Bath, Part 2

Bath seems like a bit of an odd tourist destination to me. It's all very lovely with plenty of shops, glorious architecture and pretty parks, but I don't think there's actually very much to do tourist wise. The main draw is the Roman baths, but last time I visited them I wasn't to impressed by some smelly stone rooms. I was a grumpy teenager at the time though so I wasn't impressed by anything except violent movies, computer games and boobs. I thought of visiting the baths on this trip now I'm older and supposedly maturer but I have since been spoiled by visiting Rome and its ruins, which are amazing even if Mussolini did find it necessary to build a motorway right through the middle of them. I guess they didn't have NIMBY's in Italy back then and to be honest I don't know if they have them now, they seem a fairly laid back bunch. I've also visited Pompeii which was absolutely stunning, so I guess some shabby rooms in the middle of a British shopping town just didn't appeal to me. Despite my perceived lack of tourist sights Bath remains packed full of tourists anyway, swarming the rather small section of the town centre where all the sights are packed together. It's great to see the town doing well but I wonder if any of those tourists leave disappointed.

One thing Bath does have is plenty of pubs. After a good start, detailed in my previous post, even more excellent pubs were to come. But first I'll start with the most average pub I visited, the West Gate. This Greene King pub seemed more focussed on food than beer but it did have an OK selection of ale available. Well I think it did this was a dimly lit place, probably to appeal to hungover students and their fear of bright lights. Our group originally sat at a table where the floor was both humming and vibrating, and fearing an imminent power surge, explosion or giant mole we moved to a different table. My first choice of beer, which I can't remember the name of but it sounded interesting, was off, so I opted for a pint of Guzzler from the York Brewery. This wasn't great, with a rather insipid watery flavour. Overall despite a decent Sunday lunch and friendly service I wouldn't be rushing back to this pub.

An "atmospheric" shot of the Star Inn
serving area.

Next up was a pub I'd quite happily rush back to. The Star Inn is on the outskirts of the town centre but is well worth a visit. Owned by Abbey Ales, this traditional three room pub looks attractive from the outside and very cosy and welcoming inside. They serve Bass from the barrel and I opted for a half, and it was pleasant enough. A Bellringer from Abbey Ales was much better, a strong, solid bitter that was perfect for this comfy little pub. The lone barmaid was friendly, even when I managed to spill about a third of my Bass all over the table. Whoops. The only disappointment was that the promised "free nibbles" on a Sunday afternoon mentioned on their website were nowhere to be found. However overall this was a great pub to retreat to in the middle of the day. Very enjoyable and a rather charming place.

My final pub visit on my jaunt around Bath was The Bell. This was a completely different atmosphere compared to the calm, relaxed Star. A live folk band were playing to the heaving pub. I could tell they were a genuine folk band because the lead singer was the hairiest man I'd ever seen. We managed to snag a table and enjoyed the good music and congenial atmosphere. A Mutley's Revenge from Hereford Brewery went down well and I got the chance to do my Mutley from Wacky Races impersonation where I sound like I'm choking on a boiled sweet. This was a lovely little boozer and with the music, laid back crowd and friendly staff it ended up being my favourite pub of the trip.

Well that's it for Bath. Next up it's a return to Manchester and the Port Street Beer House. See you next Sunday!

Bath Part 1

First of all apologies for the long wait in posting this hopefully witty and entertaining chapter of my blog. It's been a busy past few weeks for me, with a trip to Paris with the Lovely Jemma and a stag do in Manchester. I managed to visit a couple of new places in Manchester since my last visit there and I'll be blogging about those soon. Sadly there's not much to report about Paris beer wise. The French love their wine so I knew finding decent places for beer would be a problem. However Time Out mentioned a couple of craft ale bars that have sprung up. I was prepared to visit both and blog about them to you lovely people.

Sadly the first bar was closed on the night we went to visit, and then the next day my delicate British stomach was completed baffled by the amount of butter, cream and red meat I was consuming and I spent most of the day on the loo. This made a visit to the pub both unappealing and unlikely. Don't worry, while I was on the toilet I was weeping, firstly because I just wanted it all to end but also because I'd let my reader(s?) down by not being able to write about some weird French brews. The only beer I did manage to drink in Paris was a Leffe Blonde at Marlusse Et Lapin, a quirky little bar with an area called granny's room, complete with old lady bed and old fashioned drawers and cupboards. Luckily there were no activities granny would have disapproved of from the couple sitting on the bed, just polite conversation and slurping of wine. Well I assume it was polite conversation, they could have been talking about doing disgraceful things to each other involving whips and cattle prods, but because everything in the French language sounds beautiful I never would have known. Both the beer and the bar were pretty good.

But that's enough about Paris. A few weeks ago I paid a visit to the town of Bath. The weather was a bit hit and miss but luckily there were plenty of pubs to duck in to when the weather got a bit dreary. Things got off to a good start with a visit to Pig and Fiddle. This is a shabby but welcoming place with a large, narrow main room, a large beer garden and a hidden snug round the back of the bar. The airy main room is packed with tacky memorabilia which adds to the laid back vibe of the place. A solid ale selection was on offer, and I went for a pint of Adam Henson's Rare Breed by the Buxton Brewery. I have no idea who Adam Henson is but his rare breed is pretty good, with a pleasurable hoppy finish.

Leaving the Pig and Fiddle we moved to somewhere with a more mature vibe, The Salamander. Owned by Bath Ales, it has a modern interior and a grown up feel, but the atmosphere was a little stilted and not as welcoming as the Fiddle. It felt like I was invading a very middle class book club. There were probably more glasses of wine than beer on the tables, and the customers were enjoying tasty looking but expensive food. The Bath Ales were pretty good, with a Special Pale Ale (SPA) going down very well with a light, almost lemongrass flavour, very pleasurable. The Summer Hare was not quite as good but a solid hoppy finish made it a decent sup.

The final pub, for this post at least, is The Raven. This is a friendly two floor boozer with a laid back vibe. It appeared to be heavily involved in the local community with plenty of posters advertising future events, mainly aimed towards students. There are two house brews on offer, brewed by Blindman's, and I opted for a pint of Raven's Gold. Sadly this didn't live up to my expectations and it was a rather limp, bland golden ale. The plate of sausage and mash I ordered for lunch was tremendous though, making the trip to the pub more than worthwhile. Be aware that there's a £10 card minimum here, and that the house red is terrible. I only mention this so you don't get caught out like my friend and end up ordering a large glass of the house red to make up the minimum. The wine was horrific, tasting like it had been passed through a diseased duck on a hot July's day.

Plenty to come in Part 2, including two of the best pubs on the trip. See you next Sunday. That's right, I'm going to update this blog every Sunday! Let's see how long that lasts.