Pub Number 68: Stonegate Yard Whenever people talk about "The New Oscars" I'm always a bit unsure whether they're talking about the location that Oscars has now moved to, or if they're referring to the bar that now occupies the former premises of said Oscars. Usually they mean the former, but I tend to assume the latter, resulting in general confusion. Anyway, pub number sixty eight was the latter, Stonegate Yard.
Although the food menu is pretty much exactly the same as it used to be when it was Oscars (same huge portions and tasty burgers), the same can't be said for the choice of beer available. Nowadays your choice of draught beers is pretty much limited to Becks (although they do still have wine on tap), and the bottle choice doesn't fare much better - Corona or Newcastle Brown Ale is about your lot.
Still, a nice hidden spot that's great for sitting outside in the sun. Shame it was raining, although that did mean we got to see the extending Wimbledon-style roof in action.
Pub Number 69: Wildes After the complete lack of service we experienced last time we came here to eat we had vowed never to return, but it serves beer and is within the city walls, so we didn't have much choice.
It was pretty quiet when we got here, with just a few other people finishing off meals, and by the time we were half way through our drinks we were the only table of people there.
It's a nice and cosy place, but not really a drinking hotspot, especially on a Sunday.
I've just remembered that they have Leffe on tap, I should have got one of those...
Pub Number 70: The Biltmore Last time I was in the Biltmore it was a Saturday night and a bit more on the lively side (completely rammed instead of there only being about a dozen people there).
The rather grand surrounding seems to be somehow more suited to the quieter Sunday night atmosphere though, without the smartly-dressed-but-incredibly-drunk crowd that you'll find there on a Friday or Saturday.
Things we learned: the drinks aren't as expensive as we thought they would be, they seemed to be pretty much the same as any other bar in the city centre.
Pub 64 The Parish A converted church may not be everyones ideas of a suitable drinking venue but it seams to work quite well. Lynne and Neil arrived ahead of the other two as usual and took a pew. Depending on wether you attend on a week night or a weekend may altar you view of this place as there is usually a congregation of stag and hen dos outside. However tonight there were nun, thank God! In the words of Arnie - Aisle be back!
Pub 65 Reflex After spending much time trying to find a loop hole in the pub crawl rules which would mean we didn't have to visit reflex, we reluctantly agreed it had to be done. Fantastic eighties decor and loud eighties music. Despite downing his beer in one (almost) to get out ASAP, even Neil was singing along to the music by the time we left. We did feel a bit left out being the only people not in eighties costume (although we were probably the only people old enough to remember the eighties) there was a selection of accessories available to purchase from behind the bar.
Pub 66 Nagshead Not only did we have to queue (for a whole 2 seconds) to get in, but we also had to prove we were of legal drinking age! For those that don't know this is the only bar that we know of in York that has a trebles for singles offer. Despite the fact lots of students had already left to queue up for Ziggys (not a pub because you have to pay to get in, so not on our list- phew!) it was still a very busy bar. Leanne almost ended up with a cider and black current instead of soda and black current. They'd probably never served a non alcoholic beverage before. Given the choice of a busy student filled interior or a rowdy student filled beer garden we opted for the dank allyway. Job done!
Pub 67 Rumors Yes we did all the jokes! Free from the students (who had now made there way over to Ziggys) Rumors was a good place to relax after all the excitement of the evening. We even got to watch Newsnight! If this evening taught us anything it's that we're getting old!
Hi! My name's Jamie. Honorary guest member to the pub crawl group. I shall be writing tonight's review.
Pub Number 60: Henry J Beans The evening's first establishment was Henry J. Bean's - "B. J. Henry's" - just a stone's throw from Clifford's Tower. The music wasn't too bad, but unlike its Manchester counterpart, there was a disappointing lack of poles (for dancing, not eastern Europeans). But with a rather large and original "GENESEE BEER & ALE" sign by our table, complete with reflective cats eyes, I'd have been quite happy to stay there for a while. But with the 1 drink per pub rule, we had to leave before getting too comfortable. An after-thought: toilets weren't too bad.
