To be fair to Mudgie he is an absolute font of knowledge. I’ve probably learnt more about the history of beer on his blog than any other and he loves a good debate.
He’s also partial to a proper estate boozer and when I blogged about The Wilsthorpe Tavern recently he was quick on the uptake that it is arguably on Long Eaton’s most salubrious estate.
A quick check on google puts average house prices at £220,000 on Wilsthorpe Road so I reckon I’ve upped the ante with a recent trip to Sinfin.
I’ve been here before of course with trips to The Grampian and The Ferrers Arms so I thought I’d complete my hat-trick with a Sunday afternoon trip to 549 – The Stenson Fields DE24 3JG
Fifty grand cheaper to live in Pilgrims Way on average and the pub is open for longer hours – what could be better!
(Here it is…follow the blue circle)
It’s an M&B branded Sizzling pub and tucked away in the backstreets of Sinfin next to a small park area and a shopping precinct…I reckon it was built around the 1970s/80s era.
Stenson Fields is getting bigger with hundreds of houses sprouting up all over the place in the exotically named Infinity Park as Alvaston, Chellaston and other suburbs all begin to merge seamlessly into one big urban sprawl.
The last time I popped into a Sunday boozer that kept me on my toes like this was The Springfield in Swadlincote.
It’s a two-roomed pub that you’d never find unless you were looking for it. I started in the lounge at about half past three, which was full of gentlefolk, families, blokes on their own, groups of girls on the lash, families eating and a small screen showing Chelsea demolishing Everton in the background.
I couldn’t get a seat at it was full and a good buzz so I thought I’d check out the bar and there was more room there and a much bigger screen, two dart boards, a pool table and a far livelier atmosphere.
There was a lad opposite who was hammered and a few other lads settling in on the lash by the bar with a good thoroughfare of local punters shifting in and out.
It wasn’t a place to be taking too many pictures as it was lively and I didn’t fancy upsetting the apple cart so I watched the rest of Chelsea’s romp, enjoyed my £2.95 pint of Doom Bar (Sharp’s) and watched the world go by, although, as The Tand once said, with a sixth sense.
There are plenty of houses nearby and the locals seem to be supporting this bona fide estate pub as it was ticking over nicely and I reckon it was just warming up for some evening fun and games.
(on their way for a Sunday afternoon tot…)
Sinfin still has three pubs left and they are all of a similar genre…lively, gritty and selling cask.
Alan would be delighted…
Other than being careful like you apparently were is there much real risk in a pub like this? I’m thinking of the two women arriving in the picture. Here they wouldn’t likely go into a place I would deem unsafe.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s fine Dave. The lounge, in particular was a good solid estate local and I’m probably doing it a disservice as no hassle at all. The bar was also fine as long as you keep your head down. The same as most pubs really…The one bloke was hammered though and probably needed swerving but that could be in any pub anywhere I reckon.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s always difficult to generalise because pub customers vary so much. I don’t think these food-serving estate pubs are remotely threatening, but if you were an individual or a couple who really stood out from the crowd you might feel a bit out of place. To be honest, most of the really threatening pubs of thirty years ago have closed down now.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Spot on really Mudgie…I know there have been lots of pub closures but, to be honest, some of them needed to go as they were desperate.
They aren’t threatening but, unlike gastro pubs, you sometimes get some punters who are wasted and it wouldn’t take much to tip them over the edge.
The old boys in the lounge were friendly enough and there were families in there eating.
Just can’t imagine it featuring on any Ale Trails any time soon but very similar to a lot of local boozers I used to drink in when I was younger and much more about the craic than the beer.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is what I wrote about venturing into unfamiliar pubs a couple of years ago:
http://pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2017/01/stranger-in-strange-land.html
It’s possible in a pub of that kind that a studenty-looking couple in their 20s might get quizzed a bit by the regulars, but they probably wouldn’t be in there in the first place.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s pretty much spot on. I have a theory that you can go into any pub on your own and 999 times out of a 1,000 it will be absolutely fine.
As long as you just go for a pint and don’t look for any trouble then you won’t get any.
I still really like them!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This has been our experience too. Although I am not sure I have surpassed 1000 pubs yet… Someday.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You can’t be far off Dave……..
LikeLike
Alan wouldn’t be delighted by its (presumably) Rams allegiance, though.
LikeLiked by 2 people
That is a remarkably good point well made!!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re spoiling us with maps now!
Perhaps the first ever post from Sinfin, unless you’ve been there before?
A rare pint, rather than usual half, reserved for Doom Bar I see.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was feeling chipper so I thought a pint was in order!!!! On a bit of a roll with maps but it will fade….It’s my third trip to Sinfin and I’ve now covered all pub stock in the suburb….
LikeLiked by 1 person
On Dave’s point, I’m struggling to remember any time I’ve felt uncomfortable in a pub, though obviously Beer Guide pubs are rarely that rough, though occasionally scruffy.
I did get uncomfortably close to a big punch up in Rugby once but it seemed to be a family feud.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’d agree! A bit of bloggers licence perhaps but I never feel uncomfortable….sometimes a little more alert and aware perhaps but not uncomfortable.
Blimey, I always thought Rugby was relatively highbrow! You never can tell…
LikeLike
No, although it has a public school, a lot of it is actually a down-to-earth industrial town. IIRC this was in the Half Moon, which certainly isn’t at all highbrow.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I always said you were a font Mudgie!!!! Cheers pal
LikeLike
If I was a font I would dispense Draught Bass 😄🔺
LikeLiked by 1 person
😄
LikeLike
My worst experience was in Liege in Belgium c1983. Some youths got into a dispute with the manager, who told them to go, which they did but then came back. To ‘help’ him, they brought he outside tables and chairs in, but by putting them through the shop-like plate glass windows. I got out quick by a side door and went to the station – the police arrived just after but I wasn’t going to wait as I had to catch a long distance train overnight, I think to Muenchen. I wonder if the bar is still there.
LikeLiked by 2 people
There’s a difference between witnessing a fight or altercation, and feeling personally threatened by unpleasant customers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re right Mudgie….general unease is arguably worse
Just to clarify I wasn’t threatened or uneasy in the Stenson….just aware
LikeLike
Blimey Ian that sounds lively! I had a fairly chastening experience in Catania when a group of locals chased us out if the pub ‘for being English 🙄’ thankfully that’s the exception as opposed to the norm
LikeLike