A short Ormskirk pub crawl

My friend Ann and I decided to pay a visit to the historic market town Ormskirk to stroll around the centre and have a look inside some of the pubs. The market was in full swing when we arrived by train; both the railway and bus stations are just a few minutes' walk from the town centre and all three pubs that we visited.

Our first port of call was the Cricketers on Chapel Street. It is pleasantly decorated and consists of the main pub room and an extension called the Pavilion, which is more set up for dining. There is also an upstairs room and a beer garden. Five real ales were on offer: Gold and Hen Harrier both from Bowland, OSB (Old School Brewery) Headmaster and Detention, and Salopian Shropshire Gold. The Cricketers has won local CAMRA awards for West Lancs Pub of the Year in 2015, 2017 and 2018. The pub is popular with diners and has an interesting menu; children are welcome. Monday evening is quiz night.

A short walk brought us to Tap Room No. 12 on Burscough Street. Formerly a shop, it was converted into a single-roomed bar, and the wooden panels and genuine pub furniture successfully recreate the atmosphere of a traditional pub room. They had the following real ales when we called in: Salopian Oracle, OSB School's Out, Problem Child Rapscallion and Wainwright. They can also sell you 20+ gins as well as craft and continental beers. Although it is a small bar, there are several regular events each week: quiz night on Wednesday, open mike on Thursday and live music between 4.00 and 10.00 pm on Saturday.

Our final stop was the Court Leet in Wheatsheaf Walk, just off Burscough Street. The most interesting feature of this pub is its open air balcony on the first floor. The real ales available were: Sharp's Doom Bar, Greene King Abbott, Clipaty Hop and Cheshire Gold, both from Coachhouse, Ruddles Best, Saxon Red Ale and Barbarian both from Parker, and Big Bog Quagmire. Ann was drinking wine and particularly enjoyed the Shiraz. For food, there is the usual Wetherspoon's range, and children are admitted.

The beer was in good order in all three pubs, and I hope to write about other pubs in this characterful town soon.

The name Court Leet was taken from the original Court Leet which used to run Ormskirk's municipal affairs from a building on this site until its abolition in 1876. Sometimes the town officials would adjourn after their business was concluded to a long-gone pub called the Old Wheatsheaf, after which Wheatsheaf Walk is named.

Ormskirk Beer, Food & Wine Festival

A joint venture by the Cricketers pub and Ormskirk Cricket Club. 

Click to enlarge the flyer. More info on website. 

Ormskirk Beer, Food & Wine Festival

This festival is being put on jointly by The Cricketers and Ormskirk Cricket Club. The Cricketers is currently the CAMRA Pub of the Year (West Lancs area). More details and tickets here.

Click on the poster to enlarge it. 

Ormskirk pub losses

I've heard that the Ropers Arms on Wigan Road has just closed down after struggling along for a while. I recall it used to be a Burtonwood pub; in recent years it has offered accommodation and meals, but there simply hasn't been the trade to keep it going, especially in the summer when the large student population at the local university evaporated overnight.

The Buck I'th Vine is a picturesque former Walkers pub on Burscough Street that has been little altered over the years: it has a courtyard to the front, several separate drinking areas, a serving hatch with glass above, and still some of the old Walkers signs. The last time I was in there, the only real ale it sold was Tetley Bitter, which isn't likely to entice me back. It has been closed down for a while. Mike McComb, the force behind the successful Hop Vine in Burscough, hoped to take over the ground floor and preserve it as a pub, but could reach no agreement on the terms of the lease. It is likely to be converted to student accommodation.

The Plough on Church Street is the third pub lost in Ormskirk this year. It's ages since I've been in there, but more recent reports suggest that it sold no real ale and had become slightly down at heel.

The closure of three pubs this year constitutes quite a big loss in a small town (it has a quarter of the population of Southport). Let's hope the culling is now over.

Thanks to Peter Lloyd for the info, which I received via Mike Perkins.

