Four Counties Ring - Advice and suggestions

[agg221]

We did the Four Counties plus the Caldon in a week in 2021. The trip up to the Black Lion at Consall Forge was well worth it. We moored at Hazelhurst Junction which was a very pleasant spot - just onto the Leek branch there is some decent piling. The Holly Bush was easily reachable from there on foot. Just up the hill from there, over the footbridge and along the public footpath, is one of the largest surviving elms I have seen in recent years.

 

Alec

[john6767]

13 hours ago, StephenA said:

 

Its the Anchor - lots of character but in terms of real ale its not really a lot to write home about. There are plenty of other pubs on the Ring that are canal side or close proximity that are a lot better than the Anchor..

Is the Anchor still open, it look rather closed when we passed a couple of weeks ago

[ditchcrawler]

12 hours ago, IanD said:

The last time we did the four counties and the Caldon we had lots of excellent beer in various pubs, but definitely not in the Anchor -- stale 6X, mmm.... not 😞

 

Lovely pub, shame about the beer...

Agree

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

 

Those who have visited the pub once on their flying tour of the system just don’t get the Anchor.

Those taking a more leisurely approach who’ve been able to spend time getting to know the locals, drinking til past 1am while listening to musicians who have dropped in on the off chance, those boaters will know the wonders of that pub.

 

 

Imagine someone else got their hands on the Anchor it’d end up like that utterly dreadful place at the bottom of Tardibigge.

Or that awful Anchor on the Staff and Worcester. Soulless places.

 

[IanD]

13 minutes ago, Goliath said:

 

Those who have visited the pub once on their flying tour of the system just don’t get the Anchor.

Those taking a more leisurely approach who’ve been able to spend time getting to know the locals, drinking til past 1am while listening to musicians who have dropped in on the off chance, those boaters will know the wonders of that pub.

 

Imagine someone else got their hands on the Anchor it’d end up like that utterly dreadful place at the bottom of Tardibigge.

Or that awful Anchor on the Staff and Worcester. Soulless places.

 

 

Nobody's saying the Anchor isn't a great unspoiled characterful pub, in contrast to many other pubs on the canals.

 

But every time I've been there -- as confirmed by various other people on multiple occasions -- the beer has been well below par, in contrast to many other pubs on the canals.

 

So I do get it -- it's a great pub, with often poor beer. You may like that, but other people -- me included -- think that the first function of a pub is to provide good beer... 😉

 

P.S. Also been in many other relaxed pubs on the canals (and off them) with late drinking and music sessions, very often being one of the people providing said music -- so perhaps your feeling of superiority is less than justified... 😉

Edited May 9, 2023 by IanD

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

You just have to be rude, don’t ya.

 

But hey, I’m happy and glad you won’t be drinking in the Anchor,

I can happily drink my lovely 6x knowing you ain’t going to walk through the door.

 

put me back on your ignore list will you?

 

[IanD]

10 minutes ago, Goliath said:

You just have to be rude, don’t ya.

 

But hey, I’m happy and glad you won’t be drinking in the Anchor,

I can happily drink my lovely 6x knowing you ain’t going to walk through the door.

put me back on your ignore list will you?

 

I wasn't being rude --- you were being smug and superior and having a dig at people you know little about... 😞

 

By all means carry on drinking your "lovely 6X", free of the worry that neither me or any of my beer-loving musician friends will disturb you -- we'll be playing in pubs with decent beer instead, like we were this weekend (in London), and last weekend (in Sussex), and the weekend before (in Sheffield)... 🙂

Edited May 9, 2023 by IanD

[David Mack]

55 minutes ago, Goliath said:

 

I can happily drink my lovely 6x ...

But that's exactly the point everyone else is making. The Anchor is a wonderful pub in many ways, but the 6X there ain't 'lovely'.

[rusty69]

14 minutes ago, David Mack said:

But that's exactly the point everyone else is making. The Anchor is a wonderful pub in many ways, but the 6X there ain't 'lovely'.

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

I’ve supped a lot of good pints there,

and if it ain’t up to form I drink the cider.

There’s a choice of bottles too.

I believe they’ll get particular types of Ale in bottles on request.

But I don’t reckon they’ll ever give up the 6x, that’s too firmly entrenched in family tradition for them.

 

 the remarks about the beer just put people off going,

 

I once had stones thrown at me going up Farmers Bridge but I don’t often say that because it was a one off and I wouldn’t like to put anyone off.

