Long Eaton,Home Brew & Stapleford 8th July 2017

This was a not a pub crawl but the day turned out to be a massive drinking session with my wife.
We had to go down to Sawley in Long Eaton to choose what would go into our two new bathrooms,after an hour choosing tiles and flooring and the like we were well ready for our first drink of the day.
A short bus ride from Sawley to the middle of Long Eaton and we was straight into our first pub of the day.

The Oxford

Photo taken by Alan Winfield

 

Photo taken by Alan Winfield

A large ex Smith & Jones that was originally called The Lockstone,it was converted from the old gas showrooms,after the demise of Smith & Jones the pub changed its name to The Oxford,a pub i visit quite often when in Long Eaton.
The pub is quite large inside with a single room,a long bar runs down the left side and there are tall tables and chairs opposite the bar,the left side is raised and has very comfortable bench seating.
On the beer front in can be a bit of a hit or miss,i have had Leeds Best and on other occasions there in no real ales on the bar,yesterday it was Courage Best,which was a very nice proper brown bitter,i had two pints and the wife two halfs of it and we had a really nice cheese and onion cob each.

We got the bus back to  Stapleford and back home by 2pm,we were straight on my home brewed Mild,i went on my lap top and looked at Retired Martins blog making a few comments while getting ready for a early visit to our local Wetherspoons for a bite to eat before the main drinking session in our local.

 A pint of my home brewed Mild on the worktop during a break from drinking in pubs.

Bottles of home brewed Mild down my cellar,the beer brews in the room to the right which is in darkness,a brew was ready to bottle the next day.

The barrel on the right has Burton Bridge Porter in it,the empty box of beer to the left had just under 40 pints of Nottingham EPA in it.
The room to the right is much larger and i am able to do two brews at the same time,there is decent lighting power points and a radiator down my cellar.


Admiral Sir John Borlace Warren

Photo taken by Alan Winfield

 
This is a very smart new build Wetherspoons that was built on the site of the old Stapleford health centre.
The pub opened in February 2012 and was a great addition to Staplefords dismal drinking scene.
I am not being biased when i say this is one of the best Wetherspoons i have done,it is not as large as the Wetherspoons in the middle of Nottingham,but it is in a small town in the Nottingham conurbation,so does not need to too big.
The pub has three areas and is very smart,the service is the best i have ever had in a Wetherspoons,early last night i was asked if i was waiting to be served while being served,i had three pints of Nottingham EPA and the wife two pints of Nottingham EPA and a neat double cognac,we also had a ham & cheese toastie to set us up for a good nights drinking.

After just over an hour and a half and just after 8pm we did the short walk down Staplefords grotty main road and into our local at the bottom of the street where we live.

Midland Hotel

Photo taken by Alan Winfield

 

Photo taken by Alan Winfield

 

Photo taken by Alan Winfield

This was originally a Shipstones tied house with quite a few rooms inside and it also had games arcade.
We used to go in this pub loads of times even when we lived closer to the middle of Stapleford and we had some great Sunday nights in there with my Mam & Dad.
I took my young baby son down there in the late 80s to have a drink while my wife was working a twilight shift in a factory.
Sadly it was deemed to be a too working class pub and was to be done up in the early 90s,it was said that locals would not be made welcome and it was to be a food pub with no pool table or darts board and no table football.
If the pub planners had any idea of the area The Midland was in they would have soon realised that this new venture was doomed before it started.
Six months later no food was being served and the pool table and darts board had reappeared then the table football was back.
The Midland had lost the hotel from it name but was a proper locals pub,but it was now one room but on Different levels and fairly smart.
The pub started to have live groups on and it needed a do up,so in 2015 the pub had a very big makeover and they put a false raised area in the main bar area,the pub looked very smart and they installed loads of TVs showing sports,but when the football season was on it was always football.
With The Midland being in Stapleford it has always been a big Forest pub.
We went in last night and met up with quite a few friends to watch a group that was said to be good,the group was better than good and was great,they did covers from The Farm,Oasis,James,Pulp and the like,the beer was flowing and we decided to have a dance along with other people.
The night flew by and before we knew it at 12 last orders were called so two more pints and two halfs of Doom Bar,the Doom Bar was a very nice drink and nice and cool on a warm evening.
Some camra types may not ever visit a pub like the Midland as the real ale is a bit hit and miss and they probably would not drink Doom Bar.
But this is our local that we have been going in since the late 80s.
A proper pub in a very working class area.

My wife woke me up this morning just after 11am and i had no hangover but did feel slightly out of sorts.

This was a great day out drinking and we only went in three pubs.