Tag Archives: Victorian pubs

500!

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Who’d have thought it back in the summer of 2013… as a cat deep in thought, pondered nothing but good intentions towards a swan on the canal beneath Chez Juno? Wind forward nearly 11 years, and the 500th post on Juno’s View has arrived.

How best to celebrate this milestone… when you just happen to find yourself in Dublin? As the previous post pondered… what are you going to do? Perhaps a quality control review of the city’s finest is in order… after all, it’s Guinness time!

First off, it’s The Stags Head… and yes, that first pint really does hit the spot while surrounded by the trappings of a well-preserved Victorian pub.

Then there is The Brazen Head… for some genuine history. It just happens to be the oldest pub in Ireland dating back to the 12th century and serves a cracking pint of the black and white stuff. What’s more, a traditional Irish band seems to be celebrating the 500 with me!

Then a call into Darkey Kelly’s just happens to combine all that’s good about visiting Dublin, including tasty Irish beef stew and great music…

Don’t be flagging, as there’s a load more celebrating to be doing. Kehoe’s might just provide that much needed pint… in between pints!?

Not forgetting The Temple Bar… so good they named the whole neighbourhood after it…

If bands are a bit full-on at this stage, try The Auld Dubliner for a Guinness with a solo guitarist/vocalist backing soundtrack…

And you lucky old soak, you, as there is only a few yards to stagger to The Oliver St John Gogarty across the cobbles. You might even have a horse-drawn carriage waiting outside for you to finally be poured into as you head off into your drunken stupor!

And when you wake up the day after the day before, there’s always a visit to the Guinness Storehouse  Brewery Museum itself as a reminder of why your head’s not feeling like it did 24 hours earlier! A fabulous educative tour across several floors culminating in that hair of the dog pint in the Gravity Bar… complete with a 360-degree view of all you’ve forgotten you did before!

Until we speak again, that quality control review is published in full as follows… Wow! Here’s to the next 500… wherever they may be. Juno may be long since passed, but Juno’s View continues!

Mile End Road

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For me, this is a 1980’s stroll down reminiscence lane. For you, this is a tale of two sides of the road.

Go south and you are in a twilight zone of mid and high rise blocks liberally interspersed with unsavoury looking fast food joints. A place where obesity and Brexit may hook up for a sleazy night out!

This is where the old saying bears some truth… “What the Luftwaffe started the town planners finished!”

However, cross the road to the north side and you can stroll the Georgian terraces that surround Tredegar Square, a short distance from Victoria Park… undoubtedly a place where the metropolitan liberal elite hang out. So, if you find yourself in Mile End with a spare 24 hours on your hands, don’t be afraid, just find north on your compass.

Start with a fueling stop at The Greedy Cow, where a Kangaroo Burger hops off the menu to assault your gastronomic whims.

Yes, you heard right first time, it is pinned down for a reason…

Then you simply meander through the conservation area to find a range of traditional watering holes to quench that marsupial thirst. The Lord Tredegar is a great old Victorian boozer serving up a fine pint of Hophead pale ale…

Then there is the Morgan Arms, requiring a careful navigation to avoid the resident Greene King family! A one time great traditional brewery that has joined many others in spoiling the name of good beer with its capitalist quest to take over the world of ‘falling down lotion’…

And if the dawn of a new day still finds you in fighting fettle why not avoid the traditional Youngs beers and opt for a Proper Job IPA in The Coborn? Just don’t let on to a certain regular reader that it comes from Cornwall…oops!

Need something less alcoholic? Who needs those coffee chains when you can pop in to an authentic independent Italian coffee house?

Until we speak again, this has been a nostalgic gastronomic trip down memory lane. As for the present day… if you are looking to get Brexit done, it has all gone south.

Home of the Black Cats

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Black Cat House

Sunderland is a city with a claim to be first to return their count at just about any national vote. Indeed the shock Brexit vote of 23rd June 2016 can be claimed to have started here. A recent visit gave some insights into why they are quick with the count… as a tour of the city centre suggests there is little else to do than stay in doors and count votes! What the Luftwaffe started in the 1940’s the city planners completed in the 1960’s and 70’s.

The local people are informally known as ‘mackems’, one explanation emerging from their former shipbuilding tradition, whereby it is the Sunderland shipyards that ‘mackem’ (or make them); and the rival Newcastle shipyards that finish them off… ‘tackem’ (or take them). My recent visit to the city was perhaps summed up by a representation of this very name, but closed to business…

Machem Pizza

Even their strangely named football ground, the Stadium of Light was shrouded in darkness (though it wasn’t a match night).

Stadium of Light

However, all is not doom and gloom. If you have a spare couple of hours, that should be just about enough time, then get your Google maps out. A stop off at the Hilton Garden Inn, next door to the Stadium of Light offers a great steak and glass of Rioja.

Hilton Garden Inn [2]

Then take a stroll over the old iron bridge into the city centre…

Bridge [3]

Navigate your way passed the colourful Magistrates Court (Tip: don’t end up inside as a result of thinking you can vandalise or litter the place as a means of visually improving the city’s demeanour!)…

Somewhere within the tribute to grim concrete lies a couple of interesting pubs with good ale selections. If the local CAMRA reps are to be believed, then The Ship Isis is the best pub in the area. Test that claim for yourself, but I would certainly recommend a visit if you like a pint of Allendale Mosaic &/or Camerons Strong-arm in restored Victorian surroundings…

But if you want to experience the real deal, there is always the likes of an Anarchy Blonde Star waiting at the Dun Cow, next door to the Empire Theatre…

Dun Cow and empire Theatre

As I write it seems the local football team are hurtling towards relegation out of the Premier League. I can only muse that if the disgruntled of one Stadium of Light decided to smash up the town to vent their anger, it would take Sherlock Holmes like attention to detail to spot the difference.

Until we speak again, I am sure that Juno would advise no more than a couple of hours needed to sample all that Sunderland has to offer, and then quietly make your escape!

Plotting an escape