Dead on the line (No,not Corky) Feb 13th 2015
12 were finally up for the Derby Roundhouse this year:
Yupmeister, Anytime Tone, Jaycee, Huge Mungeous, Granpop Bill, 2 Pie Hard Dave Semi-Colon, TimMothy, Corky, Sean of the Amey Wameys, Ali G, Brolly Wolly man of Talke Talke and Gadget Man
All, except Brolly Wolly man of Talke Talke and Gadget Man who were arriving later, assembled at Stoke station. I repeat, all except Brolly Wolly man of Talke Talke and Gadget Man who were arriving later, assembled at Stoke station. Yes, Granpop Bill had forgotten to read his check list before coming out, money, keys, CAMRA card and hearing aids ….
The cross country train was pretty empty so finding seats together with Nails and Corky were easy to find. Sadly the bubbly conductor who checked our tickets last year had been replaced with a grumpy female jobs-worth who wasn't happy that the groupsaver group weren't sitting directly adjacent to each other, making it difficult for her to count more than 5 on one hand.
There was no free chip stall awaiting our arrival this time so we hot-footed it to the Brunswick where a variable selection of ales were available to suit everyone's tastes. The room to one end was found to be empty so we quickly commandeered it and relaxed in the armchairs.
Brolly Wolly man of Talke Talke and Gadget Man arrived and slipped straight into the festival where we soon met up with them after Mothy carried out a thorough search of the station for a cash machine.
Huge appeared with a CAMRA bag after joining the club which was filled with many goodies, including a copy of the Good Beer guide and a parachute.
Scrooges, Brolly Wolly man and Gadget man went in search of a cheap porter and came back with Old Ebenezer from Yorkshire Brewing. They were buying thirds, and were cockahoop at regularly receiving over-measures. Meanwhile Midweek Tone also tried the same tack but was dismayed when each time it was 'dead on the line'.
Amongst the beers enjoyed at the fezz were the Adnams Ghost Ship, Castle Rock's Harvest Pale, Charnwood's Try Hopped, Orkney's Skull Splitter at 8.5% (sold in thirds) Purple Moose's Ysgawen, Tap House's Gold, and several darker side ales.
At the indian, we were surprisingly shown to a table on the ground floor. Previously we've been ushered upstairs out of the way of the general cliental. Jugs of water and large bottles of Cobras were ordered and bought to the table and the 2 for 1 main orders were placed. The poppodoms arrived and Corky erupted sharply asking the waiter in a Mancurian language for the 'gubbins' to go with them.
At the station Corky jumped onto the wrong train on platform A, but declared it was only so he could stay warm while waiting for ours to arrive. When we eventually assembled on the train Huge thought he'd left his glasses at the indian. Miraculously, they were aptly found in his CAMRA bag along with the other goodies. Amazing.
Corky was heard erupting again, and he returned to his seat as we got off at Stoke. Oh dear ....
Yet another cracking Derby do.
Cheers
Yuppers
(enjoy yer eruptions)
It was cosy and warm and Nails didn't want to budge. It was a difficult decision but eventually Yuppy thoughtfully decided it was time to move on.
As several had eaten earlier at home or at the mouthwatering Caterbake butty shop in Stoke, only a couple of meals were ordered.
Huge enjoyed a meat baguette with 7 chips although consuming the meat proved rather difficult and time consuming. Huge was renamed Chewy Hughy for the day.
Inside the festival we soon spotted BWM and GM and agreed on a group meeting place besides the Pipers crisp stall. There were no free seats available and a suggestion to bring our own fold up chairs next time seemed an excellent idea.
The free bowls of Pipers crisps were not replenished as well as we'd have liked, so Mothy took the plunge and came back with a large bag to keep everyone happy. The crisps were obviously not satisfying Nails's hunger pangs though and he was spotted devouring a cheese platter and a pork pie; just one …..
With one final attempt by Midweek Tone with Hibernation by the North Star Brewery proving to be 'dead on the line' again it was time to toe the line for a group selfie.
It was getting colder outside so the hats came out for the hundred yard walk.to the Viceroy indian restaurant via the station bridge.
Several Chicken Korais were ordered, with a mild one ordered for Ali G and a hot one for Yuppers. It was a sure bet they'd both be the same of course, and as sure as eggs are eggs, they were.
Jaycee prepared his bib as he does most nights in his care home.
Despite that minor flaw the meals and service were excellent and there were no arguments whatsoever when the final bill worked out to £21 each including a tip. There was also a healthy supply of mints provided with the bill and at the exit door. Pedro would have been in raptures.