 

as I said earlier somewhere, I had 5 exceptional beers yesterday, couldn’t be faulted. but the pub in Birmingham was empty,

I would gladly have swopped for a 6X with some characterful company at the Anchor. 
 

Edited May 9, 2023 by Goliath

[IanD]

35 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

I completely agree that whether you *like* a particular beer or not -- be it 6X or Citra-heavy IPAs -- is purely a matter of subjective opinion, and everyone's tastes quite rightly differ.

 

Whether the beer is well kept and in good condition is much more objective, and the times I've been to the Anchor it was clearly neither of these -- and I wasn't the only person who thought so, it was just plain poor, and certainly didn't taste anything like a *good* pint of 6X.

 

Unless they've changed the recipe so that it's sour and stale-tasting, which seems unlikely... 😉

Edited May 9, 2023 by IanD

[rusty69]

4 minutes ago, IanD said:

I completely agree that whether you *like* a particular beer or not -- be it 6X or Citra-heavy IPAs -- is purely a matter of subjective opinion, and everyone's tastes quite rightly differ.

 

Whether the beer is well kept and in good condition is much more objective, and the times I've been to the Anchor it was clearly neither of these -- and I wasn't the only person who thought so, it was just plain poor, and certainly didn't taste anything like a *good* pint of 6X.

 

Unless they've changed the recipe so that it's sour and stale-tasting, which seems unlikely... 😉

What did the landlord say when you returned your pint?

[IanD]

5 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

What did the landlord say when you returned your pint?

The oft-rolled-out excuse of old-style landlords (and landladies, in this case...) everywhere -- "Nobody else has complained"... 😞

 

Well, except the other beer-drinkers who were with me, who thought exactly the same. So we made our excuses and left, as they used to say in the tabloids... 😞

Edited May 9, 2023 by IanD

[rusty69]

1 minute ago, IanD said:

The oft-rolled-out excuse of landlords (and landladies, in this case) everywhere -- "Nobody else has complained"... 😞

 

Well, except the other beer-drinkers who were with me, who thought exactly the same. So we made our excuses and left, as they used to say in the tabloids... 😞

That doesn't sound good. I trust you all left your pints on the bar as a symbol of disgust as you vacated the premises.

[IanD]

10 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

That doesn't sound good. I trust you all left your pints on the bar as a symbol of disgust as you vacated the premises.

We did, and none of them were finished. Maybe they got poured back into the jug (of stale beer?) that our glasses had been topped up from?

 

I was more annoyed than anyone else because I'd been telling everyone about how there was this lovely unspoiled pub for the evening, so we just *had* to stop there... 😞

 

And on the principle that everyone deserves a second chance, we called in next time we passed, with a similar result... 😞

 

Now I know that statistically it's *just* possible -- but *very* unlikely! -- that the beer just happened to be bad both times I called and was good every time other people like Goliath called. But the comments similar to mine from other posters strongly suggest otherwise...

Edited May 9, 2023 by IanD

[rusty69]

4 minutes ago, IanD said:

We did, and none of them were finished.

 

I was more annoyed than anyone else because I'd been telling everyone about how there was still this lovely unspoiled pub for the evening, so we just *had* to stop there... 😞

 

And on the principle that everyone deserves a second chance, we called in next time we passed, with a similar result... 😞

 

 

It certainly seems a shame that there is no recourse if a pint of beer is genuiningly off, or contaminated by dirty pipes. Any good pub landlord should certainly find an alternative, or even give a refund should you complain after the first mouthful of an obviously dodgy pint, not rely on the excuse that 'nobody else has complained'.

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

There have just been some stoppages come up that may effect your chosen route  

Wrong thread.

Edited May 9, 2023 by ditchcrawler

[IanD]

8 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

 

It certainly seems a shame that there is no recourse if a pint of beer is genuiningly off, or contaminated by dirty pipes. Any good pub landlord should certainly find an alternative, or even give a refund should you complain after the first mouthful of an obviously dodgy pint, not rely on the excuse that 'nobody else has complained'.

 

 

Indeed -- but of course there was no alternative drink either at the Anchor or anywhere nearby. Just to be clear, the beer was not so badly off as to be vomit-worthy vinegar, it was just old and and stale-tasting and a little bit sour, enough that we all went "Hmm, definitely don't want another one of those". Luckily we had plenty of bottles of decent beer (and gin) on the boat, so the evening wasn't a complete write-off... 😉

 

P.S. No dirty pipes at the Anchor, beer is straight from the barrel/jug. But since they're only open for limited times a few days per week and don't get a lot of custom, it's hardly surprising that the beer isn't always in the best condition... 😞

Edited May 9, 2023 by IanD

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

3 minutes ago, IanD said:

beer is straight from the barrel/jug.

