That’s the thing about Maidenhead. It creeps up on you. One minute you’re in a safe part of the country like Reading Chesham; the next you notice the sign for Pinkney’s Green. The A4 Bath Road escapes west out of the den of iniquity that is Maidenhead and takes you past a string of decent… Continue reading I REALISE, WITH TERROR, JUST HOW CLOSE KNOWL HILL IS TO MAIDENHEAD
Month: January 2022
OH NO, NOT ANOTHER ELECTRONIC BEER DISPLAY SCREEN
Back to Chesham, for the first time since the Mad Squirrel Tap in 2016 when I produced this under-appreciated line; “But when you have lost your Spoons drown your empty selves, for you will have lost the last of Middle England” – adapted from Hilaire Belloc Chesham, home to some chaotic queueing for dwindling fuel supplies… Continue reading OH NO, NOT ANOTHER ELECTRONIC BEER DISPLAY SCREEN
TAKING DOWN THE TREE
Four days saving pubs in the Home Counties, and colouring in the Guide before disaster strikes again. Not sure what that disaster is, but everyone else tells me it’s round the corner. Miseries. Next stop, Batford, in posh Greater Luton. Right next door to The Malta and The Gibraltar (Castle). Not many people know that… Continue reading TAKING DOWN THE TREE
A GUIDED BUS TO A DESERTED CAMBRIDGE. A LONG WALK HOME.
Bank Holiday Monday, or New Year’s Day (observed) as my diary would have it if I’d bothered to buy a diary as I have done every year for 45 years but what’s the point now ? A visit to my parents (they’re fine, NPSS 4), and a meet-up with 3 of my favourite Germans at… Continue reading A GUIDED BUS TO A DESERTED CAMBRIDGE. A LONG WALK HOME.
OPENING HOURS TENSION IN LITTLE STAUGHTON. WHEREVER THAT IS.
With all respect to Duncan and Malt and the other tickers, I suspect no-one has greater knowledge of Bedfordshire pubs than Simon or myself. BRAPA basically lived in the county after being determined to do the GBG alphabetically, and his great treatise on Wells Bombardier in Duloe was what got him a First in the… Continue reading OPENING HOURS TENSION IN LITTLE STAUGHTON. WHEREVER THAT IS.
A PITCHER OF PORNSTAR MARTINI TO FINISH A PERFECT NIGHT IN STEVENAGE
It was only 19:15 when we left Stevenage’s top Thai restaurant, and Mrs RM wasn’t going home to a tired Premier Inn with attached Beefeater yet. Not when there’s a classic Home Counties Spoons to visit to do a comparison of Cosmopolitans. There must have been 30 folk in that Thai place when we left,… Continue reading A PITCHER OF PORNSTAR MARTINI TO FINISH A PERFECT NIGHT IN STEVENAGE
SQUID GAINS IN SG1
Congratulations to Mrs RM on successfully escorting BRAPA to South Yorkshire completion yesterday, a day when the #PrayForBRAPA and #PrayForMrsRM hashtags were competing thru’ the day. I do worry about her hearing though. As we headed towards that Broken Seal micro I told her she’d recognise it as the street where I’d “Photocopied her Viva*… Continue reading SQUID GAINS IN SG1
VIVA LA STEVENAGE
Ah, Stevenage, the Skelmersdale of the South. Actually, it’s not that bad. There’s a few good estate pubs for a start. And the hospital where Mrs RM spent 48 hours in labour. But enough of that, for now. We walked the mile from the Beefeater into the Old Town, the first Stevenage tourists since it… Continue reading VIVA LA STEVENAGE
KICKING OFF IN KNEBWORTH
I can’t quite believe it, but I’ve checked The Spreadsheet and it appears I did no pubs at all on New Year’s Day. This is what it feels like, when pubs cry etc. etc. But on the Sunday Mrs RM joined me on a trip South to see assorted parents, friends and hangers-on to kick-start… Continue reading KICKING OFF IN KNEBWORTH
NEW YEAR’S EVE IN RICHMOND
One last tick in 2021, on a rather quiet New Year’s Eve in Richmond, the Bewdley of the North. It seemed only a few months since I was last here, and indeed it was, as Richmond provides its annual new GBG pub. Unlike Mrs RM, they hadn’t taken the deccies down yet. Last few times… Continue reading NEW YEAR’S EVE IN RICHMOND
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