Pub Number 61: The Little John
Too much neon, not enough Neil...
Pub Number 62: The Lamb and Lion It's a bit dark in here, isn't it? What are you trying to do? Grow your own mushrooms? Welcome to the Lamb & Lion. It felt a little bit naughty drinking here, being so close to the city walls. A few metres further north and this inn would not be in the pub crawl. It reminded Neil of the time when they didn't have the minimum 4 people to try out a new pub and for it to count, so they left the confines of the city! The highlight for me though was definitely the toilets, which had gold-plated locks and everything. It was pretty dark at our table, with just a candle for illumination, but it certainly added to the atmosphere. I was a little disappointed to hear, despite signs on the wall claiming "est. 1756," it's only been open about 6 months.
Pub Number 63: The Habit
Our fourth stop tonight was The Habit cafe bar on Goodramgate, named for a monk's cloak. L'habit ne fait pas le moine. There was a definite divide in tonight's clientele: those who like music (they were listening to the live band on the rather small ground floor) and those who like smoking (on the outdoor upstairs terrace). We made our own third group on the table by the window upstairs... until clumsy me went and knocked my pint over, so we had to move suddenly! It was a close call whether the Habit was better than the Lamb & Lion, but I think the general consensus was that it was, despite me having a nice poo in the former! By this point, I was a little bit drunk.
After a long hiatus, it was time to get this crawl back on the road...
We realised that, if we are to complete our task within the allocated year, we needed a plan, because we still had 20 pubs to get through and only 4 weeks.
I created a google document to help plan the last few weeks of the crawl, therefore ensuring its ultimate success...
Pub Number 9: The Hansom Cab Perhaps not the best strategy - to visit a pub we've already been to many times with so little time to complete the crawl, but one which we chose for the cheap drinks and quiet Saturday night drinking.
Pub Number 58: Guy Fawkes Sat on a throne in the corner of this old fashioned and dimly lit pub, we speculated on rumours that the pub was so old that it had no electricity, hence the romantic candlelight. Then they called last orders and put the lights on which put an end to that argument...
Pub Number 59: (The New) Oscars Oscars used to be around the corner from where it is now. The new place is still pretty swish, with heavy wooden tables and a decadent feel about the place. The men complained that there was only one toliet for them, but Paul managed to find a secret passage through to Narnia the Biltmore where he could gain relief without a long queue to wait in.
Imagine a place where all the people in it are on hen nights, dressed in black T-Shirts with pink writing labelling them (ironically) as 'Classy Clare' or 'Awsome Audrey'. Add in some Topman be-shirted middle-aged blokes on the prowl for drunk hens. Imagine that this place plays the loudest of the loud tracks, spun by the very best amongst cheesy wedding DJs, complete with indecipherable mumbling between the tracks. Imagine the delighted squeals as Chesney Hawkes' voice rings out of the (probably) massive speakers. Imagine the even louder squeals when Brown Eyed Girl starts up and Tarty Tracey is given a shout out.
Add to this picture 4 quiet characters, sat shivering over a pint in their cold, dark, but slightly quieter corner, and you have a pretty accurate impression of 8:30 - 9:00pm on Saturday night.
Imagine having to fight your way through the wedding veil bedecked women in order to get out... urgh.
Pub Number 56: O'Neills
Following on from the Trauma of a Saturday Night in Yates', O'Neills brought to us a welcoming vibe. It was warm, bright, lively, not too loud, brilliant. But we're not sure whether those judgements are just in comparison to Yates' or in general. Looks like we'll need to go back to find out!
Lynne got through this much of her wine before we were forced to have a wine-drinking competition to finish it off.
Paul won.
