11th July 2011 - Gloucester

"Hmm, where to go for a birthday drink?  Somewhere not too far, easy to get to / from by train preferably without the need to change,  somewhere not been to before (or at least for a good while) and above all with a good choice of real ale pubs plus other things that would make a worthwhile day out."

Plenty of places came to mind but in the end, Gloucester was selected.

Our train arrived on time and after struggling to get off thanks to the shopper in front of us with the most awkward set of bags you could imagine, we exited the station, checked the map and headed for the town centre.  (An early) lunch was the first requirement and we spied a small cafe  after which we headed over to the Docks area and spent a good hour or so soaking in the sun and the industrial architecture paying especial interest to the various boats either moored up or working along the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal.  In common with similar areas such as Liverpool this area would no doubt have been less touristy but the recent conversions on the warehouses to apartments and antique centres, etc have made it quite a pleasant place to spend some time.  There is still evidence of the tracks of the horse drawn railway in homage to its past (you can see the rails by the crane in the upper right photo.  We sat on benches, ventured a bit further (the gardens if that's what you can call them are a credit to the boat owners) and eventually ended up on the banks of the actual canal watching the ducks and fish.)

Time to find some beer.  I'd wanted to try the Whitesmiths Arms but alas it was shut during the afternoon and perhaps too far out from the station to return later.  We therefore headed to the Dick Whittington browsing as we did in a number of antique shops.

This was originally St Nicholas House, a 15th century town house once owned by the Whittington family.  There were a couple of beers on and my option was Robinson's Crusoe.

Next scheduled stop was the Fountain Inn (another 16th Century pub with a most well kept garden. Cotswold Spring Brewery's Olde English Rose (a 4% pale ale) was my choice - so good I went back for a second helping.

We moved next to the New Inn.  A strange place with rooms off a central courtyard and clearly evidence of it once being a coaching inn.  I opted for a beer from Skinner's - didn't note actual brew at the time alas.

Time was moving on and we recalled passing a Wetherspoons and also a couple of other places near the railway station and so it was we ended up at The Regal where I went for Batemans XXXB.

All in all a good day out and I certainly want o visit again and perhaps take in some of the many other pubs we missed on this occasion.