A Rail Ale Do 25th July 2014
Up for it were:
Yupmeister, Anytime Tone, Granpop Bill, JayCee, 2 Pie Hard Dave Semi-Colon, Tim Mothy, Corky, Sean of the County Wounties, and Pedro.
The Silver Bear bailed out the night before cus he couldn't find his wallet, even though we were only going to the black country.
Brolly wollyman was still recovering from too much good food and ale but is now hoping for a return to the clan in September.
Ali G had too much on at work after taking the past few weeks off drinking Fyne ales in Scotland. Has he already retired??
Despite numerous enquiries the group ticket purchase at Stoke Station proved problematical so ultimately we ended up paying full price at £18.30 return but giving us the total flexibility on the day including returning later than 6.30pm !!!! We met up with Corky on the 11.07am train who was sitting in a crowded Carriage D not knowing whether to stay on or get off at Stoke.
Our first chuffin stop was the popular Great Western at Wolverhampton; just a short 2 minute stroll behind the station. At 11.55am it was already beginning to fill.
Granpop Bill started the ball rolling on the snack front with a hot pork bap accompanied with a hard piece of scratching. Jaycee followed with an onion and onion bap.
To catch up we missed Shifnal out and stayed on the train until we arrived at Oakengates where they had strung up bunting to welcome us.
Sadly there was no garden but Corky and the rest of us sat in the back yard with Rose and Peat.
On return we decided to visit Shifnal, and try The Oddfellows Wine Bar which we missed out on earlier. A gasro pub with a seating area in and adjacent to the rear car park.
J2O's were ordered in abundance along with soda water and blackcurrent. Granpop Bill took the crown by ordering coffee and admitting defeat to Corky this time. Corky was totally agog.
Allowing plenty of time (to the dismay of Corky) to find our next train and platform we returned to the station and found it immediately as we walked on to platform 1. It was standing room only on the train but as we'd only got a short trip we survived.
Codsall was our first stop and Mid weekTone led the way, almost directly, to the outside area where we sat at 2 tables in the hot sunshine; the hat clan on one and the non-hat clan on the other.
The Enville White was tried by some who weren't impressed by it, returning to the Golden Glow and Pale Rider. The pork pies were hard to resist, so we didn't.
Jaycee's 'phone a friend' told him we should try the Station pub at Codsall. As it happened that's just where we were.
Asked about his recent narrow boat experience, Pedro admitted that Mrs Pedro had been down below playing with his rudder and he subsequently entered too quickly resulting in a final judder.
Joan wanted moorin but by then Pedro had overshot.
Pedro was sporting his 1930's trilby which prompted talk of a do in the future where we all wore one. I think not. His mind ticking, Corky then suggested we all wore mankini's as an alternative which I'm sure we'd all be thrilled to do. Perhaps we could arrange it for the Stoke Beer Festival but don't tell Corky we were only joking !!
Holden's Golden Glow was the favourite local beer. The food and drinks were displayed on a screen which we'd overlooked. The CAMRA discount had already been included according to the barmaid which we felt was unfair if non-members could get it at the same price....
The train we intended to catch to Shifnal was cancelled so we endured another hours wait in the sunshine. Ah well.... We contemplated walking the next stretch but at 13 miles it was a decision easily made to stay put for the extra hour.
The Old Fighting Cocks just up from the Station was our next destination which we had previously visited on the mystery do.
Yup fortunately had the last pint of Jaipur which he can vouch was superb, and probably the best pint of the day !!
Pedro recounted the tale of him getting left behind in Liverpool trip which we had never heard before ......
Did Pedro notice the egg box sign behind the bar??
The enticing Duke of York with a beer garden drew us in but after a brief look inside we gave the lager pumps and big screen a miss and swiftly moved up to the adjacent Station Hotel as originally intended, where a plentiful selection of ales and pies welcomed us. Another time for the pies though.
Pedro showed that he can still pull.
Talking of cats, Midweek Tone pricked himself as he sat down to enjoy the sun next to a cat-tony-aster. Sorry. . . . .
And here's a photo you're likely never to see again, ever.
Yes, Pedro wearing a white trilby.........
The indian across the road, the Shapla, was quickly chosen due to its close proximity. Water by the jug was ordered much to Corky's dismay. The trek back across the road was too much for any of us to entertain and bring ale back across.
It wasn't the best of restaurants we'd been to, but not the worst. The poppodoms weren't fresh and the curry was ok but at £12.50 with a tip we couldn't complain.
Despite the windgeings at not ordering starters Pedro could still only manage to eat half of his curry, and took a doggy bag away !!!!! and mints for Mrs Pedro …
As we left, a bunch of posers acting strangely were seen outside the indian ..
A short stroll back up the tunnel to the platform proved difficult.
That's it, one foot after the other !!!! Left foot up first.
The Stoke clan waved off Sean as he caught a slightly earlier Stafford train.
The train journey back was quick until Stafford but slowed down after, especially on the last stretch of Corky's journey to Manchester, due to expansion of the railtrack !!
We caught a delayed train back (the 21.16) at around 21.40 and were back in Stoke earlier than originally expected.
A chuffing grand day out yet again
Cheers
Yuppers
