February 2025. Stockport. 2 minutes to check-in, and then back in for more culture. Or something. Would there be any culture in Stockport at 5.30 on a Friday ? The next time someone blames me for going in too many pubs let it be recorded that it was Karen, Jane and Mrs RM who stood… Continue reading MORE UNSUNG STOCKPORT. THE WELLINGTON
Month: March 2025
THE VIEW FROM MY TRAVELODGE WINDOW
February 2025. Stockport. A cultural day in the Pride of Cheshire deserves a cultural hotel. £44.99 your Friday night Travelodge. Look at these views. That’s your actual brewery tap beer garden visible from your unopenable window. I knew Jane would need to visit Runaway, and equally I knew the trestle table with pizza oven formula… Continue reading THE VIEW FROM MY TRAVELODGE WINDOW
WILSON’S MILD !
February 2025. Stockport. There’s always a point in every “culturally curated exploration of a town containing pubs” where things go off-piste. Appropriately for top skier Karen of Inverurie, it was her that swerved us off-piste into The Midland at 15:23 last Friday as we left the cramped and crafty Magnet. “We should go in there“.… Continue reading WILSON’S MILD !
NO BATHAM’S IN THE MAGNET ? IT’LL HAVE TO BE THE APPLE, BLUEBERRY AND MAPLE PASTRY STOUT, THEN
February 2025. Stockport. Happy International Women’s Day, and a post where an Old Bloke mansplains Stockport to three women who really aren’t interested in the town’s crumbling facades, or the niche appeal of Redrock’s entertainment complex. home to that tribute to legendary Sufragette Elsie Plant. Wikipedia says that a century ago “Marie Stopes arranged for… Continue reading NO BATHAM’S IN THE MAGNET ? IT’LL HAVE TO BE THE APPLE, BLUEBERRY AND MAPLE PASTRY STOUT, THEN
ALL THE PUBS IN THE MANCHESTER BEER BOOK. THE SWAN WITH TWO NECKS, STOCKPORT
February 2025. Stockport. Cheshire. A day of culture with Blackpool Jane, Aberdeen Karen and itinerant Mrs RM, a day when the sun shone on the righteous (Me !), and Stockport’s visitor attractions looked the real deal. Unlike some recent flagship openings like the V & A in Dundee, the HatWorks, town museum and adjacent Staircase… Continue reading ALL THE PUBS IN THE MANCHESTER BEER BOOK. THE SWAN WITH TWO NECKS, STOCKPORT
UNKNOWN PLEASURES
February 2025. Stockport. Part 2 of our cultured cruising of Cheshire’s finest town, as I narrowly divert our Blackpool visitors away from the Egerton Arms. Look what you could have had, Jane. I sometimes feel I know Stocky as well as Cambridge, bullying visitors into stopping at the best spots. “NO ! Look that way“… Continue reading UNKNOWN PLEASURES
HATS
February 2025. Stockport. Let joy be unconfined. Blackpool Jane is blogging again. Candid and colourful and a bit of cask and chocolate DIPA thrown in. We met up with Jane and fellow Tangerine Karen in Stockport to Do the Culture. I do like pub crawls, curated or otherwise, but CAMRA folk get awfully upset if… Continue reading HATS
MORE DISAPPOINTMENT FOR THOSE SEARCHING FOR SUB-PAR GBG ENTRIES
February 2025. Sheffield. “This Conference instructs the National Executive to reduce the number of pubs in the Good Beer Guide from the 2027 edition onwards, to ensure only quality pubs are featured.” Well, it’ll be worth going to Torquay next month for the big CAMRA shindig to hear that motion debated. There’s been a good… Continue reading MORE DISAPPOINTMENT FOR THOSE SEARCHING FOR SUB-PAR GBG ENTRIES
THE KIVETON TAP. 8% PASTRY STOUTS AND ALL
February 2025. Kiveton. The big trend in Sheffield isn’t hitherto undiscovered Victorian boozers, it’s suburban craft bars open from Thursday to Sunday. Kiveton Tap is one of a dozen Sheffield/Rotherham micros to emerge in post COVID and stake a GBG claim. Kiveton itself has pleasantly repurposed the old mining grounds. 20 years ago we dragged… Continue reading THE KIVETON TAP. 8% PASTRY STOUTS AND ALL
KIVETON PARK. THE FULL SAM SMITHS EXPERIENCE
February 2025. Kiveton Park. Rotherham. Without the pressure of attempting to complete the Beer Guide by mid-September (a doddle compared to probate/house clearance/Powers of Attorney) I’ve been able to enjoy what we used to call pub crawls before CAMRA outlawed the term in favour of “Curated, Cultured Tour of Notable Hostelries“. This means that YOU,… Continue reading KIVETON PARK. THE FULL SAM SMITHS EXPERIENCE
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