Very occasionally I’ll go to a pub that I’ve been to before, or that isn’t in the Beer Guide. That counts as a major weakness when you’re doing the Guide pubs in your lifetime, like drinking at home or Beer Fests, but we’re all human. I can’t resist Bass in a pub, however unlikely it is… Continue reading NORTH WOOLWICH – FOREVER BLOWING BUBBLES
Month: May 2016
RYE – THE WELL OF LOW-NBSS
Rye is a small town of big beauty, which is why it seems to attract hordes of young and old French tourists at this time of year. Those, and a few more local visitors, were filling up an impressive collection of pubs when I visited from Hastings on Friday. I managed to walk the town,… Continue reading RYE – THE WELL OF LOW-NBSS
TOP 100 PUBS – THE JENNY LIND, HASTINGS
My Top 100 pubs are picked purely on merit, just like Beer Guide entries (#discountvouchers). However, I was glad I was able to confirm at least one of those pubs to be in Hastings, one of the great pub towns, a Ramsgate without the micros if you like. It’s also one of our most picturesque… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – THE JENNY LIND, HASTINGS
LET IT GO – A HIT TO THE HEART IN HASTINGS
There’s a real joy about hearing a great new song live for the first time, especially by a band you’ve never heard of in a pub. Let It Go by the Wildflowers is 2016’s first classic, a real tearjerker that had more one old bloke welling up a bit. “Well, that’s the hit of the… Continue reading LET IT GO – A HIT TO THE HEART IN HASTINGS
THE BEERY MISEDUCATION OF LAWRENCE HILL*
A last post from the South West for a month or so. After this week I’ve nearly finished the many Bristol Guide pubs, so time to concentrate on Cheltenham next. On our way back from Falmouth, we stopped at Weston-Super-Mare, where I gave my Mum and Dad a brief tutorial on the works of Banksy. … Continue reading THE BEERY MISEDUCATION OF LAWRENCE HILL*
BRISTOL’S KING STREET
Bristol is certainly in my Top 10 pub towns, just ahead of Sheffield but behind Ramsgate. I particularly like the spread of Beer Guide pubs across the city, though the outer eastern suburbs are a bit disappointing. I may be very lucky, but I’ve always found the pubs pleasingly busy, and if that’s often due… Continue reading BRISTOL’S KING STREET
PORTISHEAD’S NEW SPOONS – A GLORY BOX ?
Wetherspoons may be retrenching a bit, but their new (March ’16) pub in Portishead is a reminder of their ability to deliver what people want. Portishead is a smallish town in industrial, rather than beachy Somerset coast, and the development near the Marina is long overdue. Apart from our Premier Inn there’s a Sainsbury’s, Waitrose,… Continue reading PORTISHEAD’S NEW SPOONS – A GLORY BOX ?
POLDARK, PASTIES & PHILLACK
We’ve been visiting a few stragglers in inland Cornwall, on the way to completing the county’s Beer Guide entries before Simon Everitt gets off the mark. I’ve enjoyed the industrial landscape round here as much as the coast. The remains of the tin mines at Porkellis Moor near Helston were particularly attractive, if a bit… Continue reading POLDARK, PASTIES & PHILLACK
10 am, BLUE ANCHOR, HELSTON
I have one more wedding-skiving confession to make. During the post-legalities photos at Helston Registry Office yesterday, I nipped in the Blue Anchor. I didn’t get caught either. This is one of the great brew-pub survivors, a wonderful building, and one of the 25 entrants in the first 25 Good Beer Guides Mrs RM and… Continue reading 10 am, BLUE ANCHOR, HELSTON
IF CARLSBERG DID WEDDINGS
I’ve been at my niece’s Tricia’s wedding to Jon in Constantine, Cornwall. An informal affair in a greenhouse with beer pong laid on. Mrs RM will tell you I don’t do weddings; our own was cheap and minimalist (until we got to Southsea). It seems Tricia also realises that, love apart, beer and falafel are all you need.… Continue reading IF CARLSBERG DID WEDDINGS
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