Open Up!

We meet John at the St Pancras International station and boarded the 11:03 north - Steve was on-board too but we didn't meet him until we actually arrived at Luton.

(left) Tarmac your drive, missus?

In typical fashion, Lance had already been there since 10:30pm.

The Bricklayers' Arms is just a short walk from the station but unfortunately it doesn't open until noon - in common with far too many pubs these days in my humble opinion - and so we hung around looking kind of shifty until it did.

There was a decent choice of beer when we finally crossed the threshold - Everards Beacon and Tiger look to be the regular offerings plus three or four guest ales. We tried a pint of something from Westoe but it was a bit tired and past it's best. I moved onto the Mendip Mammoth which was a cracking session beer and kept me happy for the rest of the session.

The pub soon started to fill up - though I doubt it was for the MK Dons -v- Carlisle game on Sky.

Former Quaker Danny Graham put the Cumbrians ahead but it wasn't long before we were subjected to the gurning features of MK Dons chairman Pete Winkelman as the MK Dons won 3-1.

There is supposed to be another decent real-ale boozer not far from here, the English Rose, but we were so settled we decided to stay put until it was time for the game. Maybe next time - if there is a next time....