Monday 21 March 2016

New micropub updates

The Stocks: the micropub that never was
(picture from Google street view)
In August last year, I wrote "Subject to planning permission, Molloys furniture shop at 589 Lord Street, Southport, will be converted into a real ale bar with outdoor seating to the front." This has now opened as Peaky Blinders, apparently the name of a Brummie criminal gang more than a century ago.

It's not a real ale bar. There was one real ale when I visited: an indifferent pint of Timothy Taylor's Landlord at a steep £3.75 a pint. The bar seems popular, but not with any real ale drinkers I know, especially as there is a choice of real ales from 75p to £1.05 cheaper about a minute's walk away in the Guest House. It serves a purpose, but cannot be seen as a serious contender on the micropub scene.

In September I reported that planning permission to open a micropub/beer shop in Churchtown had been sought by a Mr Lee Coates. The pub was to be called the Stocks, after an old set of stocks on the village green nearby. Although planning permission had been granted, Mr Coates has decided to pull the plug on the project, according to the Southport Visiter. The only explanation given is that Mr Coates and the landlord failed to reach an agreement.  

This is a shame, as it would have provided some welcome diversity to the pub scene in Churchtown, which has two traditional old pubs, each fine in its own way (see my post from 2014), but not much else.

At least the Grasshopper in Hillside, which I described yesterday, seems to have made a good start.

1 comment:

  1. To be fair, a friend who read this post has just approached me to say that Peaky Blinders had three real ales when he called in more recently, although the prices were still on the dear side. The beers were 'usual suspect' regionals rather than anything more original.

    ReplyDelete

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