Pub Number 57: Plonkers
This is a great bar for lunch and dinner. It usually has a warm twinkling atmosphere, overpriced beer and uncomfortable bench seating in addition to chairs and stools. Tonight it was let down a bit by being very quiet, a bit wet (the stone floor), a bit cold, and having a rubbish quiz machine. I would recommend it for daytime and early evening drinking and dining, but Saturday night just doesn't cut the mustard.
In spite of the fact that it was only 11:30pm when we finished our drinks, we're all bored of pubs by now and so went home to bed.
Might be 4-8 weeks before we get back to crawling since Paul and I are off on a USA Roadtrip for the rest of April, But stay tuned.
It had been a fair wee while since we'd been to the Comedy Club at the city screen, so we returned to pub number 3 (this time the basement) to enjoy a few hours in the company of Richard Herring as he recounted his school days and made some rude jokes. It finished at abut 10pm, and never ones to waste pub crawling opportunities (or energy) we made the 4 metre trek to the Pitcher and Piano for a quick drink.
This massive pub was quiet (as expected for a Sunday night) and pleasant in a trendy bar kind of way. It's only downfall is that, no matter how many times I go in there, I can never remember where the toilets are. I'm pretty sure they must have moved them at one point...
The Black Swan is a great pub. It's old and crooked, like all good pubs should be and sells proper ale. There is only one bar but 3 ground floor rooms to choose from and 1 upstairs room which often has live music and comedy to fill it up. As James so aptly reviewed "I like this pub. It's full of wood". On this occasion we were joined by special guest crawler Ellie.
Pub Number 53: The Golden Fleece
The original premise behind this crawl was to make it an 'L' Shaped one, incorporating the Black Swan, The Golden Fleece and the Lamb and Lion (all pubs which contain Ls) However, because of our tardy ways and the tendency of such pubs to shut at 11pm this wasn't to be and the Golden Fleece was our final stop of the night where official pub crawl bisiness was concerned. The Golden Fleece is also 'Full of wood' and is a bit crooked. To Ellie's disdain, it is also (allegedly) haunted.
By virtue of the fact that this place is open late, opposite James' flat, in between Lynne and Neils and Mine and Paul's house and has a decent quiz machine, we ended up back there on our way home where we won £4 on the snooker game and Neil got into a (non-violent) fight.
Pub Number 49: The Kings Arms On a sunny saturday afternoon, if you're up for a bit of Hen Night baiting, the Kings Arms would be a great place to go. It's riverside beer garden makes it a magnet for tourists in the summer, and unfortunately, much of York's Saturday afternoon beer tourism is made up of hen nights. The Kings Arms doesn't cater for the other half (football fans) since it is primarily an outdoor kind of place.
On this slightly chilly spring evening we met for a pint of Sam Smiths ale inside the pub where we found a sheltered corner to sit and wait for Liz and Dave to join us on their first crawl. They never made it, so we sulked a bit before moving on the the next pub in an attempt to salvage the night and making it into official pub crawl business.
Pub Number 50: The Three Tuns
This oft overlooked watering hole is actually pretty decent. Bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, there was still a place for us to sit in spite of the crowds. For the first half pint it appeared that Lynne and I were the only female customers in the place, but that was soon rectified by the mega huge hen night which snaked it's way right to the back of the long thin room, lowering the tone of the place as it went.
Pub Number 51: The Terrace
We failed to make it to the Golden Fleece before closing time, so the nearest pub to it was the Terrace. In spite of our negative perceptions of the place being a football hooligan hangout, we were pleasantly surprised to sit at the solid wooden tables in the quiet bar. As long as you're not planning to dance on any tables, you might like this pub:
It was near to closing time for this pub too when we entered, so after just one drink, we made our way home.
Though our lives have once again got in the way of crawling activity, we have been putting the knowledge gained from previous crawls to good use by going out and sampling or re-sampling a few different places:
A revisit to pub number 38 (Pivo) confirmed that it is indeed a great place for a quiet Valentines night drink with James, as long as you don't mind putting in the extra time needed to peruse the beer menu in order to be able to competently order a round of banana flavour beers at the bar.
