And it came to pass that Blackburn’s Wetherspoon’s pub, The Postal Order, has opened up a brand new beer garden.
This facility is next to the pub across from where Dandy Walk meets Darwen Street. It is situated on consecrated land, owned by the Church of England through Blackburn Cathedral. So not only real ale but spirits are also likely to be in good measure.
For many years people have said what they were missing at the Posty was a proper beer garden. Those existing tables and seats in front of this pub just don’t really give you a sort of ambience and relaxation in a similar way to what a beer garden can provide. In fact sitting on these front seats can often lead to racing pulses, watching police cars, ambulances and taxis speeding down Darwen Street.
This would have been just what the doctor ordered when lockdown started coming to an end a couple of years ago. Blackburn’s drinkers could have enjoyed a pint sitting outside then, rather than having to do without during this terrible time when the Posty wasn’t able to allow punters inside.
But better late than never and there is a now a brand new facility where you can have a sit down and be entertained by an angelic sound of bells ringing and chiming, also a heavenly kind of karaoke, with people singing to the accompaniment of an organ every Sunday.
Strangely enough, this new beer garden site may be quite near if not actually on part of the site of where Blackburn’s old County pub used to be situated. This was a Lion house, if my fading memory serves me right. It only ever received one visit from me during my teenage salad days. Unlike the early Christians, I was drunk but never stoned. In 1979 the County’s walls went the same way as those of Jericho.
When the County went from dust to dust, it was a different story across Dandy Walk. Our Postal Order was still serving its purpose from where this pub’s name originated. After many years as Blackburn’s main post office, it didn’t become a Wetherspoon’s hostelry until 1996.
Now we have a situation where these two buildings, Blackburn Cathedral and the Postal Order, have two different objectives. One wishes to look after your virtues, the other your vices. With a brand new beer garden, hopefully this marriage between the Cathedral and Posty will be one made in heaven. Definitely a case of love thy neighbour.