Swinging along to the kind of old ballads that would flood the air at your nan's house when you were a child, the Newstead Abbey is a surprisingly friendly Smithdown pub with an obsession for darts and a low tolerance threshold for young 'uns asking for all the specific opening times on certain days. I hardly blame them. I irritate me.
The jockey of the decks (a.k.a the man sat at the back on the laptop) seemed to initially hate my guts when I shouted a request for a Johnny Cash song and it wasn't until I was on my way out that I realised he had tracked it down. His grin and pride as I thanked him summed up everything about the place. I'm going there Sunday. They have Play Your Cards Right. read more