June 2023. Broadstairs.
You can never have too many Half Man Half Biscuit references in your blog.
“She’s on the Isle of Thanet
I wake up on a trolley
And realise the folly
I tell them I can manage
There isn’t any damage
And as I’m being led out
I get my A to Z out“
That “A to Z” really dates it, doesn’t it ?
Mrs RM joined me in Thanet, a surprisingly trip from Rye.
Broadstairs is the Margo Leadbetter of the Thanet resorts, but it was looking a little worn compared with my last visit, just as Ramsgate becomes the Whitby of the South.
It’s even got a Craft Union, always a sign a town has a soul.
It’s certainly got micropubs, though names like 39 Steps, Mind the Gap and the Chapel have flirted with the Guide, and this year there’s only the Magnet, whose livery reminds me of the Beano.
A decade ago you knew what to expect when entering a Thanet micro; high tables round the walls, a bloke playing cards with the customers, cask and ciders you’ve never heard of, and deathly quiet.
Go on, tell me I’m wrong.
In 2023, it’s harder to predict. We enter to a resolutely 1980 soundtrack of “Love Will Tear Us Apart“, “That’s Entertainment“,”Mirror In The Bathroom” and “London Calling“. What a year.
Just gone opening, with half a dozen in, it feels the sort of jolly local you get in New Cross or Kelham.
Really friendly, highlighted by the landlady popping over to hand me back a quid I’d left on the bar towel. I didn’t remember leaving a coin there, but presumably the ongoing forensic analysis will confirm the matter one way or the other.
The beer from Romney is cool and chewy, a bit milky perhaps, but very Romney. I know what I mean.
High drama as the Billy is out-of-bounds,
but luckily the Bessie is open to blokes as long as they don’t pee on the seat.
The only thing that spoils it a bit is Mrs RM taking photos.
Honestly, taking photos of people in pubs is beyond the pale.
We consider having lunch in town, but it feels a bit dowdy, as the Tandoori shows,
though the chippy looks vibrant.
So just the hour in Broadstairs, enough for the pub, the view (top) and the Dickens.
I reckon we might have sold Broadstairs a bit short, once again, but life’s too short for such regrets.
retiredmartin 
Poor soul looks like an abandoned geography teacher (minus the leather elbow patches). Why did Mrs RM have to invade his privacy like that?
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He looks shocked, poor fella.
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Didn’t there used to be a comic called the Magnet? Kinda public school jolly good chaps thing. Long before my time.
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I totally agree that you can’t have too many HMHB references and glad to see the frequency increasing after your recent New Mills post. Looking forward to the post where you miss a tricky tick with limited opening hours as you were searching for the 10p off Lenor.
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******* hell!
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It’s Fred Titmus?
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True Fred Titmus story: in the days of Gentlemen and Players, the PA announcer at Lord’s said there was an error in the day’s scorecard, “F J Titmus should read Titmus F J”
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That’s the sort of pedantry us HMHB fans can appreciate
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Uber pedantry.
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We were in Thanet last week for 4 days, an under-rated area with towns like Broadstairs, Whitstable, Margate and Ramsgate.
Agree about Ramsgate. It feels like the Royal Pavilion is the only reason that the town still has any visitors, though the beach is lovely and sandy, but the town feels a bit rough and tired, unlike Margate and even Broadstairs.
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I actually like Ramsgate a lot. The town centre is very rough and ready, but the bars and restaurants along Military Road are pretty good. Or were when I last went just before COVID.
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..and it was the opener at the tremendous Llangollen gig a couple of weeks back
I ticked the 3 GBG pubs in ‘town’, with The Ship being my pick of the 3 – sadly didn’t have chance to get in the Bull Inn, next to the venue, which seemed to have decent potential.
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