GBG launch day; no hard copy of the Beer Guide yet, but I raided the piggy bank (it’s actually that hedgehog Matt splatted at EOTR) for the £4.99 App version. A bit proud of myself for managing to do that.
It was either download the app (as the kidz say) or spent another day mooching around bookstores with trench coat and camera, copying pages.
In Cambridge last night, Heffers had given up on 2018 and gone back a year.
The big stores often get the Guide before the launch, so it’s always worth hanging around the “banned activities” section to see if it’s in early.
Less than a week after taking an octogenarian to Milton Keynes for a day out, I was back in the Capital of Chains with Mrs RM, who was training Council folk in how to turn things off and on again.
We had breakfast (mushroom benedict and 3 flat whites) at the Spoons under the Snow Dome.
This is the only Spoons I hadn’t drunk in, and I wasn’t wasting a half in here despite a local beer or two*.
I escorted Mrs RM and her giant laptop bag to this brutalist masterpiece.
The Waterstones at the transport centre had nothing to tell me except “In on the 13th mate“, so I did a bit more tourism. Midsummer Boulevard goes on for ever.
There were two potential GBG19 entries, but of course they weren’t opening till tea-time, so I succumbed to the inevitable. There were positive signs outside the only central Beer Guide entry.
This is a classic Spoons of “early morning Carlsberg drinkers marking their cards for the 2.45 at Chelmsford” variety.
I think they were trying out material for the next (un-woke) Derby CAMRA magazine.
“Anyone watching Vanity Fair ?”
“Wife is. That’s another hour peace I get”
“Ey up. Terry’s pissed, on his bike going round in circles”
“The robot in that factory in Enfield got sacked”
Yep. All displaced Londoners (no, not from Wimbledon), discussing MK’s pub scene and lost breweries. They were fans of Charlie Wells Ace Lager, whatever that was.
Worth the £1.49 a pint with voucher for the banter.
The beer was worth £1.49 as well. Even the home brew.
Oh, and all that craft keg I saw last year ? All gone bar the Punk.
You won’t believe where I took Mrs RM for lunch.
*Brighter readers will realise there’s a punchline coming here.
retiredmartin 
Can’t have a ‘spoons post without a clear image of the carpet – having a beer is not necessary, but carpet images are, sorry, ‘spoons tickers guild rules.
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How low can a ‘pub’ chain get when all there is to discuss is the carpets ?
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Well, the toilet floor at Bar 19 in Blackpool was actually sinking.
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It’s one of a few stand out points in a ‘spoons – there are a couple of others.
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Better a sinking toilet than a stinking toilet.
And, of course, better outdoor than indoor – and if indoor better ground floor than upstairs or downstairs.
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You should have seen it, Paul.
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I’m surprised you haven’t been on the picket line outside the printers for the last week.
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So their plan worked – delay the print version until everyone buys the app, then they’ll all run out and get the book as well. Genius…
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Revitalised !
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Is there a racecourse at Chelmsford? Horses, that is!
I received the update for my full version GBG App, just over an hour ago. I don’t subscribe to the paper one, as it’s far too much weight to carry around!
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Ah, but you cant apply marker pen to a phone.
If it wasn’t horses, what was it ?
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Apparently, Chelmsford City is Britain’s newest racecourse, offering all weather racing, and also racing under floodlights.
So horses, but also open-air concerts. So now we know!
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Grief, I assumed they’d be closing rather than opening !
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That scooter has a fair bit of damage on its rear fender.
Bloody pissed-up OAPS !
Can’t wait.
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All the local scooters look like that, they were playing Dodgems to try and get first dibs on the only GBG copy to have reached the county.
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“or spent another day mooching around bookstores with trench coat and camera,”
You take selfies of yourself flashing? 🙂
“This is the only Spoons I hadn’t drunk in”
Ah, the Moon Under Water. Apart from nicking that from George Orwell (are they paying royalties?) in another few hours that could be the name of any along the coast of North Carolina.
“Sure sign of a Proper Pub”
I’m starting to think the new Guide is late as they decided, at the last minute, to update how good a pub is with icons of mobility scooters. 🙂
“The beer was worth £1.49 as well.”
A twofer then.
“You won’t believe where I took Mrs RM for lunch.”
I can’t believe you didn’t make her pay. 😉
Cheers
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Oh, we went to that Milton Keynes Brewhouse and Kitchen I slated, by the way. Was OK.
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