It’s a Blog ! Not a Log !

Only a couple more hours left of our holiday in Whitby, wishing we were here for another week to be honest, its been a good time at Squirrel Acres Cottage, had enjoyable evenings just sat on the sun terrace/veranda listening to the sounds of the wood and its many inhabitants, I’ve even shared my breakfast with a few of them.

I think I can say me, Mel and Blue have enjoyed the cottage more than the days out, its been so relaxing here, definatly helped recharge our batteries and destress from work, I’ll take home some nice memories, even the ones that involve being awoken every morning by the dawn chorus at 4:30-5:30am.

We spent our last full day here exploring the coast to the North of Whitby and found a very dog friendly beach at Sandsend and an even dog friendly pub the Hart Inn, which by the way serves the nicest piece of Gammon I’ve had the pleasure to consume in a very very long time, well presented as well.

After Sandsend we spent the last few hours of yesterday wondering round the shops of Whitby once more to see if we could pick up any last minute bargains, which I’m happy to say I did, and once again they were all from the local charity shops, I managed to get hold of a few graphic novels, some DVD’s and a couple more computer games, all of which were priced between £1.99 to £2.50.  In total I’ve come back from my hols with 3 graphic novels, 2 DVD’s and 6 computer games and I’ve spent a sum total of about £12, whicch aint bad considering most of these games were originally £20 odd pounds each, and they are’nt even that old, maybe a year and half at the most.

Think my mum has the right idea about charity shop bargains and I will now be sure to check them out more often

Anyway where do we go from here, well were heading to my mums in Market Weighton for Sunday’s Giant Bradley day celebrations, where we’ll be entering Blue in the Fun Dog Show and hoping that she gets another top 3 place like she has for the past 2 years, then on Sunday night we’ll probably head back across to Manchester for one last day of chilling and then alas on Tuesday its back to work, but less thinking of that and more thinking about booking this place again next summerb

P1060571, originally uploaded by BagRat.

Well were now into the 4th day of our holiday and we’ve managed to cram in visits to :

Whitby Abbey, which was a pleasant couple of hours spent walking round the remains of what at one time must have been a very imposing structure (still is I suppose) for such a small coastal town of the times, the views from the hill its built on give you some very good panoramic views over Whitby and the surrounding area.

Filey which once you’ve seen it you’ve seen it

Goathland, again a pleasant little village which seems to be making a living off the back of Heartbeat, just about every shop there is a gift shop, which is a shame, as I’m sure it would be nicer/quainter if it actually had some proper shops.

Becks Hole, home of what must be Britains smallest Pub, The Birch Hall Inn, nice place to stop off in for a beer and one of their hearty sandwichs and home made Pork Pies, dogs are welcome as well.

Grosmont, the place where the steam engine line starts and home of the steam engine workshops, you can go for a ride on one of the locally restored Steam Engines and experience a time gone by, theres also a nice little pub there just by the railway crossings that serves a very nice Beer battered Cod and Chips.

Pickering, which is a quaint little Market Town and also the end of the line for Grosmonts Steam Railway, theres a rather nice little bakery there that does lots of home made sweet and savoury pies.
The day we went there was a flea market on which had quite a few nice antique stalls for those who like that sort of thing, you’ve also got the remains of Pickering Castle, which sadly we did’nt get to explore as it not open on a Monday or Tuesday.

Probably going to have a drive to Scarborough today as it looks like its gonna be a sunny day indeed . .

Well this evenings post was going to be about the latest Odd bar . .  Oddest in Chorlton, however this is’nt going to be the case now, as the Doorman refused me entry, now why was this you ask, was I pissed ? was I being abusive ? was I wearing the wrong sort of clothes ?

Nope it was none of these things, they refused me entry because I wanted to sit outside with my dog and have a beer and something to eat, apparently only guide dogs are allowed with there owners to sit outside the bar  . . . .  lamest excuse I’ve heard yet, we were in there last saturday late  afternoon/early evening and no one told me I could’nt sit outside.

