Singarounds ~ old & new

Firstly, just a reminder that the successful Mason's singaround will be taking place tonight in the Mason's on Anchor Street from around 8.30 p.m., behind the main post office on Lord Street. Robinson's beers always on, and sandwiches are usually provided by the pub.

I am proposing to launch a new singaround in the Guest House, Union Street, on the first Monday evening of the month from 7th September. There is already a music session on the 3rd Monday evening in the same venue (the next one is next Monday, the 20th), and my view is that this new singaround will complement, not rival, the sessions in the Mason's on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month. I'll put a reminder on this blog closer to the date. The Guest House has up to 10 real ales on at any time.

All these sessions are free, and anyone is welcome to perform, or simply listen if you prefer.

Once An Orange, Always An Orange*

Yesterday we had the Orange Lodge marching through Southport as they do every year around 12th July, the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne in 1688. I wonder how many Orange folk realise that when the Catholic James II was beaten by the Protestant William of Orange, the Pope held a celebratory mass (James II was an ally of Louis XIV of France, who was an enemy of the Pope ~ it always boiled down to politics, even with Pontiffs).

Anyway, the immediate result of the march is that half our town centre pubs are closed and the other half are full of people dressed in orange, some with Union Jacks emblazoned with "No Surrender" around their shoulders, while the bandsmen were sweltering in thick military-style uniforms and the hordes of police were happily adding up their overtime. I found the Guest House wasn't scheduled to open until 5.00 p.m., so I went to the Lakeside Inn, the smallest pub in Britain, and had a surprisingly nice pint of Fullers London Pride while sitting on the balcony overlooking the Marine Lake.

Southport people aren't really keen on these Orange Scousers taking over their town, but it does bring in a lot of trade, and if we're being honest there is very little trouble considering the numbers involved. As a Liverpudlian of mixed origin (my father's from the Orange and my mother's from the Green), I have no specific allegiance, although I can find nothing in the Orange cause that I can identify with at all. The Orange man who shouted abuse at two harmless buskers and a Big Issue seller did strike me as a complete pillock, and two Orange girls fighting in Chapel Street did no favours for my home city, but these are the extremes.

There seem to be fewer Orange people in Southport every year, so perhaps the commemoration of this 321-year old battle in a war that is no longer relevant is losing some of its resonance, especially as power-sharing in Northern Ireland is now a reality. I hope so.

I finished my afternoon with a fine pint in the Guest House ~ once it had finally opened. It's nice to get our pubs back.

* This is the title of an Al Stewart song from the 1972 album, 'Orange'.

Singaround at the Ship Inn, Haskayne

Last night, I went to the Ship Inn in Haskayne for the first time since the pub reopened. There has been a singaround in this pub for many years, and it's nice to see it has begun again after the closure.

Thirst things first. There were three cask beers on: Southport Golden Sands, George Wright Blonde Moment and Springhead Surrender 1646. I like Golden Sands but concentrated on the other two, as I'd had neither of them before. The George Wright was much as you'd expect a blonde beer to be and was extremely drinkable. The Springhead was a complete contrast: a copper beer with a combination of hoppy bitterness and malt. All the beers were well kept, and Paul, the licensee, told me he wanted to concentrate on local brewers whenever he could.

The singaround was run on the usual lines of going around the room. There is a big range of styles and performances, including country, folk songs and tunes, and singer-songwriter material; the Beatles' Blackbird was played as a instrumental. This singaround is very informal and friendly, and is not at all daunting ~ to the extent that a man who hadn't intended to perform borrowed a guitar and gave us a version of John Martin's 'May You Never'. Performing is not compulsory; if you just want to listen, you're welcome to.

Paul told me that there are open mike nights in the Ship on Wednesday evenings; I must check them out as well.

The Ship is on Rosemary Lane just off the A5147, about 7 miles from Southport. (postcode: L39 7JP)

Rockabye Sweet Baby James

I went to see James Taylor in the O2 on Monday. It was a brilliant night, he had a great band with wonderful backing singers, his voice as mellow as ever, and he showed a sense of humour that seemed slightly English on occasion. I also found out at last, after 35 years, what the song 'Sweet Baby James' is about. He played all the well-known songs his fans would expect, along with a selection of more recent material, including a pleasing cover of the old Jimmy Webb song, "Wichita Lineman", a song which, although I'm no country fan, I've always liked.

