Mike, The George is where I met my wife.

Stewartc – I used to be a regular attendee at the ag, back around 2001-2006 or so. Shame I can barely remember any of it due to the excessive nature of our partying back then. Snakebite and black with added vodka was a favourite of that era.

Two old school pubs I used to frequent are now gastropubs and have none of ten atmosphere they used to. The Black Swan (aka mucky duck) in Ockham was a proper biker dive bar with poor lighting and cheap beer, the Bleak House by hotel common was always dead, had a pool table and dart board and a barman who looked like Roland Gift from the fine young cannibals.

Golden Lion in Romford

The arden house hotel, the Gordon arms, the masonic and for pool the royal. All in Kirkcudbright.
Thanks to playing rugby quite a few in Castle Douglas. Which, although it’s 10miles away, I walked back from a few times. Having lost my compatriots and spent my money.

all of those – plus the Smugglers in Auchencairn or Senwick at Borgue when under 18. (Couldnae get served in KBT)

The place was an absolute melting pot, students, art college types, bikers, hippies, punks, Boro fans pre and post match. All presided over by the fantastic Roy Barnes, RIP, great bloke, super landlord. This from a 1989 Boro fanzine:

Issue 17 vs. Wolves 1989

issue17_newdimDiv: 2
Date: 19.08.89
Attendance: 21,727
Result: 4 – 2
Scorers: Slaven (2), Proctor, Dav

…

The Linny – End Of An Era

Most FMTTM readers will have visited or heard of “The Linny”, or to give it its seldom used title, The Linthorpe Hotel. It is part of the drinking culture in Boro and responsible for many a youth flowering into full scale drunken slobbery, so it is with a lot of sadness that the drinkers in The Linny heard of the retirement of the manager, Roy Barnes.

I have a lot of affection for the old Linny, circa 1981 to 85, back when it was a proper pub. In those days it was not unusual to see around 20 to 30 bikes outside, inside would be a fair cross section of styles, fashions, smells and standards of personal hygiene. The beer was at a silly price as well, 45p a pint was the opening price. Lager was about 50p. There was never any major trouble and the old place had a seedy run down quality that was somewhere between destitute and derelict. It was brilliant and controlling the whole show was Roy who always looked after the regulars making a point of serving them first and saying hello to anyone else he recognized.

The old Linny and many unusual charms, the snug for instance was a small room behind the bar which always had either a group of bikers or punks in it. In the middle of the bar in the main room was a certain spot that always stunk of vomit, god knows why, standards of cleanliness were as good as most pubs but this one spot just stank of puke. Mind you when the lights failed one New Years Eve at least you could find your way to the bar by smell alone.

In recent years the Linny has simply not being as good as it was. After a major rebuilding and redecoration project the place lost a lot of its character and charm. In a way it’s quite fitting that Roy has decided to leave now, the redecoration signalled the beginning of the end. Most regulars would agree that for some reason the beer and lager has just not been the same, whilst the prices have gone mad.

Perhaps it’s just a case of getting old, but the end of an era has come about

A lot of Stourbridge people on here, nice to see.

The Crispin has already been shown as has The Rock Station (I walk past that pretty much every day, it’s now a takeaway), I spent far too much of my late teens in those places.

I also spent a lot of time in Halesowen, The Edward was a favourite as the beer was cheap and the ID checking was lax.

The Rose and Crown in Hasbury also was a popular haunt, it went though a number of incarnations, music pub, really rough pub, football pub, a brief attempt at being a foodie pub, no idea what it is now.

And finally, the legendary Waggon and Horses. 20+ guest ales every night, smelt of stale beer and fags, toilets outside, a prper dive of a place. But the beer was good and the pickled eggs were cheap.

A lot of Stourbridge people on here, nice to see.

Can I just add to the list.
Jesters in the high street. Got turned into a shoe shop.
The Turf in the highstreet. Been told that’s still a pub.
The Exchange in the high street, though I maybe spent more time out the back building five sheet constructions. 😉

The Bowling Green, Grafton Street, Manc.

The Vaynol, Nant Peris

And of course, the ODG

No pub. Brother and I used to distil our own “whisky” in the garden shed. (Family tradition, gg/father briefly jailed for it by evil British govt suppressing local native culture and traditions).

Our parties were legendary apparently. I don’t remember. 🙂

The Exchange in the high street, though I maybe spent more time out the back building five sheet constructions.

I think that was par for the course there actually.

The Mitre seems to have taken that mantel of late, I was in there a couple of weeks ago, live music, a bit rough, some real “characters” and a lot of weed in the beer garden. It took me back a bit!

The Mitre seems to have taken that mantel of late

I remember getting my picture taken by some plain clothed officers hiding in the building that overlooked the carpark of the Mitre a few times so we stopped going there. So nothing new there.

Golden Lion in Romford

Was a nice pub. I started off at a very tender age at The Bitter End opposite, then if you could blag it upstairs to Ben’s Discotheque! So wish I’d took photos of it all.

