Hook Norton was one of the breweries that weaned me off Greene King IPA in my twenties. Mrs RM and I used to come across Hooky quite a bit on our Midlands trips, well before it became a national beer and then got ignored like 6X has. We visited the brewery with my Sis (actually… Continue reading GOOD AND BAD IN HOOKY LAND
Month: May 2016
BBB AND BASIC PUBS IN BUCKS
I’ve been driving Mrs RM round a few new pubs in the Northants/Bucks borders, so not much beer scoring, but some unexpectedly basic pubs around Brackley and Buckingham. I can’t say Twyford is the most exciting village I’ve ever been to, but then it is in a Milton Keynes postcode. Just looking at my Navigator… Continue reading BBB AND BASIC PUBS IN BUCKS
NORTHAMPTON – BASIC PUBS, NOT A LOAD OF COBBLERS
I finished Northamptonshire’s Beer Guide entries on Saturday (technically Mrs RM did but I took the photos). It’s not that big an achievement for me, though Simon will find the logistics a bit tougher than Bedfordshire when he gets onto “N” in 2023. There are a number of remote pubs to the west, south of… Continue reading NORTHAMPTON – BASIC PUBS, NOT A LOAD OF COBBLERS
WILD BEER & TEKUS IN CHELTENHAM
I found the smart side of Cheltenham easily enough in the morning; it’s always enjoyable strolling round Montpellier and there’s a bit of the ancient old town left though if you look hard enough. I was feeling very scruffy by the time I’d walked down Montpellier Street and the Royal Parade Mills, and the new Wild… Continue reading WILD BEER & TEKUS IN CHELTENHAM
A SLUMMERS GUIDE TO CHELTENHAM
I stayed in Cheltenham last night, largely so that I no longer had the embarrassment of not having been to the National Pub of the Year. I also wanted to get to grips with a town that never seems as posh as its reputation, particularly if you’ve even been to Whaddon Road or the Adam… Continue reading A SLUMMERS GUIDE TO CHELTENHAM
SANDFORD PARK ALE HOUSE, CAMRA PUB OF THE YEAR
I’m in Cheltenham finishing off northern Gloucestershire. It is a mixed experience which I’ll tell you about tomorrow. The CAMRA national Pub of the Year is as good as you could hope for though. Looking back, quite a lot of POTYs seem to win the award a couple of years from opening, having first won the regional… Continue reading SANDFORD PARK ALE HOUSE, CAMRA PUB OF THE YEAR
AMBER TAVERNS GET IT RIGHT IN WORKSOP
One of the surprises in St Helens the other week was the quality of the Unicorn in the Market Tavern, a straight-forward opened up town pub serving a lot of JS Smooth and Fosters. Owners Amber Taverns have over a hundred pubs now, mainly in large industrial towns in the cheaper parts of the Midlands and North (the… Continue reading AMBER TAVERNS GET IT RIGHT IN WORKSOP
MRS RM SURVIVES HUNTINGDON’S CROMWELLIAN LEGACY
The post retirement deal with Mrs RM seems to be that I cook, take her to East Anglia’s delightful market towns, and do the arduous work of ticking pubs in grim Northern towns on overnight trips. It’s not a deal she’s happy with, so her Grand Design to build a flat pack house in Preston continues.… Continue reading MRS RM SURVIVES HUNTINGDON’S CROMWELLIAN LEGACY
BROMSGROVE NAILS IT
My trip to Charlton yesterday was my first there in a while. It’s not a place you’d ever pass on the way to anywhere else. A bit like Withernsea. In contrast, I seem to be whizzing past Bromsgrove on a monthly basis these days on the way down to Somerset and Cornwall. Occasionally I use… Continue reading BROMSGROVE NAILS IT
CHARLTON – HAPPY VALLEY ?
South-east London has some great urban countryside, and some very decent pubs when you track them down. I had one new Guide pub on Shooters Hill (the A2) and an old favourite on nearby Plumstead Common to visit, but to make a 15 miler out of it I added in Charlton. Unexpectedly, it was quite… Continue reading CHARLTON – HAPPY VALLEY ?
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