retiredmartin

An exciting report of a trip outside Cambridge to come. But first another raiding of the archives to bring you the time that Brian Clough’s Forest competed for the Skegness Paper Bag trophy (possibly), romping to a 4-0 win even without Shilton.

A week later, Forest won 3-1 at Goodison, went top of the League, and the rest is history.

No doubt a weekend in Skeggy on the Bateman’s, Bass and Worthington was just the boost that Kenny Burns, Martin O’Neill and Peter Withe needed.

Perhaps they stayed at The Vine, for many years the top Skeggy hotel.

When Mrs RM and I stayed here for £50 (fifty !) back in 1999, it just seemed an old-fashioned Best Western.

Twenty years later Curry Charles and I visited and it seemed like an old fashioned Best Western with a proper public bar.

The busiest pub by far on a cold Thursday night in March, and clearly selling more Batemans than the rest of Skeggy put together.  These folk had clearly trudged past 17 fun pubs to get here and drink BBB.

Alongside restaurants of increasing formality in the other three rooms, there was an Indian menu in the bar.  There is no better beer to wash down a Chicken Dhansak than XB (NBSS 3.5+), though the maltier XXXB was a bit of a challenge. Yummy.

Back in 2018 Charles insisted on visiting all the fun pubs, speculating on what Tony Woodcock had got up to in Busters and the Spoons back in ’77.

Before we’d got to Skeg, the gent at the Consortium micro warned us;

“Your chances of getting run over by a mobility scooter by an old bloke in a moleskin fleece are high !”

He was right.

We had a great overnighter in the Jewel of the East. £33 per room at the North Shore Golf Hotel, top coastal walking.  The “Adopt your own wind power generator” scheme is a winner.

15 minutes walk to the funfair.  Mind the starfish.

As we’ve seen already, decent beer IS available.  And the pubs were full of drinkers.  All human life is here, and not just in the Spoons.

Unfortunately for Charles, Bizzy Lizzie’s Whip & Dip Parlour turned out to be less exciting than promised.

A short walk north takes you to a stream of caravan parks, each with their own craft bar and gourmet food.

My new Guide pub was the Seathorne Arms, Skeggy’s first since BRAPA was in short trousers, was an unexpected corker.

It’s more social club than fun pub, packed with retired gentlefolk, fluorescent jackets and girls with prosecco in a bucket.  A proper pub.

The Heritage was cool and silky (NBSS 3.5), and flying out at £2.50 a pint.  The Hen was going quicker.

And of course, as Charles noted, tremendous lacings.

A great English seaside holiday. Just not this year, I suspect.