Blizzard Of Micros Continues

Before I start this blog post I have to give a big shout out to Adil Rashid….with England set to drag defeat from the jaws of victory in the fourth ODI against the Windies he produced a remarkable over and took four wickets in six balls to secure an England win.

Loosely speaking, this ties in with recent glut of Micropubs in the vicinity of Nottingham IKEA as at least one of them is heavy on the cricket theme.

There have been quite a few theories around as to why this area of Nottingham has so many new boozers but I have to say I reckon Martin’s is the best.

FACT: There are now 87 micropubs within a half hour’s walk of Nottingham (Kimberley) IKEA you can visit while your husband/wife is buying Swedish crispbread and giant posters of cats. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

The only possible incorrect fact is that IKEA is in the Giltbrook suburb as opposed to Kimberley.  Everything else is factually correct – no doubt about it.

I mean who wouldn’t want to open a watering hole in a shop that has been closed down due to the fact it can’t compete with IKEA’s prices?

Following the success of the Nottingham model and the 87 new boozers opened up in recent times expect to see similar outbreaks of a blizzard of Micropubs (Copyright – Pubmeister 2019) in Coventry, Croydon, Warrington, Wednesbury, Milton Keynes and Aberdeen.

There is no escaping them in Eastwood and after spending a bit of cash in the coolest shop on the main Nottingham Road (for gents of a certain age)

(they sell retro beermats)

then it was off to 360- Mellor’s Mews NG16 3NQ

This was a friendly place and has been open for around 18 months with its claim to fame being it is the first purpose built Micro in Nottingham as opposed to a former butchers/bakers/candlestick makers.

(sun drenched)

It does beg the question…who is Mellor?

Nonetheless, this is a place that likes its sport and this makes no bones about its Forest connections as they have an evening with Bryan Roy looming whilst there was also a bit of Tony Woodock memorabilia on the wall.

I recently watched “When English Football Ruled Europe” on ITV and it was a classic throwback to my childhood, as English teams won the European Cup an unprecedented seven times in eight years (that’s the Champions League to anyone under 30 or Russ)

Of course, Forest picked the trophy up twice with Woodcock playing a major part and he is arguably the only player who looks younger now than he did in 1978!

The bar had some great beer on with a good range of Oakham Ales but I plumped for a cracking BBB badged as Mellor’s Mix, which I think is from Abstract Jungle Brewery.

There were a handful of people inside minding their own business, but the barmaid was very chatty and bubbly and moved on to cleaning the windows whilst I moved outside with my half pint.

I was joined on my table by another sun seeker and it turned out he had spent a lot of his time in Worcester after choosing to live there as opposed to Dudley with his previous job – a wise move!

As he drunk his Peroni, always a good sign that this is a proper pub alongside male and female toilets, he was waxing lyrical about the pub scene locally and recommended The Gamekeeper’s, pub, which proves I have good taste!

It just oozed chilled out sunny Friday afternoons as more punters arrived and filled up the outside tables and meandered inside for a drink.

(this way for beer)

Well worth another visit but there are so many to choose from in this region that it almost seems wasteful to return …well worth a visit and the shadow of IKEA might hang over the shops but it seems to be doing wonders for the wet led pub trade n Eastwood – long may it continue.