No real ale of course, as you'd expect. A bottle of Becks was £4 (I'm sure I could get a box of 12 for that in ASDA, not that I would ever want to) and the very cheapest wine was £17.50 a bottle ~ it looked like £3.99 supermarket plonk to me. So, I didn't bother with a drink, which improved my evening tremendously as I would have begrudged drinking disgusting booze at astronomical prices.

Once I had successfully ignored the bar, I had a great evening.

No more live music at the Falstaff

I mentioned a few days ago that the Falstaff does little to advertise its music nights, except to bury a mention of a band in an incredibly detailed newspaper advert, but no adverts in the pub or on its website. I've learned recently that the pub has decided to stop putting on live bands. It's a pity, but I'm not surprised really.

John Mayall ~ last of the summer blues?

Yesterday found four of us in a car heading to the Picturedrome in Holmfirth to see British blues legend, John Mayall. We first went into the Old Bridge Hotel next to the venue for some food and drink; Copper Dragon, Timothy Taylor's Best and Summer Wine Brewery Teleporter (5%) were a welcome sight. While we were there, the man himself with two of his band also came in for something to eat.

The venue is a former cinema as the name suggests with acceptable Taylor's Landlord on hand pump; it's a welcome change for a rock venue to have real ale. First up was a group from the Manchester area called Tantrum playing energetic blues rock at full tilt. They are an enthusiastic three piece (drums, bass, guitar), well worth seeing if you get the chance.

Then came the headliner: John Mayall announced his first song as one he had learned from Sonny Boy Williamson ~ high class name dropping. He also did songs by other blues greats, such as Freddy King and Albert King, as well as many of his own. His band are all Americans (and they all look less than half of his age) but still managed to produce that British blues sound, sometimes organ-driven, for which Mayall has been renowned for since the 1960s. As is always the case in John Mayall bands, they are all excellent musicians.

As I listened to one of his own songs, I was thinking that it quite experimental. It went down a storm, and Mayall said delightedly, "I thought that might be too jazzy for you guys." Another song was written after Mayall had dreamt about the blues greats and made a dreamy blue song out of it, complete with references to Robert Johnson and others. I was left thinking how versatile the blues format can be.

During the evening, Mayall played keyboard, guitar and a lot of blues harp. By the end, the crowd were shouting for more, and two encores ensued; for the second Mayall was on his own with just a keyboard. Technical problems caused him to disconnect the microphone and encourage the crowd to sing the chorus while he played. Audience participation thus took the night out.

Mayall is now 75, but played with unflagging enthusiasm and energy; there is no doubt he was thoroughly enjoying himself, as was the crowd, which included many who were too young to remember the Bluesbreakers in the 60s. Highly recommended.

Licensees losing everything

The Morning Advertiser, the pub trade newspaper, is reporting that 117 licensees facing eviction have contacted the trade union Unite and Justice For Licensees in the last four weeks alone. The article is here. For many licensees, eviction is the final stage: they will at this point have lost their business, lost their savings, and finally in many cases are losing their home. While the political wheels move slowly, and we debate the causes on our blogs, ordinary hard-working people - many with families - are losing all hope and going to the wall.

School bans English traditional dancers

A school in Kent, which had booked Motley Border Morris Men to appear at a day celebrating diversity, cancelled the booking because the dancers black their faces. The school was anxious not to cause offence to anyone. The irony, particularly for a diversity day, is that this blacking up is not an imitation of black people (as in the case of the Black & White Minstrels), but was originally a disguise. It's an English tradition from the borders with Wales and is hundreds of years old.

Often Morris sides (or 'troupes' as the school called them) went dancing to raise a bit of cash to supplement meagre farm wages, or during the winter when there was no work. As it could be interpreted as a form of begging, they concealed their identity. In 1723, because poachers sometimes blacked their faces as a disguise, it was even made a hanging offence to be found with weapons and a blacked face. Blacking up by Morris sides today is a relic of part of our social history, and has absolutely nothing to do with race. As a committed anti-racist, I wouldn't defend it otherwise.

It's a pity that the school didn't bother to find out why the dancers black up, and explain the reasons in terms of social history and rural poverty. Another reason why it's a pity is that whenever I have watched Border Morris, I've noticed that kids usually love it as it's energetic, noisy, involves clashing sticks, and has a large band of varied musicians creating a great wall of sound. It's difficult to ignore Border Morris.

