Wyatt Riot, I Wanna Riot, Wyatt Riot, A Riot On My Own

Readers of the blog usually come up with better blog titles than me and having sacked Mudgie as my sub editor after his Bass bill was bankrupting me, I just had to throw this one out there.

I’ve got to be honest though, as Quosh, who is a proper wordsmith, suggested, it was always going to be difficult to beat a Clash song for the title of a blogpost.

489 – The James Wyatt DE24 0RY lends itself to the fine tune from Strummer/Jones/Simonon and Chimes (not Headon) from their eponymous first album and debut single

although I have read up on this and, apparently Mick Jones refused to play it in later Clash shows…probably why Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon sacked him after Combat Rock.

The ‘B’ side to this single was 1977 and an absolute killer tune too…back in the day kids this was referred to as a ‘non album track.’ (anyone under 35 can ask Duncan).

I could now launch into a whole post about the merits of The Clash but looking at the suggestions from The Wickingman as a potential title for this …

…then he is clearly a sixties man with Cream leanings, whilst Mark Shirley delves back even further with his classic Wyatt Earp line

and Len supports West Brom so all bets are off, as The Liquidator is still on the jukebox in The Wheatsheaf on Baggies High Street.

I don’t want to alienate all of my readership and I reckon the late seventies might be way too modern for most (Neil and Paul excepted), so I’d best crack on with an estate pub of the highest order.

Alvaston, as you can see from this map…

…is definitely inner city Derby. A huge mass of chimney pots from Alvaston all the way into the centre of Derby and some real old school boozers in the vicinity.

It’s already delivered The Blue Peter – an Art Deco building to rival the Clock Garage in Woodville…

(see below)

– and The Needles, which is on the ‘other side’ of this sprawling housing estate.

(see below)

The James Wyatt is on a bus route and next to a shopping precinct in classic sixties style one-roomed boozer.

I rolled up on a Thursday afternoon at around 1:30pm and it had the obligatory pool table, darts board, sky sports and John Smith’s Smooth at £2.40 a pint!

(lacings)

No cask but all your favourites such as Carling/Stella/Dark Fruits and Fosters, which were being necked by a couple of old boys who were deep in conversation with the barmaid.

A geezer who looked like he might have been learning the ropes in obligatory baseball cap served me and, at £2:40 a pint (take that Timbo), I’m not going to bleat about the lack of cask.

There was also bench seating, beermats, a DJ booth and the first Christmas tree of 2019, albeit a subtle one.

One of the old boys (with old school tattoos all over his knuckles) was friendly, one wasn’t and another couple came in for a drink whilst a bloke plonked himself next to me and was humming along to “Killer Queen”, which was on in the background and I took that as my cue to go.

There are big swathes of Derby with lots of estate style houses and decent solid boozers like this.

Just for Russ, Dick and Dave here is a bigger perspective style map that covers a lot of my blogging regions.

I can guarantee Alvaston won’t feature on any council approved beer trails but if you want to see real Derby life then this is the place to be.