WIDNES-based writer Mike Critchley has been on a fascinating journey through the pubs of the British Isles for the past 42 years – and now he has published his colourful personal account in a new book.
Since turning 18, Mike has recorded and graded every new pub he has visited in a little blue notebook; from spit-and-sawdust backstreet boozers to majestic Victorian drinking palaces.
And now he recalls many of those highlights and the odd low point from that ‘never ending pub crawl’ in Happy Hours: A Great British Pub Diary.
The book features potted histories of some of Britain’s finest buildings, observations of legendary landlords and landladies, recollections of colourful elbow-bending customers and an appreciation of good beer.
Watering holes in Widnes, Warrington, St Helens, Wirral and Chester are among the 175 pubs he features in Happy Hours, with 20 of his favourite Liverpool boozers highlighted in the 320-page book.
In there he lists Liverpool's Ye Cracke and Peter Kavanagh's, Manchester's Marble Arch, Whitelocks in Leeds, Belfast's Crown and Newcastle's Crown Posada among his all-time favourite drinking dens.
It is not a guidebook nor is it simply a list of reviews, rather it is a journey from 1984 onwards, that weaves in many personal anecdotes and social history in a book charts significant changes to the way people drink and the world about us.
Mike said: “I enjoyed writing this book so much as it allowed me to revisit and reflect on the many stages of pub going that most drinkers go through in their lives.
“There is a pub for everyone and all seasons – and hopefully it will raise a smile and stir a few memories among those with similar experiences.”
He highlights the fact that that the country has lost a quarter of its public houses since the turn of the century and the British Beer and Pub Association’s revelation that the rate of closure earlier in the year was around one a day.
Mike adds: “I had to write this book.
“At a time when we are losing pubs hand over fist due to a multitude of reasons, this book is a reminder of the importance of these wonderful institutions and community hubs, and the role they play in society.”
Happy Hours – A Great British Pub Diary is the author’s fifth book with his previous one being Steve Prescott’s autobiography.
Priced at £14.99, the book can be ordered from Scratching Shed Publishing Ltd or on Amazon.
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