retiredmartin

23rd October 2022.

Back in Sheffield, the new GBG hadn’t arrived, as priority had been given to Yorkshire tickers with pub mascots.

Hey ! That’s me ! How come BRAPA got his a week before me ?

Never mind; we’d shared Sanskrit copies of the GBG pages and I knew I had two South Yorkshire ticks within a half hour off peak day return (£7.10).

Autumnal ticking is a joy. You escape the Christmas amateurs (welcome as they are) and get the full range of fall colours.

First stop, Conisbrough,once home to the Earth Centre, an enjoyable Millenium folly that taught schoolchildren how to dispose of bodily waste by natural methods. There’s a longstanding Guide entry, the Hilltop, but the town is most famous for a building commemorating a famous siege.

Yes, it’s the (Siege of) Mafeking Cottage.

The eponymous castle isn’t bad, either.

Our new entry the Terminus sounds like a micro,

and has the qualities of one, with a great communal feel and the sense that the whole village was there for the duration, which made me a little self-conscious about hogging a table for four.

Stupidly, I thought this was a Peaky Blinders theme (never seen it)

but I now reckon it’s eight Conisbrough World War I volunteers commemorated magnificently on the wall.

My glasses were steamed up as I entered, so it took me unusually long to choose a beer. The Great Heck stout was a cool and creamy NBSS 3.5, though if I could give an extra 0.5 for the mini pork pies handed out by the cheery landlady, I would do.

This is a classy place, with a female touch (is that sexist ?) and spotless loos.

I loved the local history. Here we see Conisbrough Poppsocks Club celebrate the arrival of famed ticker Pubmeister.

Or was it the departure ? Duncan loved the place as much as me.

I even enjoyed the quiz being played out on the screens, the answer to the key question seemed to be “verisimilitude“.

I’ll invite your suggestions as to the question.