July 2024. Welshpool. A Tuesday night in Powys; another chance to discover if I’ve underestimated Welshpool‘s charms. Sadly, not. I guess my expectations of a town of 6,764 souls are always going to be too high, even though it does stand out on the Philip navigator as a major Welsh town. Campervan settled down for… Continue reading A WELSHPOOL WANDER, BUT IS THERE WONDER ?
Month: July 2024
HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY No. 55 – MID WALES
By coincidence, this blog has now reached Mid-Wales in 2024 AND also in the acclaimed “Half a dozen pubs” series, which will only omit that pub in Guilsfield as it’s too current. Quite a span covered in that Mid Wales (aka Powys) section, but one thing’s for sure, you’re guaranteed hills and thrills and no… Continue reading HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY No. 55 – MID WALES
GUILSFIELD GREATNESS
July 2024. Guilsfield. Welshpool. From Hollywood (Wrexham) I headed south back into England and then Wales again for a night in hilly Welshpool, my respite from weekends in the flatlands of Waterbeach. The 76 or T12 bring you to Guilsfield in 10 minutes. A pleasant village of 1,640, with a picturesque bus station, manicured gardens,… Continue reading GUILSFIELD GREATNESS
MORE BRUNNING AND PRICE WANNABES IN GREATER WREXHAM
July 2024. Erbistock. Wrexham. From posh north Wrexham to posh south Wrexham for our next GBG newbie, but you’d hardly notice the difference. Just beyond lovely St. Hilary’s, at the end of a dead end track, lies Erbistock’s Boat. I often wonder how many renowned pubs I still haven’t been to because they haven’t been… Continue reading MORE BRUNNING AND PRICE WANNABES IN GREATER WREXHAM
HYDES IN POSH WREXHAM
July 2024. Rossett. Wrexham. From trips to Wales past to trips to Wales present, and finally some new Welsh GBG24 ticks. I’d forgot how close that border was, though the route below has a detour through League of Gentleman Hadfield at the moment. A motorway from Sheffield to Stockport through the Snake Pass is surely… Continue reading HYDES IN POSH WREXHAM
HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY No. 54 – GWENT
Time for an overdue return to the award winning* “Half a dozen pubs in every GBG chapter“, which we rudely left in Glamorgan a month ago. I’m a big fan of Gwent, partly because it’s so easy to get to Cambridge or Sheffield with whizzy motorway links, cheap chain hotels, and unpronounceable (to non-Welsh) place… Continue reading HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY No. 54 – GWENT
MASTERS OF CASK
June 2024. Sheffield. How was your election evening ? This was the scene in Sheffield at 10pm; Over-analyse that ! A week ago the election coverage was in overdrive in my last pub of the month, as I left the Cow and Calf suddenly incredibly hungry. By a stroke of luck, a Sheffield dining pub… Continue reading MASTERS OF CASK
THE COW AND CALF LIVES !
June 2024. Grenoside. In 1998 I stopped at the Cow & Calf on the way to see Cambridge United nick a famous 1-0 win at Hillsborough, and introduced old schoolmate Sean to the joys of Sam Smiths. (Pure Lager, but never mind). 20 odd years later, the Cow & Calf failed to supply Sir Humphrey’s… Continue reading THE COW AND CALF LIVES !
JUNE ’24 STOCKTAKE AND JULY PREVIEW
Better late than never, your contractually required highlights package for the coldest June in living memory. Another month spent dashing between Manchester, Sheffield and Waterbeach, with a bit of South Coast at the start and some continental action in the middle. Only (only ?) 54 different pubs visited, and of those only 8 were new… Continue reading JUNE ’24 STOCKTAKE AND JULY PREVIEW
PREMATURELY CHECKING IN BEERS ON UNTAPPD AT THE MAGNET
June 2024. Stockport. Or is it Heaton Norris ? Where were we ? Oh yes. Curry and Greater Manchester beer night with Blackpool Jane, after a Bailey’s chaser. Now, here’s why Jane is so great. That’s the prescribed walking route from the Crown to the Magnet, but it’s SO dull. Why not walk under the… Continue reading PREMATURELY CHECKING IN BEERS ON UNTAPPD AT THE MAGNET
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