A HERNE BAY DELAY

December 2025. Herne Bay.

Yes, it’s my birthday (22/12) and I’m in a caravan writing blog posts for you (after a day’s walking in Hastings). Mrs RM did the same on her birthday, we’re dedicated to our art.

Still on Mrs RM’s Birthday Eve, as we continue along the coast to Herne Bay, for reasons you may guess.

It’s very dark suddenly,

and I can’t claim the town has the charm of Faversham or Margate, with the main excitement seemingly offshore with those giant duck feet and Neptune’s Arm, the rest of him being buried in Herne Bay.

The What Pub CAMRA website entry suggests 4pm opening for our pub (cunningly titled, Pub), but Google and the Pub disagree and we have to find somewhere to loiter for an hour and a half.

This fella leads us through the alleys.

I think it’s Jonathan Meades.

Herne is a micropub stronghold; blimey, they were invented down the road, but there are some Proper Pubs, too.

Sadly, the Divers didn’t serve unlimited cups of tea, a bottle of that alcohol-free Erdinnger and a basket of scampi that was fifteen quid cheaper than those oysters like the Spoons did.

Still half an hour to kill, a long time to sit in a Spoons staring longingly at a beer range that really needed that Otter Claus not to be “COMING SOON”.

So I went for a walk along the Prom,

entranced by the prospect of an exhibition of shop receipts.

And then it was ten to six, and if we walked very slowly, and stopped to gaze at dead pubs,

the open Pub might be, er, open.

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

10 thoughts on “A HERNE BAY DELAY”

  2. Happy birthday, Mr. RM looks like a decent day apart from the hanging around. I’m planning a trip to the Faroe Islands in the summer and they seem to be plagued with late opening bars. Any tips per chance.

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    1. Only one visit to the Faroes in midsummer 15 years ago. Must have used the internet to find a beer, Untappd suggests it’s a bit different now, though I’d start saving for the Mikkeller bar if you’re going there ! Quinten went last year. Great place.

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  3. Happy birthday Martin. Herne Bay can be a cold place in the winter. I visited The Saxon Shore in October and tried a very nice porter. The Saxon Shore Way runs along most of the coast from Gravesend to Hastings

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