There used to be a pub in the west end of Ashton-Under-Lyne, getting towards Guide Bridge, that had an indie night at weekends, around the Birch street area. Can’t for the life of me remember the name of it or even exactly where it was, but spent many a happy drunken night there at the end of the 80’s.

Looking on google maps I think it might have been knocked down when the motorway went through the area, which shows how long ago it is since I have been back home.

Ah, the Vaynol. The end of epic climbing days. The beginning obviously starts in Petes Eats.

The Raven in Wigan was where is all started.

I then graduated on to The John Bull where I was resident for many years.

Finally had my first date with my future wife in Raffles. Unfortunately it was bulldozed to make way for a new shopping centre and I can’t find any mention of it on the web!

If someone wants to do some screengrabs from Streetview, feel free, but:

1) The Vernon Arms, Poynton – venue for my first ever pint bought from pub, with MartynS of this parish. 1991 (maybe 1990), Boddingtons it was, £1.12. Then scene of general sixth form pub shenanigans
2) The Kingfisher, Poynton – general late teens early twenties pub shenanigans
3) The Farmers Arms, Poynton – as above. Plus The Smokiest Pub In The World Ever
4) The Jolly Sailor, Woodsmoor – General sixth form pub shenanigans, plus gave the opportunity to ogle at the fit posh girls from Hulme Hall and Cheadle Hulme School, plus from Bramhall generally.

The ‘Bird’, now shut, which is an improvement

The Deal Hoy, tiny little place and served me cider when I was about 14, I looked like I was 5. Had bar billiards, which took up half the space in the room.

Allthepies, yes but it was Yoemans Bridge when I started, changed halfway through my time there.
Control67, was working there mostly in the 90’s, not sure I’m allowed back

All of my dinner money went in here

All of my grant in here

All of my wages in here

Golden Lion in Romford

Was a nice pub. I started off at a very tender age at The Bitter End opposite, then if you could blag it upstairs to Ben’s Discotheque! So wish I’d took photos of it all.

I also went in the Bitter End when it was the Ford and Firkin, after a few in there it was then of to either RM1 or Secrets.

Ironbridge has many pubs, not all of them equal.

This was my local.

The Hatchet Inn, Central Bristol. An old mate used to DJ metal there all night.

All gone, although the burnt out shell of what was the Barley Mow is still there.

The Cock & Magpies on the Hagley Road near Bearwood.
Now a Steakhouse or something.

Just mentioned how I couldn’t remember our parties to my wife.

She reminded me that’s where we met… oops!

In no particular order up to about the age of 20:

Where I learned the bar tending trade and where I met my wife…

And where the hold an annual tug o’ war over the river every Boxing Day

I practically lived in this pub when I was a youth – the best rock and metal ‘get completely pissed, get barred, go back in tomorrow’ pub in Bury.

went in again a few weeks back for the first time in 20 years and bumped into 4 or 5 lads that were always in there when I was a regular.

Living in a student bedsit upstairs helped 🙂

Welcome to The Griffin, Selby (Warning: this photo runs the risk of making it look welcoming!)…

The Snake catcher.
[Img]https://goo.gl/images/oRocpL[/img]

The woodpecker
https://goo.gl/images/AC27ri

The Centurion
https://goo.gl/images/bKBkOK

The Rising Sun
https://goo.gl/images/Vui7mt

fFS

The Chequers in Stourbridge was our go to pub with the delightful Babs behind the bar

The pub I went to most weekends in the 70’s when I was under 10 years old, my grandparents local in North Kensington, The Bridport Arms now housing.

The White Horse Sheperds Bush, Been in there occasionally since my youthful days, the decor hasn’t changed. Expected Regan and Carter to be in there propping up the bar.

Royal Oak New Malden, Meh.

The Mill Kingston Upon Thames, used to be a real alternatives pub in the days before kingston became gentrified.

The Chequers in Stourbridge was our go to pub with the delightful Babs behind the bar

I once delivered some hire equipment to the Chequers at 8.30 on a saturday morning and the pub was rammed. 😯 😀
This was in the days of shorter licencing hours too.

This was the next’house’ down our road, less that two minutes door to door. Some of the happiest memory’s of my formative years were made in there 🙂 unfortunately it was turned into a gastro pub, it never recovered 🙁 now an on off cannabis farm (not even joking! ).

Just for balance, we used to walk up the hill to here as well 🙂 about five mins though, so not the preferred option if you had a thirst to quench.

The Prince Albert in wallheath, the park tavern in k,ford,Christophers American and dwarf throwing on ott nights at the kingfisher which burnt down a couple of weeks ago.

suburbanreuben – I used to frequent the Hautboy as well, somewhat random opening hours at times. Went down the ‘Mucky Duck’ when the Hautboy decided not to open.

The Harrow, Shepperton, my girlfriend of the time lived down the road opposite,

I remember the night our eldest mate turned 18, we walked in, Babs spots his 18th birthday badge he had on ….. “You’re 18?! But you’ve been coming in here the last 2 years!”

@ChrisHeath nice to see the Egypt and barley mow get a mention.