More pub closures

Rueters, Hoghton Street

Rueters [sic] on Hoghton Street, Southport has closed because it can no longer afford rising costs. It was more of a wine bar than a pub, although it had served real ale at certain times in its history. It was always particularly popular for work outings, but was never really my cup of tea. As it always seemed to be successful, I'm surprised it has had to close.

Also closed is the George on the corner of Duke Street and Cemetery Road. It was not a real ale pub, but again I'm surprised at this closure as it had recently been refurbished. They sometimes put on live music acts; I've played there quite a few times in the past. I'm not sure why it has closed; I have heard some speculation, but won't repeat it because I've no idea how accurate it is.

Finally, Ernesto, who has written a number of comments on this blog, has informed me that the Martin Inn, a long-standing real ale pub near Ormskirk, Lancashire, has also closed. He wrote: "I've only recently discovered on a canal pub walk that The Martin Inn has closed. Not good ... Always found it an interesting 'outlier' to visit from time to time". I have no more information than that.

I don't know whether or not these closures are temporary, but even if they are short term, they are still a unwelcome symptom of the current fragility of the pub industry.

Ormskirk RUFC beer festival

Ormskirk Rugby Club is putting on a beer festival in a couple of weeks on Saturday 22 June, and have just decided to tell the local CAMRA branch about it, even though it's been on their own website since April. Below is their poster but, oddly, they haven't given any useful details such as where it is, opening times, admission charges, etc. Never mind, I've been doing some digging: 

Address: Ormskirk RUFC, Green Lane, Ormskirk, Lancs, L39 1ND.

Opening hours: 10:30 a.m. until 11:00 p.m.

Website: click here.
': 01695 572523.

Club of the Year + blog birthday

The Farmers Club, Ormskirk

In my recent post about Pubs of the Year, I forgot to mention the local Club of the Year (COTY). The choice is the award-winning Farmers Club in Burscough Street, Ormskirk.  This club won the Branch COTY award last year and went on to win West Pennines Region Club of the Year for 2011.

It's an unusual colonnaded building and the front doors open into a foyer that houses a full-size snooker table and has a raised glass ceiling.  It was built in 1830 as a dispensary, and operated as such until the opening of the local cottage hospital.  It became the Farmers Club in 1898, so it has quite a history.  Because of the awards it's received, the club is the the cover story on the latest issue of Ale & Hearty.  Worth a visit - I think you can get served there if you show a CAMRA card or copy of the Good Beer Guide.

I see that today is the third anniversary of my first post on this blog, which was about a singers night at the Bothy Folk Club.  My first beer-related post was a day later, a tirade against Gordon Brown for the increases in beer duty, a topic I covered yet again a couple of weeks ago - perhaps I need to change the record.  This is my 619th post and at the time of writing I've had 30,316 unique hits, although I didn't instal the counter until five and a half months after starting the blog.

The blog originally only had information of about half a dozen music events per week in real ale pubs; now it has dozens of events per week, plus pages about local beer festivals, pub crawls, town pub maps, my discography [!] and numerous links.  I hope the information continues to be of use.  I remember wondering whether I could keep it going for more than a few months.

Eureka to reopen

I've received an e-mail from the new team taking over the Eureka pub in Ormskirk that it's about to re-open.  They tell me, "We intend to be famous for our range and quality of fantastic local and national real ales; we will also be regularly having live music and great food. We are passionate about these things and want this pub to thrive once again." 

The new landlord and landlady are Gary and Sharon and they are aiming to have the pub open early this month.  The pub's address is 78 Halsall Lane, Ormskirk, L39 3AX, a short walk from Fiveways, the A59/A570 junction. 

The Eureka is a long-standing real ale pub, and I'm looking forward to visiting it again next I'm in the area.

