IN the latest of our Beer Hunter series we take a short walk across the town’s border and into Prescot and The Bard, on the corner of the High Steet.
The town’s first micropub is a friendly one-room boozer based in a former newsagents store.
The building has obviously changed significantly from then, but nevertheless one drinker fondly recalls buying his first air pistol from the old shop back in the day.
Deriving its name from the arrival of Shakespeare North, the bar offers a decent selection of ale in a tidy space with quotations from the Bard adorning the walls.
Prescot Cables were at home on the day of this visit and a stream of black and amber scarves headed to the nearby Hope Street ground.
Some pop in for a quick one, but on this occasion, there was apparently not as many as usually head in for a pre-match tipple.
The friendly face behind was confident that plenty will beat a path to the Bard’s door at the final whistle.
Hopefully he was right – places like this deserve custom. Not only was there a decent range from pale to dark beers, cask and keg, the barman was knowledgeable about the beers and an interesting conversationalist.
The first one to quench the thirst is a pale US Session Cascade-Eureka from the North Riding Brewery.
It is a light, refreshing drink at 3.8% and it slips down easily. There are other, much stronger light beers on the bar including a ‘Cloudy with a chance of hops’ from Keighley’s Wishbone Brewery. That’s a 5.9 per center, but I have a fair walk back to I give that a miss and have a dabble on Donkeystone Modern Bitter (4%).
The fourth of the cask selection on that day was a decent drink for an autumn day, Neddy – a rich 4.9% stout from the Donkeystone Brewery from Greenfield on the edge of the Peak District.
The obligatory cider option was a Thundering Molly while on keg there’s a selection on tap from the brewers Northern Monk, Top Monk, Beavertown, Tiny Rebel and Wild Beer.
Check the opening hours but it appears to be between 4pm-10pm weekdays, 2pm-10pm on a Saturday and Sunday.
Prescot is only a short ride away on the 10a – even closer for Rainhillers and Thatto Heathers – and the town itself is well worth a mooch around. And if you are there, it is worth a quick nip into the Bard.
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