Mahinda’s Little World

Yet another eventful weekend for me, but somewhat bittersweet…

notloB

Friday night meant beer night. I went down to the Lass O’Gowrie for "pie and pint" (one of the Food & Drink Festival things) with Howell, Phil, Si and Barney…plus CAMRA Matt, who turned out to have gone there after work. Definitely handy for getting a table in the snug

I had the game pie, which comprised quail, pheasant, snipe and something else. Lovely, but of course not as nice as the venison pie at Marble.

Then, Howell, Phil and I headed to Oxford Road to catch a train to Bolton, for the Bolton Beer Festival. It was absolutely rammed, with barely even standing room. Still, all went smoothly…for the first few minutes, at least. Then the train stopped.

And waited. It was to be a pretty stop-start journey, which eventually lasted an hour. It should only have been 15 minutes!

We pulled into Bolton station…to be greeted by some of the local fauna, off into Manc for a night out. Strewth, but the Bolton lasses must get a bit chilly!

While I do know some lovely girls from Bolton, much on display was, well, mutton dressed as mutton. Including one girl who seemed to be wearing a scrap of fabric half-inched from her mother’s curtains.

Following directions from John (A Local), we began the long walk to the Howcroft Inn, where the festival was at. Some 20 minutes later (at least - it seemed like hours!) we got there. The pub itself is a pretty big affair, a bit out of the city centre…the fest was set up in a HUGE marquee out back…probably 50m a side…and absolutely rammed. We found John (one of Howell and Phil’s hiking mates) in the queue, and in we went after a bit of a wait.

It claims to be one of the biggest non-CAMRA beer festivals in the country…and the website promised HUNDREDS of beers! We weren’t disappointed, with one side of the marquee taken up by four rows of casks, stacked pretty closely. Lots of dark beers, which always makes me happy, and I sampled quite a few of them.

Fletch, general denizen of North Manc CAMRA, was in charge of the beer, which is always encouraging, and I bumped into Ruth as well, who ran round the bar to give me a hug before running back to give me a somewhat generous half.

The differences between Bolton and your average CAMRA fest were mostly small - things like all the sponsorship, much of which was from local companies. Most of the beers were sponsored, for example

We left shortly before closing time (midnight) to get back to the station for the 00:16 train. Much quieter than the train there, and we got back to MancLand without much fuss.

Unlike Howell and Phil, I resisted the charms of Jilly’s, as I was knackered and needed my bed. As it turns out, I fell asleep on the bus, waking up at the wrong end of Northenden. Bugger. Grabbed a tray of donner meat and chips and staggered home tiredly, eventually managing to hail a cab.

Hockey

Saturday afternoon featured a hockey match, away at Bramhall, at what turned out to be my mate Ross’s old school. I was playing in central defence for the first time in ages, and it just didn’t work out. I had a shocker in the first ten minutes - couldn’t stop a bus, never mind a ball, and I took a free hit which actually travelled less than three yards. Fortunately, I improved, and we were 0-0 at halftime. Unfortunately, things then went completely to pot, and we lost 5-1.

I was Not Happy.

Holker Mansions

Got home from hockey, and dashed frantically around the kitchen making some nibbles for the party. Spicy marinated chicken and red onion on cocktail sticks…put them under a high grill (with Gillian within smoke-smelling distance) and ran upstairs to get changed.

Cycled over to the party, which was to celebrate two things - the birth of Andrew James Holker, and the official opening of the new extension and patio. Andrew James proved to be, like his elder sister Charlotte, a very happy and contented baby, while the extension is an impressive addition to an already large house. The patio’s nice too, with an impressive three-dimensional design.

It was lovely to see a few people whom I’d not seen for ages - the likes of Leda and Helen T especially. Spent quite a while talking to Becky, a rather cute friend of Helen’s…and then Alsion appeared!

This was quite a surprise, seeing that she now lives in Edinburgh. I knew that she was down in the area for her dad’s birthday (her family are Boltonian), but really didn’t expect to see her! It was a lovely surprise.

Eventually I had to tear myself away from the lovely Becky and cycle home, to get ready for Will’s birthday party.

Y’arrrrrrrrr! (yes, again)

Got home, and turned my room upside down looking for piratical gear - Will was having a "Pirates of the Caribbean" themed party. Didn’t find much, bar a stripey T-shirt and cardboard hats, but managed to stick piratical labels on my beer bottles.

Alsion arrived, dumped her stuff, and off we went in her car.

Got to the party…via an attempt to drive up an alleyway that was only foiled by the bollards at its end…some top reversing by Alsion followed.

No-one expected to see Alsion, which was fun. It was a good party, with plenty of MUGSS and lots of randoms to talk to. I ended up hanging around the kitchen (where else?!) talking to Will’s student "Model UN" (I think) mates. He’s of a political bent, and a law student to boot. Actually, he’s also from the much-accursed Merchant Taylors’ School - I went to Haberdashers’ Aske’s, which of course makes us deadly rivals, with rivalries between the two guilds going back to the 14th century

Naturally, I wished him a happy birthday and threatened to skewer him with a cutlass.

Alsion and I ended up last out, as we’re hardcore, and we got a cab home (obviously, neither of us was in a fit state to drive). Got home around 4am, crashed out, and that was that.

Morning

Didn’t really happen.

Afternoon

Got up, got showered, and fed Alsion Marmite on toast. Cut into triangles, naturally, as that’s The Rule.

Ferried her back to her car, then went back to my place. My plan was to grab my bike and cycle to Kro2, where we were meeting other people. Ended up deciding that I was running late, and clearly wasn’t going to drink anyway, so drove instead.

I could hardly talk. I’d made the mistake of staying in character for much of Will’s party, with every couple of sentences featuring a piratical throaty growl. Needless to say, the back of my throat was well and truly shagged.

Had an orange juice and lemonade in Kro2, hugged Alsion goodbye, and ended up in a curry café - Marhaba, on Back Piccadilly - for lunch. Rice-and-three, of course, and mighty tasty it was too.

Curry cafés. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again - they’re great! There’s precious little about them online, and I’ve only actually tried five of them myself, but you’re unlikely to find anything tastier and more filling for £3.50.

See this guide if you’re curious. Fittingly, it’s a real ale type who came up with it. One day, I’ll try and verify it all personally, mark things on a map, and perhaps publish a bunch of MultiMap links.

Anyway, feeling absolutely stuffed, I wandered back home and went to bed for a few hours, eventually emerging for Match of the Day 2 and Extras before heading back again.