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 a lunchtime Chinese meal for 3 from Meow’s of Southborough. The look of delight as my father-in-law realised he was getting crispy beef and Singapore rice for his wedding anniversary will stay with me forever.
We spent the night in Godalming. In a campervan. Next to a rugby pitch and a pancake cart.
Not since BRAPA took his summer holiday in Croydon has there been such adventurous tourism in the South-east.
I could tell you nothing about Godalming, though regular correspondent Charlie the Cab seems to be our resident expert.
It’s clearly going to be posh, tucked between Guildford and some of the worst excesses of gastro-village.
20 minutes into town reveal some intriguing architecture,
attractive meadows,
and some inviting looking pubs once you reach the (sort of) pedestrianised high street, which naturally starts with Waitrose (and ends with Moretti).
But despite some floral flourishes it’s not quite as smart as I’d thought,
and I immediately declare it the Baldock or Romsey of the South-East.
Not a lot of independent presence, and plenty of the usual chain names, but this may be the most attractive WH Smith outside the original in Newtown.
This is the tiling highlight, which really ought to adorn a boozer in Bloxwich rather than a kebab shop in Godalming.
Such a shame we’d stuffed our faces already.
Our pub, the final in GBG23, was just around the corner. Could it meet Mrs RM’s by now frenzied expectations…
retiredmartin 
Superb title, fits in excellently with me wibbling on about the Surrey Alps!
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Aaaaah the finest spoons in the land (probably not) is in godalming 🙂
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Enough of this frippery, and to serious things.
People got paid to do this. In America:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/aug/30/beer-goggles-study-finds-alcohol-does-not-make-people-seem-better-looking
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I think it was Alexei Sayle who said the most outlandish statement could be rendered believable by prefacing it with the words “In America”.
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You parked up overnight at the Gee Gees? Surprised you didn’t see any dogging action!
The photo with the hedge on the right was where I passed you. That hedge is why I didn’t see you when the penny dropped and I turned around.
The Waitrose you passed has only been there since 1994. It was previously in the ugliest building on the High Street and is now home to a humdrum ‘spoons. If you sit near the back, by the side door, that was where breakfast cereals were and the bar was where chilled meat and produce was.
If I had the time, I’d list all the closed pubs you passed walking from the rugger club to the Richmond. It’s a disappointingly long list…
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