Paul and I also managed to find our way to the Guy Fawkes, which is an oft talked about but yet to be visited venue for the crawl. Fair enough, that visit didn't count as there are only two of us but the fine wine and cosy atmosphere which it boasts is certainly something that we'll look forward to going back to. Also a good bar for eavesdropping on other people's conversations.
This Saturday, we finally got on the road again with a proper effort at crawling between pubs:
Pub Number 48: Harkers Last time we tried Harkers, we failed. This time however, 4 of us managed to meet up in the same place at the same time and bask in the warmth of the giant living room feel this particular bar specialises in. For us, very warm meant very good because it was very cold outside.
Pub Number 49: Judges Lodgings This is yet another pub we tried to complete on a previous occasion, and failed. Last time it was a beautiful summer's day and we chose the pub for the vast and welcoming sun drenched beer garden, rather than the scabby interior, slow service and pricey pints. This time we chose it because a)we have to go in at some time; b)It is very close to Harkers and it was freezing outside. This visit revealed that the interior isn't that scabby after all, though the bright lighting ruined the atmosphere, the service is slow and the pints are pricey. It was also cold. Or that could have just been in comparison to Harkers...
Pub Number 50: Thomas's Just round the corner, past the off license, there is a pub that noone (I know) would ever think to go in unless they were doing a pub crawl of all the pubs within the city walls. It was a big, empty pub, with a video juke box (so that pleased Neil). It sold us beer, so we were happy.
It is also a friendly pub where people ask 4 complete strangers to keep an eye on all of their, and their friend's belongings while they go make a phone call and all of their friends have gone to the toilet / bar. Fortunately we are friendly and trustworthy souls who didn't steal any of said belongings while we were 'looking after' them.
Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, we finally got round to emailing the landlord of the Masons Arms to let him know that there's a song about his pub on YouTube.
Pub number 51: Orgasmic Paul found his way there via a secret passage, just like in Cluedo. Lynne turned my beer into wine (not quite as impressive as the old 'water into wine' trick, but quite good all the same.) We discussed the fact that Orgasmic isn't a 'pub' and it isn't a 'bar' and it isn't a 'nightclub' and that it is a bit 'weird'*. We noticed that the young man on the table next to us was wearing red pants. Paul was wearing blue pants.
*Conclusion: "we're too old to be in this strange place, with its loud music and flourescent coloured drinks, full of young people drinking too much and having a dance"
...and then walk out again because it's too busy, making the quiz hard to do (without the aid of a table to lean on) and more importantly, meaning less sandwich potential.
Lynne and Neil had travelled all the way from South America for the occasion, so it seemed a shame to waste the evening in the flourescent blue, slow moving dinginess of Wetherspoons across the road. We decided to make a token effort at a bit more pub crawling.
Outside, on the streets of York, the wind was howling as rain lashed down in a whole heap of wintery miserableness. This was a night which required a visit to a proper pub with a proper fire, complete with merry dancing flames to warm us from the outside in. This was the night we were going to the Red Lion, which does have a fire. But we didn't sit near it.
Pub Number 45: The Red Lion When this pub is full of people, it is cosy in an old fashioned proper pub kind of way, filled with a warm atmosphere. Unfortunately, it wasn't filled with people, which made it a rather quiet, less than cosy pub to warm our cockles on this cold winter's night. Still, it was Wednesday, so you wouldn't expect it to be heaving and it is a nice traditional old fashioned pub. Used to be quite expensive, but I suspect it was just ahead of it's time in terms of prices, meaning that it charges similar prices to anywhere else nowadays. Oh, and the toilets used to smell of Irn Bru.
Pub Number 46: Five Lions
Neil: Five Lions? Paul: Can't we just go to the Blue Bell? Lynne: What about the Terrace and Golden Fleece? All: OK
We walk outside into the cold and rain
Leanne: Let's just go to the Five Lions. It's closer. All: OK.
