Entitled Historic Boat Owners

[IanD]

5 hours ago, GUMPY said:

As I never stopped there in my boating days (as it was either closed or our schedule precluded it when we passed)  I was thinking about staying on their CL for a night on the way home, this thread has quite put me off the idea.

 

Anyone know what The Bridge Inn at Chirk is like these days? Last time I was in there in the 90's I was subjected to a lockin until 2.30am 😱

It was pretty good when I was there last year, friendly with good and cheap beer and pub grub.

5 hours ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

that's a shame,

some of the negative postings are based on the views of one who’s never been in the pub and another who had a bad experience a few years ago,

best look in yourself and 

make your own mind up,

 

always best to make own mind up even if you draw the same conclusion it’s shit 😃, 

 

 

If we listened to a certain few on here we would do nowt, 

 

😂😂😂

maybe choose some better travelling companions?

or were they randoms who were just dull company?

 

Well I've visited the Anchor several times over many years, the last time was admittedly before Olive died. Every time the pub was unspoiled and lovely and the beer quality varied from mediocre to pretty poor. Several other posters have had similar experiences.

 

If you're such a great fan of the Anchor that's your opinion, but you seem more bothered about the atmosphere than the beer. People should be aware that the pub is like this -- it really *is* a throwback to the days 50+ years ago when pubs usually had one real beer of often dubious quality, which is one of the things that drove the advance of keg beer in the 60s and 70s.

 

Thanks to CAMRA and microbreweries the beer world has moved on from then, but the Anchor is stuck in a time warp with all the good and bad that entails... 😉 

Edited July 11 by IanD

[Arthur Marshall]

Been a while since I stopped there, certainly when original landlady behind the bar, but I do remember having a good time. However, I'm not a beer drinker... Also being followed for a mile when leaving by a kingfisher, which was nice.

[GUMPY]

6 minutes ago, IanD said:

It was pretty good when I was there last year, friendly with good and cheap beer and pub grub.

Good to know. 

Last time I was there I drove up from London to meet a friend on their boat. Arrived 10 mins before closing time  ordered a couple of pints to see me through until the end of "drinking up time"  sheepishly went to the bar just after closing and asked if there was a chance of another one and ended up leaving at 2.30.  Rare for that to happen if you are not a local.😎

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

1 minute ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Been a while since I stopped there, certainly when original landlady behind the bar, but I do remember having a good time. However, I'm not a beer drinker... Also being followed for a mile when leaving by a kingfisher, which was nice.

Being a musician I’d think you’d enjoy a music night. 
Trombone in there would be ace. 👍 

plus cups of tea are available if you’re not a beer monster. 

[IanD]

2 minutes ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

Being a musician I’d think you’d enjoy a music night. 
Trombone in there would be ace. 👍 

plus cups of tea are available if you’re not a beer monster. 

I'm sure a music session in there would be great -- in fact if we hadn't left last time because the beer was so bad we might well have started one, we had instruments on the boat. And also beer that wasn't sour... 😉 

 

If you want cups of tea, go to a cafe... 😉 

[Tonka]

38 minutes ago, IanD said:

It was pretty good when I was there last year, friendly with good and cheap beer and pub grub.

 

Well I've visited the Anchor several times over many years, the last time was admittedly before Olive died. Every time the pub was unspoiled and lovely and the beer quality varied from mediocre to pretty poor. Several other posters have had similar experiences.

 

If you're such a great fan of the Anchor that's your opinion, but you seem more bothered about the atmosphere than the beer. People should be aware that the pub is like this -- it really *is* a throwback to the days 50+ years ago when pubs usually had one real beer of often dubious quality, which is one of the things that drove the advance of keg beer in the 60s and 70s.

 

Thanks to CAMRA and microbreweries the beer world has moved on from then, but the Anchor is stuck in a time warp with all the good and bad that entails... 😉 

CAMRA have their local meetings in the Anchor and the pub is one of their historic interior pubs. So is the Manor House at Rushall

[IanD]

1 hour ago, Tonka said:

CAMRA have their local meetings in the Anchor and the pub is one of their historic interior pubs. So is the Manor House at Rushall

None of which makes the beer any better though, does it? 😉 

 

It's not just me banging on about this, several other posters have had exactly the same experience there. It doesn't matter how lovely and atmospheric and historic the pub is, the beer quality and consistency also dates back to the 1970s... 😞 

 

Maybe not that surprising, what you need for good quality real ale is good cellarmanship and decent throughput, so the beer is tapped and served when it's in good condition and gets used up before it has chance to go off. A pub like the Anchor with short and sporadic opening hours (including closed days) and low levels of business (and varying a lot from day to day) is always going to have a problem keeping the beer in good nick, even assuming that whoever is the cellarman (or cellarwoman) knows what they're doing.