Farmers Club award

Last week, our local CAMRA branch caught the bus to Ormskirk to present the Lancashire Pub of the Year award to the Farmers Club in Burscough Street.  This unusual colonnaded building was built in 1830 as a dispensary, and operated as such until the opening of the local cottage hospital.  It became the Farmers Club in 1898, so the club has quite a history.  When we arrived, we noticed that the A-board was already proudly proclaiming the club's new status. The front doors open into a foyer that houses a full-size snooker table (which you can just make out in the picture below) and has a raised glass ceiling, with the bar to the left and a seating area with dart board to the right. It is an in interesting place, which I'd never heard of previously, even though I lived near Ormskirk for a few years.  Our chair, Ian Garner, presented Elaine Gore, the Club Manager for more than 20 years, with her award, and complimented the club for having such an individual building and for serving real ale. The beers that were on were Tetley Bitter and a changing guest, which happened to be a Tetley seasonal, Midsummer Madness - nothing special, perhaps, but apparently what the club's members like.

Lancs 2011 COTY & POTY

Next Tuesday, 28th June, CAMRA will be presenting the Lancashire Club of the Year (COTY) award to the Farmers Club, 65 Burscough Street, Ormskirk.  It is an impressive Georgian building that was built in 1830 as a dispensary for Ormskirk people by Thomas Brandreth, a wealthy local merchant.  It became the Ormskirk Agricultural Club in 1898, and is now known locally as the “Farmers”.  You can see a picture of the building here.  As far as cask beer is concerned, the club had one handpump serving an excellent Tetley’s Bitter, but Elaine Gore, the Club Manager for more than 20 years, listened to her customers and has now installed a second pump serving cask beers from the Taper’s list.  The club is also Cask Marque accredited, ensuring good quality beers, and has recently been awarded a Hygiene Certificate.


The Swan With Two Necks

 The Lancashire Pub of the Year (POTY) award will be made on Saturday 25th June at The Swan with Two Necks in Pendleton, BB7 1PT, starting at 2pm to celebrate winning the Lancashire Branches POTY.  Everyone is welcome.  When they held the presentation for the local branch's POTY, most of the village turned out & hopefully will again, although they may need some good weather as the pub is fairly small.  Pendleton is not the easiest place to get to, but a taxi from Clitheroe will only cost around a fiver.

Scarisbrick's open Arms

The Scarisbrick Arms in Downholland, not to be confused with the Scarisbrick Hotel in Southport, was closed in July 2007, and people began to doubt that it would ever open again. Fortunately it was reopened in time for Christmas 2009 by Paul and Lainey, who have done great work with three Ormskirk pubs: the Queens Head, the Queen Inn, and the Railway, and who have also recently acquired the Roper's Arms, also in Ormskirk, a Burtonwood house many years ago, if memory serves me right.

The Scarisbrick is a large, imposing, red brick pub next to a bridge over the Leeds-Liverpool canal, and is a familiar landmark on the road between Southport and Maghull. It has been extensively renovated and decorated in light colours and has an emphasis on good value food. The kitchen and the restaurant have been swapped around so that the restaurant now overlooks the canal. There are plans to open a B&B and build a function room.

At the time of our midweek visit, there were two cask beers on, both from Moorhouses: Paulainey’s, the house beer, and Pride of Pendle, with another Moorhouses pump clip turned in. Sadly, as I was driving, there wasn't much opportunity to sample the beers. They also get guest beers from George Wright (Rainford), Southport, and Spitting Feathers (Cheshire). The pub has a canal-side garden, nice for warm days and suitable for children.

Finding it: the corner of the the A5147 and Black-a-Moor Lane. It's on a Southport to Liverpool bus route. Postcode: L39 7HX.

Derby Arms folk singarounds (and good beer!)

Visiting the Derby Arms on Prescot Road in Aughton today, I learned that, in addition to the 1st and 3rd Monday music nights (the first is folk/country and the third is gypsy jazz), the pub now has a weekly folk club night every Wednesday which is open to all to play at or just listen. The Derby Arms is a free house which stocks a changing range of cask beers, with a beer called Arran on permanently at £1-50 a pint, plus well-regarded food too.

As I was driving, I had to limit myself to a rather nice half of the Arran. One peculiarity of this pub is that they sell keg Walkers Bitter, which I've never seen anywhere else before. That's £1-50 too, although I didn't try it.

