“What you giggling at ?” asked Mrs RM, inbetween giggling at something on Facefriend. She knows full well what I’m giggling at. It’s either Russ’s comments on my blog, a tweet about a kitten, or a mum on Mumsnet planning a holiday; It’s easy to forget that many Londoners (and it’s always Londoners) have never… Continue reading The Official RetiredMartin guide to your 2021 “Staycation”
Month: February 2021
ART FOR ART’S SAKE
It’s turned bitterly cold here in t’north, so my daily walks need some fortifying Breakfast Stout before I set out. Whatever happened to the plain old un-twisted award-winning Breakfast Stout we know and love ? Why is there an obsession with changing things that work ? I blame CAMRA. Just a short walk round the… Continue reading ART FOR ART’S SAKE
GUESS THE PUB GOES TO LINCS
Due to overwhelming public demand, another Guess the Pub to brighten your weekend, as I head to the ugly duckling of the Beer Guide. Lincolnshire wouldn’t quite have finished bottom of my Counties League Table last year; I like a couple of the coastal resorts and the county town is a gem. Even our mystery… Continue reading GUESS THE PUB GOES TO LINCS
GHOST SIGNS, REAL BEER
Apart from walking hills with your whippet, the top semi-legal activity in Sheffield is visiting ghost signs. This one in Kelham seems to be for Lilliput Wives, which were only outlawed in 1973. No relation to Lilliput Wives at all, Mrs RM despatched me to Homebase just south of the city to collect something called… Continue reading GHOST SIGNS, REAL BEER
JANUARY, FEBRUARY, I DON’T UNDERSTAND
Enough speculation about the GBG; let’s move on to Barbara Dickson in a woolly jumper. By 1980 I’d got over early fixation with Donny Osmond and was firmly into Scottish punk. The Skids, BA Robertson and Ms Dickson, whose Mike Batt written “Caravan Song” sat snuggly alongside “Nuclear Device” in my Woolworths singles box. But… Continue reading JANUARY, FEBRUARY, I DON’T UNDERSTAND
GBG 22 – IT’S HAPPENING !
Yes, there’s going to be a slimline Good Beer Guide 2022. We’ll (we are all CAMRA) use “best endeavours” to identify 3,600 pubs that are actually open and serving cask, and use a late October launch to promote pubs and real ale, and bring a bit of cash into CAMRA coffers. It’s all kicking off… Continue reading GBG 22 – IT’S HAPPENING !
AN UNEXPECTED NAME AT THE TOP OF THE COVID LEAGUE
Beer Guide tickers, all 7 of us, seem very keen on stats. The % of new entries in the Guide, odds of a GBG22, and the decline in Covid rates required for pubs to reopen for GBG22 comes out. At roughly 2pm each day we get the Covid hospital deaths courtesy of @UKcovidstats, and a… Continue reading AN UNEXPECTED NAME AT THE TOP OF THE COVID LEAGUE
A TRIP TO WILKO
Mrs RM has reached the conservatory with her scary wallpaper stripper. You don’t want that machine anywhere near your genitals, that’s for sure, particularly when there’s no chocolate in the house. So I braved the snow, and headed into town for an “essential purchase” from Wilko. Can you guess what it was ? I tend… Continue reading A TRIP TO WILKO
GUESS THE PUB GOES TO HAMPSHIRE
Running out of blog material fast, so let’s hope that pubs get re-designated as schools and re-opened on 8th March. I’ll be happy to teach 8 year olds how to construct GBG ticking spreadsheets if it helps. The next mystery pub is actually a mere Fosbury flop away from the Hampshire border, which you won’t… Continue reading GUESS THE PUB GOES TO HAMPSHIRE
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… Continue reading SHOPPING
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