August 2023. Godalming. We’d paid zero (0) pounds to camp in Godalming and we were going to get our money’s worth. Leaving the bustling Star to the drunk billiards women we stopped to admire the puffer fish, and the high street, and then ignored the interesting looking pre-emptives in favour of the Spoons. Long an… Continue reading DRUNKEN BILLIARD PLAYERS OF GODALMING STEAL MY DUPPY RUM
Month: August 2023
THE STAR OF GODALMING
August 2023. Godalming. You don’t make Mrs RM walk two miles from a parked campervan, to the very end of the High Street, and then retire for the night after one pub, not when you can’t get anywhere else for another new tick (I think my closest pub I still “needed” was in Uxbridge). Not… Continue reading THE STAR OF GODALMING
YOUNGS, NEVER ORDINARY IN THE RICHMOND ARMS, GODALMING
August 2023. Godalming. You can learn a lot by looking at a Retired Martin Ordnance Survey extract. Godalming looks particularly alluring, doesn’t it ? Hills, National Trust river navigations, Lammas Lands, a Ladygarden and the birthplace (at Charterhouse school) of Genesis. OK, scrub that last bit. Never did get Genesis, something to do with poorly… Continue reading YOUNGS, NEVER ORDINARY IN THE RICHMOND ARMS, GODALMING
GODALMING THE HARD WAY
August 2023. Godalming. On this date a year ago Mrs RM and I drove 268 miles (apparently) to crack the back of the Highlands and bring Beer Guide completion within reach. I still have nightmares about pubs being closed that week. The trip to finish Surrey was less demanding, and had the added advantage of… Continue reading GODALMING THE HARD WAY
IN WHICH I REMEMBER WHY I LEFT CAMBRIDGE FOR SHEFFIELD
August 2023. Cambridge. Obviously I’m not making these weekly trips back “home” for cheap beer, oh no. Nope, it’s so Mrs RM can have her photo taken outside one of the UK’s great houses as part of her 100 Day Challenge. And so I can use my free “Identify A Plant” app for Mum. No… Continue reading IN WHICH I REMEMBER WHY I LEFT CAMBRIDGE FOR SHEFFIELD
NO ENTRY
August 2023. Cambridge. A Sunday in Waterbeach, with Mum saying “Don’t you want to go out for a walk with Christine ?” by teatime, which says a lot about how little there is to do when I “go home”. We took the train into Cambridge, a once seven minute journey that now routinely takes twice… Continue reading NO ENTRY
MANCHESTER – BALLOONS, DRY NOODLES AND PHIL FODEN
August 2023. Manchester. Odd post this, and not just because it’s a trip to Manchester without a beer or a curry. And that’s despite having to spend the night in Stockport due to the last train back to Sheffield leaving before an 8pm kick-off was likely to end given VAR reviews. At least (newly-washed) Baa… Continue reading MANCHESTER – BALLOONS, DRY NOODLES AND PHIL FODEN
CATS OF MIDDLEHAM, YOUR PUB NEEDS YOU
August 2023. Middleham. One last pub to leave North Yorkshire tantalisingly two ticks short of completion (both on the rail line to Scarborough). Perhaps I’ll finish the chapter, perhaps I won’t. Don’t sweat the small stuff. The road takes you through the Dales; we try to guess which ones but fail. We’d been to Middleham… Continue reading CATS OF MIDDLEHAM, YOUR PUB NEEDS YOU
GUNNERSIDE GETS ITS PUB BACK
August 2023. Gunnerside. One of Mum and Dad’s favoured TV programmes is “Our Yorkshire Farm”, a series where two folk just south of the Tan Hill Inn attempt to repopulate the Yorkshire Dales to provide custom for their local pub. Mum was amazed to hear we’d driven past the Owen family farm days earlier and… Continue reading GUNNERSIDE GETS ITS PUB BACK
FINALLY, THE TAN HILL INN !
August 2023. Tan Hill. Having completed the Beer Guide I wondered if I’d finally visited all the classic pubs in the UK, but then I realised that the Crooked House never made the GBG while I was ticking it, and there’s a few places like Defford’s Monkey House without cask, so who knows. And then… Continue reading FINALLY, THE TAN HILL INN !