retiredmartin

August 2023. Piercebridge.

You remember the George in Piercebridge, the star of Mr Protz’s wonderful guide to the Great North Road.

I hate to disillusion aspiring bloggers like Mrs RM, but it’s not a passport to an early retirement spent eating Pipers. Far better to crowdfund a craft brewery, go bankrupt and sell it to yourself for a penny.

If only I could monetise my only really popular post, the one which I believe is taught in schools from Daegu to Daejeon. Look at these views since the post “dropped” (ugh).

Because the story of the Grandfather’s clock is taught in South Korea the same way that they learn Coldplay lyrics in Norway*.

I’d have loved some feedback, but 9,301 views have produced just one (1) Like and one (1) comment, and that was Dave asking if I could get Mr Protz to sign his copy.

So I’ve no idea how many Koreans have actually read the post, or have a clue what I’m on about. And I’m fairly certain none of them have ever thought “Now I’m at Retired Martin’s blog, let’s see what he has to say about Bass in Stockton”.

Never mind. It’s what we in the tough world of finance call a “cash cow”, except that there’s no cash, and I have vegan readers so it’s a bad metaphor.

The George itself wasn’t a cash cow, closing pre-Covid not long after Mrs RM and I stopped by for a half on the way to the Borders, but it magically opened again recently flogging double rooms for little over £50.

Honestly, last weekend you’d pay £100 to stay in a Travelodge in Hartlepool, so we had to give the George ago, even if Best Western’s curation of our old coaching inns has been a bit patchy.

And look ! They’ve moved the clock from one wall to the other. Perhaps it will start again and ruin the one thing the George is famous for.

Nope. But you may shortly be surprised to find what it should be famous for in 2023…

*Possibly untrue but who knows.