Mrs RM is on a long-term project in Northampton. She feels your pain. I joined her at the Campanile Hotel on the edge of nowhere. It has French pizza and (brewery unspecified) Boddingtons on keg, she tells me. Next door was a Harvester with a lone Doom Bar pump, which sounds appealing on a Monday… Continue reading VANILLA ESPRESSO MARTINIS & MARSTON’S PEDIGREE IN A NORTHAMPTON ESTATE PUB
Month: December 2018
FEARLESS IN FRINTON-ON-SEA
I thought I’d visit Frinton while I was down the Naze; not like anyone dies, there, is it ? Apart from everyone. What Pub tells us the Lock & Barrel is the only pub within “The Gates“. These were the gates until 2009, when the introduction of modern lifting barriers saw fighting in the streets.… Continue reading FEARLESS IN FRINTON-ON-SEA
A STEWARD’S ENQUIRY IN KIRBY-LE-SOKEN
Back on 2 December I proudly showed you my pinking prowess. Of course, ONE of you had to rain on my (pink) parade. Ed, how could you ? Of course I’ve done the Ship. It’s been in the Guide for centuries. Oh. Well, thanks a lot for pointing out my duff cross-checking, Ed. And… Continue reading A STEWARD’S ENQUIRY IN KIRBY-LE-SOKEN
“A PINT’S A TASTER” – MICRO LIFE IN THORNE
Another day, another micro pub to subtly change my view on micro pubs. At least in the North*. Simon is best placed to tell us if micros deserve to be thought of as Proper Pubs (PP). The new BRAPA regime sees him spending a whole week living with the sole other customer to get… Continue reading “A PINT’S A TASTER” – MICRO LIFE IN THORNE
SNAITH STOLEN BY NORTH YORKSHIRE
Next stop, North Yorkshire. Or at least that’s where the Good Beer Guide has stuck Yorkshire Ales, the first new GBG entry in Snaith since the Corn Laws were repealed and Herbert Nappy Askwith ran a craft beer bar here. Odd that, since Bing Maps is pretty sure Snaith is in the East Riding, and… Continue reading SNAITH STOLEN BY NORTH YORKSHIRE
FIT AND WORKING AGAIN – TICKING PRESTWICH
You’ll remember my failed attempt to visit the Church Inn, Prestwich back when the Guide came out. A rather better attempt to capture the spirit of Mark E Smith, I thought. Since then Pubmeister has beat me to the Prestwich Punch, though he seems to have failed to find sufficient comedy there to blog about. … Continue reading FIT AND WORKING AGAIN – TICKING PRESTWICH
ST. HELENS – ONE FOR THE GBG CONNOISSEUR
Tricky one, this. The Connoisseur Ales Tap in St Helens prompted my post about opening times in the Good Beer Guide back in September. Back then I said “Now the Connoisseur can open whenever it likes, but having a place in the GBG open 11 out of 365 days is just daft. ” And I… Continue reading ST. HELENS – ONE FOR THE GBG CONNOISSEUR
99 RED BALLOONS
Last pub of the night, before a deeply unsatisfactory Chinese takeaway and restless nights sleep on Blackpool Road. Ah, the Plungington. Never heard of it. Just past the Princess Alice, but a million miles away in every other respect, you could almost be in Fulwood. The menu was the giveaway we’d found Preston’s only… Continue reading 99 RED BALLOONS
VINYL TAP
Matthew had promised me a “scary tour” of his ‘hood. Plungington is lively, but can I politely suggest that Matt has never worn that paisley shirt within sight of Maidenhead Cons Club. Not the most complex half-hour walk in history to GBG newbie No.3, the attractively named Plunginton, but on the way I got the… Continue reading VINYL TAP
WARMING UP IN PROUD PRESTON
“Are we in Preston yet ?” said the excited boy to his mum as the train passed Garstang, which really deserves its own stop now it’s got a new Guide entry. It was understandable that the young lad was in a state of frenzy as we pulled into the City of Dreams, even in the… Continue reading WARMING UP IN PROUD PRESTON
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