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Away Days 23/24: Port Vale - The U’s Are Staying Up!

  Cambridge never do things the easy way. Only getting a point against Wycombe on Tuesday night meant relegation went down to the final day. The U’s found themselves in a favourable position, both Burton and Cheltenham had to win and Cambridge had to lose to go down. A point against already relegated Port Vale would be enough.  A 12:30 kick off meant an early start, we left The Abbey at 07:15. With over a thousand United fans making the trip to Stoke, the away travel buses were both double deckers! Although my excitement quickly faded, as I realised we were stopping at Norton Canes. Thankfully, it was pretty quiet there.  Security at Vale was tight. The steward even looked inside the hood of my hoodie! Once entry was permitted it was beer time.  Notice how there’s only one beer on sale? I asked the server for a beer and he asked me which one, I said you only sell one, to which he replied “oh yeah”.  The cruzcampo wasn’t great. Bland fizzy water.  The layout of Vale Park was weird. To g
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You Won’t Believe How I Spent St Patrick’s Day!

  Who doesn’t love a Sunday London beer? Heading back from Reading, we paused in London for some beers. We realised that we were proximal to Richmond, the home of Ted Laso. If you’ve not seen the show, watch it! The Prince’s Head is featured throughout Ted Laso. It’s the place where Ted and Coach catch up over an ESB.  The Prince’s Head is a truly stunning pub and the ESB was perfect. Ted Laso references are everywhere here:  Ted’s apartment As it was St Patrick’s Day we had to have a Guinness, so we headed across London.  This pub is special, despite being Greene King. Famous for pirates and pirate activities, The Prospect Of Whitby holds a little secret. Just look at this view:  The above is me attempting to be artsy. The Guinness was pretty good!  The Grapes is a short walk away and is owned by a celebrity actor. I’ve never seen and don’t plan to watch Lord of The Rings, so am only interested in the beer.  The Guinness wasn’t great. The view from the tiny outside bit was good though
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Away Days 23/24: Blackpool - If Brophy Scores, We’re In The Sea

  Normally when I’m in Blackpool, it’s creds which are on the agenda. There actually is a cred I need here, it’s on the South Pier and it was not open. I knew it was too much to ask for three of my favourite things to come together. Though I’ll take 2/3, those being an away day with a good pub.  I’ve decided that some parking spaces at The Abbey are cursed. My preferred space is now cursed after that night in Lincoln. To give Cambridge the best chance, I chose a new space at random and hoped it would bring some luck! I also forgot to take my usual photo of The Abbey…  We set off at 07:45 and stopped at Norton Canes, one of my least favourite places. Norton Canes is a rubbish services, it’s too small and can’t cope with any sort of demand. Therefore I was thrilled to see the coach parking nearly full as we pulled in. Preston and Southampton were already here and in great numbers. It was Gentry day for Preston fans, who dress up in top hats to remember the fans who have passed away. Sout
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Moose On The Loose at Siren Craft Brew & Elusive!

I finally got to visit my favourite brewery, Siren Craft Brew! Stationed in nearby Reading ahead of the football, I was looking forward to visiting Siren even more than the game. Hindsight states, that was a good decision. You can read the account of the away day  Here .  Elusive Brewing is across the road from Siren, so we headed there first. Always a good sign!  Elusive is certainly one of the smallest taprooms I’ve visited As a wise teacher once said, “judge me by my size do you”. It’s the beer the counts right! Right! Here’s what I started on.  It was delicious. Elusive had a decent range available:  I think between the four of us we completed the list. Friend of the blog, Tom, then arrived with a couple of mates. This allowed us to get a tradition group photo:  The glasses squad then decided that it was time to share some cans of impy. Imperial Morrisman and bourbon barrel aged Imperial Morrisman were available and to be honest, neither were great. Weirdly sour tasting impy beers.
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Moose On The Loose: Reading - Wise (ish) Men Follow The S For Good Beer

  I’m slowly catching up with the blog! Away day weekends equal pub creds, we all know that and Reading had lots waiting for us! I had been to Reading before, years ago. On that trip I ticked off two spoons and a couple of other pubs, not that I remember anything about those or Reading. Let’s get started!  The squad were arriving at slightly different times for this one. The Cambridge crew arrived first, and headed straight for the The Ale House:  Fun fact! You can see four coffee shops, from that little front garden! This is a decent pub. It’s got a classic interior and a good selection of beers. I opted for the Muntjac, and it was very nice!  After The Alehouse, the last member of the Friday night squad arrived. Taxi obtained, it was straight to Siren Craft and Elusive. I think I’ll save those for another blog. Let’s keep going with Reading.  After Siren, Nathan and I slipped off this station pub, owned by Fullers.  I channeled my inner BRAPA Simon, and went for an ESB. It was a very
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