Last Saturday there was a Friends Of Highgate Brewery coach trip to Preston. I’d not been there since 2014 so wanted in. On that occasion it was Mark Cassell’s stag do. Walsall were away there and beer flowed. It was already 1-1 in the match when we eventually left the nearby pub. After the match the plan was to have a couple of pints then head back to Blackpool where our hotel rooms were booked. However instead we stopped at every pub between Deepdale and the railway station. The rule that you cannot pass a pub certainly came into play that day and it was magnificent. We finally made it to Blackpool just before midnight and I nearly pulled in one of the two pubs that we manged there. It was a superb day so when this coach trip was announced it was a straight case of take my money.

First job upon stepping off the coach was to clear out my coat pocket of losing McDonald’s Monopoly stickers after I’d sorted them from the instant win ones in my wallet. If anyone in the Preston area needs a Park Lane to win £100k, there are 4 of them in the bin by The Twelve Tellers.

We’d been given maps and pub guides on the way up and the only must visit for me was Vinyl Tap described as a music themed pub with 5 real ales, food and live entertainment. Win win win. However upon checking the map it looked the furthest out of town so I disregarded it. More on that later.

First pub was Black Horse. I’d mentioned to legendary blogger Blackpool Jane about the trip, she came to meet us and was waiting in here. You can catch her excellent blog here. This pub is grade II listed and has numerous rooms. I ordered Robinson’s Amarillo Pale Ale which was described as zesty and vibrant. The friendly barmaid explained it was a bit lively. I joked that it did say vibrant in the bio. She game me a bit more in a separate glass to make up for the head which was very decent of her. Naturally I explored all the rooms and it was easy to see why this is the local CAMRA branche’s Pub Of The Year twice on the bounce.

The sizeable group in there became a smaller faction of Bob, Steve Jane and I and next up was Plau which is a bar on one level and Tapas House on the other. I explored again finding a dining room at the back and a very Victorian style toilet cubicle upstairs which looked very ornate. I didn’t check out the tapas area as I’d already got my steps in for the day and there was beer to drank. The barman was very friendly but the till is up a set of stairs from the bar which I’ve never seen before. I wouldn’t last a shift with that set up. We found out afterwards that there is also a “Gay Cellar” but I missed that when I was exploring. Shame as I’ve been playing Oh L’amour by Erasure a lot of late and I’d have certainly asked for that.

Stop 3 was Chain House, a pub with it’s own brewery in house. Discussions in here included Steve asking if we remembered a famous beef burger advert, which turned out to be the Accrington Stanley milk one.

There were two toilets, both with descriptions on the door as to what lay behind. The first door said one accessible toilet. I quite liked the thought of the other door having an inaccessible toilet that maybe you have to climb over a wall or something to get to. One man opened this door, clearly didn’t like the content so opted for the other. I later checked this out and it had a proper toilet right next to a urinal, with no dividing column. A bit like The R1 Bar in Walsall used to have. So you can have a dump while your mate has a piss and catch up on some gossip while in there.

Jane asked if I had any must do pub today and I just mentioned Vinyl Tap. She deduced that it was only five minutes walk away but as we reached this place we’d bumped into a group who had just been and reported it as closed. Eventually we found out online that it opened at 2. It was now 1.30. Steve kept ringing the number to check but had no joy. He opted not to risk it as we set off at 2 and he stayed put for another.

On the way we came across an erect ladder. Bob and Jane just marched under it but I hesitated. There were vans parked up so it would have meant walking into the road to get around. I decided that I’d had plenty of bad luck in my life so a bit more wouldn’t hurt so I walked beneath. Soon after we met another couple of lads who had also waited until 2 for the Vinyl Tap but had said it was still closed. I blamed myself for the ladder.

We headed back more central. Jane ventured into Plau to check out the gay cellar but quickly came back saying that she couldn’t even see the beer pulls as it was just a sea of men. Next up was Plug & Taps. Acquiesce my favourite Oasis song came on just as I entered which was nice. We timed our run to get here perfectly as we got served straight away but soon the queue was back to the door. The music was good throughout as Happy Mondays and Supergrass also featured. However the highlight here was the sign in the unisex toilet. I was still beaming at it when I came out, and Jane asked why. She’d missed it on her visit but went back in to check it out and it was worth her while.

We needed to head to the the market place next. On a bench are statues of Wallace and Gromit. Naturally I had to pose for a picture with them and recreated the walk from The Wrong Trousers as I left. I didn’t know that their creator was from Preston which I assume is why the naughty dog in A Close Shave has that name.

Penultimate port of call was Orchard. This is small and was very busy but we found the sole available table and got round it. Steve was the star of the show in here with hilarious anecdotes from his past.

Last up was Guild Ale House. We grabbed beers and I enquired about crisps and the barman relayed several flavours but black pudding jumped out at me. Not had that flavour before. Turns out they were black pudding and mustard and the m word was not referenced at the point of purchase, and this was the strong flavour but they were still good. Despite being English with a French granddad I don’t do mustard. I might have to start.

We headed upstairs and joined Dennis and Keith but before long it was departure time. We said goodbye to Jane (isn’t that a Slade song?) who was heading back to Blackpool but it was so good to see her. I boarded the coach and immediately checked the Walsall score to find out that we were 3-0 up at Grimsby. The coach was late departing and by the time it did we had won 4-1. Happy days to quote my great mate Josh.

As is tradition we stopped at The Holy Inadequate in Stoke on the way back. Apologies for the lack of pub exterior photo but last time I was fannying around taking shots and then of course was back of the queue with everyone off the coach. There was also a load of passing rugby fans in there along with the locals. This time I was third through the door and served straight away. By the time the queue died down I reckoned I could get another pint in before departure and threw in a pork pie too to make it worth paying by card.

We were soon back in Walsall. There was a great band on in Katz that I’ve seen twice before but opted not to go as I’m doing go sober for October. If you’re not familiar with this it’s a challenge and you’re not allowed to get drunk this month. I figured a few more pints would have me edging towards that kind of level so I opted to be a good boy and I was home in time for the Consumer Hour on LBC. Marvellous day.