retiredmartin

Bit of a cheat, this post, as the Official November Review is less than 2 months old. But you lot have memories like sieves (if you’re anything like me) and will already have forgotten about the Live & Let Live in Lynn (top)

November was a DREADFUL month, despite the travel map not looking too bad.

Bar four frantic days at the start, the month was a write-off. The second Lockdown was more unexpected than in March, coming after Covid deaths had fallen to single figures in August despite re-opening pubs and Pizza Huts.

What could POSSIBLY have happened at the start of September to trigger the rise in infections ?

Elsewhere, our move to Sheffield hit an unexpected hurdle, and witch burning was reintroduced for a Mum determined to tell her children THE TRUTH about Christmas.

So let’s focus on those first 4 days.

I made my first train journey for 8 months on the very eve of Lockdown 2,

And despite an air of gloom and doom pervading London,

it was a wonderful day in the Second City.

A bittersweet trip, as pubs began to close their door for the last time for who knows how long, though at least beer clearances and reduced ranges meant some startlingly good beer, and not just in the Harp.

Yes, the superiority of good cask and the joy of pubs was confirmed just as they closed on us.

Elsewhere, it was fairly clear Dereham’s famously basic Cherry Tree wasn’t going to be offering haute cuisine, substantial or otherwise, come December, and I was glad to get there with Mrs RM and Charles.

This is the sort of community boozer that attracts the “wave of rancid snobbery” referred to in Pub Curmudgeon’s excellent summary of 2020. It was friendly, had mixed custom, and served a very decent lone cask beer we enjoyed on proper seating. New pub of the month, any month, but it’ll never make the Guide.

After that it was just more local walks.

Not a month for the gourmet, but Pret’s pigs in blankets was the stand-out, though every time I mention Pret I get a barrage of abuse from former employees.

November ground on, our buyers asked us to dig up the foundations and cut down trees, but at least we had the return of pubs to look forward to, eh ?