interest in visiting the Spoons although it's not a bad one. I'll be having breakfast in the Wolverhampton one. In the likely event that I return to Newcastle on a Saturday I will go there early.

Brew York [url]https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/brewyork[/url]

[QUOTE=oldboots;92634]I checked on the National Rail planner and there are warnings about timetable disruption on the WCML, [url]http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/184755.aspx[/url][/QUOTE] This bit is quite important: "Where Advance tickets have not yet gone on sale, customers can still buy Anytime, Off‐Peak and Super Off‐Peak tickets where they are available. If customers buy one of these and later discover a cheaper Advance ticket on sale for the same journey, they should book the Advance ticket and ask for a refund on the original ticket – there will be no admin fee."