Of all the bars that let dogs sit outside during the day this is the only bar I know in Chorlton that refuses dogs in the early evening, whats really narking me is that just 2 weeks ago I was introduced to the owner of Oddest and she askedme if I’d be coming to the bar when it opened to which I replied yes but only if my dogs allowed as well, to which she replied yes Blue was allowed, so why 2 weeks later when we attempt to sit outside with friends already there are we told we can’t.

So dog owners/dog lovers be aware that apparently dogs are not welcome at Oddest after 6pm . . .

Disappointed to be honest as I thought Oddest might become one of mine and Blues new Saturday afternoon/evening haunts . .

For those who want to know which bars do allow dogs outside I can recommend :

Electrik Bar

Orlando’s

The Nook

The Adobe

The Bar

Pi-Chorlton

The Inn on the Green (Horse and Jockey)

View outside the Horse and Jockey

Spent an enjoyable couple of hours sat outside the refurbished Horse and Jockey Pub in Chorlton last night with Mel and Blue, Mel had been there for a bit of a celebratory meal with a couple of friends from work and as is usually the case I came along to be the designated driver.

Got to say very impressed with what Peter and Simon (the new owners) have done with the place, and looking at the amount of business they’ve got so is every one else, the food looks very tasty as well, must say I’ve only had the Twice Fried Chips so far, but Mel had the Smoked haddock with potatoes (Baked in double cream, fish stock and saffron with layers of sliced potato), which was apparently very very tasty, no doubt in the coming weeks I’ll eventually sit down and eat something there myself, at the moment I’m eyeing up the Slow roasted boned breast of lamb (Rolled Breast of lamb stuffed with rosemary, garlic, thyme and golden sultanas, slow roasted and served with a thick onion, fennel and red wine gravy), mmm now if that does’nt get the old taste buds moist I don’t know what else will.

The two gents now running the Pub Simon and Peter seem quite taken with our little Princess Blue and may have ideas about getting a Cane Corso themselves, seems they’ve fallen for Blue and her Chilled out Bar/pub vibes, be nice if someone else where to get a Cane Corso in Manchester and after speaking to the pair of them they seem nice enough guys to be owned by a Corso.

The best thing about the Horse and Jockey though is that its dog friendly, something which alot of pubs are’nt anymore, so me, Mel and Blue give it a thumbs up and check it out yourselfs and see if we’re wrong

Just had a feast of a tea from electriks, Bangers & Mustard Mash with a grand helping of gravy, comfort food if ever there was, and its all being slowly washed down with a couple of pints of Vedett, never had Vedett before tonight and I’m certainly liking it, seems they’ve ran out of Hoeggarden, so I’ll be on this for the rest of the night.

Anyway while I’m in here I’ll be uploading some videos to YouTube that I should of uploaded ages ago to be honest, so expect quite a few listed in my next post.

Now what can i tell you about the bar I’m in apart from the fact it sells good beer and good food, well its the brainchild of 2 of Manchesters finest . . .  Luke Cowdry & Justin Crawford, put togeather these 2 gents make up the Unabombers who together run The Electric Chair (Home of The Unabombers / Electric Chair nightclub).

They’ve turned what used to be the Revise bar into there Chorlton adventure “Electrik’s Bar”, its situated on the main road opposite the legendary 24hr off-licence A & S Booze and it’s certainly seems to have been embraced by the locals, as can be seem Friday and Saturday nights when it’s fairly rammed with people enjoying themselves.

They’ve certainy got a good selection of beers and spirits to keep everyone happy and to add to it all they’ve got a free jukebox, so no more looking for pound coins to put in it, though don’t expect to find anything commercial on it, its a bit of an eclectic mix of tunes from all styles and periods of music.

But for me the best thing is its a dog friendly bar and they definatly make Blue welcome, she’s even donated a dogbowl to them so she’s always got something to drink ouut of when she visits.

Gotta say our day out dog-walking at Delemere Forest was really good, got there about 11:00am and spent well over 3hrs just walking and walking and walking, all of us including Blue was thoroughly knackered afterwards, definitely intending visiting again, the place is a dog-walkers paradise.