 

Possibly when CAMRA meet there they get a fresh barrel and drink a lot of it while it's good -- which doesn't mean that other customers on other days get the same quality beer... 😞 

Edited July 11 by IanD

[Arthur Marshall]

2 hours ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

Being a musician I’d think you’d enjoy a music night. 
Trombone in there would be ace. 👍 

plus cups of tea are available if you’re not a beer monster. 

It turned into one, much to my surprise because I'm not really a pub type player, but one of the punters had seen the guitar in the boat and made me get it. Nowadays I hide it better. It was in my pre-trombone existence!

[Victor Vectis]

5 hours ago, GUMPY said:

It's the comments on the quality/type of beer that concerns me.

The beer has never been 'off' when I've called there.

It's just that 6X is such a boring, nationally available beer.

(As is London Pride)

 

If only the Anchor sold Bathams, < sigh >

[David Mack]

2 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

The beer has never been 'off' when I've called there.

It's just that 6X is such a boring, nationally available beer.

Boring and 'off' last time I was there!

I really do want to like the place, for all the reasons given, but I do struggle.

[IanD]

8 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

The beer has never been 'off' when I've called there.

It's just that 6X is such a boring, nationally available beer.

(As is London Pride)

 

If only the Anchor sold Bathams, < sigh >

I must have been unlucky then, because it's certainly never been 'on' (in excellent condition) when I've been there... 😞 

 

(which if other people have found differently, shows that at best it's inconsistent and badly kept)

 

But I agree that 6X is a prime example of a BBBB (Boring Brown British Bitter), there are loads of far better beers available nowadays.

 

IMHO London Pride is better than 6X, but still nothing like it used to be -- when I came to London in the 1980s Fullers and Youngs were *the* beers to go for, much better than the dross available from Ind Coope, Watneys, Charrington and so on. Maybe they haven't changed since and their beer crown has been taken by all the newcomers, or maybe tastes have changed since then.

 

Bathams though, mmmmmmm... 🙂 

Edited July 11 by IanD

[David Mack]

5 minutes ago, IanD said:

when I came to London in the 1980s Fullers and Youngs were *the* beers to go for, much better than the dross available from Ind Coope, Watneys, Charrington and so on. Maybe they haven't changed since and their beer crown has been taken by all the newcomers, or maybe tastes have changed since then.

Very much my experience too. But back then 6X had something of a reputation as a good local beer from a regional brewer, but I'm not sure I ever got close enough to Devizes to actually try it.

[GUMPY]

There is a bar near me that is only open Friday and Saturdays,  he serves good beer as it gets brought in in small quantities and doesn't sit week on week.

Yes sometimes he runs out late Saturday but there is still bottle conditioned beer on the shelf to serve if he does.

It can be done it's all down to management.

 

[Tonka]

1 hour ago, IanD said:

None of which makes the beer any better though, does it? 😉 

 

It's not just me banging on about this, several other posters have had exactly the same experience there. It doesn't matter how lovely and atmospheric and historic the pub is, the beer quality and consistency also dates back to the 1970s... 😞 

 

Maybe not that surprising, what you need for good quality real ale is good cellarmanship and decent throughput, so the beer is tapped and served when it's in good condition and gets used up before it has chance to go off. A pub like the Anchor with short and sporadic opening hours (including closed days) and low levels of business (and varying a lot from day to day) is always going to have a problem keeping the beer in good nick, even assuming that whoever is the cellarman (or cellarwoman) knows what they're doing.

 

Possibly when CAMRA meet there they get a fresh barrel and drink a lot of it while it's good -- which doesn't mean that other customers on other days get the same quality beer... 😞 

It would suggest that the beer is more on then it is off.

CAMRA meet there regularly 

You have been there once or twice a year

 

[IanD]

7 minutes ago, Tonka said:

It would suggest that the beer is more on then it is off.

CAMRA meet there regularly 

You have been there once or twice a year

 

It suggests that the beer is good when CAMRA have their branch meetings there, like the pub on Hammersmith Broadway we used to practice at where there was a "special" pump (good beer, not watered down) for the morris team, as opposed to the regular punters who frankly didn't care.

 

You can disparage my experience as much as you want, the fact remains that for me the Anchor has a 100% fail rate, and others seem to think the same. If you can't see that this means the pub has a beer quality problem, maybe you need to take your blinkers off... 😉

[Lady M]

Yes but you appear to be judging the Anchor as a potential GBG entry.  In this case, please if you can't find anything nice to say, then keep quiet.

