A few of us are going for a boys weekend out to Southport this weekend, when I say boys 5 out of the 8 are OAPs and the other 3 are no spring chickens! Anyone any suggestions as to where to watch a bit of sport on the telly, like football and rugby, preferably with a nice pint of cask ale. Also decent pubs with a similar range of drinks. Thanks in anticipation.

Try The Bridge for a few beers and The Turf for the footy. No advice for Southport after that though. Sorry.

The Tavern by the train station.

I'd recommend Birkdale rather than the town centre. Great pub called The Park for the football, and a few nice wine bars and restaurants. All right next to Birkdale station.

The Swan Best fish and chips in the area just off Lord Street .Preston end

Might not be your cup of tea, but I highly recommend a walk on Crosby Beach, to take in the ‘Another Place’ (Anthony Gormley) collection. It’s only ten minutes further along the coast, then fresh doughnuts from off Southport pier!

jdrobbo wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 17, 2021 7:01 pm

Might not be your cup of tea, but I highly recommend a walk on Crosby Beach, to take in the ‘Another Place’ (Anthony Gormley) collection. It’s only ten minutes further along the coast, then fresh doughnuts from off Southport pier! 486F96D0-1DA5-4C20-ACB0-B64719870CDC.jpeg

Thanks, that’s on the list of things to see.

Avoid The Scarisbrick

The Victoria, on the front facing the lake. Good for sport.

Barlickclaret wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 17, 2021 7:13 pm

The Victoria, on the front facing the lake. Good for sport.

Sounds like it’s close to our hotel.

Claretincraven wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 17, 2021 7:45 pm

Sounds like it’s close to our hotel.

You stopping at the bliss hotel? It's right across from there.

jdrobbo wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 17, 2021 7:01 pm

Might not be your cup of tea, but I highly recommend a walk on Crosby Beach, to take in the ‘Another Place’ (Anthony Gormley) collection. It’s only ten minutes further along the coast, then fresh doughnuts from off Southport pier! 486F96D0-1DA5-4C20-ACB0-B64719870CDC.jpeg

Crosby beach is more like half an hour from Southport, you may be thinking Formby beach.

Barlickclaret wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 17, 2021 8:26 pm

You stopping at the bliss hotel? It's right across from there.

No, the Royal Clifton, which is a bit of a worry as it’s a Brittania Hotel and they seem to get nothing but bad publicity at the moment!

They might have improved with all the bad publicity, walk towards the bridge 50yrds past and the Victoria is on the front. Enjoy

https://phoenixpub.net/

Several cask ales. Big screens. Beer is defo good, we supply it.

Jamesy wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 17, 2021 10:39 pm

https://phoenixpub.net/

Several cask ales. Big screens. Beer is defo good, we supply it.

That was a place we had earmarked. Sounds good, thanks.

What made you pick Southport for a boozy weekend? I'd have gone to Manchester, or if you wanted a bit of outdoors stuff along with good pubs, I'd have headed to The Lakes. Each to their own, though. I'm just interested as to why you chose it.

Billy Balfour wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 18, 2021 5:44 pm

What made you pick Southport for a boozy weekend? I'd have gone to Manchester, or if you wanted a bit of outdoors stuff along with good pubs, I'd have headed to The Lakes. Each to their own, though. I'm just interested as to why you chose it.

A good question. It’s a get together that some have done for about 40 years. It started with trips to 5 nations rugby games, particularly Dublin and Edinburgh. It got progressively more difficult to get tickets to see games, it ended up with maybe 6 out of the 8 watching the game in a bar, so in1998 we decided to go to Benidorm for 7 night all inclusive for £199. That was quite a feat of endurance I can tell you. Apart from one further trip to Dublin all other trips have been to sunnier climes, usually for 3 or 4 nights. Oh, apart from a weekend in Scarborough when it snowed like hell when 4 of us went to a South Africa to watch the British Lions in later in 2009.
We decided to resurrect our tour after missing out last year, but in this country. Newcastle was suggested, but we thought it might be a bit lively for us. The oldest is a sprightly 81, 3 others are in their 70s, no one under 50.
2 or 3 decent pubs, similar with restaurants, and a place to put our head down on a night is all we need. It will mainly be remembering previous trips, and other trip members from years gone by.

Claretincraven wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 18, 2021 7:25 pm

It will mainly be remembering previous trips, and other trip members from years gone by.

Cheers for the post. Hope you all have a good time.

The missus and I go regularly to Southport for a night or a weekend away. There is now a direct train from Burnley. Nowt wrong with a bit of faded seaside glamour. Get down to Silcocks amusements on the Pier to play the Twopenny Falls !

As above, I would avoid staying at any of the Britannia hotels (Scarisbrick, Prince of Wales etc). There are ongoing plans to place over 300 new to area asylum seekers in the Britannia Metropole in Blackpool and it wouldn't surprise me if this is the plan for a number of their run down hotels. You would be much better off staying at the Premier Inn or Travelodge. The Vincent Hotel on Lord Street is very nice but a bit pricey.

There are plenty of good places to eat but decent pubs are a bit more hard to come by in town. There are two reasonable Wetherspoons but I would doubt they would be showing any sport.

Try the Lakeside Inn on the North prom. It's reputed to be the UK's smallest pub. Last time I went the beer was excellent. Looks like an old bus shelter. You'll probably fill it!

https://www.kalash.co.uk/

If you like a good curry try here on Lord St

claretonthecoast1882 wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 19, 2021 9:28 am

https://www.kalash.co.uk/

If you like a good curry try here on Lord St

A curry will very likely be on the menu. Thanks for the tip.

If you do go to see Gormley's statues of himself, watch where you walk. Went with my wife some years ago and we walked into quicksand. Ended up crawling out of it on our hands and knees and she had to go to Tesco for some new kex!