Pub Night Report 2025

Pub Night

Saturday 1st March 2025

Photo left: Roger Everett

It was with some trepidation that it was decided to hold the 2025 March Pub Night in Great Yarmouth. Some people have a real downer on Great Yarmouth. Yes, the seafront with its 'kiss me kwik' vibe is a bit naff, the streets behind run down and scruffy, Regents Road is full of tourist tat and the new market controversial. But, look beneath the surface and Yarmouth not only contains a vibrant and varied history but a few hidden gems that make real sense of the place. The Blackfriars pub, which was the venue for the event, is definitely one of these. Just down the road from the award winning Time & Tide Museum and tucked under the one of the old city wall towers, Pharez and the lovely Rachel have created a genuinely good, traditionally British pub and trust us - we know a good pub when we see one!

To work up an appetite for the delights to come, Cally offered a Yarmouth history walk in the late afternoon sunshine, meeting at the White Swan pub (a seafood heaven by the way, well worth a visit if seafood floats your boat) by the Yacht Station. Nine people came, voyagers on the tide of the past, to follow the route honed to include some of the most interesting (and unexpected) parts of Great Yarmouth. From the Suspension Bridge disaster of 1845, to St Nicholas Church and the bodysnatchers, past Anna Sewell's house and across the (controversial) market place passing the fishermen's hospital and on following the line of the old town wall, through the Market Gates and down to the famous Rows, an insightful and delightful history lesson which was fully enjoyed and appreciated by all. Mike Barnes added further information gleanedfrom his various tours, whilst Glynn, Hilary and Jimmy Wells added anecdotes from their years living locally.

Meanwhile at around 17:45 Jo, Tony and David had started the actual pub night off with a couple of rounds of some of the excellent ales on offer, and were very happy to see the history buffs arrive, educated and enlightened and full of praise of Cally's history lesson.

The pub had set up enough reserved tables for the whole party and soon everyone was seated with drinks and chatting animatedly about the walk, winter boat maintenance, global politics, electrical fires and the price of flights to South Africa. The Blackfriars don't offer a regular menu, but they do have a very excellent Wallace and Gromit pie making machine, and food duly arrived, really excellent steak or chicken curry pies with mushy peas, gravy and very, very good chips. As the evening wore on the party slowly diminished, until only the Sun Glories remained - we had a B&B round the corner so managed to stay until we were thrown out. A really very enjoyable evening was had by all.

I said at the beginning that some people have a downer on Yarmouth. As one of our members emailed later:

* What a great pub night - one of the best. I have to confess that I did not hold out much hope for the evening but wanted to come to support Cally. How wrong I was. Super, interesting, historical tour of Great Yarmouth and what a welcoming pub. We both thoroughly enjoyed the entire evening - Roger & Lesley Everett

So - shall we go to Lowestoft next year?!!!

Cally

Photo below: Roger Everett

Pub Night 2