What' the most memorable (not necessarily in a good way) pub you've ever drunk in...?

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

When I was in my last year at Manchester, back in the wild days of '87, we lived in an idyllic garden suburb urban bombsite part way between Moss Side and Hulme.
There was a lot of redevelopment work going on at the time behind Princess Elizabeth Way, and rows of extremely old terraced houses were being bulldozed wholesale - bit sad in a way.
Anyway, just for a few days there was a pub left standing in the middle of all this - the buildings on either side had been demolished, and its walls were propped up on each side with huge wooden buttresses. So a few of us decided to venture in. Blimey. It was like going back to the 1800's - chintzy wallpaper, bare floorboards and the 'toilet' was just out the back where one of the walls had been painted with about 50 coats of (I recall) gloss green and a rainwater gutter along the base.
I wish I could say with a tear in my eye that it was the best pint I ever had, but it was nothing memorable I'm afraid... but it's true that we must have been some of the last ever customers because the following day it had been flattened.

 

[Clint]

About 1986, Christmas,I was working in a supermarket in Wrexham...we finished and were on the ale about dinner time off round the town on our festive jolly
Anyway...it was "mad Friday" the last office working day before Christmas and the pubs were packed!
We went into a pub called the Elephant and Castle and instead of being rammed like all the rest...it was empty,save for and old chap binging away on a piano and two blokes and a woman stood by the bar.
We ordered our pints and sat down..this fella kept playing the piano..we kept drinking...then the three by the bar,who turned out to be travellers/gypsies started a great big drunken row amongst themselves...with the woman shouting and swearing,mostly directed at one of the men who wasn't in the least interested...she kept on at him until he swiftly punched her in the face and shut her up...
Through all this the fella serving didn't bat an eyelid and the piano Man didn't miss a chord!!
Happy days!

 

[Linalmeemow]

The Cricketers in Ormskirk in about 1996. Was in there with some mates, one of whom lived just round he corner. It was pretty lively in there, and some oddball kept coming up to us and just staring, then moving on. Eventually he came right up to where I was sitting, leaned across me and reached right down between my legs...and pulled out a pint hidden under the bench where I was sitting! Turns out he'd been stealing pints and stashing them round the pub, and was known for this behaviour. A few minutes later we hear thudthudthudthudTHUDTHUDTHUD and he and another bloke who had him by the throat came barrelling over the table we were sitting at. Pints flew everywhere, table smashes into pieces. At this point absolute pandemonium breaks out, a proper western-style bar brawl with everyone punching the nearest person to them while we sat in the corner watching on bemused. I assume there was some simmering tension in the pub that I hadn't noticed! As we left the ambulances were arriving, with the pint-thief having been kicked unconscious in the car park.

I haven't been back.

Best pubs? De Garre, t'Brugs Beertje and La Trappiste in Bruges. Nowhere in the UK has even come close in terms of atmosphere or beer.

 

[Clint]

Ah brawls...in the,then Crest hotel in town on a Saturday night...big kick off...some lad who wasn't doing the best decided to leg it and ran straight through a plate glass door like it wasn't there!

 

[Mr_S_Jerusalem]

Well, The Ivy when I was in uni was a cracking pub. Mainly because that’s where we always went so that’s where my friends were. The owners were nice, and they had a crazy shy dog that was beautiful. Also all the measures were like Irish measures or something, so when you ordered a double you got 70ml instead of 50ml, which was obviously a right result. And they had all the good songs we liked on the juke box.

and some days they closed at like 1am or some ***** which was awesome lol

 

[marshbrewer]

Back in the very early 90's, when I lived in Nottingham, there were a couple of clubs that had licences till 4am and then there were the epic all nighters at the Marcus Garvey. But where to go at 5 - 6am when you were stumbling home and suddenly realised, 'Hang on, I could murder a pint of Mild'?

Why, the peggars Inn in Snienton Market of course. The wholesale fruit market was gone but this was the pub that the blokes who set up the market stalls drank in, so it had a license to open at 5 in the morning and serve booze.

Thus it was an eclectic mix of alcoholics, gangsters, clubbers off their nuts and general misfits. It was great.

It was shut for ages but has apparently reopened as some fancy pants place for hipsters, with more traditional opening hours. I feel sorry for today's youngsters in a way, their life is so sanitised.

