September 2023. Longparish.
I realise some of you have been unable to sleep since news of the loss of my GBG first broke last Thursday on our way to the End of the Road.
Thankfully, someone invented mobile phones and Mrs RM contacted the Plough who confirmed that a middle-aged man had, indeed, stupidly left a book in the pub.
“Could he collect it on Monday on the way back from the music festival ?“
“Sorry, we don’t open Monday or Tuesday“.
So back we came a week after the loss, with only a 20 minute diversion on our route to the south.
Longparish is a straggly village “composed of the five hamlets of Middleton, East Aston, West Aston, Forton and Longparish Station” says Wiki, adding notable residents comprising a Colonel, a Major, a Lt. Colonel and a cricket writer, which may all be the same person.
You might imagine the discovery of a highlighted GBG would have been the major news item in the village,
but the lady behind the bar just said “Here you are” and that was it.
Having missed a chance to walk the bounds the previous Thursday, we had a quick look round the village, and decided to give thanks in the parish church.
Here you see me reunited with the good book.
St. Nicholas’s is a classic parish church, door left open for church afficionados like me.
Lacking old church account book, but replete with classic stained glass,
I score it NCSS 4.
This fella looks in less than perfect health. I guess that’s what your village lacks a Chinese takeaway.
In a week or two there’ll be a new Guide and I can throw GBG23 in the bin. But it’ll be ME who bungs it away, not a pub. And these rituals matter.
retiredmartin 
I love that photo of you reunited with the good book. It’s also got your right hand in that cramped position you get after a long session with a highlighter pen. Brilliant!
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Were there any obvious signs they had tampered with it or taken any information from it?
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Yes, they added a fourth tick to my scores, forgetting I have a maximum of 3 ticks, and wrote disparaging comments about the neighbouring pubs.
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So presumably you’ll be making a sacrifice to the Church of Satan when the new GBG appears?
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@timofnewbury says
Glad you could recover GBG 2023. I was in suspense. Cheers!
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It would be the basis for an ITV Sunday night thriller, certainly.
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I’m surprised you throw them away -although our mantra is “Never use/trust an old beer guide ” In these times that is fairly pertinent ,so we try to ditch them.Having said that we’ve not bought one for several years.I am tempted this year though purely based on the cover (I am very shallow )
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Once the year’s done, it’s done, Pauline. So would be a bit like keeping old copies of the National Trust or Caravan Club handbook !
All I need is the current edition (and the one I completed last year !).
Some folk aim to visit pubs in old guides that aren’t in the new one, but that’s not for me !
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Apparantly our local charity shop is happy to sell National Trust handbooks -I daresay a beer guide would be welcome too ,although the highlighting might be a little off putting..Its the bin for us
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“attempt” to sell I expect, Pauline. Aren’t charity shops more fussy these days due to the sheer volume of donations?
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Throw the old one away? No wonder you had to go to confession or whatever they call it in Longparish.
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Out with the old, in with the new…
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Temporarily losing your GBG2023 was rough. But it can’t compare to myself forgetting my MasterCard credit card at Lake Bluff Brwg. Co. {and not noticing this until three days later}. X-(
I had to take the Union Pacific North line train back there to retrieve it.
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Yes you HAD to Steve. Sending it by post was not an option !
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