Good Lord... Nelson!

In Attendance: +Iain Stuart +Golfyball . +Martin Hatfield +Brian Rees
Weather: Damp and Cold...

About two years ago, "The Nelson Inn" got pulled out of the hat, and having never been there, left me with anticipation of a place unvisited and therefore full of potential. However, the reality was far from the dream - and it secured it's last place on the full list of pubs with some gusto.  It really was a hovel of a pub - stank of somethingorother, had expensive and really crap beer and generally left you with the feeling you needed a bath/shower/ablution afterwards.

Needless to say, we weren't holding out much hope to be inspired....

It's one of Gloucester's very old pubs - presumably harking back to a time when the docks were in full swing and as a result a place likely to have been very busy in it's day.  With the redevelopment of the basin into a massive retail opportunity, that trade has passed, and the pub hasn't really moved with the times - it's tried, but it's not quite cutting the mustard.

It is blessed with a tiled frontage (one of only three in Gloucester) which in theory should be the catalyst for a pub full of character and charm (see "The Imperial" for how this can almost be done). Sadly, and through no fault of the landlord, it's owned by some property developers who appear to treat it as a revenue stream to it's own detriment.

That's not to say it's a complete disaster - if you're looking for cheap beer - and only cheap beer, with the promise of some DJ type music occasionally (at the weekends), then this could be the place for you. "Lewis the Landlord" is friendly chap and doing his best with what he's given. With a bit more support from the owners - and a decent re-fit - it really could be a gem of a pub. but these are dark times for publicans and money is tight.  It's fair to call it a reasonable "Dirty boozer"

"SeeeYrAtSkittlesSaturday. right?" was the greeting of one of the apparent regulars to Claude - and one things for certain, if there are people in here when you visit, you can be certain they will be "characters" - and that always makes for an entertaining evening.  I'm fairly certain that Claude didn't attend - although he could be interested in the future given the right sort of incentive.

We managed to run through 3 pints and then Reeser cabs hoiked us across town to the ever favourite and soon to be no more "Ridge & Furrow".  Here we were able to enjoy a further 3 or 4 in the company of local band and firm favourite of the WTC, "The Shy Teds" (see what they did there?).

The Shy-Teds @ The Ridge

Top that off with a kebab for the dodgy kebab van in the corner of the car park and a taxi ride home with Gloucester's driving equivalent of either Bernard Manning or Frank Carson (not sure which, but he had a joke rate of far more than one a minute) - all in all a good night was had - as per.

Badly named if you ask me

The one thing we failed miserably to do, was pull a pub out of the hat for next week...  so without further ado, I'll hand you over to the voice of the balls and this weeks draw.....

And the number is:  12 = The Pint Pot - famed for the watering hole (ooo-errr) of Aunty Anne!

See you there, when we get there.

Cheltenham in the Snow

In Attendance: +John Urquhart +Iain Stuart +Golfyball . +Jon Clark +Martin Hatfield & +Brian Rees
Weather: Cold & Snowing
Still Absent: +Jason Brown and +Chris Sheppard among others....

This week saw us journey into Cheltenham on the bus - other than Reeser, who joined us a little later and left a lot earlier.  The Number 10 from Gloucester has recently been upgraded to a Blue & Gold affair with faux leather seating, CCTV and free WiFi. All very nice and a very sociable way to travel. The snow was relentless, but not settling and throughout the evening there was much debate as to whether it would.

Our first stop was "The Suffolk" and the shout from Claude at the bar was "Can I have some Butt Cum"... Strange boy.

The plan was to Quiz and eat, but due to it's popularity we had to huddle round a very small table, and evidently dinner was not going to be on the menu. Still we managed to get two pints in and once Rocket arrived, the Quiz ensued. This weeks questions were set by Jugs with the theme being Golfy (based on his recent Birthday which he missed - see earlier posts).

Now you'd think, being the subject of the quiz would be an advantage - but not a bit of it. A poor performance, but thanks to Rocket's cheating ("I saw you look at Sniffers answers and Golfy's" said Jugs) his score went from 23 (I think) to zero, and Stan snuck in and stole the glory with 20 and a half points - Well done all round.

The Suffolk is a warm little boozer with ideas well above it's station - and judging by the number of people eating - realising some of those ideas. A Cheerful barmaid - who lent me some Sellotape to stick my 20 pound note back together - and a skittle alley out the back. I'd say it's the heart of Suffolk Road.

From here we marched the short journey down to "The Tivoli" which is really a gastropub. This place does proper sit-down food, and while it has a very nice bar and comfortable stylishly posh feel to it - it's not really a drinkers bar. Obviously we were after food - and the two courses for 11 quid deal suited me just fine. It's not for everyone though - and to be honest I only wanted a main course. Stan had my soup starter and he wasn't impressed. The main was stonking though - and Jugs appeared to thoroughly enjoy his sardines and sea bass.

It's reputation for food is well deserved - although it's service can be a little ropey at times. They're youngish staff - and may not have grasped the idea of servitude very well - as is the way with many of their generation - not all, but many.  All the same, it remains recommended - especially if you're looking for some good dinner. A couple of Posher beers later and some hearty discussion on the financial situation facing the nation and indeed all of us, and it was time to move on.

Final stop of the evening was "The Royal Union". We've been here a couple of times, and each time it seems to provide us with something to moan about. A great shame. It's got the potential to be a cracker as it really is a "real pub". Warm and cosy, with shabby-chic decor and an open fire - but it's let down by the Landlord.  He started off well enough - and offered us a 10 minute warning of his closure, but added that "There's no rush Lads, take your time" - all very pleasant.

