September 2024. Grantham. Anyone who actually reads this will realise I’ve no problem with Spoons or Tim Martin. Like McDonalds or Maidenhead Conservative Club they fulfill a function, but I wouldn’t want to live there. And last Saturday in Grantham as the clock ticked past 9 it was Spoons or a kebab, all other chain… Continue reading A 33 MINUTE WAIT FOR A PINT IN SPOONS

September 2024. Grantham. The problem with writing a blog as a diary is you have to write what actually happens, the slog up and down the A1 punctuated only by the Greggs at North Muskham, the brewery taps in Manchester, the Sheffield pubs revisited just to get out of “doing the garden”. But September brings… Continue reading GRANTHAM AT NIGHT

September 2024. Manchester. The Matthew Curtis guide to Manchester is the best thing CAMRA has done since voting Doom Bar the best UK bitter (whatever) 20 years ago. Yes, that really happened, revisionists. But it wouldn’t claim to be a guide to the best pubs; there’s nothing from Eccles or Middleton or Hyde, for instance.… Continue reading ALL THE PUBS IN THE MANCHESTER BEER BOOK – CLOUDWATER BREWERY TAP

September 2024. Sheffield. A rare Friday evening in Sheffield, rather than Waterbeach. Still no new GBG, so what to do ? “We should go to the pub” says Mrs RM, reminding me why I married her all those years ago. Normally that means pizza and Blonde at the Blind Monkey as it’s closer, but I… Continue reading BLAKE’S HEAVEN

September 2024. Sheffield. A (short) break from pubs, as I encourage Mrs RM out for a walk round the lesser-known reservoirs in north Sheffield, 15 minutes from Retired Martin Towers. Picked at random, More Hall Reservoir draws you in with villages called Wigtwizzle, Bolsterstone, and the mysterious Ewden Village, a timber built hamlet constructed for… Continue reading IN SEARCH OF EWDEN

September 2024. Sheffield. A half hour walk round Walkley is worth 2 hours in the flats of the Fens, and Mrs RM’s 10k steps takes in some art (from Peachzz), and grandeur, but I sense she senses I’m looking for a pub stop. Matt and Emma are on their way back from Berlin so I… Continue reading ON A WHIM

September 2024. Sheffield. Back at Sheffield Station from Dronfield I’m faced with a half hour slog up the hill back to the Blind Monkey home, and do that daft thing you often do at the end of a Proper Pub crawl; have a nightcap at the station bar. (see also : Parcel Yard, Old Ticket… Continue reading A FAILURE TO RESIST THE SHEFFIELD TAP

September 2024. Dronfield. What started two hours ago as a quick couple of pints in a new (but nearby) town had turned into a bit of a session by the time I left the Underdog with 12 minutes till the train left. 12 minutes ? That’s 3 minutes walk back, a minute for a wee… Continue reading IT’S NOT FOR ME !

September 2024. Dronfield Well, bumping into fellow ticker Eddie ensured I’d missed the 4pm train home to Sheffield, and unfortunately I was going to miss the 5pm one as well as I headed down Dronny Bottom (it’s really called that), finding it to resist the siren call of the Underdog I’d resolved to swerve an… Continue reading THE UNDERDOG IN DRONNY BOTTOM

September 2024. Dronfield. Part 3 of x, where x is a (too) big number, of my impromptu Dronfield crawl. I really should have invited Stafford Paul, I could have given him at least 5 minutes notice. Instead, I had the unexpected joy of the company of fellow GBG ticker (he’s a ticking machine) Wakefield Eddie,… Continue reading RETIRED MARTIN (BLUE) STOOPS TO CONQUER THE TIRED PINT OF PEDIGREE