SHOPPING

Yes, the only legal way to leave your house is for “exercise” and “essential shopping“.

Mrs RM has a more generous definition of “essential” than me. While the bulk of our food comes from the Iceland delivery man each Sunday (saving me mixing with the virus in Asda) we get to click-and-collect our bits of wood in person.

Saturday saw a trip to the (empty bar us) garden centre on the A57 where, despite my pleading, we didn’t come away with the warning sign,

or the mobility scooter.

No, just plants. Plants ! This is how it starts, folks.

On Sunday I was despatched to Dunelm on the Kilner Way Retail Park, which is exciting as it sounds. This Dunelm ISN’T as exciting as the one to the south.

10 minutes walk from the Wednesday ground, as you might have deduced from the parking charges.

What has happened to matchday carparks during Lockdown ? None of them have been converted to micropubs, at least.

This little suburb of shops and residential streets leading to the Don seems to be called Wadsley Bridge. Another of Sheffield’s 378 suburbs ticked off.

The 3 surviving pubs are functional but have livery to delight even the most jaded pubgoer.

No-one know what the Railway serves, but before it closed the New Inn was a Doom Bar stronghold, so perhaps there is hope for Sheffield after all.

Gorgeous fontage.

Admit it, The Pheasant looks identical to the other two.

Elsewhere the old mills is now “stylish” apartments, apparently,

and the Trafalger serves a stylish Chip Buttie Special.

I’ve been oop north nearly 2 months and have yet to have fish and chips, you know.

It was bitterly cold on Sunday, so I cut short my exploration of the Police Dog Training Unit and leave you with the Art Deco flourish of Fletchers artisan (possibly) bakery.

I then stood outside Dunelm in the -2 (feels like -23) snowfall waiting to Click-and-Collect the following.

Honestly, is this all there is to life ?

Oh yes, there’s Danish craft beer as well. Believe it or not, the giant Sainsbury has one of the dullest collection of UK cans but 3 types of Mikkeller. But one of them is alcohol-free, and you don’t want to be taking Mrs RM back alcohol-free beer in 2021.

Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

33 thoughts on “SHOPPING”

      1. Cheese & Onion Cod Roe is probably a nice change from Salt & Vinegar Cod Roe.
        I’d have the Sausage Special even if it’s not as good as you can get at breakfast time in Manchester.

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      4. “I’ve been oop north nearly 2 months, you know.”

        When you’ve been here as long as I have, you’ll realise that “you know” is pronounced “tha norz”. Good luck with that.

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  3. I’ve just been shopping in the bitter east wind with Mrs. E to get her sourdough loaf.

    It’s good to be back in the warm, but as Desmond Dekker once sang, “me ears are alight”.

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    1. I assume it’s to discourage football fans from parking there 3-4 hours as it’s primarily parking for a gym. Common tactic but rarely see pricing so explicit! Fines probably £250.

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  6. Love the indoor barrier mat -exactly what we need to stop our cat from ripping up the carpet & we have a Dunelm within walking distance -must investigate ! -If we had access to Yorkshire fish& chips we would have them much more often- ones near us are just not the same -a yearly rather than weekly event

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  7. Yes, gorgeous font on the front of the pub. Which prompted me to check on the origin of the pub, as it was clearly New Inn originally and New Bridge Inn subsequently.

    The Wiki page on Wadsley Bridge seems fairly comprehensive and, let’s hope, accurate. The area of Wadsley Bridge takes its name from the 17th century bridge over the Don near the football ground. The pub was built in 1833, predating the railway bridge by a dozen years. But it wasn’t until the new bridge was constructed in 1970 that the pub changed its name to the New Bridge Inn. See more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadsley_Bridge

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    1. “The area of Wadsley Bridge takes its name from the 17th century bridge over the Don” but why not Donbridge ?

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      1. Then every bridge over the Don would have a village called Donbridge! The bridge here was so called because it was the way to get to Wadsley!

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  8. Such a pleasure reading this; I chuckled at a great many lines, including “which is exciting as it sounds.”

    You caused me to Google the definition of “livery,” which I fear left me slightly more confused than before I’d Googled. 😉

    My friend in Macclesfield tried to introduce me to the glories of a chip buttie at a pub when we were visiting Liverpool, but then, after they brought it to us and we had a bite, he told me, “They didn’t do it properly here.”

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    1. Always remember, Mark, that I’m prone to misuse of words (an English trait, perhaps). By livery I mean the adornments on the outside of the pub, which are a bit more than just the pub sign.

      I know a good chip when I taste it, but I think chips are a personal taste. I find McDonalds fries inedible, for example. BrewDog do fantastic chips, and in upmarket pubs a burger and chips is often a revelation.

      Loads of mayo, anyway.

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  9. “Yes, the only legal way to leave your house is for “exercise” and “essential shopping“.”

    Surely walking around IKEA is considered both? 😉

    “where, despite my pleading, we didn’t come away with the warning sign,”

    (slow golf clap)

    “or the mobility scooter.”

    I’d wait to buy that until the pubs actually DO re-open.

    “as you might have deduced from the parking charges.”

    Fifty quid for less than a work day! You must be joking!

    “No-one know what the Railway serves”

    Knows dear boy. Or perhaps, now knows? 😉

    “Admit it, The Pheasant looks identical to the other two.”

    They’re must have been a discount on that particular colour scheme. Although the door on The Pheasant does just out a bit more.

    “Elsewhere the old mills is now “stylish” apartments, apparently,”

    Looks more like a jail. Or a 19th century sweat shop.

    “I’ve been oop north nearly 2 months and have yet to have fish and chips, you know.”

    I blame Covid.

    “Honestly, is this all there is to life ?”

    I bloody hope not!

    “and you don’t want to be taking Mrs RM back alcohol-free beer in 2021.”

    Yikes! Indeed! (shudder) 🙂

    Cheers

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    1. Sadly (?), you’re not allowed to walk round IKEA or other shops not selling “essentials” like food. With Click-and-Collect you drive up, park, phone a number and collect your things from a designated point without coming within 20 feet of a human.

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      1. Ah, so like Ontario then. My sister lives in that province and we talk on the phone now about once a week. Same thing there. Only stores that sell food can allow people in. And that includes the ‘dollar’ stores (sheesh). She says a person who came to work on the HVAC (heating, ventilation and a/c) at her office told her he tried to order something for his job but was told they couldn’t sell it to him as it was ‘non essential’.

        Thank goodness beer is considered essential! 🙂

        Cheers

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