A journey of 937 miles starts with a single 45 minute hold-up on the A14, and a mammoth series of posts on the North-East* starts at unheralded Morpeth.
I’m not suggesting Mrs RM is only useful in supporting my pub going, but her six month stint at Scottish Borders Council has been instrumental in helping us clear the northern counties. Thank you, Mrs RM.
We hadn’t been to Morpeth since the days when we could entertain our boys for hours in industrial Northumberland towns like Newbiggin-by-the-Sea and Seaton Sluice just by kicking a plastic football into the sea and getting them to fetch it. There were tears in Blyth when the Jabulani** floated off to Norway.
Of course, for most of the south (below Stoke-on-Trent) Northumberland means a Cold Feet episode set on Holy Island, posh B&B by the sea, and Aln-Harry Potter-wick. Not that anyone in Waterbeach could find Northumberland on the map.
In contrast, Morpeth is a minor mystery. You’re greeted by turrets and topiary at the entrance to Carlisle Park, one of the UK’s best.
Small towns with multiple bridges are great; you could almost be in Franconia here. Except there the micros would be open all day.
It’s a gorgeous place, if not one to maintain the attention span of a ten year old and eight year old.
Back in 2010 the two Beer Guide pubs were the very basic Joiners Arms,
and the scarcely less basic Tap’n’Spile, pleasingly still surviving under that name.
I know you can’t judge a town by its GBG entries (see: Alnwick), but we were staggered by how posh the High Street is now.
Even the Lollo Rosso (packed on Monday night) had a posh personalised mobility scooter outside.
And the Beer Guide newbie the Office had a rather younger clientele than your average micro, albeit the same hours. Lovely clear sign outside though.
This reminds me of the Bankers Draft in Pendle, more a characterful small pub than a manic micro, with (gasp !) younger couples. OK, 49 is young to us.
Mrs RM grabbed the last proper table and expected me to make a decision for her.
Really, in the absence of Bass, how would you choose between those beers ? I visit 600 ale-focused pubs a year across the country and I’d never heard of any of them. Perhaps that’s the point.
My notes say “Two by Two”, probably the pale one on the left. Russ will work it out. Tasty, lacings, NBSS 3+, what more can I say.
Mrs RM liked the place, and I had to buy her the Almasty grapefruit murk (yum !) you see at the top while I finished my first of umpteen soda waters. “Did you shake it ?” she asked.
Oh, and they really did say “Wey aye”. Really.
*By the end of May you’ll be tired of reading “Wey aye pet”.
** Timely cultural reference there for our North American readers.
retiredmartin 
Are you sure that murk is not carrot soup ?
I shall be forever grateful to the North-East because of course we knew something was up on that fateful night when the result came in from Sunderland ( he said careful avoiding the B-word.)
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Bollinger ? Beastiality ? Brittany ? All bad words.
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Brittany is a bad word ? What has Brittany ever done to you ?
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You never met her.
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Confession – I care little about the murk. Just don’t drink it. It tasted good to me,
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All I previously knew about Morpeth is that it has a curve.
Mention of “south (below Stoke-on-Trent)” suggests that there isn’t a Midlands which is nearly as serious as saying that Stockport is in Manchester.
That’s a nice photo of you taking an interest in a window and Mrs RM not being interested in windows, maybe even finding them a bit of a pane.
Surely ‘The Office’ can’t be a micropub as it is open both Monday and Tuesday, or more likely the sign is wrong.
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Richard has just reminded me the bit that isn’t the North or the South are strictly the Basslands.
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“maybe even finding them a bit of a pane.”
Well, if nobody else will…
(slow golf clap) 🙂
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That’s a very timely and useful photo of the Castle, Martin – we’re going to a garden party there tomorrow for a friend’s 40th! Hoping to get time to sneak out to visit the Office, too.
Interesting to see the Two By Two is in a Joiners Arms glass… Is it supposed to be ironic?
Two By Two produce some excellent beer, as do Cullercoats. In fact the North East beer scene, particularly around Tyneside, is so good these days you’ve no real need to purchase from outside the region…
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Oh yes, buy local, drink local (if there’s no Bass). Plenty of good beer around, not always selling fast enough to be enjoyed at its best (Station House an honourable exception !).
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“Interesting to see the Two By Two is in a Joiners Arms glass”
Argh! I should have peeked at the comments before replying. 😉
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Great shots. I do remember when those footballs were the source of great controversy. If I get the cultural reference properly.
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You do ! Be careful you’re not granted UK status inadvertently.
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Working on it….
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One thing you can definitely say about the beer from small independents in the NE is that it is different, varied and often very excellent. Unlike the beer in Middle England which can be excellent, but I have found to be mainly bland with little variation from town to town other than the name on the clip. I’d sooner spend half a day in N.Northumberland with a pint of unfined and unfiltered beer, than a fortnight in some of those middle England towns with beer factory beer.
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No accounting for taste, as they say in Leeds.
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North Northumbria is a lovely place, I doubt there’s a drop of Bass or Pedigree or any of Wolverhampton & Dudley’s meagre offerings to be found at all.
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I thought there might be one or two in the posher hotels, but only the Badger in Ponteland (Newcastle Airport suburb) in the county, so you’re right.
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“No accounting for taste, as they say in Leeds.”
L**ds has taste? That will be news to Si. 🙂
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When the time comes for me to get a mobility scooter, I want that registration!
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Has Martin agreed to sell it to you?
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Strange that because I would never have thought you to be one for personalised number plates !
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That’s not a micro, that’s a cert Spoons. Possibly with hotel.
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‘The Office’ reminds me of the French Au Bureau chain, apparently so named (I think I got this from a CAMRA guide) to allow a man to give his wife the impression that he was going out to work rather than a pub.
Ian
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Ian,
Yes, just like The Doctors in Edinburgh.
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“There were tears in Blyth when the Jabulani** floated off to Norway.”
(checks the ** at the bottom; looks up Jabulani) Aha, got it. 🙂
“Floral (I)” and “Floral (II)”
That’s just the same area taken from either side. 🙂
“Except there the micros would be open all day.
“Except there the micros would be open all day.”
Too bloody right. My brother teases me on Skype (lives in northern France) that he can pop out to the ‘bar’ at 8am on a Sunday to play the horses… and have a beer! (le sigh)
“Convert this into a micro for Duncan NOW !”
Surely the micro would be better if it was down that oubliette archway with “Sage Design” above it? 😉
“Re-opening soon as something terrifyingly posh”
Yes; I can tell by the bloody artwork on the outside.
“A wedding, you say”
I get that she’s in a black silhouette with a white dress; but shouldn’t he be in a white silhouette with a black suit? 😉
“Note classic ancient GBG stickers’
Good heavens! We can almost make out what you look like. 🙂
“Even the Lollo Rosso (packed on Monday night) had a posh personalised mobility scooter outside.”
That must have set him back a few quid.
“Mrs RM grabbed the last proper table and expected me to make a decision for her.”
Surely you’d go for the locally brewed? It even has the word “hop” in the name.
“Russ will work it out. ”
I got nothing. 🙂
Cheers
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PS – you really should have a 5 minute edit button. 🙂
(doing this quickly after a rather odd day and before my better half wants to watch some telly)
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That’s not me ! I have a servant called Fluff who takes photos for me. Don’t out me !
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