Postcode: L39 6TA

Derby Arms music nights

Jan at the Derby Arms, which I visited and wrote about in June, has reminded me that they have singarounds/jam sessions in the pub twice a month on the first and third Mondays. I have yet to get to these music nights, but I can say that this is a friendly local with a changing range of excellently-kept beers. It was awarded the CAMRA Branch's Lancashire Pub of the Year award a few months ago. You will find it on Prescot Road in Aughton, near Ormskirk. (Postcode L39 6TA)

Beer festival success ~ but where next year?

The Southport beer festival ended on Saturday night practically sold out. Contrary to the Southport Drinker’s predictions, it did not consist solely of lone males morosely sipping solitary pints. There were plenty of young women around for the (I thought happily married) SD to gaze upon. Selling out was a vast improvement on 2008 when some perfectly good beer had to be poured away, the result of a beer festival in the Fylde clashing with ours.

The Southport Brewery’s Golden Sands was voted beer of the festival by the customers. This is yet another award for an excellent local beer.

Our local MP, John Pugh, who is himself a lover of real ale, came along on Thursday to present the CAMRA Branch awards.

Pubs of excellence: Guest House, Union Street; Baron’s Bar, Lord Street; Derby Arms, Aughton; Queens Head, Ormskirk; Sir Henry Segrave, Lord Street.
Best country pub: Ship, Haskayne.
Best community pub: Volunteer, Eastbank Street.
Most innovative licensee: Adrian Davies, Falstaff, King Street.

The big question now is where the next year’s festival will be held, seeing that the Arts Centre is going to be closed for a ridiculous two and a half years by our philistine local council, who are unable to see the damage that completely closing down our town’s cultural facilities for such a long period of time will cause. But the local CAMRA Branch is determined that the festival will go ahead.

Derby Arms & Ormskirk pubs

Last night, Southport & District CAMRA ran a bus trip to present the Derby Arms in Aughton with a West Lancs Pub of the Year award, but first we stopped in Ormskirk for a couple of hours. There is real ale in Ormskirk and it's generally well kept, but mostly consists of well-known brands, such as Bombadier, Landlord, Black Sheep, Pedigree, Directors, and Tetley. The surprise of the evening was in Disraeli's which sported two hand pumps next to a large bank of tall silver fonts; the beers were Pedigree and Ringwood's Old Thumper, the latter completely unexpected in this pub, and very tasty to boot. For quite a few of us, the Old Thumper was the best beer we tried in Ormskirk.

On to the Derby Arms. This country pub is on Prescot Road (B5197) in Aughton, surrounded by fields rather than houses. Despite this location, the pub was very busy when we arrived, with a happy buzz of conversation and friendly regulars. It has been partially knocked through at some time in the past, but there are still four distinct drinking areas, almost separate rooms, that add the charm and atmosphere. The beers were Marble Lagonda IPA, Boggart Bog Eyed and 3Bs Shuttle Ale and an Arran ale I didn't get around to. A curiosity was keg Walkers, apparently brewed to the old Warrington recipe; I don't think any of our party tried it, although I was slightly curious. The beers were excellent and those that ran out were replaced straight away. I found the bar staff were friendly and helpful, happy to chat when serving duties permitted.

Then came the award, and panic among the CAMRA ranks as the framed certificate could not be found. Eventually it turned up, having slid down the back of a seat. The award was made, speeches given and Jan and Mike's achievement, as well as the work of the staff, duly applauded by everyone. A few minutes later Jan brought the certificate back ~ it had 2008 on it! Someone would have to come back with a replacement. The pub had laid on some snacks, and I had a look at the ordinary menu and thought it reasonably priced. There are regular live music nights that I intend the visit for the purposes of the real music aspect of this blog.

This is an excellent and attractive community local, clearly very popular with its regulars, whether real ale drinkers or not, that serves an excellent, interesting and varied range of real ales. Needless to say, definitely worth a visit. Just over a mile from Town Green station; postcode L39 6TA.