Paul's reluctance to visit the Five Lions stems from a night on the beer and karaoke there a few years ago. On this night, as we walked through the door, therefore doubling the number of people in the bar, it was an entirely different atmosphere. Football on the TV (but not intrusively so) and a quiz machine by the bar means that it has something for everyone. It was a bit cold.
We probably won't go back.
Pub Number 47: The Spread Eagle This pub welcomed us with open arms, in spite of the fact that shortly after selling us lager (Fosters or Carling only on this occasion, much to Neil's disdain) they closed the doors and the curtains to give it that authentic 'lock-in' feel. They even offered us the chance to purchase extra beer following the apparent closure of the place (it's hard to tell nowadays, what with all the late licensing laws blurring the line between 'lock-in' and legal opening hours.) Neil was the only one brave enough to visit the toilet after briefly contemplating popping home (just across the road) to use the facilities. Apparently they were minging.
It was a bit cold, unless you were sitting in the 'hot seat' which Paul was. After leisurely finishing our pints, we approached the exit with trepidation.... and breathed a sigh of relief to find that we weren't locked in after all.
Word in the chip shop* is that the next pub to go will be the Cock and Bottle.
Maybe finishing this pub crawl will be no effort at all - we'll just wait until all the pubs we haven't visited yet close down (and hope that it happens before whenever it is that our year is up.)
*Note: I have no actual evidence to back this up, except to say that Paul heard it when he was eavesdropping in the chippie the other night
The last time we went out City Wall Pub Crawling was 75 days ago, and with me going tee total in January, and Lynne and Neil away at the end of the earth for most of the month, it looks like it's going to take a while to get back on track to complete the crawl.
Already, since we started, Old Orleans has closed, making us question whether we had failed in not visiting the pub while it was still open. However, since the aim of the game is to find new watering holes to add a little (pleasant) variety into our pub-going lives, and a) we wouldn't have been able to go there again after the crawl was over since it shut down, and b)it was a rubbish pub anyway, we decided that the crawl is still on...
...When it will resume? Who knows but we really ought to start putting some effort in folks.
Since there has been zero pub crawl action over the past few months, you might expect that we would put our pub crawling skills to good use under the pretence of celebrating the new year. If, however you take into account our average age (28.8), you won't be surprised to hear that we avoided pubs altogether this year, whilst still managing to employ our crawling skills on a house crawl...
Come Drink With Me was based on the 'hit' TV show Come Dine With Me, but instead of dining, we drank and instead of spreading four different house parties over four different nights, we had four different 90 minute parties on one night: New Years Eve. After an hour at each, the guests disappeared one by one into the hosts' bedroom so that they could rifle through their drawers and give their comments and marks out of 10 in front of the camera. The results were revealed at the end of the night. All 5 city wall pub crawlers were in attendance and we were joined by Liz, Dave and Michèle.
House Number 1: Liz's House (with Dave as special guest Host) This was one of the two most well prepared parties of the night, with nibbles on sticks (as opposed to plonked haphazardly into a bowl), and home made mulled wine.
A stunning display of hospitality since they didn't realise that they were going to be marked for their efforts. Their 90 minutes ended with some pumping music played by DJ Davey H as he rocked the dimmer switch for some club lighting effects.
Here's the guests' verdict:
Due to a technical fault, Neil's verdict wasn't recorded. In summary, he said that the hosting was good, the nibbles were good, but there was no beer on offer. And everyone knows he's a beer man, so he was going to have to give it a 3.
