August 2025. Atherstone. Will had given us a superb itinerary for our Alcoholic Adventure in Atherstone, but he’d inexplicably missed out one of the few GBG entries of old. Oh, I remember why. The Hat & Beaver is what we call “unimproved“, or unspoilt if you like. Leaving Will to explore shopfronts, the rest of… Continue reading WHIPPETS AND BASS. THE HAT AND BEAVER, ATHERSTONE.

August 2025. Atherstone. First things first, or thereabouts. It’s great to have Russ back on the blog, after a Lost Weekend that went on for two years, and not just as my unpaid spellceker. And for the delight of another North American reader, news that I’ve found King Dick’s Hole, just north of Atherstone near… Continue reading MY LAST PINT OF BANKS’S FROM WOLVERHAMPTON. THE OLD SWAN, ATHERSTONE.

August 2025. Atherstone. The itinerary for the 3rd pub on the Atherstone Ancients Alldayer saw a group conflict over directions. Inexplicably, Will took the Leicester & Marple contingent on a detour down the canal path, the sort of thing I do to annoy Kentish Paul, while I decided to go with t’other Paul down Long… Continue reading DRINKABLE HOMEBREW SHOCKER ! THE BLUE BOAR, ATHERSTONE

August 2025. Atherstone. 10 minutes along the canal path to Pub No. 2 on our Artisan Atherstone Adventure, another pub I’d never heard of. That’s what makes these days out so fun, not knowing what reception you’ll get or what word folk use for a bread roll. In truth, I thought the pubs beat the… Continue reading BASS ALERT ! MAID OF THE MILL, ATHERSTONE

August 2025. Atherstone. As usual each pub on the Atherstone crawl gets its own day in the sun, even if it’s only a minute’s read. We start just behind the station, and for the record I should confirm that this isn’t Paul Mudge’s train beer, as Paul doesn’t drop litter. The King’s Head is your… Continue reading A STEADY START. THE KING’S HEAD, ATHERSTONE.

August 2025. Atherstone. Warwickshire. In tests, 99% of Brits couldn’t place Atherstone on a map to within 200 miles, One of the 1% is my own father-in-law, who lived here before trading down to Kent, and our own Stafford Paul, who had been making the “curated pub exploration” community jealous with tales of Proper Pubs… Continue reading FOR WHAT IS ATHERSTONE ?

August 2025. Kidderminster. Mrs RM had mentioned “meeting up for coffee in a Persian café” in the Jewellery Quarter, but a mere 9 minutes (£2.90) connection at Stourbridge would give me a third new GBG tick (in 3 different counties) in 2 hours, and that clearly took precedence over pastries. I hadn’t set foot in… Continue reading THE CHESTER TAVERN, KIDDERMINSTER. AN INSTANT CLASSIC ?

August 2025. Kingswinford. “A beer guide sized package has arrived” texts Mrs RM as I endure the train trip back from Waterbeach last night. This blog “OBSERVES THE EMBARGO” so you won’t be getting any clues about the contents from me, mainly because I’ll still be writing about trips to the old Guide at Christmas.… Continue reading THE WEST MIDLANDS HAS FALLEN

August 2025. Wombourne Our last of 4 days in Brum, and while Mrs RM explored the Jewellery Quarter, I headed west for a couple of ticks in the hard to access bit betwixt Wolverhampton and Stourbridge. The fast train from New Street to Wolves takes a mere 16 minutes, but after that it’s a hard… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – THE OLD BUSH, WOMBOURNE, STAFFS