retiredmartin

October 2024. Mapperley.

Not the most exciting urban exploration of the year,

but the mere fact I could tell you nothing about Woodthorpe and Mapperley in Nottingham’s northern suburbs made it worthwhile.

And a double espresso in the Chinese run One Little Room was a gem.

With half an hour till my micro opens, I did what all pro tickers do and had a half in what I assumed was a newish Spoons,

only to find Eddie had preemptively ticked it a decade ago.

As with all Spoons, it’ll make the Guide eventually. The star was the young lad who topped up my half and said “Enjoy it, mate“.

Mapperley provided me with an NBSS 4 Castle Rock at the Bread & Bitter years back, but offers little to the tourist,

bar fans of proper butchers,

and cob based haute cuisine.

I’m standing alone outside Blues Dawg 2 minutes before opening,

but by past 2 past 4 it’s packed with groups of folk my age (lower middle age) admiring what looks to be a collection of Mark Knopfler guitars.

No Dire Straits on the soundtrack, (boooo), but that didn’t seem to dampen the mood of a cheery crowd.

People who drink pints rather than halves are always cheery, of course, and this was a complete a clean sweep of pints of cask since that Mid Boldon club.

It took a while for my Frome to reach its potential, a chewy NBSS 3+,

but I warmed to this place, and Mapperley. Any town with a bus stop called Shops, next to the shop, is OK with me.