retiredmartin

Now I’ve told you of what lies ahead this summer (the last 100), let’s get back to the small matter of blogging about the 100+ pubs that got me to that point. Oh dear.

Oh dear, too, the price of accommodation these days. Everything over a £100 in Stornoway, the cheapest option for Port Talbot was rather more;

Luckily Mrs RM and I have a campervan that allows us to park up near stinking public toilets near Llanelli overnight for FREE.

But before that, (still in West Wales), Whitland.

“Ten miles from Tenby” might be its motto. Just off the A40 to the coast, got it’s own station, a Co-op where we bought specialist Welsh crisps, and a bewildering homemade tourist info. board.

One of the joys of GBG ticking is the discovery of the wonderful villages and countryside of the UK, and I always love to share those discoveries with you, dear reader.

Whitland’s famous son is composer William Mathias, born in the town in 1934 (though he’d escaped to Menai Bridge by the time of his death). His magnum opus was heard by over a billion people in 1981, more than bought the Adam & the Ants album.

My tick, the Station House, is the centrepiece of the village, across from the iconic “BUS STOP” art piece.

Mobs scooter and smoker outside, dragon on the wall,

blokes in shorts* blocking the bar, resilient bar staff.

Yes, it looked blokey, but actually a great little all-rounder with families eating chips, lasses on the lash, and Her Majesty trying to remember where she heard that William Mathias tune (it was at your son’s first wedding, Liz).

Too many pumps (Evan, Purple Moose, Felinfoel, Sharp’s), but somehow the Double Dragon was the best (3.5) I’d has since 1996. Cool, rich, fruity.

Just like the banter at the bar.

*OLD BLOKES ! Don’t wear shorts. Only Duncan Mackay has the legs to carry off that look.