What's it got to do with this blog? How about the fact that Morris sides dance to live traditional music and tend to drink real ale? The picture shows the Men O' Th' Mere Morris outside the Zetland pub in 1981; they were active in Southport throughout the 1980s. I am at the back wearing a cap and clutching a guitar ~ and a pint, of course. As a musician I didn't black up. (click on picture to enlarge it)

Real Ale & Real Music

When I began this blog, I assumed that venues with both cask beer & real music in this area would be rather more common than in fact they are. Locally the Fox & Goose is an well-established rock venue, but it hasn't served real ale for many years; it used to serve Castle Eden, if I remember correctly. Our venue for big music events, the Southport Theatre (where I have seen Marvin Gaye, Kim Wilde, Hall & Oates and Black Sabbath, although not on the same bill) has never sold decent beer.

The Arts Centre occasionally puts on a cask of Southport beer for a big folk event, but mostly relies on bottled ales. It used to serve real Higson's many years ago, but strangely had both the cask and keg versions next to each other with the keg 2p cheaper; the staff automatically reached for the keg pump unless the customer specified otherwise, and as you'd expect the real version soon disappeared. Apparently we CAMRA types were all to blame for not coming in en masse and drinking it; I replied that there were simply weren't enough CAMRA members to sustain every real ale outlet in the area.

The Falstaff does have real ale and sometimes has live bands on, but strangely doesn't advertise them in the pub or on its website, so finding out what's going on there is surprisingly difficult. They seem to rely solely on adverts in the local papers, but these adverts are so cluttered with various meal offers, quiz nights, the Campaign for Real Chips, Liz Dawn, and everything else that's going on that any mention of live bands is usually swamped. Adrian, the licensee, agreed weeks ago to send details of forthcoming music events to local CAMRA to go on their website and then on this blog, but nothing has appeared yet.

Incidentally, the Southport CAMRA website now has a 'what's on' page, derived in part from this blog. The website has recently been revamped and is looking a lot better, especially now that they have dispensed with the muddy brown colour scheme, apparently intended to resemble the colour of beer.

I have been asked why I don't mention the Maghull Folk Club. I always have a link to their website, and will mention their guest artists in my 'What's On' column, but the venue doesn't serve real ale. For information, they meet on Tuesdays mostly with singers nights (i.e. anyone is welcome to perform) with a PA if you want to use it; it is a very friendly club, and they have a booked guest singer about once every two months.

I do know there are music nights at the award-winning Derby Arms in Aughton, about which I wrote a couple of weeks ago (click here),and the folk nights at the Ship Inn in Haskayne have begun again. I hope to visit and write about these in the near future.

A pub rescued

The last time I had a drink in the Grapes in Knight Street (corner of Roscoe Street) in Liverpool was around 30 years ago when it was a Higson's house. My friend and I had just come from Ye Cracke, a legendary Liverpool pub nearby. We ordered two pints of bitter, and were dismayed to see them served from keg electric pumps hidden behind the hand pumps ~ a con certainly, but over half of Higson's houses in those days had no real ale. A more recent visit a few years ago showed it had declined to a dirty, scruffy dive of the worst sort; I didn't stay to have a drink.

I was in the area yesterday and having noticed it was listed in the CAMRA Liverpool Real Ale Passport (from which the picture has been borrowed), I decided to call in. The place was clean, the walls had been painted in light colours with wooden relief carvings placed on them ~ and three hand pumps. The beers on were Caledonian 80/- and Everards Tiger, the Speckled Hen having run out. Both beers were in very good condition, and I'd forgotten that I do like Tiger; the 80/- was quite a different beer, and not one I am very familiar with, but it too went down a treat.

The pub was been taken over by a young couple a few years ago, Anna Slater and Paul Agoro, who learned their trade in the former Black Horse & Rainbow brew pub on nearby Berry Street. She told me that when they took it over, it had a turnover of £500 per week, which for a pub is the final stage of anorexia. They wanted to sell real ale, and in the early days ended up pouring unsold beers down the drain regularly, but that doesn't happen now; in fact, they have plans to install another 3 hand pumps. There is still quite a lot of work to do - the seats need re-covering, for example - but this is a pub that has been dragged from the brink of almost certain closure by an enthusiastic couple. I had a chat with some of the locals: one, a Scot, told me Deuchars IPA (usually on in this pub) was the best beer in the world; I replied I wouldn't go that far, but it was certainly a good beer. Then we found we were both into Thin Lizzy ~ he an ex-punk and me a sort of ex-hippy. I was told that quite a few young drinkers enjoy the real ale, and the pub is near the student area. Just then a group of students came in, taking their drinks (mostly lager, except for one young woman who chose the draught Hoegaarden) to the outdoor drinking area.

