
“How far are you from the seaside ?” asked Dad, after I’d taken him and Mum for their second Pfizer jab on Sunday night (thank you, NHS).
Old people are OBSSESSED by the seaside, aren’t they.
Well, Dad, it’s about 1:40 hours on the train to Cleethorpes, 2:35 to Blackpool, 4:25 to Aberystwyth, 6:04 to Broughty Ferry. I think that covers my seaside options.
I care little for the sea; just give me hills.

That’s one of many steep walks you can do just off the dreary A61 out of Sheffield to the (non-dreary) Chesterfield.

Mrs RM despatched me out to mysterious Meersbrook, to pick up a portable heater from Dunelm. I’m afraid this is the sort of domestic detail you’re going to get now pubs are out-of-bounds, even for takeout ;-(.

The strip of retail parks and carpet shops along the A61 to Norton Woodseats is fairly grim, but there’s always a secret (steep) stairway to magic not far away.
In this case, it leads to a Thornbridge pub. “Oooh, preemptive tick”, I think, before remembering you-know-what.

Actually, this is Norton Lees; it’s so hard to keep up with the geography round here.
It was so much simpler in JMW Turner’s day, when he painted this view of Sheffield.

How many micropubs can you identify in Joseph’s picture ?
Rather more in my photo from a similar spot at the top of Meersbrook Park yesterday.

I guess I’ll have plenty of time to explore the sprawling suburbs over the next six weeks or so, and bring you potential Brunning & Price sites like the Bishop’s House.

Meresbrook Park is another sprawling gem, lacking only the babbling brooks of Greaves Park up the road, and a decent pub at the foot of the hill.
No wonder this chap looks so grumpy. Make a good avatar for some people I know.

Great pics as usual. Glad your folks got the jag. Pubs and breweries can still do take out here (if they have a licence for off sales) but not in England then? Can’t see logic of that. Not that I can leave my local authority area (where there are no breweries).
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I can walk to the nearest pub offering take-out (e.g. the Fat Cat), but it can’t sell me beer, even if I’d pre-ordered (click and collect). It COULD sell me a J20 and a pie if I walked up. It COULD deliver beer to my front door (probably increasing Covid risk). Yes, it’s daft. I can visit off-licenses and brewery shops, but that’s fast lost its appeal.
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“The jag” ? Is this whole vaccination thing a plot to increase Partick Thistle support, then ? All for that.
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It’s a bit strange how all the Glaswegians who claimed to not be Old Firm fans used to state they were Jags fans; they’re all now St. Mirren devotees.
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#WeAreAllBuddies
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#WhoNeverSeeEachOther
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It seems that breweries with off licences are classed as off licences so are still opening.
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Do you actually brew beer, Adrian? Can I pick some up?
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Not my own unfortunately – just getting some work experience (at my age!) and studying for the IBD General Certificate in Brewing. Looking at an opportunity to actually become a brewer around May.
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Good luck with that. Hopefully by May you’ll have a ready and growing market for your brew. Will there be a Tynemouth seaweed sour barrel aged in a Whitley Bay candy floss machine ?
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“Looking at an opportunity to actually become a brewer around May.”
Premature congrats!
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You’ve not properly Dunelmed for a new home until the staff say, “oh you’ve been here more than 2 hours I’ll need to take your reg no. so that you don’t get a penalty charge”.
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TWO HOURS !
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Sounds like cruel and unusual punishment.
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Two minutes in Dunhelm, 1 hour 58 minutes parked up whilst trekking the surroundings.
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Three minutes in Dunelm. Close.
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“Old people are OBSSESSED by the seaside, aren’t they.”
Yes, that’s undeniable.
During 2019 i got to Brighton, Aberystwyth, Borth, Blackpool and Broughty Ferry.
I missed all that last year and this year might be no better.
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The seaside towns certainly have some of the best pubs. You’d love Cleethorpes, Paul.
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Yes, and it’s about fifteen years since I’ve been to Cleethorpes.
There were through trains from Stoke and Uttoxeter then but not now.
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In the era of Turner, virtually every bar would have been around the size of a micro, the Circus would be a fair approximation.
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Yes, but they wouldn’t have had high tables, I guess.
Mr Turner was very fond of Margate, wasn’t he?
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Martin,
Leslie Fuller the British comedy film actor died in Margate in April 1948
Bradley Smith the former English cricketer was born in Margate in September 1969 and, yes,
“Mr Turner was very fond of Margate”
– so why was their brewery far away in Chiswick ?
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Weren’t the figures something insane like 10% of houses were alehouses in the middle of the C19th?
What were Turner’s feelings on Maidenhead?
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Based on my watching of the Mike Leigh film “Mr Turner”, it’s possible he enjoyed the red light district there.
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Scott,
Yes, but they were all proper little pubs, or so I am told.
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“Old people are OBSSESSED by the seaside, aren’t they.”
I think, as we age, we tend to get obsessed about a lot of things!
“I care little for the sea; just give me hills.”
Your version of the Spanish Steps in Rome?
“now pubs are out-of-bounds, even for takeout ;-(.”
Sigh, saw that. What the bloody hell are the playing at!
“How many micropubs can you identify in Joseph’s picture ?”
None. But… I do see 4 future micros. 😉
“Rather more in my photo from a similar spot at the top of Meersbrook Park yesterday.”
Ahhh… progress.
“like the Bishop’s House.”
That looks just my man/shed pub in my backyard! Kidding! Mine’s not even bloody finished yet! (sigh)
“Make a good avatar for some people I know.”
Practically everyone in Tier 5?
Cheers
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