
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.
Congratulations Martin! Looking forward to having a couple of pints with you once you’ve finished writing up your trips.
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The good thing about completing the Guide is I can now visit great pubs like the Station House in Durham without time constraints. See you soon.
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Until the new edition drops in September and there’s been 3,500 changes, presumably!?
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Well done Martin!
No doubt about it, but what now, now that you no particular place to go?
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No-one has EVER had a Chinese takeaway from Chung Hwa for ten consecutive days, so there’s that.
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Congratulations on a magnificent achievement. It looks a wonderful place to complete it. And with over a month to spare!
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Thanks ! In theory a month to spare, but demands of elderly parents and restricted opening times made getting it done imperative.
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What a view with which to finish!! Wow! Congratulations. It must have been an emotional moment.
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It was emotional for both of us.
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It was here too.
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I’m so proud of you, Martin!! What an accomplishment. 🥰
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Thank you Joan. I knew a #PubPerson like you would understand it.
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Congratulations Martin. We have enjoyed every moment of your quest. Amazing.
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Couldn’t have done it without the American support, Dave.
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Cask Marque next? Congratulations on getting to the summit.
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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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She can be the Andy Murrays brother of GBG ticking, creeping up on the honours board unnoticed.
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Careful?
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Congratulations! Well done and what a great setting for completion.
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Congratulations Martin, a fine achievement.
Looks a great place to have completed the gbg with too.
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It was superb, even without Bass.
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Congratulations on this fine achievement, I’ve really enjoyed following your quest over the last few years.
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Cheers. Thanks for reading.
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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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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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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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Or Tennents at that flat roof pub in North Dundee ?
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Whatever. You’ve earned it. Might be a packet of Tayto cheese and onion in it too, but I’m not promising anything.
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You know my views on crisps IN sandwiches, Bill.
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Wow, well done! I’ve enjoyed following along on your adventures.
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Congratulations!
I suppose the only way to follow up is every outlet on Whatpub?
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Well done indeed…..I seldom comment anymore, but I’ve continued to read your blogs… Congratulations to you and the redoubtable Mrs RM….
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Thanks raymondo. She may be redoubtable, but I’ve never doubted Mrs RM 🙂
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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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Congratulations Martin. Magnificent achievement.
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Thanks Mark.
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Wow Martin – you actually did it, and what makes it all the more admirable is not just visiting the pubs but blogging about them as you go. I look forward to reading about whatever challenge you decide to take on next. Cheers, Paul
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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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“All the pubs in Sheffield borough on foot” is worth a look, Phil. I didn’t realise you’d done that many Merseyside pubs, that’s a huge number. What’s the worst ?
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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.
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When I walked from Litherland to the centre a few years back I walked past a staggering number of closed pubs; Bootle seemed a mecca in comparison.
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Well done Martin. A superb achievement. It’s been good to follow your blog
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Thanks Charlie.
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Great – I’ll come up to Sheffield, now that you might finally have something interesting about which to talk, Martin.
😉
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Well Done. Does this mean your hedge will finally get cut now?
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Have you hacked Mick’s account, Mrs RM ?
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Well done: hope you carry on with the blog.
What was the first pub that you visited on your epic quest?
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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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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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Bass and Chinese takeaway ticking is a noble pursuit.
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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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Thanks Duncan.
I’ll keep visiting new entries but I won’t feel the need to make an expensive trip to the Channel Islands for one new entry annually!
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More or less my strategy but then again…..
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Congratulations! What an epic journey. Looking forward to the final reports.
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Thanks John.
And thanks to folk like you and others in CAMRA branches for doing all the legwork to produce the GBG.
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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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When you were in Bergen you were probably geographically closer to me than most of our other readers. Mark !
I felt your presence, desperate to know which 80s track was playing.
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Fantastic achievement,,it surpasses any pub challenge I’ve achieved
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Oh, do tell us about yours, Michael. Unless they involve a yard of ale, obvs ;-0
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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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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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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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