 

shows how little you know

[IanD]

1 hour ago, Goliath said:

 

shows how little you know

 

More than you do about music sessions, obviously -- and maybe beer if you think the 6x at the Anchor is "lovely"... 😉

 

Last time we were there I thought Olive went down to the cellar to fill up the glasses, then topped them up from a jug. But there might well have been a hand pump (and dirty lines), TBH we weren't taking much notice after we tasted the beer... 😞

 

Like I keep saying, a lovely unspoiled pub if that's what your #1 priority is, but not the best for beer. Give me the Bull & Bladder or the Black Lion or the Blue Bell (or many others...) any day of the week... 🙂

Edited May 9, 2023 by IanD

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

1 minute ago, IanD said:

 

More than you do about music sessions, obviously -- and maybe beer if you think the 6x at the Anchor is "lovely"... 😉

 

Last time we were there I thought Olive went down to the cellar to fill up the glasses, then topped them up from a jug. But there might well have been a hand pump (and dirty lines), TBH we weren't taking much notice after we tasted the beer... 😞

You didn’t take much notice….

 

Sadly Olive passed away a couple of year back. 
She’d stopped going down the cellar by the time I first used the place. 
She’d had a fall and the daughter stopped her going up and down. 
Olive still persisted with the jug. She’d fill the jug from the pump and use it to top up the pints either on the counter or on the drip tray. Which I like because you don’t get the foamy head. 
Now the daughter will occasionally go down the cellar and pour straight from the barrel, but more often than not she uses the hand pump. 
And sometimes she’ll use the jug like her mother did to top up the pints. 
 

There’s so much more to that pub if you’d bother to find out. 

I’m very glad you won’t be back. It’s a small bar and I’m sure the convivial atmosphere would be utterly spoilt with your arrival. 

[IanD]

27 minutes ago, Goliath said:

You didn’t take much notice….

 

Sadly Olive passed away a couple of year back. 
She’d stopped going down the cellar by the time I first used the place. 
She’d had a fall and the daughter stopped her going up and down. 
Olive still persisted with the jug. She’d fill the jug from the pump and use it to top up the pints either on the counter or on the drip tray. Which I like because you don’t get the foamy head. 
Now the daughter will occasionally go down the cellar and pour straight from the barrel, but more often than not she uses the hand pump. 
And sometimes she’ll use the jug like her mother did to top up the pints. 
 

There’s so much more to that pub if you’d bother to find out. 

I’m very glad you won’t be back. It’s a small bar and I’m sure the convivial atmosphere would be utterly spoilt with your arrival. 

 

Olive was certainly serving last time I was there, which was several years before she died. As I keep saying, lovely pub, shame about the beer.

 

Regarding your sign-off -- you really are a nasty piece of work, aren't you? I notice your earlier abusive posts have disappeared, that might explain your anger...

 

Anyway I'll grant you your heart's desire and never darken the door of the Anchor again -- or read any more of your abusive emails... 😉

Edited May 9, 2023 by IanD

[mad dog n' Englishman]

This was a lovely friendly thread. Then the usual bandit arrived and it has become the "I know better than you" clap trap, that has ruined the forum for so many.

[IanD]

Apologies for rising to the bait... 😉

 

Back to the OPs request, a trip up the Caldon and a stop at the Black Lion is highly recommended -- I hope they've recovered from the fire, because it used to be a great pub for both beer, food and atmosphere. Any recent reports?

 

Are the pub chickens still there?

Edited May 9, 2023 by IanD

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

7 minutes ago, mad dog n' Englishman said:

This was a lovely friendly thread. Then the usual bandit arrived and it has become the "I know better than you" clap trap, that has ruined the forum for so many.

my apologies for getting drawn in,

I do try hard to ignore IanD

13 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

Olive was certainly serving last time I was there, which was obviously before she died. As I keep saying, lovely pub, shame about the beer.

 

Regarding your sign-off -- you really are a nasty piece of work, aren't you? I notice your earlier abusive mails have disappeared, that might explain a lot.

 

Anyway I'll grant you your heart's desire and never darken the door of the Anchor again -- or read any more of your abusive emails... 😉

says the man who’s called me an asshole several t8mes before 😂