It’s A Tough Job But

Yes indeed. As the title of this post announces, “It’s a tough job but”……but, what? You’ve got it. But someone’s got to do it. Sometimes in life you will come across some who will willingly and without complaining, go the extra mile. And fair do’s, me and a good pal of mine went the extra mile last week. Way above the call of duty. But, there again, we’re like that. Rebels to the cause and all that. So, with that impressive…..ish, bigging ourselves up BS introduction, what tough job did we encounter? Well, actually, I’m glad you asked. Stating the obvious, read on to find out more.

It’s A Tough Job But

This potentially hazardous job is, in actual fact, a follow on to my last post. Which was, as you no doubt remember (ish!!) was about local pubs. More specifically, it was entitled, “Long Live The Local Pub.” And what better way could you assess the latest situation with regard to our local, ‘proper boozers’ than to actually go in hard on the front line so to speak. “Get in amongst ’em” as I used to say in local footie jargon all those years ago.

So, ‘get in amongst them’ we did. Last Thursday afternoon to be exact. And we were brave. No tin hats, no shin pads and no relying on VAR to help us out. Nope. Not at all. We steamed in like our lives depended on it with so much enthusiasm, onlookers would have thought we were two young kids on Christmas Eve.

You can probably guess that we hadn’t seen each other for some time. Covid and other obstacles and all that. Having agreed to meet up, the big question was, where shall we meet? At this point, the proceedings hadn’t reached the “It’s a tough job but” levels, but it did within a few minutes or so of meeting up. Our first port of call was the Bull and Stirrup Wetherspoons. Whatever it’s proper name is nowadays.

While the first pint of cask was nicely making its way down me (my mate was on soft drinks – he was drinking lager), the conversation got onto “what have you been doing” etc. You know how it is. During proceedings I mentioned my latest blog post and the floodgates opened. Well, not exactly, but it got us talking about beer and pubs. Welcome to the possible birth of a new social get together. It’s a tough job but……

It’s A Tough Job But But How Does This Sound?

As some local boozers were now mentioned, the natural thing to do seemed to be to suggest actually going to one or two of them. And so we did. From there we had a cheeky one in The Cottage. I seem to recall I may have mentioned this particular, normal, popular, local boozer before. While in there we had a good old natter with a couple who joined us in reminiscing about pubs “in the good old days.”

You know the sort of conversation. The type that everyone under 40 moans about while saying, “oh no, not this again. All our yesterdays…..blah, blah, blah.” (NB: Going off on a bit of a tangent. I wonder who ‘invented’ – “blah, blah, blah.” If the saying was subject to copyright!!! Wow, how minted would they be!! Anyway, I digress. Back onto the task in hand and going the extra mile in the “It’s A Tough Job But….” mission).

After the couple left (with an absolutely stunning looking dog by the way), we were into ‘where next’ mode. Before finally deciding, my good friend, Tich, amazed me with a very humble and frank confession. The sort that is only divulged in the strictest of confidence. One that you are sworn to secrecy. So, true to my word, I am “saying nothing” in true Manuel from Fawlty Towers mode. Absolutely not. I’m not actually ‘saying’ anything – but he didn’t say anything about me not typing anything. Ah, now there’s a point.

Hey, I’ve just thought. I could mention it to some of you by way of writing about it. That should work. And, to be fair, a word hasn’t passed my lips. How’s that. Job’s a good ‘un.

So, that’s sorted. OK, hold onto your hats folks. A big drumroll please. My good friend, Tich, astounded me with his confession that he was a virgin.

“Whaaaatttt!!” I exclaimed. “Surely not!!!”

“How many years have you been drinking and you’ve never, ever been in The Egerton?? You’re an Egerton Arms virgin!!! Wow!!!

It’s true. He’d never been in The Edge. Cue the comment, “so how does this sound?”

The Edge Has A New Fan

Let me begin this paragraph by announcing that I’m a fan of The Edge. I say that because to some it seems to be a bit of a Marmite pub. You get the drift, you either love it, or hate it. That’s not me just saying that necessarily. It does seem to divide opinion. It is certainly popular enough with plenty anyway, so seeing a good few in there and enjoying a normal pub atmosphere isn’t a problem.

I’ve had my spells of going regularly but then not going at all for a while. My main reason for giving it a miss when I do give it a miss is because there’s no cask ale. And after you’ve got out of the habit of going to a pub, any pub really, for a while, then periods of abstinence seem the norm.

Still, I must admit, that back before the dreaded Covid, a couple on the way home and a quick warble on a karaoke night and chatting to some good fellas in there, ticked quite a few boxes for me. And now, while we were finishing off a man’s drink and a soft girly mouthwash (Carling) back in The Cottage, we had the ideal opportunity to get right in amongst it in The Edge. Introduce Tich to it so he could lose his virginity and me to get reacquainted with the place again.

Result? Tich loved the place and I enjoyed my revisit. So, in Tich, The Edge has a new fan. And as Arnie says, “we’ll be back!!”

And The Award For The Best…….

In such a role as this, we’ve already established that it’s a tough job but someone has to do it. And in fulfilling such a role, nature takes its course and you must pay a visit now and then. This bit may seem a bit strange for a real, ‘get in amongst ’em’ social scene loving fella, but I do like a good toilet in a pub. And fair so’s The Edge’s toilets (mens) are excellent. Nicely tiled and clean and tidy. Hand wash bottles aplenty and a good hand drier. It may seem daft, but it counts for a lot in my book. So, top marks to The Edge for their great men’s powder room.

It’s A Tough Job But Where Were We?

So anyway, during the course of the afternoon and into early doors territory, we had a good old chat about various things. One topic was, of course, the good old local boozer. After all, that is one of the reasons why we went to The Cottage and The Edge. And, as a result of said topic, we hit on the tough decision of, why don’t we do this on a more regular basis. Meet up and have a mini tour of the good old local boozers.

All those mentioned in my last post (and any others I may have missed). Not all in the one hit though. Visit about 3 or 4 each time we meet up. Doing all in the one hit would be madness. And it would be careless. And it would be the kind of thing we’d have done in the 80’s. Not in our more advanced, more mature, sensible time of life as of nowadays.

As it happens, then the thoughts went to why don’t we spread the word. Spread the word to those of us that are fans of the local boozer and fancy a cheeky one or two….ish every so often. Say, once a month on a weekday afternoon? As I’ve already mentioned, it’s a tough job but… etc, etc. And so, I could turn it into a sort of a busman’s holiday. Go through the pain barrier so to speak. During our excursions I could take note of what events etc these local boozers have on the go. And write about them here on Chester Lifestyle.

For instance, I know that The Edge have karaoke on a Friday night. But what else do they have and when? And, The Cottaarrge? Darts are back on in there. League games though? Hmmm…..I’ll have to find out won’t I. Now, how am I going to do that? (quick, someone hide my phone!!). What else is going on in some of the other local boozers? And who is going to spread the word? I know, I know – it’s a tough job but someone has to do it. Oh, go on then.

Who Else Wants To Get In Amongst ‘Em?

Over the next few weeks I may well sound out a few drinking buddies of mine from current day and even yesteryear. Do we embark on a regular, local boozer, mini pub crawl. A sort of a new get together club. The “Get In Amongst ‘Em Club” And who knows, it may become a regular event. Watch this space.

Chester Lifestyle Blog Posts

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