Masked Marketing in Soggy Stafford

Hub Marketing Board happenings have been on an enforced hiatus due to the Covid pandemic, meaning the Chairman hadn't been sighted since going 'clubbing' around Wolverhampton back in February. However, you can't keep a good bald spot down so an emergency October session is called for - the result being an afternoon adventure over in Stafford trying to avoid the worst of Storm Alex...

- Yes folks, he's back! -

Six months or more on from their last meeting, Chairman D9 and Secretary WME are reunited at Wolverhampton railway station in the driving rain. The weather cannot dampen our enthusiasm for this much-anticipated outing and neither can the necessary Covid precautions, with Mr D9's facemask covering up the last vestiges of his lockdown beard (neatly shaved into some kind of goatee). The 12:41 Crewe train conveys us to Stafford where things are marginally drier albeit still with slate grey skies. 

- Snooker Memories at the Sandonia -

Initial Stafford photo targets include the Broad Eye Windmill (standing sailless beside the River Sow, it operated as a mill for 100 years before having a variety of subsequent uses including hosting a community radio station) followed on Foregate Street by the former Staffordshire General Infirmary. Sandon Road then allows the Secretary to get reacquainted with the Sandonia, an abandoned old cinema that also saw life as a bingo hall and a snooker club, the latter explaining the above depiction of a youthful Jimmy White. 

- Beardsmore bleach in the Four Crosses -

Our first pub of the Hub resumption turns out to be the Four Crosses, distinctly curving around the junction of Sandon Road and Marston Road in Stafford's North End. There is an Irish vibe here as we dodge the window cleaner and settle in with some John Smith's (Mr B Senior's favourite tipple of course). Keeping a close eye on the time, the Chairman sets his alarm in order to pay tribute to Two O'Clock Ken who was a bus company character noted for making prompt mid-afternoon getaways. 

- Glancing through the football ground gates -

The Marston Road area is actually well blessed for local boozers as the Joiners Arms and the Kings Arms (Peel Terrace) both strike us as being friendly community hostelries. Industrial heritage is evident in the form of the Stafford Box Company, converted into apartments but with a Carton Makers ghost sign still proudly showing. Another famous name in the vicinity has to be Stafford Rangers Football Club whereby a peek at the pitch puts the Chairman in peril of leaving his bald spot unprotected - oh dear!

- D9 escapes from HMP Stafford -

Founded in 1876, Stafford Rangers are a well known non league outfit currently plying their trade in the Northern Premier Division. After our brief look at the ground, Astonfields Road connects us once more with Sandon Road where the Tap & Spile has reopened as the Tap Steakhouse; it's just up the road from the Princess Royal, a basic Banks's type of place that secures the Secretary a deviously-deduced discount. Such skulduggery might potentially result in a stay at Her Majesty's Pleasure although we both manage to avoid becoming HMP Stafford's latest inmates. 

- Getting the go ahead in the Greyhound -

Thankfully we're still at liberty to proceed with the pubs and so the Greyhound gets its call to arms. Barely a stone's throw from the gaol, this free house rates highly with a quality drop of Farmer's Pale from the Bradfield Brewery near Sheffield. Mr D9 gets green tick approval by maintaining proper facemask and Track & Trace etiquette at all times, with every pub we visited going the extra mile to provide safe environments for their customers. These are tricky times and you do have to be careful but it is possible to be responsible, stay socially distanced and still have a lot of fun.

- Star & Garter Finale -

Talking of which, the Hub Marketing silly songs make a welcome return courtesy of Valerie Singleton (Solomon's Centipede) and the Fivepenny Piece (Keep Your Hand on Your Ha'Penny). Stafford Town Centre sees us stopping off for chips prior to a well-earned nightcap in the Star & Garter, a Wolverhampton Road watering hole that made the 2020 Good Beer Guide; our closing pint of Timothy Taylor's Landlord is certainly worthy of CAMRA recognition. All that remains is for us to catch the 18:44 train homewards and the long wait for Hub Marketing action is over - cheers!