Between trips west, a day off from travelling to help Mrs RM’s foot rehabilitation with a modest walk in west Cambs. Burwell, like my own Waterbeach, is one of those “Fen-edge” villages large enough to have essential like pubs, Chinese takeaways and Droves leading into nowhere, while acting as a decent dormitory for Cambridge. Unlike… Continue reading ANCHORED IN BURWELL
Month: July 2017
POTTERING ROUND PEWSEY
Back to extolling the virtues of the English pub today, and the wonders of Wiltshire. A certain local brewery completes the alliteration but you’ll have to guess that. Wilts is a tricky county to complete. Many of the entries are in villages with temperamental bus services and “modern” opening hours. On the other hand, the… Continue reading POTTERING ROUND PEWSEY
WEST WILTS WOES
or “Fear and loathing in Bradford-on-Avon” Let’s get it over with, then. Beer quality, or lack of it, in upmarket pubs. I was reading the highlights of the first 10 years of Pub Curmudgeon recently and this post stuck out. It includes the classic line; “But you can only drink one at a time,… Continue reading WEST WILTS WOES
VROOM FROME
No, not a special edition to commemorate some bloke from Kenya overtaking some bloke from Ghent in our bicycling affections, but it could be, couldn’t it ? Into Somerset (just) for Frome, a South-Western Hebden Bridge, or at least a Todmorden. The reputation as a “Cool Town” is a bit odd given the decline… Continue reading VROOM FROME
MICK JOGGER IN MELKSHAM
If in doubt, add a cat. Even if it is a cat having a rest on a dustbin outside the pub you’re writing about. Porcelain cats remain a poor substitute. You might think our feline friend is the best thing about Melksham. And you’d be right. But a close second is the juxtaposition of the Labour… Continue reading MICK JOGGER IN MELKSHAM
GRADUATION DAY – A BOON FOR BATH’S TICKERS
I assume some folk read this blog for cheap accommodation tips. One of my major contributions to the NHS was telling people “No, you can’t stay at Malmaison, I’ve found you a perfectly acceptable replacement called Hotel F1“. I wish I was joking. Goodness know how businesses around Bath cope. Nothing for me under £80. Except… Continue reading GRADUATION DAY – A BOON FOR BATH’S TICKERS
STUNNING STAITHES
Simply because the photos are staring at me, here’s a report from rainy Staithes, one of my favourites places on earth (even if it is in Yorkshire). I always assume that everyone knows where Staithes is, so stunning is it on first sight, but it turns out more folk in my Cambridge village can locate the Cinque Terre,… Continue reading STUNNING STAITHES
IN A CAMBRIDGE PUB GARDEN
You’ll be relieved to know I’ve nearly finished my “What We Did On Our Holidays“* posts, just two to go. Taking a break from Hamburg craft and chaos, this a report on my return to cask on a Monday morning in Cambridge. The good news for the pub trade is that, while lunchtime drinking… Continue reading IN A CAMBRIDGE PUB GARDEN
HOORAH FOR HOLSTEN PILS
Writing about my ordeal of having to drink beer straight from the glass at Reeperbahn Beach, I remembered a time when Hosten Pils was pretty much the bottled beer choice, certainly in the dominant Greene King estate around Cambridge. On reflection it seemed the beer of choice for ladies in our group, before Brew… Continue reading HOORAH FOR HOLSTEN PILS
HAMBURG HIGHLIGHTS
Day 2 in Hamburg. Another 17 miles walked today, since you ask. I’m sure I’d have had more fun in the Reeperbahn on my own. You know, exploring rustic old pubs and hunting down rare beers like Holsten. But on the Monday we had to do the family thing of trudging round the centre in… Continue reading HAMBURG HIGHLIGHTS
retiredmartin 