February 2026. Stonnall. A rare new GBG pub double, and just a 20 minute stroll from Lazy Hill in the West Midlands down to Stonnall over the Staffs border. I am delighted to find I know nothing about Stonnall (pop. 1,546) so I use AI. Chat GPT tells me it’s the 3,756th dullest town on… Continue reading THE LONE TREE ON STONNALL HILL, A DISCARDED BLOSSOM HILL BOTTLE
A GREEN DUCK IN ALDRIDGE’S HOP STATION
February 2026. Aldridge. Walsall. No railway station in Aldridge (the curse of B******g), but plenty of buses from my secret campervan stop. I still made the schoolboy error of heading for central Aldridge, confused by Lazy Turtles and Hop Heads, and missing the main point that my target GBG pub was actually in a suburb… Continue reading A GREEN DUCK IN ALDRIDGE’S HOP STATION
ISOTONIC ALDRIDGE
February 2026. Aldridge. Walsall. What can possibly compete with a wet Sunday in Letchworth ? Why, a wet Tuesday in Greater Walsall, of course. Where would I rather be than a shopping arcade in Aldridge, ruminating on my culinary options. Pig & Potato from the Pig & Potato, Sizzlin’ Crispy Sweet Chilli Chicken from the… Continue reading ISOTONIC ALDRIDGE
YOU CAN NEVER WALK PAST LETCHWORTH SPOONS
February 2026. Letchworth Garden City. According to the times on my photos, I left my first Letchworth pub of the afternoon at 16:27 and entered my fifth at 17.29, which even by my standards is going some, particular with a detour to the old hosiery factory and some nostalgia thrown in. You’ll guess my last… Continue reading YOU CAN NEVER WALK PAST LETCHWORTH SPOONS
THE BLACK SQUIRREL
February 2026. Letchworth Garden City. I write my posts almost entirely chronologically (rather than thematically), because, oddly, that’s how my life tends to work. So, from the Arena to the Cinema, Letchworth’s Art Deco gem, “now showing Billy Goats Gruff“, who I presume to be a Biffy Clyro tribute band. North Herts is an emo… Continue reading THE BLACK SQUIRREL
BORING BROWN BITTER
February 2026. Letchworth Garden City. Just for you, a map showing all the things in Letchworth, a town rather changed from our time there 35 years ago. Notably, Sagar Tandoori where we ended our £40 Friday night splurge with a flaming sambuca is closed, not that I’d have been able to see it in the… Continue reading BORING BROWN BITTER
LETCHWORTH’S FIRST PUB
February 2026. Letchworth Garden City. Not a great day to explore Letchworth on foot, and apart from pubs and “Marty Supreme” at the cinema there’s not a lot to do apart from loiter in pubs, but you can’t visit and not see the old underwear factory. It’s now offices where people sit at desks and… Continue reading LETCHWORTH’S FIRST PUB
LETCHWORTH GOES “CRAFTY”
February 2026. Letchworth Garden City. If you can’t be bothered to read the next week’s deluge of posts, here’s the spoiler: Letchworth was really good, with a great variety of drinking establishments (I’ll let CAMRA debate whether they’re “pubs”). Start onLeys Avenue, the main shopping street; there’s a rambling furniture shop called Martin’s (clearance sale… Continue reading LETCHWORTH GOES “CRAFTY”
WOWSER ! THIS TRAIN STOPS AT LETCHWORTH
February 2026. Letchworth Garden City. The weekly visit to see Dad in his Cambridge care home found him in rude health, no doubt in part due to the food at Hatley Court, which is (genuinely) better than anything I eat these days. I’d hoped to use the weekends in Waterbeach to get a few ticking… Continue reading WOWSER ! THIS TRAIN STOPS AT LETCHWORTH
MORE SHEFFIELD MICROS BY TRAM. THE PIG & WHISTLE, GLEADLESS
February 2026. Gleadless Townend. Sheffield. I suppose it’s best to accept the inevitable…in 2026 we’re just not going to get any new Victoria/Edwardian multi-room heritage pubs. But there’s an infinite number of one room shop conversion micros to be developed in otherwise underpubbed suburbs. No more so than in South Yorkshire, where recent years have… Continue reading MORE SHEFFIELD MICROS BY TRAM. THE PIG & WHISTLE, GLEADLESS
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