Tuesday, 29 September 2015

Pub 73, Day 28 – Crosspool Tavern

By Rob

I'm sure it hasn't escaped your notice that, for the most part, me and Andy are exceptionally well-organised individuals. As such, Pubquest ventures are usually subjected to the most meticulous planning and careful forethought imaginable. Rarely do we step out onto the road without having a comprehensive route already mapped out in great detail.

On this occasion, however, we'd decided to throw caution to the wind and just 'go with it'.

So it came to pass that, high on life and shortcrust pastry, we left The Sportsman with very little idea as to where we were heading. Trusting in Lady Fortune to guide our feet, we wandered a little ways down the road and, sure enough, soon found ourselves coming face-to-face with our next venue: the Crosspool Tavern.

The building struck an impressive image from the outside, which isn't all too surprising when one considers that the Tavern had received a whopping £180,000 refurbishment only ten years earlier. With our hopes already up, we headed inside.

The pub didn't disappoint, presenting us with a warm, comfortable, and old-fashioned interior. We threw ourselves down into two armchairs, seated before a wood-burner fireplace, feeling immediately like two vaguely posh blokes in some vaguely posh countryside manor.

Once we'd staked our claim to the best seats in the house (using the classic coat-over-the-back-of-the-chair technique) we wandered over to the bar. The choice of beers was decent, and we each ordered a pint of IPA India Pale Ale a crisp session ale with a hoppy aroma. The folks over at Greene King Brewery insist that this is "a pint people trust", suggesting you could safely leave it alone with your kids, keys, and wallet, and return home to find them all untouched.

Sitting there in our armchairs, before the fireplace, sipping Indian ale like a couple of colonial overlords, we mused over where to go next. The internet was offering no assistance, with Andy's ancient phone being typically useless, as he'd ran out of data, or credit, or both (note: for people reading this a few years in the future, the term 'credit' refers to the way in which poor people used to operate their phones). My phone, being of the Apple iPhone variety, was out of battery on account of it having been switched on for more than ten minutes.

Left with no other recourse, Andy hoisted himself up from the comfort of his seat and went to ask the barman about nearby pubs. The poor guy was the only member of staff on duty and was attempting to serve a large number of thirsty students at the bar, but this didn't deter Andy from trying to make his life more difficult, and he stayed rooted to the spot until he finally managed to grab the man's attention. With a look of mild irritation, the guy told Andy about a pub just a few minutes up the road. The pub, he explained, was called The Sportsman.

Sheffield's most expensive pint of Guinness
Dejected, Andy came back no more enlightened than before. However, he soon cheered up when he noticed a sign that advertised the carvery, which came complete with 'as much pork crackling as you can eat'. I was then faced with the sad duty of informing my comrade that, in actual fact, the endless supply of crackling on offer was little more than a mound of warm pork scratchings. It was a lesson I'd learned the hard way on a previous visit.

It was then that we spotted the black-and-white photograph of the Crosspool Tavern hanging on the wall above us. We quickly realised that this would make an excellent backdrop for a Pubquest picture. Looking around the pub, Andy searched for somebody to entrust his phone to, so that we could both be in the photo.

Amidst the many students, all of whom were sat around relaxing and doing very little, Andy decided that the best person to waylay was, in fact, the overworked and sweat-caked barman who was now scurrying around the venue collecting empty glasses, clearly in a hurry to get back to the bar so he could set to work on reducing the queue of customers.

Andy stopped him in his tracks and, ignorant of the intense exasperation that was written plain across the man's face, persuaded him to take the picture. When this was done, Andy looked at the result and decided that he wasn't quite satisfied. He therefore asked the barman to try again, despite my insisting that we should let the man get back to work.

As I'm sure you'll agree, when comparing the two pictures side-by-side, it was clearly worth the re-take...

 
Pub: Crosspool Tavern (468 Manchester Rd, S10 5DT)
Rating: 6/10
Brewery: Greene King Brewery (Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk)

NEXT UP: Posh pubs, at The Florentine... 

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