September 2026. North Hykeham. Lincolnshire. Friday was a perfect day, and not in a corny Lou Reed charity single way. I drove down to see Dad, who despite advancing dementia was as chatty as he’s been for many months, was eating well, and had somehow acquired the Russian resident’s hat. I stayed a couple of… Continue reading THE BEER GUIDE PUB OPEN FOUR (4) HOURS A WEEK
A WHISTLE STOP IN GRANTHAM
September 2026. Grantham. A few new Beer Guide entries to break up the interminable slog up and down the A1, and a characteristically eclectic bag of Lincolnshire debutants in GBG27. The one place I didn’t expect a newbie is Grantham, a town I thought I’d done to death over the years, even stayed over in… Continue reading A WHISTLE STOP IN GRANTHAM
Do pork scratchings REALLY improve a pint ?
September 2026. Sheffield. There’s some great Proper Pubs™ just above West Street in Sheffield studentland (also home to its best Asian restaurants). Some, like the Grapes and Perch and Fagans flit in and out of the Beer Guide; the Dog & Partridge and Red Deer the perennnial entries. Until recently, when the Red Deer seemed… Continue reading Do pork scratchings REALLY improve a pint ?
FRESHERS WEEK
September 2026. Sheffield. The first few weeks after the publication of the annual Good Beer Guide are invariably a whirl of travel to the nearest towns to mop up the easy wins (ugh), the low hanging fruit (ugh, ugh) and get the closest counties pinked in. But then you come up against limiting factors like… Continue reading FRESHERS WEEK
ADMIRING PUB AI IN SOUTH ANSTON
September 2026. South Anston. South Yorkshire. Obviously I’m not actually aiming to complete the Beer Guide again; not sure I could afford all those helicopter flights and ferries in the final year anymore, never mind the stress. But I’m still visiting as many new Guide pubs as I can, and a bit more conscientous about… Continue reading ADMIRING PUB AI IN SOUTH ANSTON
NEW IN MANCHESTER ! NINUSH AT THE ABBEY
September 2026. Manchester. Apart from an essential haircut, I was also in Manchester to see Ninush, whose single “Neighbours” (not THAT one) is a modern classic. A gig at a rare pre-emptive tick in Manchester’s studentland, too, which I head for on the V2 bus, taking in the Oxford Road pub sights. Oxford Road is… Continue reading NEW IN MANCHESTER ! NINUSH AT THE ABBEY
A NIGHT IN A SALFORD HOTEL
September 2026. Salford. Two quick ticks by two in Flixton and Urmston, and I’m safely back from Trafford at Oxford Road station, where I decide this odd staircase is the highlight. I’d hoped to minimise the walking last Tuesday, but decide you can walk off a broken leg, so head through majestic Manchester to my… Continue reading A NIGHT IN A SALFORD HOTEL
CHAT GPT DEFENDS URMSTON
September 2026. Urmston. Greater Manchester. Mrs RM will confirm that my brain is wired a bit differently from most of the population, and only works when fed new experiences on a daily basis. Last Tuesday, that experience was a tour of unsung Greater Manchester (Trafford, strictly) suburbs. Having hobbled to Flixton, I took a bus… Continue reading CHAT GPT DEFENDS URMSTON
FOX ON THE RUN (HOBBLE) TO FLIXTON
September 2026. Flixton. Greater Manchester. By Tuesday I was itching at the bit to get out of Sheffield, determined to walk off that leg injury I don’t like to talk about. Ideal, then, that Flixton in the middle-class suburbs of west Manchester Trafford has the UK’s largest collection of crumbling pavements, commissioned to increase orthopaedic… Continue reading FOX ON THE RUN (HOBBLE) TO FLIXTON
TOP 100 PUBS – ROSE & CROWN, BRAMPTON, CHESTERFIELD
September 2026. Chesterfield. Having spent at least a tenner getting to the outer edge of Chesterfield for that Beer Guide newbie, and with the next nearest GBG tick a) an hour away or b) not open till Friday I decided to try an old favourite at random. One of the things you notice each September… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – ROSE & CROWN, BRAMPTON, CHESTERFIELD
