A dry October filled with decent walking, pub going, and the conclusion of the Desperate Housewives boxset. Surely the best thing to come out of the US of A since Craft beer.
44 new pubs in 18 counties was a decent return, but the pubby highlight was a startling crawl round the unregarded Fenland town of March on a cold Thursday with my sister and cousin.
Not a pub, but Mrs RM’s first IndyMan was another highlight, a festival beautifully captured by Ouhouse.
More importantly, October had some great Draught Bass.
Pub of the Month – The Furnace, Hoyland
Everything I want in a pub. Chatty landlord, a variety of seating, an absence of food, high quality of beer. Hoyland is a great pub town.
The Bell in Whittington has the same qualities in a smarter village, as did the Bridge at Llanfoist, whose Twitter account is a gem.
Beer of the Month – Cornish Knocker @ Bird in Hand, Halstead 
Cornish Knocker in a Doom Bar glass ? My first NBSS 4.5 score of the year.
Discovery of the Month – Coventry Cathedral
My 100th trip to Cov and I finally went inside. It’s a marvel, as is the city now that the station access has been sorted out.
On a rare trip to the Abbey Stadium I saw the Cambridge goalie save two injury time penalties in a match otherwise notable for a spectacular lack of quality. City v Barcelona tonight will struggle to match the drama though.
But the highlight of the month for me was literary. Regular correspondent Tom’s blog is an allegory of the train as a metaphor for the human condition, and even if we are left with just the three fragments, what fragments they are.
In other news, Simon is back from his secret mission to Melbourne where he spent his evenings guarding the amber nectar.
In November I shall be tracking Tom down in a Cleethorpes Wetherspoons to attempt to secure the film rights to his blog, watching Swedish heavy metal in Camden, Australian folkies in Byker and weird Yanks in Oxford.
retiredmartin 
You have got me totally hooked Martin, both by your excellent Blog, and the notion that visiting pubs as a “destination” is socially acceptable ?! Previously I used the GBG as it is intended – a guide to help find decent ale in decent(ish) pubs on days out and on holidays. Now I am a GBG “ticker”. In my own unnasuming way I have visited 27 new GBG pubs in October, in 3 different counties (Lancs, Cheshire & Lincs). Wish I had been into real ale when I followed Wigan Latics around the country in the 1990`s though – I would`ve clocked some up !…
Off to Stockport for the first time this Saturday for the four famous one`s – the 2 NI, the local POY and the “viaduct one”.
Cheers
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I have suggested ticking the NI in the past as more achievable target than the GBG – and one that doesn’t change so much from year to year. Most of the pubs are well worth a visit, although a few are ones where you think “I really wouldn’t have come here if it wasn’t for the architecture”. That doesn’t include any of the Stockport ones.
I assume you mean the Arden Arms and the Swan with Two Necks. The Alexandra and the Nursery aren’t too far from the town centre either. Bear in mind that if you go before mid-evening, you won’t get a seat in the Arden if you’re not dining 😦
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Some of my best experiences in pubs have been in places that would never get near the NI, great book though that is !
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Of course, and likewise in pubs that would never get near the GBG. Some of which have also served great beer, although not in the right format or from the right breweries.
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Thanks for the info. We plan to get in here at midday and have our dinner there, so a seat is assured hopefully. Looking forward to it..
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I have got quite a few GBG’s but always found them to heavy to take on a pub crawl,so i lost interest in doing them,give me a proper all pubs guide which lists all pubs in the area you visit and i am happy.
My October stock Take is 46 new pubs visited,which means i have never set foot in them before,of those only 6 were keg only,the pubs were done in three counties,i dont have the faintest if any are in the 2017 GBG.
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There’s a lot to commend about doing all the pubs in a town Alan, wichis why I enjoy reading your blog.
46 new pubs is good going, presumably there’ll be a new post soon ?
neverendingpubcrawl.blogspot.co.uk
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Yes there is a new post on its way probably later this afternoon,it will be a bit different as i was using a bus service to do a few different villages and towns and it is a recent pub crawl done this year.
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