August 2026. Frome. I can’t remember why we started our Proper Pub Crawl/Curated Survey of Licensed Premises* at the Blue Boar. Oh yes, it opened at 10am. We live in a world where many pubs don’t open till 4pm (if at all) during the week, noon if you’re lucky, so the value operators like Wetherspoons… Continue reading 3 1980 BLONDIE HITS IN A ROW. THE BLUE BOAR, FROME
DON’T BE LATE FOR THE LEAT ! FROME AWAITS
August 2026. Frome. Somerset. A weekend in student digs in Bath, with the centrepiece a Saturday pubbing in Frome, guided by local celebrities Jon and Tracey. “Froooom. Throwm. ANiceTotnes. However you pronounce it, Frome is a gem”, I wrote on my last visit in March 2020, just before something cataclysmic happened. I’m veering towards “A Nicer Totnes” to… Continue reading DON’T BE LATE FOR THE LEAT ! FROME AWAITS
DOOM BAR IN TWERTON
August 2026. Bath. I’d opted for a couple of nights down in Bath, a little luxurious but the student residences on the edge of town were cheaper than a Doncaster Travelodge, Twerton Mill’s riverside rooms near Bath City FC spotless and (most importantly) with high-speed Wi-Fi. OK, they’re also half an hour’s walk from actual… Continue reading DOOM BAR IN TWERTON
THE TRADITIONAL SHARING OF A JUG OF BASS IN THE BATH STAR
August 2026. Bath. I arrived back at Isambard’s (quite good) statue with 5 minutes to spare, and half an hour later was clambering the Paragon steps on the edge of central Bath. You must know this one. A symphony in brown dark red, where Stafford Paul awaited with the sacred jug of flat Bass. I’d… Continue reading THE TRADITIONAL SHARING OF A JUG OF BASS IN THE BATH STAR
ONE OF THESE DAYS I’LL ACTUALLY GO IN THE HIGHBURY VAULTS AGAIN
August 2026. Bristol. My train to Bath left in 50 minutes time; Google reckoned 54 minutes walk from the Port of Call to Temple Meads, which gave little time for dawdling on the descent through Cotham Hill. And so, once more, I could only pause at the Highbury Vaults, and marvel that they still have… Continue reading ONE OF THESE DAYS I’LL ACTUALLY GO IN THE HIGHBURY VAULTS AGAIN
ALI G, OTTER, AND A RAPID DESCENT FROM CLIFTON
August 2026. Bristol. I’ll show my deep ignorance of suburban Bristol now and admit I don’t really know the difference between Clifton Village and Clifton proper, about 50p on a pint I guessed. Yes, there are buses I could have taken, but then I’d have missed the closed zoo, Clifton Down looking like a scorched… Continue reading ALI G, OTTER, AND A RAPID DESCENT FROM CLIFTON
NEW (IN) BRISTOL
August 2026. Bristol. It’s been a while, but I finally managed a trip outside that brutal Manchester-Midlands-Cambridge-Kent corridor last weekend. A choice of routes down to Bath, and the one stopping at Oxford would have been ideal except the pub there didn’t open till 2pm and I needed to be at the Star for 4.… Continue reading NEW (IN) BRISTOL
BATEMAN XXXB AT THE VINE. THE ALTERNATIVE SKEGNESS
August 2026. Skegness. Lincolnshire. We stayed at The Vine, as we did back in 1999 when our 6 month old cried through Roger Protz’s dinner in the oak panelled dining room. A week later we found out James had a hernia, bless him. I’m not sure if this Best Western even is the smartest place… Continue reading BATEMAN XXXB AT THE VINE. THE ALTERNATIVE SKEGNESS
VIVA SKEG VEGAS
August 2026. Skegness. Lincolnshire. Obviously Skegness isn’t the most newsworthy east coast seaside resort this week, what with alien bins* competing for our attention, but I was genuinely keen to discover why the trains from Sheffield and buses from Lincoln seemed so packed in Summer. Previous visits I remember had been Autumn ’94, Winter ’99… Continue reading VIVA SKEG VEGAS
THE JOLLY FISHERMAN
August 2026. Skegness. Lincolnshire. A Sunday night in Skegness, my first ever Summer visit, and no better time to see the real heart of the seaside choice of the entire East Midlands. I’d been looking at a train from Sheffield but a) it’s £54 before railcard, b) takes over 3 hours, c) the carriages are… Continue reading THE JOLLY FISHERMAN
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