February 2025. York.
We said we’d get away straight after the funeral; Mrs RM hoped for Moldova, I wanted Maidenhead.
It never happened, what with trips to banks and father-in-laws and such. But Sunday brought news of £33 Travelodges in big cities, and with its most famous resident 250 miles away in Neath,
there would never be a better time for a night in York.
York has long given up on new GBG entries, it’s the Walsall of the North, but I hear it has Harry Potter themed falafel pubs or something, and folk like reading about popular cities*.
Mrs RM asked ChatGPT to write a blogpost for her on a York itinerary, and then she did that itinerary. Isn’t that the wrong way round.
We’d walked 10 minutes from a manic station towards the Fishergate Tower when I said;
“Shall we start your blog with an historic post ?”.
Like many of the classics I’ve been revisiting recently, it’s at least 20 years since I “ticked” the Golden Ball, the John Smiths heritage pub of yore.
It’s bang on 2pm, the students aren’t up yet, and the trade in this multi-roomed gem is as quiet as it gets all week,
Which means we can take our blog photos, anyway.
Mrs RM has a busy day ahead, so I ask if she wants a half as she heads (the wrong way, they’re outside) to the loo.
“A half ! What’s that ?” she shouts.
York’s recent new GBG entries have tended to the crafty shop conversion model. Meanwhile, the Golden Ball kicks out the John’s, adds lots of art and sells you a blondie with a Jammy Dodger on top.
Blondies are the big cake trend post-Covid. If you need to know how many calories, you can’t afford to eat it.
The Bad Kitty and Lost in Ikea are both tasty and chewy (NBSS 3+), though perhaps lacking that last bit of crispness.
A proper Retired Martin nu-folk soundtrack, too
and a feel far from the John Smiths stronghold I (vaguely) remember from all those years ago.
One room has local art like this set from Richard Gardham,
but the whole pub was a work of art.
“Shall we stay for another ?” asks Mrs RM, reading my mind.
“No, ChatGPT says you must now walk the walls for 0.45 miles“. And ChatGPT must be obeyed.
*This isn’t actually true. Folk want to read about keg pubs in Mansfield.
retiredmartin 
The GB is my actual local albeit not the pub I frequent most. I love it, particularly when I have visitors and it’s busy in evenings but have always found beer to have a very firm ceiling of NBSS 3.
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I’ve had cooler, crisper, cask. Still very enjoyable though.
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York is one of my favorite pub towns. And not just because of the possible celebrity sightings. Odd to me that two heavily touristed towns, Bath and York, are such great pub towns too.
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Yes that is interesting. It’s not as if the top pubs are coaching inns on a main Roman road or similar.
For contrast, visit Stratford-on-Avon and try and find a characterful pub.
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Yes indeed.
Two nights in York and five in Bath over the past five years have been my time and money well spent.
I’ve never liked Stratford though, no better now really that when it was overwhelmingly Whitbread pubs fifty years ago. Recent visits have been with my wife and daughter and then just to a Fullers “northern” ( yes, of course it’s Midlands ) outpost to check if the Pride’s drinking well.
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We popped over to Bath one day last week, during our annual holiday in Bristol
We visited the following pubs which are all very different from each other:
Bridge Inn, Passage Street, Bristol
Crown Tavern, Lawford’s Gate, Bristol
Swan with Two Necks, Little Ann Street, Bristol
Volunteer Tavern, New Street, Bristol
Strawberry Thief, Broad Street, Bristol
Star Inn, Vineyards, Bath
Bell Inn, Walcot Street, Bath
Kings Head, Victoria Street, Bristol
Albion, Boyce’s Avenue, Clifton, Bristol
Portcullis, Wellington Terrace, Clifton, Bristol
Lost and Grounded Taproom, Whitby Road, Brislington, Bristol
Orchard Inn, Hanover Place, Bristol
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Having lived in Bristol for most of my life, I know pretty much all of those apart from the Taproom. I’ve heard that the Crown has been done up. Every time I went there, it was a 1970s theme park, full of Old Boys on the Bass, lino on the floor, red Formica on the tables, the whole bit. It was great.
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In which case, you might not like the Crown any more. It’s very different from that. Very shiny and new. Looked nice to me, but I hadn’t seen it before.
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Won’t living in the Shetlands Mseem like most of your life, Bill?
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Damned autocorrupt.
Didn’t living in the Shetlands seem like most of your life, Bill?
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Etu:
1. It’s Shetland, not the Shetlands.
2. Yes, probably.
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The rumour was right then. Bet you can’t get a pint of Bass for £1.50 anymore like you could just a few years ago. I’m assuming tax wasn’t an issue. Some of the Old Boys from my local used to make special trips across the city just for the cheap Bass.
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Surely if there’s more than just you living there then it’s plural so Shetlands, Bill 😶
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The Shetland Islands is acceptable, just not the Shetlands. We do get a bit pissy about this up here. Not at lot else to do I suppose.
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I’m going to start calling our local hills the Peaks District.
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I’ve never seen my hometown compared to York before!
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Oh yes, many was the time I heard Japanese tourists exclaim “Oh my ! York is almost as beautiful as Walsall !”.
Of course, my Japanese isn’t perfect.
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And that was with only having seen pictures of Walsall.
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I see you can get to Walsall from Stafford in 47 minutes, Paul. I should suggest it on the revitalised Beer and Pubs Forum.
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The through trains only lasted from 1998 to 2008 but, yes, I’m overdue a visit to Walsall.
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