Free beer for a price

Paul Thornhill, landlord of posh pub The River Wyre in Breck Road, Poulton, wants to recruit a real-ale taster for a forthcoming five-week beer festival. 
Why he can’t do it himself is anyone’s guess. I once met a priest who had no stomach and couldn’t drink beer because of the yeast, so maybe that’s it.
He’s having [...]

Super beer in snooty resort

Blackpool’s a real-ale wasteland but if you get out of the centre there’s a few decent pubs around.
The County in Lytham has some good beer and has done its reputation no harm by going into partnership with fledgling Lytham Brewery
There brews, made by father and son team Andrew and James Booker, are well worth trying if [...]

No nonsense at the Farmers

To the Farmers Arms, once dubbed the toughest ale house in Blackpool. Riots, petrol bomb attacks, faked robberies – all in a day’s work for the Lytham Road boozer.
Well, a new licensee has transformed the pub and when we visited today there was three cask ales on for thirsty beachcombers.
New landlord Peter Cassidy told me [...]

Blackpool goes even madder

Blackpool Council’s puritans have come up with a raft of new anti-drink stunts.
Following last week’s bombshell news that there are to ban the opening of new pubs and off-licences, this week they are distributing 20,000 plastic glasses to pubs and clubs all embossed with anti drink messages and warnings about alcohol units.
The nutters have also [...]

Blackpool’s gone mad – new pubs banned

Blackpool council are to ban the opening of any new pubs or off licenses unless the would-be licensees can “prove” there will never be any “alcohol-related problems”.
The new puritans on Blackpool Council say this will even apply to food and family pubs. It is a de facto ban on boozers in the seaside resort.
Just one [...]

Shovels buried – updated

We turned up at The Shovels, supposedly Blackpool’s number one cask ale pub, for Christmas drinks today to find it closed and bankrupt.
Amid all the wailing from the Camra beachcombers, I realised that my assertion that good pubs were recession proof is in the toilet.
If The Shovels can’t make it, are we about to see [...]