Met lots of nice people while we were walking around who all took a keen interest in Blue, wanting to know what breed she was, did all Cane Corso’s look as adorable and where they all as chilled out as she was, best part of the day was when Blue got set upon by a pack of dogs, well I say set upon, more like slightly irritated by a pack of the dogs, the dogs in question were about 7 miniature poodle’s, they just sort skipped around Blue barking alot and letting her know they were in charge, all Blue did was sort of look at them in a bemused manner and just walk through them, dead funny to watch, as we walked away one the more determined ones chased after Blue for one final bark, where upon Blue just turned round and still looked bemused, only wish I’d caught it all on camera.

We finished off the day at a very nice pub in Little Leigh, called of all things the Leigh Arms, cant recommend this place enough, really good service, absolutely gorgeous food, the Lamb Henry was to die for and best of all its dog friendly, will definitely be popping in there again on our next visit to Delemere

Now that’s what I’m talking about . . , so where am I enjoing this value for money breakfast . . .

Orlando’s Bar in Chorlton of course, where else would I be on a Saturday morning.

So what is the £3.95 breakfast made up of then:

2 x Rashers of bacon
1 x Sausage (Very tasty sausage indeed)
1  x Fried Egg
1 x Hash Brown
1 x Portion of Baked Beans
1 x Portion of Tomatoes
1 x Portion of Mushrooms
1 x Black Pudding
1 x Sliced toast

Not bad for £3.95 and you get to eat it in lovely surrounding, where the music is conducent to relaxing while eating and as usual the staff are friendly and fun.

Orlando’s is also doing a full Roast Dinner for £4.95, something I’ve not sampled as yet, but will probably give it a go tomorrow and let you know what  thought of it, but for now I’m going to enjo my breakfast.

turned out well, met Zoe and her partner who are the proud owners of this new live music venue in Stretford and have to say myself and John had a very good time indeed, got to see 2 of the bands who played that night before we headed to Chorlton for a few, though it would seem we obviously enjoyed the Green Windmill a lot more then we thought, because after just 2 drinks in Chorlton we were soon making our way back there.

The Green Windmill is’nt just a place to see live bands it’s also a good place to meet up with friends as it has 2 bars, one situated on the ground floor where the you can arrange to meet your mates and have a chat and a few beer’s and then you can head up to the 1st floor bar where the stage is situated and then just kickback and watch the bands play while enjoying the numerous beers, lagers and spirits the venue has to offer, I’ve also heard they may even be starting to serve food in the not to distant future, but this is just a rumour so don’t hold me to it.

I must say that the joint owners of The Green Windmill and the staff who work there are indeed an enthusiastic group of people who through there love of live music taken on the ghost that was the Moulin Rouge bar and turned it into the place it is now . . . a very good live music venue and a very friendly bar, I can only see things getting better for this place and will definitely be visiting again and be telling my friends and anyone who’ll listen to check this place out.

Below you’ll find the link to some of the photo’s I took of the night, quite a few are blurry so bear with me ( I was a little bit pissed I’m afraid).

The GreenWindmill
Originally uploaded by BagRat

is by far the best meal I’ve had in ages, could have eaten it twice over and probably will one day, but in the mean time I’m going to recommend that if your ever in Chorlton you check this bar out, my first impressions of Orlando’s when it first opened where to say the least a little harsh, but this bars definitely grown one me and Mel, as for Blue she loves it, but that could be down to the bar staff of Martin and Marcus feeding her sausages all the time (Blue say thxs by the way).

The menu at Orlando’s is very extensive at present but it seems to be growing as the weeks progress and if the past few times we’ve eaten there is anything to go by, anything else they put on the menu is bound to be good.

Definitely think this bar’s going to grow on the Chorlton crowd as it has done with us and we live in Urmston so it must be good.

Should also recommend you check out the Curried Goat as well, both this and the Jerk chicken are marinated overnight in the spiciest sauces I’ve ever tasted.

They’ve now got a website up and running and you can check out there menu’s here

Anyway make sure you check the place out and say Blue recommended it