K and I celebrated Martin's birthday this weekend by joining him on a pub crawl along the Lincoln Edge. For the uninitiated, the "edge" is the limestone hill that runs north/south through Lincoln.
We started at the Hare & Hounds in Fulbeck. This was a new pub for me and I really liked it. 17th century building which was very tastefully decorated. It certainly seems to be more about food than anything else but the beer (Cumberland Ale) was good and I'd like to go back for a meal sometime.
Next it was on to Leadenham for the Willoughby Arms and the George Hotel. Catastrophe! The Willoughby was closed with a "To Let" board displayed. It seems to be so difficult for pubs these days, so many closures. The George, happily, was open for business. It specialises in whiskies, with over 700 different varieties on offer. The lads all had a pint with a whisky chaser - it seemed rude not to. I had a pint of Goosey Gander and a Maker's Mark.
At this point our merry band was up to nine in number. Me, K, Martin, Char, Clint, Ted, Goldsy, Phil & Jon. We adjourned to the next pub, the Joiner's Arms in Welbourn. This was very quiet and a bit more rough and ready than our first two venues. I had another pint of Cumberland and we embarked on a game of Killer darts. I've never been much of a dartist and I was out pretty early but it was certainly fun and Ted was our eventual winner.
After Welbourn it was off to Wellingore and our first double pub village. The Red Lion was the first stop and it was dead. Only the TV, showing a film (!),was providing any atmosphere. Luckily, I was prepared for moments like this and had written a quiz. Never leave home without a quiz is my motto! So we had ten multiple choice questions all about the pubs and villages we were visiting. I kept another ten up my sleeve for later.
We quickly moved on to the Marquess of Granby. It's only about 40 yards up the road but it may as well be on a different planet. It was buzzing with people and music. We fell very lucky at this point, not only were they serving Doombar (one of my favourites), but they were also offering an all-you-can-eat curry buffet for £9 per head. What's not to like about that? After several drinks and no food it really hit the spot.
The next stop was the Lion & Royal in Navenby. It was heaving! There were probably as many people in there as the previous five pubs combined. The reason was the live music that was on, the band was playing covers of some classic rock tunes. I seem to remember songs by The Clash and The Undertones but I could be wrong - I often am where music is concerned. what I'm sure of is that I had another pint of Doombar and that the drummer was wearing a t-shirt showing Animal from the Muppets.
Final call for the night was the King's Head, Navenby. I was flagging by this point so I passed on the ale and had a couple of orange juices instead. The birthday boy was still going strong and managed to polish of a couple of Drambuies, but not before setting light to them! We completed the other ten quiz questions here. Ted had left by this point so Phil finished off his answer sheet, and a good team effort it turned out to be as they won by two clear points.
It was then home with a certain giddiness. Our designated driver, Charlotte, had been brilliant. It's not easy putting up with drunken shenanigans when you're stone cold sober but she never once told us to behave.
What a great night. Roll on "Life on the Edge 2014".
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