And so taking him at his word - we didn't rush. We did pull next week's venue out of the hat - and sadly it's to be "The Nelson" - which previously was a truly awful boozer - but let's reserve judgement until then.

11 minutes later the hobbity boss was back and practically kicking us out of his shabby little pub (rathre less chic to be fair) with a right load of attitude to boot.  There was no "Come along then, haven't you lot got homes to go to?" for him.  More like "Get out. I'm closed!" No banter, No "Thankyou for your custom", not even a "Goodnight". Even the "Speccy-Beardy-Nerdy-Greebo Locals" (They're behind you Jugs) commented on what a miserable git he is - and so as a result we are in no rush whatsoever to give him anymore of our custom in the future.  It's off the list and romping away with final place in the league table to date.

We cleared off round the corner and in the general direction of the Taxi rank in the Montpellier area of Cheltenham - only to be greeted by the heart warming sight of the Golden number 10 pulling up into the bus stop.  Hopping on board we reflected on the good quiz, good food and horrendous Landlord having had - yet again - a bloody good night out full of banter and beer.

Until next time....

A crafty inbeteweenie...

In Attendance: +Golfyball . +Iain Stuart +John Urquhart
Weather: Cold - temperature dropping - Snow in the forecast.

A sneaky little beverage or two was hastily slapped together for a Saturday night in our base location.  From my perspective it was good to catch up with the lads having missed my birthday bash for a better offer....  and I use the word better in the "didn't have choice" sense of the word.

It did however afford us the opportunity to kick of the #WTCMods hashtag, thanks to the provision of my birthday present - Cheers lads...

There was no quiz - beyond "Who produced the recent documentary - Senna ?"

A Whittle Birthday

In Attendance: +Iain Stuart +John Urquhart +Jon Clark +Martin Hatfield + Brian Rees
Notable Absentees: +Golfyball . +Jason Brown +Chris Sheppard
Weather: No idea - I wasn't there.

Sadly even though it was +Golfyball 's birthday - he wasn't there because he was up that Laandan instead. However, the rest of the team weren't discouraged from having a birthday party without him - and indeed they did.

Claude managed a quiz - results unknown (see the comments section probably) and abuse was hurled via various social networks in the general direction of London.

The Whittle is a good "second" to our regular base of the "Wagon", perhaps a little pricier, but with reasonable atmosphere and half decent food.  It's not exactly on the number 10 bus route - but it's only a very short walk from it - so perfectly acceptable.

As a point of order - the planned outing to "The Royal Union", will now take place next week, along with a stop into "The Tivoli" while we're out that way - and possibly a Thai curry in "The Suffolk"

Friday...

 

 

 

 

The 12 Bells

In Attendance: +Golfyball +Iain Stuart +Jon Clark +John Urquhart +Rod Wilcox and +Martin Hatfield

Notable absentees: +Jason Brown +Chris Sheppard 

Weather: Damp, not raining, Cold, not freezing, Dark, not light.

First meeting of 2013 and it was a cracker...

The two elder members arrived ahead of the rest of us, because one of them is retired - and the other one might as well be. ;-) They'd had a day playing golf, eating breakfast and generally lazing about, while the rest of us earned a crust.

Stan, Sniff & Golfy caught the new golden number 10 bus up to Brockworth (complete with free WiFi) and then walked from the roundabout out towards the pub in the very pitch dark.  Claude did his best impression of Sir Chris Hoy and cycled.

A couple of tables in the corner were procured and we settled in for an evening of quizzes and badmin.

It's about two years since we visited this particular establishment, and a lot has changed, while a lot has stayed the same.  The general layout is exactly as it was, complete with almost impossible to find toilets. It's a long walk and completely the other side of the pub.

The place has been re-decorated and it's quite nice, warm and comfortable.  What lets it down though, is it's menu.  It's now a Beefeater, but sadly they've chosen to serve overpriced pub-grub.  In fact, if you order before 6.30 pm, many of the main courses are a mere £4.99, but later than this, the cheapest thing on the menu (apart from cheesy garlic bread) is a chicken burger for 9 quid.  Mine came with cold chips and (oddly) a piece of the lower half of the bun cut out of it....  Tasty, as it was, it is not recommended - purely because it felt like a rip-off.

We quizzed - and had winners in the shape of Sniffer & Claude.  Jugs found himself suffering under the weight of the wine and refused to write anything down towards the end - happy to play the part of my nan and shout the answers out instead of playing nicely.  All great entertainment.

We also carried out the badmin and generated the list of pubs for this years 52 pub challenge.  Here's the full list....

http://tinyurl.com/52PC2013

Each of the attendees need to complete the following table with a score out of 10 for each category.

Name	Location
12 Bells	Brockworth
Food
Beer Range
Larger Taste
Price
Ambience
Jukebox
Pool/Darts
Eye Candy
WiFi/3G

The older members took a Taxi home, while Claude got back on his bike and the remainder caught the posh night bus....   A good time was had by all.

Next weeks location is The Royal Union if numbers are above two - or else defaulted to the clubhouse.

The Return of the famous WTC

...and so it comes to pass that the Wednesday/Thursday Club (from henceforth known as the WTC) has risen again from the ashes, much like the roses of success...

Tonight will see the first outing of 2013 with a very special trip to the 12 Bells. which is now a Brewers Fayre. :-(

There will be a quiz - and most importantly the planning of this years 52-pub challenge, which as we all know won't be 52 pubs - but at least we're trying.

Confirmed attendees are +Golfyball . +Iain Stuart +John Urquhart and +Martin Hatfield ...  who knows who else might show up - but it would be nice to hear from +Jason Brown +Chris Sheppard +Jon Clark and any of the others who may be around.

Happy New Wotsit - expect more details here in the coming months.