You can’t beat a photo of Old Boy(o)s laughing merrily about the English Rugby team.  Or perhaps it was VAR.  I forget. I also forget what the landlady of the Tanners Arms in Defynnog said to me as I stood outside patiently waiting for 5pm opening. “Sorry, can’t open yet, had a bit of a… Continue reading ALL CHANGE AT THE USK & RAILWAY

The next day in Mid Wales turned up a genuine corker on the Brecon Canal. Despite the heavy food trade, and the families in wellies walking the canal (joking, I love to see children in pubs, just not their obnoxious parents), the Royal Oak in tiny Pencelli was a model all-rounder. I’ll overlook the odd… Continue reading TO TALYBONT AND BACK

  As I’ve said many times, Wales mixes up the basic boozer with outside loos, peeling paint and entitled Arsenal fans (OK, only one of those) with the farmhouse style posh gastropub for pashminas from Prestbury. Most English visitors to Brecon in Summer have never been to a Proper Pub where you’re not shown to… Continue reading LESS BASIC BRECON

Just what you want. A Gooner serving beer with a paper pump clip. What do you think when you see a homemade pump clip ? Scarcely less credibly, it’s the return of Archers, who kept The Imbiber going singlehanded a decade or so ago with their monthly release of two dozen new beers named after… Continue reading PAPER LABELS

This week I’m up in Manchester/Paisley/Preston, making sure Matt is settled into his barbering (?) course in the Eternal City (that’s not Preston). So I’m snatching the odd 20 minutes of WiFi to bring you up to date with the glories of Mid Wales. This one comes to you from the Etihad before kick off,… Continue reading £2.30 A PINT

I took the train from Newtown to Machynlleth, officially the slowest journey in the UK. I could probably have jumped off the train as it trundled past Cemaes, nipped in the Dovey Valley for my half, and hopped back on as it slowed for the bend. Back in Mach (future blog title) only a month… Continue reading NO CASK DEATH IN MACHYNLLETH

Not much photographic evidence of the Railway in Newtown , but with the very best pubs you rarely stop for photos. I checked in at Newtown’s Gro Guest House, the best of the year. And not just for the teddies. Yes, a teddy bear fanatic. 21 minutes to the station, 21 minutes till the train,… Continue reading A QUICK BASS IN THE RAILWAY

My favourite part of BRAPA is when he says things like, “Lydgate.  You’ve never heard of it, don’t pretend you have.  It is like Dukinfield.  But only because you’ve never heard of that either.” and I can go, “Oooh, I have, I have,  Pick me.” The GBG is the most educational book in the pub… Continue reading BEGUILED BY BEGUILDY

Yes, a literal blog title, but what rhymes with Foxton ? Hoxton ? Quite what you’ve done to deserve a post on an unheralded village pub (never graced the GBG in my lifetime) in an unheralded South Cambs village I’ve no idea. All Foxton has is a railway station that surprisingly survived Beeching, and the… Continue reading CLOUDS OVER FOXTON