All Duncan McKay wanted for Christmas was a blog post with a GBG spreadsheet in it. I always assumed the Pubmeister was born before the invention of spreadsheets and kept his ticks on Paisley papyrus, but apparently spreadsheets date back to the Babylonians in 1800 BC and despite the appearance of his knees I think Duncan arrived after that.
You’ll recall that in September 2022 I completed the Beer Guide, all 4,501 entries in a current edition visited over a 30 year period.
That allowed me to colour in the whole map, in glorious Stabilo Boss pink;
But the Guide doesn’t stand still. The next edition would bring four hundred and forty-four new pubs for me to tick if I was going to “do a Britney”.
Yes, it’s one thing to complete once, quite another to repeat the trick. For a start, you’d need another year of flights and ferries to Scilly, Guernsey, Orkney and the like.
And September 2022 saw the start of a period of parental decline that has made those sort of travels rather trickier, particularly with Mrs RM focused on some European ticking of her own;
I always said you’d need to visit at least 500 new pubs a year to tick the book, I’ve barely managed half that.
Anyhows, here’s my GBG25 spreadsheet, showing the size of the task.
That’s what you get when you don’t go south of Bristol or north of Berwick for a year or two.
I mean, 36 in Devon alone. Perhaps I should go to the CAMRA AGM in Torquay and get them all done in a weekend.
retiredmartin 
If only they stop opening good pubs, right…
Oh wait.. isn’t that counter narrative that we should stop pubs closing.
The churn in GBG should be seen as a good thing. A list of good pubs in Stasis forever might suit some, but not me.
Even Preston is averaging a good new beer bar every six months recently by my reckoning.
/Spinko.
(Apparently someone is logged in as me!)
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It’s the new pubs that tend to excite the GBG tickers most, even though it makes their job harder !
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“Perhaps I should go to the CAMRA AGM in Torquay and get them all done in a weekend?”
Ticking those 36 pubs would be a far better use of your time, Martin, as you will rapidly lose the will to live, sitting through those turgid AGM debates!
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I’m sure your namesake in Stafford will strongly disagree, Paul. I believe that the use of the definite article and full stops in pub names is the big issue under discussion.
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Yes Martin, I know you’ll be there for the debate on whether it’s the “Black Horse”, the “Black Horse.” the “The Black Horse” or the “The Black Horse.” and that’s even if you’re not proposing that motion.
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Paul, those issues of nomenclature, make the “Great air-pressure schism” look like a storm in a teacup!
(I wonder if any pubs still use air-pressure dispense – even those in Scotland where the system was once quite common).
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If I get back to Edinburgh this year I’ll try and find out !
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Yes Paul, I remember it well, all those water engines north of the border that caused the 1978 EGM in Manchester which accepted them. Meanwhile south of the border air pressure often meant the Porter Lancastrian system which was unacceptable.
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Did you come across any air pressure on your last Scottish trip, Paul ?
I could scour the symbols in the GBG but why bother ?
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Possibly only in Edinburgh’s Athletic Arms and Bennet’s Bar.
I only remember handpumps in Broughty Ferry, Dundee and Glasgow and must pay more attention in future.
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There seems to be a concentration in holiday areas and especially the south-west and Cumbria. You just can’t monitor all these pubs in line with the aspirations of the GBG. There might be a correlation with branch minibus trips in the year, although the apparent demise of information on branch activities makes it hard to prove one way or another. Next year there might be a surprising number within a hour or two of Torquay. I’m almost tempted to go (will probably think better of it yet again) but only if the view includes hordes of wildebeest galloping across the Serengeti.
[IPW]
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I think the view of Paul Mudge and I galloping out of the conference hall to the nearest pub will be just as entertaining.
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Ian, Martin,
I’m probably missing a couple of wonderful pubs a dozen miles away but aren’t aware of anything in or near Torquay that could tempt me to stay there more than two nights.
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Making a swift exit from the conference hall, reminds me of the 2013 Norwich Members Weekend, the last CAMRA AGM I attended.
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I sadly remember Norwich 2013 as the last one the late Rhys Jones attended.
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You have saved Christmas with the belated appearance of the spreadsheet. You did always say completion was a one off but that’s what we all say. Mitigating reasons on your part have been fully accepted by the Committee.
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Aw thanks, Duncan. The appeal of ticking the Guide continues; even Christine enjoys the explorative aspect of the Guide. Particularly drawn to Shetland which had no entries to tick in 2022.
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