 

[Clint]

My local as a lad was full of fun...The Crown....
There were several chaps who were banned for life as they just couldn't behave...
They'd always try to sneak a pint by hiding in the corner or being unknown to new bar staff.
This particular time a chap who was banned for eternity managed to get a pint of Guinness in the bar and was stood there nice and quite enjoying it when the land lady walked in and nearly had fifty fits telling him to get out...he pleaded with her,saying he'd behave but she was having none of it....he then tipped the nearly full pint over her head!!! Then left....lots of plant pots came through the windows shortly afterwards!

 

[Clint]

In the same pub the landlord would cook you a bird or a fish if you brought him one too...and you could eat it there with your pint
One dinner time a couple of the lads came in for a pint after being out shooting and had a mixed bag..including pigeons and a woodcock. The woodcock caused some interest and was duly inspected and passed round ..until some joker threw it over his head and it landed perfectly in a wall lighting sconce..looking like it was nesting...it was decided that it was a great laugh to leave it there and see if the land lady would notice.. who would then have a turn!
It got forgotten about...the lights went on and it started to smoulder and stink. .sure enough landlady came in having a wobbler demanding to know what the smell was....the reply.....fowl!!

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

When I was doing some part of my training I was posted down to Bude for three months - unfortunately not over the Summer but January-March. It was pretty miserable at first because I knew no one but after a while some the guys I was working with (proper locals) took me under their wing a bit, and started taking me out to the drinking places they went to out in the middle of nowhere; where skittles was played like a martial art, and opening hours were utterly nonexistent.
I recall leaving a lock-in at one such place at 2am. The rest of the place was still going strong, but I needed to get a few hours sleep before work. Absolutely zero chance of getting a taxi, so I had the ‘genius’ idea of walking the 2 miles or so through the lanes back to Bude. Unfortunately being a city lad, I had completely underestimated how dark it was... properly 100% dark... and I literally had to feel my way along the hedges - must have taken me hours!

 

[strange-steve]

I have to agree with @Linalmeemow that the bars in Belgium have a wonderful atmosphere that I have never experienced anywhere else and one of my most memorable days was spent in two particular pubs in Brussels. Me and my best mate spent a lazy afternoon a few years back in Poechenellekelder drinking our way through the menu and it's without a doubt my favourite pub in the world. It's such a vibrant and friendly place, decorated with wierd and creepy puppets hanging from the ceiling and the upstairs seating overlooking the Mannekin Pis. A wonderful place.

We made our way from there to À la Bécasse where we sat at the bar till closing time chatting and drinking with the barman who was a Brussels native but who somehow knew some conversational Irish (I don't know a word but my mate is fluent). I don't think I've ever laughed so much in my life as I did that night and although not being the greatest bar in Brussels, it holds a special place in my heart. Bloody hell, I yearn to be in Brussels again

 

[Galena]

We had a club Christmas dinner, probably 50 or more of us in a country pub we often used to frequent in the mid seventies in the Peak District. Well, it snowed that Saturday night and we were stuck there until Monday, the landlady sold us food at cost and we dossed on the floor and drank the pub dry, including liquors. Very memorable.
On another occasion, early eighties we were in a pub after closing time Sunday time afternoon (pubs had to shut until evening in those days) and we were thrown out for not drinking enough!

 

[Clint]

I have to agree with @Linalmeemow that the bars in Belgium have a wonderful atmosphere that I have never experienced anywhere else and one of my most memorable days was spent in two particular pubs in Brussels. Me and my best mate spent a lazy afternoon a few years back in Poechenellekelder drinking our way through the menu and it's without a doubt my favourite pub in the world. It's such a vibrant and friendly place, decorated with wierd and creepy puppets hanging from the ceiling and the upstairs seating overlooking the Mannekin Pis. A wonderful place.

We made our way from there to À la Bécasse where we sat at the bar till closing time chatting and drinking with the barman who was a Brussels native but who somehow knew some conversational Irish (I don't know a word but my mate is fluent). I don't think I've ever laughed so much in my life as I did that night and although not being the greatest bar in Brussels, it holds a special place in my heart. Bloody hell, I yearn to be in Brussels again

Hang in there oh sage of beer...you shall return.

