The original plan was to have a quiet relaxing day at home with the cats - the thought of visiting Shrewsbury's new stadium and the prospect of yet another defeat was not something I really fancied - but when I learnt that Rotherham were playing Notts County a plot started to hatch.
Even at short notice, I still managed to get cheap rail tickets (£30 first-class return) - Colin and Brian found out about my plans and said they'd be happy to join me - Lance was game too - and in the end it turned into a mini-DAFTS away day without the hassle of actually watching a game.
(left) Lance and London Miller rudeboy Roberto in the VAT & Fiddle
I left St Pancras nice and early as I quite like a wander around the shops in Nottingham but unfortunately my main retail target, independent record store Selectadisc, was closed. I made do with a much poorer choice at HMV and then headed off to the pub.
It was no surprise at all to find Lance sitting outside the VAT & Fiddle as opening time approached - the pub cat also waiting with him.
The VAT has been the DAFTS pub of choice in the city for quite a few years now - good beer, decent snacks, friendly locals and welcoming to away fans - although the pub cat did prove resistant to our combined charms and sat elsewhere.
DAFTS had missed out on our annual visit to Nottingham this season since the game was midweek so this presented the perfect opportunity to put this right.
Even at short notice, I still managed to get cheap rail tickets (£30 first-class return) - Colin and Brian found out about my plans and said they'd be happy to join me - Lance was game too - and in the end it turned into a mini-DAFTS away day without the hassle of actually watching a game.(left) Lance and London Miller rudeboy Roberto in the VAT & Fiddle
I left St Pancras nice and early as I quite like a wander around the shops in Nottingham but unfortunately my main retail target, independent record store Selectadisc, was closed. I made do with a much poorer choice at HMV and then headed off to the pub.
It was no surprise at all to find Lance sitting outside the VAT & Fiddle as opening time approached - the pub cat also waiting with him.
The VAT has been the DAFTS pub of choice in the city for quite a few years now - good beer, decent snacks, friendly locals and welcoming to away fans - although the pub cat did prove resistant to our combined charms and sat elsewhere.
The landlord asked if we were here for the football as he'd heard that there could be up to a couple of thousand Rotherham fans coming through. It was nice to say that f0r once we were only here for the beer.
Castle Rock have added one of my favourite beers, Screech Owl, to their line-up of permanent brews after winning quite a few awards. Their seasonal ale, Raptor, was also very good - a 6% stout that was packed with flavour.
In addition they had a couple of decent guests, including the Salopian Hop Twister - a golden ale - this one having more taste to it than many of the bland exponents of this style.
An interesting pub on the top of a bank, formerly belonging to Batemans, it has a very deep cellar which you can peer down into through glass portholes from the main bar.
This now looks to have been turned into a business park so it still looks very much intact, much as it probably did when it closed in 1991 after almost 140 years of brewing.
At one corner of the site we found the Horse & Groom which was once the Shipstones brewery tap but is now a free house.
(left) Horse and Groom
Colin and I continued with the dark beer theme of the last few beers and tried Guerrilla, a stout from the Blue Monkey brewery whose wares I'd first tried in Crewe earlier this year - very nice - as well as the Ruby Mild from Rudgate.
Up to this point we had been blissfully unaware of any football scores and it rather a shock to discover that the Quakers were currently winning at Shrewsbury with about 20 mins to go!
Suddenly all the match-day tension we'd avoided started to set in and we started to fret until Sky Sports reported that Diop had made it safe with a second goal.
(right) Fox and Crown and the Sherwood Forest mural
After a brief chant of "Two nil to the Darlington" - somewhat confusing the locals in the process - we supped off and headed back into the centre of Nottingham and onto the Newshouse.
The pub was already full of some Rotherham fans who were not well pleased as the Millers had lost to a late, late goal scored by bad boy Luke Rodgers.
Colin did his best to try and comfort them by saying Darlo had taken some points from their play-off rivals but I'm afraid they weren't very impressed - not even when he got his little team out.
In addition they had a couple of decent guests, including the Salopian Hop Twister - a golden ale - this one having more taste to it than many of the bland exponents of this style.
Brian joined us - followed soon after by Liz and the combined hordes of the London Millers - Lance and I moved to join them all as they'd settled at the other side of the pub. Colin wasn't far behind in joining us.
After a few more beers and much badinage, we left Lance in the care of the LMs and headed to the station and hopped onto the tram. Our next destination was the Lion at Basford which is next to Shipstone Street tram stop.
An interesting pub on the top of a bank, formerly belonging to Batemans, it has a very deep cellar which you can peer down into through glass portholes from the main bar.
It has a very good selection of ales: Mallard Webbed Wheat, Castle Rock Harvest Pale, Titanic Stout, Batemans XB, Bottlebrook Obsession, Slaters Top Totty, Messrs Maguire Haus Lager, Crouch End Fallen Angel and Thornbridge Lord Marples.
We had the Obsession, a 5.4% porter and the Fallen Angel - both in excellent condition.At this point Colin suddenly remembered that there was another good pub nearby so we moved on and took a short walk past the old Star brewery.
At one corner of the site we found the Horse & Groom which was once the Shipstones brewery tap but is now a free house.This is a beautifully maintained pub both inside and out - again with a great range on tap - and it was a delight to visit it.
Colin and I continued with the dark beer theme of the last few beers and tried Guerrilla, a stout from the Blue Monkey brewery whose wares I'd first tried in Crewe earlier this year - very nice - as well as the Ruby Mild from Rudgate.
We sat in the empty snug where Colin took the opportunity to show us his latest pride and joy - a new Darlo table soccer team, resplendent in a silver attache case.
After taking a few snaps of these, we drank up and headed to our final destination at this end of the city.
The exterior of the pub has a splendid mural depicting Sherwood Forest and local hero, Robin Hood.
There were several of their own beers available - Brush Bitter and Windjammer - plus a range of guests beers. I had another stout but can't remember what it was.
Up to this point we had been blissfully unaware of any football scores and it rather a shock to discover that the Quakers were currently winning at Shrewsbury with about 20 mins to go!
Suddenly all the match-day tension we'd avoided started to set in and we started to fret until Sky Sports reported that Diop had made it safe with a second goal.(right) Fox and Crown and the Sherwood Forest mural
After a brief chant of "Two nil to the Darlington" - somewhat confusing the locals in the process - we supped off and headed back into the centre of Nottingham and onto the Newshouse.
This is another Castle Rock establishment but one I'd never got the chance to try before now - it is one of those annoying pubs that opens at noon instead of 11am.
The pub was already full of some Rotherham fans who were not well pleased as the Millers had lost to a late, late goal scored by bad boy Luke Rodgers.
Colin did his best to try and comfort them by saying Darlo had taken some points from their play-off rivals but I'm afraid they weren't very impressed - not even when he got his little team out.
Whilst we were chatting to these lads the London Millers arrived and proceeded to have a collective moan about the result - I left them to it as I didn't want to intrude on their personal grief.
I was on a set train home and so wandered off to the station - closely followed by Liz and fellow Millers Clarkey and John K who were on flexi-tickets but were keen to be home too. Rather than sit on my own in first class I deigned to join them and the time soon passed.
All in all, another good day out - good company, good pubs, good beers and a good result even if we weren't there to fully appreciate it.
(above) Colin's First Team
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