July 2023. Maltby. Matthew joined us on our latest trip south to check on Mum and Dad, and we opted for a posh breakfast in Maltby’s Spoons. The journey south takes 2:20 hours now the A1 barrier repairs at Stamford are complete, which is a shorter trip than Waterbeach to Cromer in Summer. It’s generally… Continue reading FRED, BUT NOT PAUL AND BARRY
Month: July 2023
SHAKELINES
July 2023. Sheffield. More of that modern music you folk love as we plough on through Kelham Island on Friday night in search of the next Arctic Monkeys Airport Dad. Always interesting to see the gentrification of Kelham, where we noted a rather more upmarket crowd in the wine bars and Sardinian restaurants than you… Continue reading SHAKELINES
AIRPORT….DAD !
July 2023. Hillsborough, Sheffield. Last weekend the rain arrived, but the M.O.R. crowd at Tramlines lapped it up (literally), dancing along in their designer wellies to middle-aged indie pap*. “Embracing” ? Who says “embracing” in 2023 ? We were escaping Sheffield on Saturday morning, but popped along to the Fringe on Friday night. Virtually every… Continue reading AIRPORT….DAD !
THE MECCIE RIVIERA
July 2023. Swinton and Mexborough. Planning your pub visits is as much a joy for the ticker as the beer and the banter, especially when it suddenly hits you on your exploration of the keg wastelands of Yorkshire’s former mining towns that you could do Mexborough from Swinton and save yourself a separate trip. An… Continue reading THE MECCIE RIVIERA
MOORTHORPE GETS A STATION PUB
July 2023. Moorthorpe, West Yorkshire. I can’t claim the South Kirkby is as exciting as Kirkby, Merseyside, or even South Elmsall across the rail bridge with its occasional Guide entry in the Barnsley Oak, but at least I’d been. And you haven’t. Moorthorpe is hardly noticeable on that map extract, seeming to exist only as… Continue reading MOORTHORPE GETS A STATION PUB
SOUTH KIRKBY – A MEMORIAL TO TIMES PAST ?
July 2023. South Kirkby. Apologies for the unexplained absence. I’ve just had an emergency removal of a painful part of my person by a skilled professional in Liverpool. But then, if you’re one of my patronised readers, you’d have seen the delicate operation in real time already. On Friday lunchtime I was debating my options.… Continue reading SOUTH KIRKBY – A MEMORIAL TO TIMES PAST ?
THE WORLD IS A ROSE
July 2023. Walkley, Sheffield. Mrs RM has been hard at work keeping me in the lifestyle to which I have long become accustomed, but joined me for a bottle of thrillingly expensive red wine and moussaka at the Greek Grill House on Barber Road in Commonside. Must have been a strong bottle of wine, because… Continue reading THE WORLD IS A ROSE
25 MINUTES BEFORE THE TRAIN FROM WOLVERHAMPTON. WHAT TO DO ?
July 2023. Wolverhampton. With West Midlands GBG in the bag, I reckoned one more pint before home (slowing down, old age). Colmore in Brum ? Not after Si’s withering assessment at the weekend. How about Wolves ? Perhaps the Chindit on the walk back ? Haven’t been there for a decade. Sign advertising for a… Continue reading 25 MINUTES BEFORE THE TRAIN FROM WOLVERHAMPTON. WHAT TO DO ?
SIZZLING WOLVERHAMPTON
July 2023. Wolverhampton. It had taken three hours to get from Sheffield to Pensnett for the penultimate West Midlands tick. You’ve seen the photo of the cob; you’ll know whether that slog out from Dudley was worthwhile as well as inevitable. Now it got even more tricky. Look at the map and Wolverhampton looks mere… Continue reading SIZZLING WOLVERHAMPTON
DUDLEY M.O.R.
July 2023. Dudley. Tuesday lunchtime. It’s raining in Brum (twinned with Glasgow) again. I’ve no idea what logic saw me heading back on the train to Birmingham a mere three days after that Saturday of micros and brewery taps. Certainly, it was safer to visit the Black Country once BRAPA had left, and an uncompleted… Continue reading DUDLEY M.O.R.
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