Like all hugely
successful authors, we have decided to outsource as much work
as possible to our underlings, while still retaining the rights to receive all future income. The latest willing fool
guest blogger is James – brother of previous blogger Amy –
who continues the story of our pub crawl in Mosborough.
By
James
Since
2017 when I first met my good friend Andy, a fellow Sheffielder
living in Leeds, there has been one moment I have longed to
experience: the glitz and glamour of the infamous Sheffield Pubquest.
This dream came true when, in December 2019, I had the honour of
being invited on a Pubquest experience along with my sister Amy,
Damo, Catriona and of course the iconic duo Rob and Andy.
The
Pubquest took us to south-east Sheffield in the area of Mosborough;
an area I’m not too familiar with myself, but one which I was sure
I would see in the best light with the guidance of Rob and Andy.
After two very successful pub visits, I will pick up the evening with
the third pub of the evening, The Royal Oak.
Now,
with this being my first ever attempt at writing for a blog, I will
fall back on something I am more familiar with as a primary school
teacher: learning objectives and success criteria.
Learning
objective: To understand the importance of visiting every pub in
Sheffield for Rob and Andy.
Success
criteria:
- To drink in a pub I would most likely not drink in otherwise.
- To finish a pint of alcohol before being thrown out of the pub.
- To see something I have never seen in a pub before (working at greater depth).
 |
| The air-conditioning system was a little breezy. |
As we approached The Royal Oak, the first thing we noticed was the broken front window which was being patched up with some plywood. As we entered, the pub was relatively busy compared to the previous two, and we felt the eyes of the locals glaring at us as we walked up to the bar. Nonetheless, three pints of Stone’s Bitter at £9 for myself, Amy and Damo was certainly nothing to complain about.
We
kept our eyes down as we took our pints to the main room and sat
ourselves by the half-covered up chilli, which we dared not eat.
Attempting to act like we belonged, we forbid Damo from speaking,
lest his Australian accent alert the regulars we weren't locals.
We
were soon joined by the other three. Catriona strode over with her pink
gin & tonic followed by Rob and Andy with their… 5 bottles of
Holsten Pils? Maybe there had been some confusion with the rounds?
As
I went to tell Andy that we had already bought our drinks, I noticed
that along with their five bottles they were also carrying two empty
pint glasses. I began to suspect that the Pils were all for them, but
why had they made that choice of drink? More importantly, why did
they get five bottles between them? Rob and Andy proceeded to pour the
Pils into their pint glasses, and as they had finished pouring the
fourth bottle, I could see their pint glasses were not quite full.
Andy
clearly clocked the look of confusion on my face. “I forgot to mention,
on Pubquest we need to have a different drink at each pub, and the drink must be at least a full pint each.”
With
a quick bit of mental maths, a bottle of Holsten Pils is 275ml. With
a UK pint equating to 568ml, two bottles each would not quite be
enough, which explains the purchase of five bottles to share. Is this
the sign of genius or madness? I’m not quite sure. However, it is
certainly something I have never seen in a pub before, so it can be
put down as a success criteria which had been fulfilled.
Meanwhile,
a group of scary looking men accompanied by a large Rottweiler
occupied a table across from us. After nervously stepping around the
dog to get to the toilet and back, we decided we should hastily
finish our drinks and move on to the next pub.
My
first Pubquest experience proved to be everything I hoped it would be
and the learning objectives were certainly achieved.
OFSTED
rating: outstanding.
Pub:
The Royal Oak (53 High Street, S20 5AF)
Rating: 3.5/10
Pint: Holsten Pils
Brewery: Holsten Brewery (based in Hamburg, Germany)
Rating: 3.5/10
Pint: Holsten Pils
Brewery: Holsten Brewery (based in Hamburg, Germany)
No comments:
Post a Comment