retiredmartin

Quite a busy travel map in February,

but another month focused on the North-West, Yorkshire and East Anglia, with no plans at all at present to visit Wales, though the CAMRA AGM in Dundee next month sounds like a chance to take the campervan round Fife and Tayside again.

HIGHLIGHTS

Pub Crawls with Stafford Paul, Sheffield Hatter + Guests and Maltmeister (well, one pub) a reminder of the joy of visiting too many pubs in an afternoon and talking complete nonsense.

But the highlight was a trip with Mrs RM to Liverpool, which looked absolutely gorgeous.

Crossness Pumping Station. Best sewage works in the world.

Desborough Museum, perhaps the best small town social history museum in the world, unless you know better.

Standing at the Sky’s Edge in the West End. Moving, mesmeric and marvellous.

Fish and chips with Dad at the Hare & Hounds. Always a privilege to take Dad out for a pub lunch; Tom the Pub’s fish Friday’s are an institution.

THE STATS

Sixty-four (64) different pubs, though only 15 of those were new GBG entries so if you’re expecting a big push to Beer Guide completion you’re backing the wrong horse.

PUB OF THE MONTH – The White Star, Liverpool

A joyous half hour with gentlefolk enjoying pubs. I wasn’t dancing; others were.

NEW PUB OF THE MONTH – Red Lion, Liverpool

One of the cosiest, classiest, friendliest new GBG entries of recent times, and Liverpool was magic.

BEER OF THE MONTH – Big Trip Cosmic Weirdness, The Molly House, Manchester

Beer quality was sensational all month. Don’t ask me how, it just was. And Manchester’s Big Trip keep popping up in quality bars like the Molly House and Alder. Are they the new Two by Two ?

I have no idea where I’ll be in March, but I’d really like to do a Donnington pub this month. See, a sucker for punishment.