House Number 2: Neil and Lynne's Flat It was apparent from the moment we arrived that this pair were out to win. We were greeted with warm hugs and air kisses, and served drinks, nibbles and dips, including hot, freshly prepared nibbles served at our seats. The Ferrero Rocher were arranged into a pyramid on a plate, and even the breadsticks looked like they had been arranged with the care of someone arranging a bouquet of flowers in a vase. Not once were our glasses allowed to go empty for more than a minute before our attentive hosts topped them up with the drink of our choice. This pair took a different approach to hosting, choosing to entertain us with a high tech movie quiz (and special chocolate prize for the winner), and a quick blast on Rock Band. This party ended, like all good parties with a quick rifle through their bedroom, a brief slagging off session, and Dave delighting us with his rather camp rendition of "Eye of the PussyCat [tiger]"
It was at this point that Guest City Wall Pub Crawl regulars, Steve and Maddy joined in the fun, though they admitted to feeling 'a little under-dressed'
See the results below:
House Number 3: James' Flat (with token co-host Michèle) James had disappeared from Lynne and Neil's early to 'prepare' his party as he claimed to have been unaware of the judging component to the crawl. We arrived to the sounds of Minster FM, atmospheric blue (christmas) lighting and a wonderful party atmosphere. Our number, having increased to 10 with the arrival of Steve and Maddy, was just right to make the flat feel busy and party-like. The choice of nibbles was chocolate, or chocolate.
The amount of rifling conducted was directly proportionate to the amount of alcohol so far consumed. And as soon as we slated James for just putting the radio on, he emerged with his new Now 25 Years CD, which redeemed him, if only because it has Ghostbusters on it.
Check out his scores:
Due to a technical fault (or Lynne getting dressed up in James' clothes and putting Steve the cameraman off), Lynne's score was not recorded. She awarded James a 7 for reasons unknown.
Commercial Break Before moving on to the last party of the evening, we took a brief detour to York Minster where it is tradition to gather at midnight. The one time I went to the Minster on New Years Eve in the past, I found that there were a lot of people wondering whether it was actually midnight yet, and I believe one firework went off before the crowd diminished (not that I saw it). Michèle, not being a local, wondered why we were dragging her around in the cold to go stand outside a church, and we couldn't really give her an answer beyond 'it's what everybody does' and sure enough, it wasn't long before we joined a stream of people as they deserted the pubs and walked towards the Minster as if there was some kind of pied piper leading the way.
There was one false start where we thought it might be midnight, but it wasn't, then we heard some gongs and 2 or 3 fireworks being set off so we 'HNY'd' and hugged and kissed like any self-respecting new year celebrating folk, took some photos and swig from the champagne bottle which appeared from Steve's pocket.
At the sound of the fireworks, we looked to the sky expectantly, and saw nothing but clouds. For all we knew, it could have been someone being shot, but there was no time to ponder, as our group got swallowed by the crowds who were (presumably) heading back to whichever pub they came from.
House Number 4: Leanne and Paul's House Having lost several of the group between the Minster and home, it was fortunate that I arrived back first since I had keys to let everyone in. As they all filtered in over the next 20 minutes, they passed through the living room and into the kitchen, they were greeted with a home made Happy New Year banner which wowed their alcohol fuzzled brains, and shown through to the table where champagne cocktails were presented in a pile of 'snow' on the table. Everyone loves a bit of snow.
Paul set about DJing and I served up some pizza which always scores points with drunk people, no matter how many nibbles they've eaten throughout the night, and then, one by one they disappeared upstairs to reveal their views on the final party of the night:
We finished the night by playing back the videos and totting up the scores:
The Result
Since James hosted alone, and the rest of us in pairs, we had to average out the scores to determine the winner. In the interest of fairness, we disregarded the 109 points awared to Paul and me since Michèle was biased, having helped to make the banner, and provided some ingredients for champagne cocktails. And this is what happened:
In fourth place with 6.5 points.... LYNNE AND NEEEIIIIL!
In third place with 6.66 points.... LIZ AND DAAAAAVE!
In second place with 8.80points.... LEANNE AND PAAAUUUUL!
And the winner, with 8.86 points (oooh, close!) is.... JAAAAMES!
Watch this space for the full episode of 'Come Drink With Me'... COMING SOON!
Pub Number 61: The Little John
Pub Number 63: The Habit
