GOOD BEER GUIDE ? DONE IT, MATE

Well, I’m there.

The Taversoe, Rousay (pop.200).

Tick 4,501 of 4,50. The GBG complete. And Mrs RM is with me. Sorry, black and white photo as it’s Scotland.

Actually, she’s the only other person here, though the tables are all booked.

The beer is good, the Cullen Skink is sensational, the staff are Cheery, the sun shines on the righteous.

But the traumas to get here, wait till you hear about them. Now begins the long journey home, with no worlds left to conquer…

Thanks to Duncan, who did it first, Malt and Si for the company, Mrs RM for everything, and Roger Protz and countless CAMRA volunteers for the Good Beer Guide.

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.

62 thoughts on “GOOD BEER GUIDE ? DONE IT, MATE”

  7. Helluva achievement Martin, and that’s just getting to Rousay! An interesting spreadsheet exercise at this point would be to work out how far behind you Mrs RM is, and whether it would be worth her going for it herself. She might even beat Si to the finish line…

    Should you find yourself at a loose end in the coming months/years I have a 99% complete Corby Pub blog for sale, only one careful owner.

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  11. I suppose congratulations are in order, but seriously well done for following through on what must, at times, seemed like a herculean task!

    Once the dust has settled, it will be interesting to know exactly how many GBG pubs you had to visit, over the years, to finally ” complete” the Guide. 😎

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    1. I was going to write about that when I’ve had a few days to get the spreadsheets up to date. The answer is about 13,000 Good Beer Guide pubs over 28 years, including the 4,501 in the current Guide. Plus I guess another 1,000 which have never made the GBG.

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  12. Congratulations, that’s some achievement and we’ve enjoyed sharing it with you. A whole pint of keg Hobgoblin at the famous Marston’s dining pub on the outskirts of Dundee is yours for the asking.

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  16. Hearty congratulations.
    And with quite a while to spare given that the next one apparently hasn’t even been printed yet.
    Will you do the 2023 edition, or properly become Retired Martin ?

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  19. Wow, hearty congratulations on a truly amazing achievement.

    My own score of 1,410 pubs in Merseyside pales into insignificance, but if you want a new challenge, how about “All the pubs in South Yorkshire”. You would have to drink a lot of Carling or Guinness, I fear.

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      1. 1998, The Brewers Arms in Croxteth: Not only had someone thrown up on the floor, but it looked (and smelled) like it had been there since the day before. I think that was also the tick where the local youths were throwing beer bottles at each other in the car park.

        Happily, the real shit-holes have long gone.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Derek. I started the blog 7 years ago to write a diary about my travels and I’ll be continuing that !

      Interesting question about first pubs. I was visiting the Free Press in Cambridge in the late ’80s before I bought my first Good Beer Guide in 1993, at which point the pubs around Hitchin like the Greyhound in St Ippolyts would have been where I started ticking.

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  24. Martin, that’s a great achievement, plus your blog has provided me with fun reading. Now you can focus on Bass and Chinese takeaway!!

    Many thanks, Martin

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  25. Delighted for you and what a great one to finish on- just perfect. Look forward to the post on your ‘aggregate’ figures. I worked it out once and it’s a bit scary.

    I vowed never again but couldn’t resist keeping it going, partly because it’s a lot more manageable in terms of required new numbers, but partly because it was such a blast. Will await your next moves with interest!

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  27. Congratulations Martin, such a stunning achievement! Events conspired to have travel distract me from those crucial days on the blog— I’d dearly wanted to be among the first to congratulate you on your victory.

    In any case, thanks for the countless hours of effort and care you put into sharing the whole journey with all of us. It has been a glorious thing to behold, truly!

    Okay I’ll go ahead and post this before I get too sappy 😉

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      1. My pub challenge was I drank in the nearest pub to every tube station in London,, it required many trips down there from Birmingham,, Circle line was the best cause all the pubd serve real ale

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      2. I can see the appeal in that, Michael. Even the stations in North West London (e.g. Harrow) have some good pubs near them. Travelling from Brum ? How about all the stops on the metro west of New Street ?

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      3. I’ve never done the Metro Stops,, been told there’s some good pubs on that route all the way to Wolverhampton, there are some pubs I’ve done on that route in general,, the pub challenge I did do In Birmingham was all the pubs on the number 11 bus route,, the number 11 bus route is the longest urban bus route in Europe,, you would have visited the Middle and the Bear when you came to Bearwood

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