Anna says they are slowly getting rid of the insensitive modernisation that the pub had been subjected to, and are trying to reinstate original features. It's a real pleasure to see a pub that appeared to be in terminal decline, turned around and becoming a place well worth visiting. It's about 10 minutes' walk from Central Station; Knight Street is off Berry Street, where the bombed-out church is. (postcode L1 2SX) And for those who believe in such things, it's said to be haunted.

Our Dizzy Island

British beer drinkers pay nine times more duty than the Germans and seven times more than the French, and the only EU countries to impose higher excise duty rates on beer than Britain are Finland and Ireland. British beer lovers pay more in duty on a single pint than drinkers in each of the five other largest member states (Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland) pay on five pints.

These figures, compiled by the Axe the Beer Tax campaign, destroy the argument that beer taxation is good for us. We are berated for our so-called binge drinking lifestyles and are burdened with high taxes to discourage this. We are also urged to follow the example of more 'sensible' drinking habits of our continental neighbours ~ and the government studiously ignores their lower tax levels. It is clear, therefore, that while higher taxation obviously does not cause drinking problems, it does little to prevent them.

Britain, and England specifically, has had a reputation in Europe for binge drinking since before Tudor times. The Royalist preacher Thomas Reeve called England "the Dizzy iland", whose people "drink as if ... we were nothing but spunges to draw up moisture, or we had tunnels in our mouthes" (God's Plea for Ninevah, 1657). Over centuries preachers, prohibitionists and now chancellors have all determined to resolve the drinking problem with their own panaceas, but history suggests that Alistair Darling's solution will be no more successful than his ecclesiastical and teetotal predecessors.

Drinkers who find they can't afford pubs any more can switch to having supermarket booze at home, and the problem is thus merely swept under the carpet ~ out of sight, out of mind. The best that can be said for unregulated, isolated drinking at home is that it keeps trouble off the streets and makes life easier for the police. Perhaps, despite the rhetoric, that's all they really want ~ it's certainly all they can hope to get.

Falstaff and Golden Sands Mentioned at Westminster

In a debate at Westminster recently, Southport's MP, Dr John Pugh, mentioned the Falstaff Inn and the Southport Brewery's Golden Sands winning of the SIBA North West Champion Beer award. He was calling for the Government to take action over PubCos which are contributing to the large number of pub closures by their restrictive and - frankly - suicidal practices. Click here for a clip of what he said. For the full speech and a transcript, click here. It is good to see that our MP taking this matter seriously, especially as perusal of other beer blogs has convinced me that many MPs don't. But then, why should they bother when we taxpayers subsidise their booze?

Volunteer Canteen, Waterloo

Less than a quarter of a mile from Waterloo Station (on the Southport to Liverpool line), there is a first-class pub that is embedded in a row of houses that all open straight onto the street, close to Crosby Marina. It is a small pub with a comfortable wood-panelled lounge and a rather more spartan bar. In the lounge, there is still waitress service to your table, and on the walls pictures of old Liverpool, in particular of the old overhead railway that used to serve the docks. There are no fruit machines, pool tables, juke box or food ~ it's just a good honest, old-fashioned local that does not look to me as though it has ever been altered, although it is not the scruffy drinking den that word 'unaltered' can sometimes describe ~ quite the contrary, in fact. As a result, it is often busy with a friendly crowd of regulars chatting and having a good time, with helpful bar staff.

The pub was originally a Higson's house and is rather like a small version of the Crow's Nest in neighbouring Crosby, also a former Higson's house. When I visited the guest real ale was Bateman's XXXB, which was in such excellent condition I didn't try any other beer (which is usually from the Cain's range).

