retiredmartin

April 2024. Harpenden.

A Big Night Out in Harpenden, flush with the pride of saving at least £100 on Sunday night’s accommodation by sleeping in a campervan with a portable loo.

And three (3) GBG ticks in the bag by six, quite a good effort for me since completing the Guide and losing that Fierce Urgency of Now !

So what next ? A “nice” curry in Harpenden, I guess.

I gave Mrs RM an alternative route back via the River Lea, and paid for it almost immediately.

“Is that one in the Guide ?”

The Amble clearly wasn’t; it used to be “Bistro Gautier at the Amble Inn” and even in Harpenden that’s not getting in the Book.

“Go on, live a little, go in”.

I’ve lived too long to start disobeying Mrs RM now.

Well, it’s not only pretty outside, but the Amble also has Side Pocket For A Toad, which in Harpenden’s sea of Pride, Doom and Landlord almost counts as craft.

The Butcombe denotes “gastropub” of course, but the Amble was doing a decent job of catering for locals watching Spurs v Forest and debating the Floyd.

“I’ve got MOST of the Pink Floyd albums“.

“I’ve got Relics“.

“I’ve got Pulse“.

OK, it wasn’t as exciting as Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but folks going to the pub on a Sunday to compare record collections works for me.

Helped by the extra wide Tring glass, that Side Pocket was edging towards a 3.5 even as Mrs RM finished another large glass of White, and we’d have stayed for tea but they’d just stopped serving an interesting menu.

Getting fed on Sunday nights in pubs is still the preserve of Spoons.

But I liked the place, and if I’d been 50 years younger I’d have loved the bouncy castle.

50 years on, the most excitement I get is trying to identify the weird plant at the entrance.