 

[prog99]

https://www.visitflanders.com/en/things-to-do/food-and-drinks/top/cafes/kulminator.jsp
The best ever pub I have been to. Great beer, lovely owners just a shame its in Antwerp.

 

[foxy]

While working in the gas fields of Moomba, took a drive out to Innaminka, two main reasons was to have a fish and a swim in Coopers creek, and to see where Burke and Wills died. Legend has it that they had fishing line and hooks with them but starved to death. The creek is full of fish and fresh water mussels.
Called into the Innaminka Hotel, not nearly as bad as some of the outback pubs, and seem to do well mainly from tourists. The population is only about 30 or 40 people.
https://innaminckahotel.com.au/

 

[Horners]

So many (hazy) memories - but a few honourable mentions:

1. Went to meet up for a weekend in Bath with a load of other 20 year olds I had spent a placement year working with in pharmaceutical research at Glaxo Smithkline - no mobiles in those days so debunked straight into first boozer across the dual carraigeway from station figuring thats where people would turn up- place was full of rough bikers and bizarrely a washing line with loads of pairs or ladies frilly knickers strung across the ceiling of the pubic bar. Cant remember the name of it.

2. Ye Old Axe in Shoreditch/ Bethnal Green - first time I had ever been in a quid in a pint glass strip pub kind of place. Mid 90s so still a bit of tension between folk who'd strayed from the City for a late drink and dyed in the wool locals. Someone started on the American guy who worked in our accountancy firm - he came across as a gentle giant but had just returned from a tour of duty as a tank commander in the Gulf war, was as hard as nails and sent them packing with a flea in their ear.

3. The Cobblers in the City of London (opposite the now defunct Cartoonist) - it was under our office so we pretty much had the run of the place and used to run up and slide face down along the length of the longest table. Randomly met a lad Id been to boarding school with in Carlisle and after a bit of reminiscing he ended up nutting an important client of the senior manager I was with and then chinning the landlord - police carted him off never heard from him again. Same pub I set light to the entire floor having spilled a flaming drambuie and got asked to maybe not come in again for a while.

4. The Closed Shop in Sheffield S10 - thought I had really arrived as an 18 year old as would be allowed to participate in lock ins with some of the locals, felt really grown up and the whole town versus gown thing used to be parked once the curtains were drawn.

5. The Guest House in Southport - my dads regular haunt, we were like royalty and anytime of the early hours would go and tap on the window and gain admittance. menu strictly Hollands pies in cabinet and a ladle of peas.

6. Lescar Hotel - also Sheffield - floor covering of choice, linoleum.

7. The Boardroom, Carlisle - formative drinking years as a 16 year old. Never used to get IDed and all the lads from school used to wear the pub tie. Border City Firm (football mob) would occassionally put the windows through.

8. Pub in Stevenage new town centre - cant find it now so probably and hopefully long shut down. Could buy anything in there especially drugs and guns.

9. Archway tavern North London, first time I went in my flatmate (who I met through Loot remember that that?) hastened me to my feet at 10:50 when they religously would play the Irish national anthem each night - a real nationalist stronghold.

10. The Beehive in Eamont Bridge near Penrith - as a kid we had a caravan at Lowther and had my first ever proper session with my Dad - he was surprised not only that I smoked but also my proficiency with roll ups. We drunk a whole bottle of dimple after hours and they let us take the empty bottle home. They also were short of space and so had a hexagonal rotating pool table so you could always take your shot from the same place.

 

[Clint]

Probably the back end of the 80's my best mate moved away down to Essex, London then Epsom with his old man as his parents split up. Anyway he came up and suggested we go back to Epsom on his motorbike,doss in his dad's place which was above the offy he was running and go in to London and go drinking all day....this we did,had s great time and got the wrong train back...we phoned his dad who said find a pub and I'll pick you up when he shuts the offy. We did this....he found us then took us to a pre organised pissup in a pub right out in the sticks...dunno it's name...but it was free beer, food...lots of dodgy looking characters including a load of Hell's angels on big bikes!

 

[Mr_S_Jerusalem]

Oh yes and the pub in Cwmann, where they had Old Rosie on tap. 4 pints of that and you’d be lucky if you found your way back over the bridge and back home lol. That was like 8.5% and hit you like a sledgehammer when you went out into the cool air.