[rgreg]

2 hours ago, IanD said:

I'm sure a music session in there would be great -- in fact if we hadn't left last time because the beer was so bad we might well have started one, we had instruments on the boat. And also beer that wasn't sour... 😉 

 

If you want cups of tea, go to a cafe... 😉 

It's always a music night when I'm in there. In fact, a few weekends ago we had two sessions going: one in each room, taking turns to play. Some of the regulars play and sing as well as visiting musicians. 

[Tonka]

25 minutes ago, Lady M said:

Yes but you appear to be judging the Anchor as a potential GBG entry.  In this case, please if you can't find anything nice to say, then keep quiet.

The Anchor is in the Good Beer Guide

[IanD]

55 minutes ago, Lady M said:

Yes but you appear to be judging the Anchor as a potential GBG entry.  In this case, please if you can't find anything nice to say, then keep quiet.

I can find things nice to say, and have done -- it's a lovely old unspoiled traditional pub, like a time capsule from 50 years ago -- which is why many people love it.

 

I don't, because in my experience -- and that of several other posters -- the beer is also in the same time capsule... 😞

 

Why should I keep quiet about this? I went the first time because people raved about the pub, and was sadly disappointed. I went again -- twice! --  in case this was a one-off bad day, and it wasn't. Anyone considering going there who likes beer deserves fair warning in case the same happens to them.

 

29 minutes ago, Tonka said:

The Anchor is in the Good Beer Guide

As are many other pubs, not all of which have good beer all the time. Your point is what, exactly?

Edited July 11 by IanD

[Tonka]

3 minutes ago, IanD said:

I can find things nice to say, and have done -- it's a lovely old unspoiled traditional pub, like a time capsule from 50 years ago -- which is why many people love it.

 

I don't, because in my experience -- and that of several other posters -- the beer is also in the same time capsule... 😞

 

As are many other pubs, not all of which have good beer all the time. Your point is what, exactly?

I was responding to @Lady M who mentioned The Good Beer Guide

[Lady M]

Sadly we haven't been that far from our base since the pandemic but the beer was always perfectly acceptable to us when we visited The Anchor.  I do agree that 6X isn't the ale of choice for some people, us included.  However, I actually loved the soft head produced by the use of a jug in serving.  As a lifelong member of CAMRA, I have in the past been involved in pub judging.

[Midnight]

Got to say 6X isn't my type of beer, but managed 6 pints and it was as good as it gets. New barrel halfway through the evening so top notch. The 'locals' (mainly caravanners) were very friendly and the craic was brilliant. Managed a couple of songs. We've been asked to stay tomorrow and play some music as it's likely local musicians will attend. The 6X was very good, dispensed from a hand pump, and landlady Elaine told me they haven't used the jug for at least 10 years.

[Tim Lewis]

11 hours ago, David Mack said:

Very much my experience too. But back then 6X had something of a reputation as a good local beer from a regional brewer, but I'm not sure I ever got close enough to Devizes to actually try it.

first came across 6X when I moved to London and it was oft said that ‘it didn’t travel well’. One canal holiday we were discussing this whilst drinking no great 6X, sadly we were in the brewery tap in Devizes

[Arthur Marshall]

Luckily, blasphemous though it may seem to some, beer (and its quality) isn't terribly important to most people. I strongly suspect that the majority, like me, simply don't like the stuff. We drink it largely because nothing else in a pub is palatable at all (this explains lager) except whisky, and you can't spin a  few of those out for a night unless you drink it by the pint, which is unwise (DAMHIK).

I would only ever stop at a pub while cruising if meeting someone, which is rare. Never otherwise on my usual solo cruise. On the odd cruise when my wife is along we'll usually have an unsatisfactory meal at one, once in a trip. There again, she likes beer.

 

PS Before being accused of not knowing what I'm talking about, I've been to a lot of pubs in the last fifteen years, and seldom finished a pint in any of them. But then, it's been their money in my pocket, not mine in theirs...

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

9 hours ago, Midnight said:

Got to say 6X isn't my type of beer, but managed 6 pints and it was as good as it gets. New barrel halfway through the evening so top notch. The 'locals' (mainly caravanners) were very friendly and the craic was brilliant. Managed a couple of songs. We've been asked to stay tomorrow and play some music as it's likely local musicians will attend. The 6X was very good, dispensed from a hand pump, and landlady Elaine told me they haven't used the jug for at least 10 years.

I guess if anyone needs an up to date report on a pub  that’s as a good one gets. Positive and encouraging. 

Maybe it’ll help (some) others to give the place another go. 

👍