NOTHING LIKE A BIT OF BULLY!

The Bull’s Head in St. John’s Square, Burslem is the winner of the 2004 Potteries Pub Preservation Group Community Pub of the Year Award. It joins several distinguished previous winners, namely the Golden Cup in Hanley (1998), the Greyhound in Penkhull (1999 and 2001), the Blue Bell in Kidsgrove (2000 and 2002) and the Beehive in Penkhull (2003). Keith Bott received the coveted wooden plaque on June 27th. The pub is renowned for its Titanic beer, and during the recent European Championships football tournament sold an old favourite, “They Think It’s Ale Over” (ABV 4.5%) whose pump-clip was illustrated by PPPG’s own Mervyn Edwards. Among the stronger beers brewed by Titanic are Summer Wreckage (6.6%) and the virility-challenging Winter Wreckage (7.2 %).

The Bull’s Head is usually patronised by several members of Burslem History Club after their monthly meeting, and by various tipplers from PPPG on numerous other occasions. It beat 20 other pubs from the Potteries and Newcastle to the number one spot this year. PPPG members felt that aside from the quality of the beer, the Bull’s Head has impressed through its community involvement. Beer festivals are often held to coincide with town entertainments.

Second prize this year went to the “Coachmakers’ Arms” in Lichfield Street, Hanley. Licensee Jason Barlow, 34, is a Chesterton man who previously learnt his trade from Matt, the licensee of the estimable “Unicorn” in Piccadilly. He runs the “Coachmakers” with partner Sue.

Upon taking over, he opened up the previously-redundant fourth public room, which was a real vote-grabber for the PPPG members who voted in the 2004 contest. He explains: “The floor tiles were made locally, so we thought, why not use the room? There is a good age range from 18 to 80 at this pub, and the four rooms allow segregation. The younger people who come in play guitar, but if certain people don’t want to listen, they can use one of the other rooms. I believe that one former landlord used the fourth room as a pool room, but that’s wrong in our eyes. We wanted the room to be enjoyed properly, with the focal point being the fireplace, not a pool table”.

Jason believes that everyone coming to the pub is a potential friend and feels that building up the trade is an ongoing process. “A lot of our customers come in and play guitar. I do myself. I’m not much of a singer, so I do it to try and find someone who will sing along to my playing. I’m mainly a blues guitarist. I used to visit the “Unicorn” on Sunday nights for the acoustic sessions, and before then, I played at a local of mine in Chesterton. My guitar is always in the pub. If people want to have a go, they can”.

Second place in the PPPG Community Pub of the Year Award is regarded as an achievement by Jason, and Enterprise Inns recently contacted PPPG for details and a photograph of the runners-up presentation. “To us, we’ve won”, says Jason. “We’ve been working towards such awards for five months, but we were completely gobsmacked by the result”. A plus point for the “Coachmakers’ Arms” has been the improved range of cask beer. Jason opines:

“The Coachmakers’ has always been a Bass house, but Timothy Taylor Landlord began as a guest and became a resident beer. We have also had Abbot Ale, Old Speckled Hen and Black Sheep. This is a traditional Potteries pub, and if it isn’t used, it’ll die. So we are working hard for ourselves and the locals. We’ve a regular named Billy and the last time the pub shut down, he was gutted. I chanced across him in the Unicorn and told him that we were taking over the Coachmakers, and you should have seen the look on his face!”

The “Beehive” in Penkhull has been remarkably consistent over the last three years, finishing third, first and third in 2002, 2003 and 2004 respectively. Kept by the Rowlands – John and Carole – it is a quintessentially cosy pub, located in Honeywall. Irishman John’s joviality is well-known, and this being a pub which attracts all ages, an effort is made to minimise the “colourful” language which is heard all too often in many pubs. The pub was visited by members of CAMRA and PPPG on their three-legged pub crawl for National Pubs Week in February 2004.

To all three pubs “in the frame” this year, well done. Hopefully, though, you will face even sterner competition next year!