And the best day ever when they had that on tap and Hobgoblin on tap (my favourite). I THINK that was a cracking evening but I won’t lie it’s a tad hazy lol.

oak beams in there I think. Real pub

 

[pms67]

The worst, easy -The Culten bar in St Ninians Stirling (thankfully long gone)
I was in it for a grand total of about 12 minutes when the next thing I knew was I was rolling about the pavement outside
Guess strangers weren’t welcome, I must have missed the sign

 

[Nicks90]

I was in lagos with work and was entertaining 2 of my customers at a bar called Paddy's on Victoria Island. If you know anything about lagos you will know its all compounds to keep the thieving locals out and the customers in! And you don't walk anywhere, you get driven or you'll be pinched for ransome by the local boys.
Now this place was an utter dive, but it was near to my hotel and it served star beer and decent bbq wings / burgers and stuff.
These places are always teeming with hookers (many very beautiful) trying it on with the oil rig workers. Whilst I was at the bar, one of my customers started talking to a couple of them on the table next to ours. Big mistake.
The girls are Not allowed to pester the guests (bars, hotels, restaurants, all have the same rule in lagos) unless you speak for them. If they break that rule they get kicked out.
Now I didn't know these two as they were fairly new to me, so thought let them get on with it. Std's aren't my cup of tea, but that's their choice!!!
So we sit and chat for a while and I'm bobbing back to the bar for drinks and stuff and then - BLAHBLAHBLAH, SHOUTSHOUTSHOUT and the girls get up and storm off.
Go back to see what's going on and both of them say the girls were getting a bit 'fresh' so they told them to do one on account of them both being married.
Now the thing is, once you start talking to them, there is an implicit understanding you either do the 'deed' by taking them back to your hotel, or pay them a bit of money for their time and company at the bar... Companionship payment. Might sound weird but the vast majority of whites are working there 6 months a time in the oil or mining industry and it's very lonely I'm sure!
Anyway, back to the story... I frown at them both and we carry on drinking. Next thing I know the landlord comes over and hurriedly grabs us and our stuff and bundles us behind the bar and through the kitchen.
"where's your car, where's your bloody car?" he's yelling.
Our driver was parked out front waiting for us and the landlord sends a member of staff out front to get him to pull round the back of the compound and he gets us to the back door.
Apparently the girls were rather put out and not getting a full night's business from my 2 clients and called the Boys (pimp gang) to come and get their money.
What happened next was a blur as we all dived in the car and the driver raced like Lewis Hamilton all over Vic Island trying to lose 3 merc G wagons full of very serious looking locals chasing us!
We eventually got back to Eko hotel, where the guards on the compound entrance had obviously heard what was going on and literally dragged us out of the car and we got an armed escorts up to the hotel in case anyone had jumped over the hotel compound wall to get us!

So I can honestly now say I got chased out of a downtown bar in lagos by hookers and pimps.

 

[West wind]

I earned my living laying bricks for 44 years between the UK and Cottbus on the border between Germany and Poland. I don't know where to start except to say' Auf Wiedersehen Pet' was tame. I know because I'm a Geordie brickie!

I worked in Berlin in 1983 and because of German law couldn't work on Sundays so occasionally crossed the border into East Berlin. It was grim, an experience I'll never forget. On the plus side, the wall made no difference to the quality of the beer.

After reunification I lived and worked in the East for two years. I rented a room in a village just North of Brandenburg and my landlord was a former Stasi officer. I spoke reasonable German by then and spent nights talking to him over a beer or glass of wine. There was a sold fuel fire in my room but I was limited to two fire bricks per night.....in January!

I could talk forever but the best time was living in South Holland (Roermond) and crossing the border into Germany for work. This was before the euro so the best of both worlds: paid in German Marks and spending Guilders. I could walk to Belgium from my digs in Holland! There was a nightclub called Charlie Chaplins just over the border that sold some amazing beers at reasonable prices. It wasn't unusual to finish work on a Saturday afternoon, have a few beers with German mates then head back to Holland (15 mins drive), have a few in 'Der Appel' in Roermond, head home for some food and shower/change then into Belgium.

We called it the 'Eurobender': three countries in one session........happy days!