June 2023. The last day of the in-laws trip “oop north“, and FIL was allowed to speak in a Yorkshire accent as it was HIS birthday. Mrs RM is 1/37th Italian on the maternal side, which almost entitled her to an EU passport post-Brexit (and a place in the Italian national team after their defeat… Continue reading BIRTHDAY BOOZE ON A BIG BENCH
Month: June 2023
PROPER PUBS IN GRANTHAM – No. 2 IN A NEAR INFINITE SERIES. THE WHITE SWAN.
June 2023. Grantham. In January I promised you a series on pubs close to the southern Grantham relief road, which probably has a fancier name. That series stretched to just the White Lion before being decommissioned quicker than El Dorado, but it’s sort of back as I stop at Barrowby’s White Swan for no obvious… Continue reading PROPER PUBS IN GRANTHAM – No. 2 IN A NEAR INFINITE SERIES. THE WHITE SWAN.
DAD’S FIRST EGGS ROYALE
June 2023. Newmarket to Isleham. Most weekends now are spent “home” in Waterbeach, waiting for Chung Hwa to open (16:30) and taking Dad out for lunch in exciting villages he sort of remembers and I’ve forgotten. In Newmarket, we got to see the racehorses crossing the road, and I was surprised to learn my Dad… Continue reading DAD’S FIRST EGGS ROYALE
SHEFFIELD BOOM TOWN
2nd June 2023. Sheffield. According to James our city centre is as busy as he’s seen it since he moved up in 2017. When the in-laws had first visited Sheffield 2 years ago for fourteen (14) days they hadn’t seen the city at its very best, with Covid restrictions still in place or tentatively lifted.… Continue reading SHEFFIELD BOOM TOWN
A CULTURAL AND CRAFTY INTERLUDE IN THE NORTH-EAST
June 2023. Gateshead to Durham. We’d exhausted the in-laws in Beamish and Newcastle so had a leisurely cultural day to start June before the 2 hour trip home. Obviously Newcastle-Gateshead had the Bigg Market and the Tuxedo Royale before the millennium saw the Baltic bring culture to Tyneside, but it’s the old flour mills (and… Continue reading A CULTURAL AND CRAFTY INTERLUDE IN THE NORTH-EAST
SHOWING OFF THE CROWN POSADA TO TOURISTS
31st May 2023. Newcastle. Yes, I know I’m not a local. But I can still show off a pub that I know so well, just as I’d give an American a guided tour of the Fat Cat or the City Arms if they asked. Or even if they didn’t. Mrs RM wanted to show her… Continue reading SHOWING OFF THE CROWN POSADA TO TOURISTS
A MIRACLE ON PERCY STREET
31st May 2023. Newcastle. Three GBG ticks down, one left till I could colour in the Tyne & Wear chapter for another year. The problem with having done the whole book is you lose discipline and are much more tempted to wobble off from the Wobbly Duck and get distracted by old favourites on Percy… Continue reading A MIRACLE ON PERCY STREET
A QUICK ESCAPE TO THE WOBBLY DUCK
31st May 2023. Newcastle. You left us in the warm embrace of the Quayside Spoons, with your hero upsetting queuers by standing along the bar and Mrs RM corralling the in-laws to a spare table. And I appreciate “corralling” has certain connotations when applied to a MIL. At 19:02 I’d ordered my tea, a simple… Continue reading A QUICK ESCAPE TO THE WOBBLY DUCK
QUEUEING IN SPOONS – YEA OR NAY ?
31st May 2023. Newcastle. “Surely not you doing a topical post, Retired Martin ? I thought better of you”. Well, it’s the only thing of interest about our evening meal with the in-laws, as we resisted the charms of the many options on Side and Sandhill, and headed for the Spoons. Mrs RM wasn’t happy… Continue reading QUEUEING IN SPOONS – YEA OR NAY ?
FIVE BRIDGES (OR IS IT SEVEN ?)
31st May 2023. Firstly, an apology to reader Mr John Watson, who has sent me a stern Paddington stare, the equivalent of a 90 day Parliamentary ban by the Privileges Committee, I’d written “The in-laws had always wanted to visit Beamish, the living history museum just outside Newcastle“, when of course Beamish is very much part… Continue reading FIVE BRIDGES (OR IS IT SEVEN ?)
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