If Manchester has a seemingly endless supply of potential GBG entries, the neighbouring city of Salford seems to have slipped a bit of late. Though it was never over-endowed with real ale pubs, as the WhatPub extract shows. In recent times we’ve lost the famed Crescent and Racecourse, and seen the Black Lion, Star, Salford Arms and… Continue reading A HOLT’S ACROSS THE IRWELL
Month: October 2017
MORE MANCHESTER GBG MAGIC
This years GBG is a curate’s egg. Some places. including perhaps our greatest beer town, see a revolution as longstanding trad pubs get replaced by micros and brewery taps open barely a year into their life. Other parts of the country, including much of central and North West London, see almost no change year on year. I’m not… Continue reading MORE MANCHESTER GBG MAGIC
FROLICS IN FEN DITTON
Mrs RM is coping quite well with the departure of our eldest son, but occasionally will shout “Need a drink” just when I’m finishing a blog post. A month into the new GBG year, and our nearest new Guide pub is already an hour away (in Milton Keynes). So here’s a trip close to home,… Continue reading FROLICS IN FEN DITTON
PETERBOROUGH – YOU BIMBLE INN, YOU BUMBLE OUT
Cambridge folk are supposed to be at war with Peterborough, something to do with a Dion Dublin hat trick in 1989, but I’ve always got on fine with the ones I understood. It appears I also have relatives in their fine city, so I will tread carefully here. Best known for their giant, KeyKeg friendly… Continue reading PETERBOROUGH – YOU BIMBLE INN, YOU BUMBLE OUT
WELBECK GETS A FOOTHOLD IN SHEFFIELD
Another new pub in Sheffield, this one visited while our Son was unpacking boxes (10 minutes) and setting up Wi-Fi (50 minutes) in his residences. It’s a 20 minutes stroll through the Botanic Gardens to Sharrow, or Ecclesall Road as you’ll know it better. Home to one of Sheffield’s many great clusters of pubs, including the Beer… Continue reading WELBECK GETS A FOOTHOLD IN SHEFFIELD
WHATPUB SNOBBERY IN THE BARNSLEY BORDERS
Pigs are in the news again, I hear (possibly not in Canada). Any excuse for a classic “pig head on the Barnsley pub bar” shot. I still can’t work out what it was for. Hotel prices in University cities always rocket up when students move in. As a revered “tight git”, this meant swerving the usual… Continue reading WHATPUB SNOBBERY IN THE BARNSLEY BORDERS
SEPTEMBER ’17 STOCKTAKE & OCTOBER PREVIEW
No month that starts with Car Seat Headrest at End of the Road and ends with a Slade fan being subjected to ambient weirdness at Indy Man can be deemed a disaster. Throw in a top pint of Draught Bass and you’re smiling. Music and beer festivals tend to eat into pub ticking, but 40 pubs from the… Continue reading SEPTEMBER ’17 STOCKTAKE & OCTOBER PREVIEW
INDY MAN ’17 – AMONGST WOLVES
Two competing blog posts to finish today; the monthly review and my annual reflection on Indy Man Beer Con, which at least this year I can remember. Once more, the Bath’s the Star. One of the great venues anywhere, and the main reason I come back each year despite telling you consistently that beer festivals… Continue reading INDY MAN ’17 – AMONGST WOLVES
BOING BOING BAGGIES BLOW HOT AND COLD
I appreciate I’ve kept you waiting more than a week for a match report on West Brom v Man City. Apologies for that, but City won. A new hero in Sane, and a new entry in the Guide for West Brom, but it’s not The Bromwic that I predicted last April. Instead, flying a lonely… Continue reading BOING BOING BAGGIES BLOW HOT AND COLD
WILLENHALL’S SCRATCHINGS MAN
Is there a finer sight in PubDom than a pint of Enville (OK, a half) settling in a glass (OK, it’s a Wye Valley glass) in front of a giant bag of Black Country scratchings in a pub playing ’70s soul classics ? I think not. But you’ll have to guess the soul classic from the following;… Continue reading WILLENHALL’S SCRATCHINGS MAN
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