Outside In

The night started badly. James was absent, Paul had a headache and so only three of us arrived at the designated time in Harkers. This was against the rules.

The moment we did the math(s), we decided to go somewhere we like instead of continuing with a pub crawl of places we might not like, but as we wandered through the narrow cobbled streets in drizzle our minds began to rebel against city wall pub crawl and we sought a pub OUTSIDE the walls, which is why we found ourselves being stared at by the locals in the Gillygate. Which is actually a nice pub. Fast service and a bright and buzzing atmosphere on a Saturday night (but not in a Slug and Lettuce*/Pitcher and Piano way - more in a country pub way)

Following that we progressed to Keystones which is so nearly in the city walls it was accidentally added to our list at one point.

Thankfully, as we were nearing the end of our pint and our quiz machine tokens, Paul made it out to join us so we were permitted to venture back inside the walls:

Pub Number 32: The Royal Oak
This pub is on the CAMRA radar and, in my experience these pubs always make a good place for a nice sit down and a chat over a beer with friends. This was no exception.

The toilets were weird (but since I'm writing this several weeks (and pints) after the event, I can't recall why and I have a feeling it was more to do with the mens than the ladies), the atmosphere was warm and there were several condiment sachets on the table... so Lynne made a beer and Mint Sauce cocktail which 'made the beer taste nicer' and made Neil seriously reconsider their relationship.


Pub Number 33: The Lowther
The Lowther is full of young people who are trying to get wasted before heading to the Gallery night club (presumably to make it more bearable.) Despite this, the Lowther was also the only place that had a late licence in York back when I was a young person and so it does hold fond memories for me. The toilets were always horrible, and they seem to have gone some way to improving that. You used to be able to see up people's skirts when they walked up the stairs. They've put an end to that too. But enough of all this nostalgia - what's it like now?

Pretty much the same clientele - i.e. 5 - 10 years younger than us but in a very bearable way if you manage to get a seat. And we did.


There, Neil discovered his inner-old man:


Lynne discovered her inner child:


And we all discovered the joys of bluetooth:

Then we headed out over the makeshift bridge (I forgot to mention that the river views were 'closer than usual') for a romantic meal in Subway and a nice warm bed.


*Incidentally, Paul got searched on our vist to the Slug and Lettuce, Back Swinegate the other week - obviously when you're sporting a ginger beard, yellow t-shirt and Dr Who trainers, and you dare to enter the Slug and Lettuce, you look like a drug dealer

Double Drink Pub Crawl

Pub 28: Hole in the Wall

On Saturday night we started the pub crawl with a visit to the hole in the wall to get some money out before venturing forth to the Hole in the Wall to get some imaginary drinks.

Then, since imaginary drinks didn't quench our thirst we got some real drinks. Lynne was wearing a grey top, which weirdly enough was the same colour as her 'purple' one.

In this traditional English pub, a pint costs £3.01, which everybody seems to think of as expensive, yet to me, it seems to be about average judging by many of the other pubs in York - unless you go to a Sam Smith's pub or a chain place like Wetherspoons or Yates'* I was more interested in the fact that it was £3 and one pence.

We were joined by special guest crawlers Jo and George who no doubt added some sort of something to the evening. Since Paul and I were half an hour late, everybody else had 2 pints on top of their imaginary ones in here.

The toilets had pretty curtains in them.

Pub 29: Three Legged Mare
The Three Legged Mare, or Wonkey Donkey as it is known (see what they did there) sells a variety of beers and ales likely to please the most hardened of real ale drinkers. One of them is called Dragon Slayer. Saying that, I think we all opted for lager or cider.

As well as being a decent pub for saturday night shennanigans (well we didn't get too many strange looks when we were all staring down at my camera which was on the floor), this is also a good pub to drink in the beer garden in the rain after a bit of horseriding.

Despite the lack of seating on our arrival, we actually stayed in this pub for a second pint which has been unheard of since the pub crawl began. By this time, we did acquire a table to sit around (or it could have been a barrel) and we also acquired two new guest pub crawlers - Steve and Maddy who were lucky enough to be there at the end of our very first crawl.

Pub 30: The Slug and Lettuce - Back Swinegate
Expensive and loud is what this place is - but at least by 11pm on a Saturday night all of the think-they-are-cool-and-trendy 20-30 somethings have pissed off to the gallery or Ziggys or some other such torture chamber, leaving us with a large table where we could just about have a conversation over the music. The toilets were clean enough and since we had a seat and we're all getting on a bit - we stayed for two drinks here too. The pink wine was nice, if a little expensive. If memory serves me right - this place is actually quite pleasant during the daytime for a spot of lunch.

The quiz machine boasted Raiders of the Lost Quiz which was kind enough to give us £7 in return for £1 and answering a few questions.


We made good use of George's hat:


After that, Lynne, Neil Jo, Steve and Maddy went back to Neil's Tavern for some rock band action and Leanne and Paul went home to bed, as Leanne was meant to be writing some sort of 3000 report the following day (she didn't), and Paul was meant to be walking from Leeds to York (He did).

*Oh my God - I've just realised that we have to go to Yates'