If you fancy trying this untouched reminder of a former age, turn left out of Waterloo Station then right at the Marine pub into East Street. You'll find the Volly on the left. (postcode L22 8QR)

Sandgrounder Beer Festival

Advance notice of the next Sandgrounder Beer Festival in Southport ~ very early notice I know, but people's diaries tend to get filled up over the summer. The festival is put on by Southport CAMRA and will take place in the Southport Arts Centre as usual from Thursday 10th to Saturday 12th September with over 60 beers, plus ciders, perries and fruit wines.

It will be the 10th Sandgrounder festival, and this year will have a War of the Roses theme ~ Lancashire v. Yorkshire Real Ales, based on the old pre-1974 boundaries. Should be a tough competition, seeing that both produce good beers.

Folk Against Fascism

I have recently joined a FaceBook group called Folk Against Fascism. The group page states:

"The British National Party's manifesto encourages its members to insinuate themselves into the folk and traditional customs and events of Britain. This involves the appropriation of British folk music, customs and culture as a means of spreading their racist policies. They are selling traditional music through their Excalibur merchandising arm, despite the protestations of many of the artists included who find their policies abhorrent. The UK folk scene is a welcoming and inclusive one. Folk music and dance is about collaboration, participation, communication and respect."

I've checked the BNP website and they have issued folk albums which include tracks by Fairport Convention, Tir Na Nog, Ashley Hutchings, Albion Band, Magna Carta and Phil Beer & Paul Downes. I'd be amazed if any of these artists gave permission.

If you're on FaceBook, type "Folk Against Fascism" into the FaceBook search engine. There's also a thread on Mudcat and a page on MySpace, but I understand that the aim is to take this group beyond cyberspace in time. I've just been told T-shirts and badges will be coming soon.

No one who loves the folk scene, or even people who just enjoy folk occasionally, will want it hijacked by this deeply unpleasant party for their own nefarious ends, as happened to German folk traditions in the Nazi era.

CAMRA's conceit

In most editions of the Good Beer Guide, you'll read something like, "if a pub landlord cares about the quality of the beer in the cellar, then everything else - the welcome, the food, the wine and ... the toilets - will fall into line. In keg-only pubs, on the other hand, you are likely to find micro-waved food, stale sandwiches, Blue Nun and Lambrusco, and toilets that answer to the name of bogs." (2003 GBG)

On what planet is the writer of this off-repeated tosh living on? I'm sure many people have been in pubs with great beer but no wine to speak of, a couple of stale clingfilm-wrapped sandwiches and ancient, unhygienic toilets. I also know I've been in keg pubs where everything was fine except the beer. One revered Liverpool pub has the wash basin in the short passage that leads to the gents, with the hand dryer over it; the dryer is inaccessible while the wash basin is in use. Using these means no one can get in or out of the gents, so if you value hygiene on a busy Friday night, you can cause quite a hold-up in both directions. On my last visit to the Lower Angel in Warrington, I enjoyed a great pint but found there was no water in the gents, which any case were well overdue for refurbishment. In general, I've often heard women complain about the state of the toilets in real ale pubs.

In a real ale pub in Uppermill, I waited for an hour for a lasagne, only to find it was still frozen inside when it arrived. Although the beer was nice, that food certainly didn't "fall into line." In Ormskirk last Friday, I went into a pub that sold real ale, had a horrible decor from an expensive but utterly tasteless refurbishment, and uncontrolled children running wild. I turned around and left.

So where does this nonsense come from? It could be that some drinkers can't see past the beer, but I think it goes further than that: it's really a form of PR trying to convince us all that real ale pubs are the best in every respect, and that keg pubs are always the poor relations. As a member, I do expect CAMRA to promote real ale, but talking up real ale pubs with such demonstrably false claims does the campaign no favours. Whether a pub is well-run or not has little to do with the type of beer it sells, and wishing won't alter that. Let's just stick to what we cask beer drinkers all know is true - that real ale is the best and most natural form of beer - and not let drinking it blind us to reality.

Argarmeles Day of Dance Cancelled

The Argarmeles Clog have had to cancel their annual Day of Dance on 27 June. This is usually a chance to see various teams from different parts of the country as well as the Argies dancing around Southport, and is interesting even if you're not a big fan of traditional dance. They tend to attract an audience of interested onlookers whenever they dance out. I'm reporting the cancellation as I have mentioned this event in my 'What's On' column for a week or two.

The picture was taken by Rich Simcock at the Wirral Folk on the Coast festival last weekend.

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.