March 2025. Loughborough. Despite his looks Quinno is actually younger than I am, so doesn’t remember those magical times when the Good Beer Guide described entries as ” basic town pub”, “rough pub, women tolerated” and “workingman’s pub”, which was all the description you needed in 1975, in an age before street art. I don’t… Continue reading A WORKINGMAN’S BASS AT LOUGHBOROUGH’S PEACOCK
Month: March 2025
BACK TO 1995 AT THE BLUE MONKEY
March 2025. Loughborough. I’ve rather lost faith in the little Blue Monkey’s little chain of East Midlands pubs since some disappointing cask in Nottingham and Newark, but they cling on to hard-won GBG places in Loughborough, where the Organ Grinder has just won “Traditional” Pub of the Year, which tells you a lot. I guess… Continue reading BACK TO 1995 AT THE BLUE MONKEY
A WHIGFIELD REVELATION IN THE SWAN IN THE RUSHES
March 2025. Loughborough. A day without plans in an unsung Leicestershire town, bar a Spoons breakfast and “culture”; makes a change from a CAMRA-approved “pub research trip” with strict timings and no time to nip in the nearest museum or Brew Dog or pause to take photos of dead pubs. The only “must” on my… Continue reading A WHIGFIELD REVELATION IN THE SWAN IN THE RUSHES
BATEMAN, NOT BASS, AT THE GENEROUS BRITON
March 2025. Loughborough. A surprising number of candidates for the CAMRA National Executive are currently setting out their pitch for the lucrative roles on Discourse. I’ll ask Paul Mudge who to vote for once I get to Torquay. A reminder that, like US Presidential elections, you can “write in” your preferred candidate if “none of… Continue reading BATEMAN, NOT BASS, AT THE GENEROUS BRITON
CULTURE IN CHARNWOOD
March 2025. Loughborough. I’d been hoping to catch up with Quinno for a few years, but he’s rarely sober and used to live in a dangerous part of the UK. But now he’s oop North in Leicester, the new custodian* of the sacred Bass list, it’s time to talk matters Red Triangle and NBSS with… Continue reading CULTURE IN CHARNWOOD
THE DREGS OF THE WETHERSPOONS BEER FESTIVAL
March 2025. Loughborough. The best thing about Wetherspoons is that they’ll sell you beer from 9am. The worst thing is that drinking from 9am isn’t always a good idea, unless you’re Paul Mudge. Still, Quinno reckoned a pint with breakfast was the way to go, and a packed Amber Rooms suggested it’s a common view.… Continue reading THE DREGS OF THE WETHERSPOONS BEER FESTIVAL
WHY LOUGHBOROUGH ?
March 2025. Loughborough. “You gone ? Where you off to ?” texts Mrs RM, waking up to a cold cup of coffee and sourdough with marmite an hour after I’d left for the tram. “Lutterworth. Meeting Quinno. I did tell you“. I probably didn’t tell her, but she wouldn’t have come anyway, knowing she’d “only… Continue reading WHY LOUGHBOROUGH ?
NADIA REID AND CASK UNDER £4 AT THE BRUDENELL
March 2025. Leeds. Picking a gig in Leeds on the same night as Millwall turned up at Elland Road was careless, but it was my best chance to see folkie Kiwi-turned-Manc Nadia Reid, and the Brudenell is my favoured venue in the whole world. So I drove, and Mrs RM came too, attracted by a… Continue reading NADIA REID AND CASK UNDER £4 AT THE BRUDENELL
“Let it go mate”. Cheltenham betting trauma in Owston Ferry.
March 2025. Owston Ferry. Doncaster (apparently). Another day, another excursion into the flatlands of the east, this time to the mysterious Isle of Axholme. Is it really an isle ? Does anyone care ? If you do, go there now and check for yourself. Owston Ferry is one of those quaint west bank villages that… Continue reading “Let it go mate”. Cheltenham betting trauma in Owston Ferry.
“Living Next Door To Alice”. “Alice?”
March 2025. Marton. Lincolnshire. Right, some inroads made into East Yorkshire, time to head back to tricky Lincolnshire, perhaps BRAPA’s favourite county. Marton, which keeps autocorrecting to the more famous “Martin” (there’s one of those south of Lincoln) feels tiny, because it is. 747 souls straggled along the A156, with a wobbly church, a post… Continue reading “Living Next Door To Alice”. “Alice?”
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