BACK FROM ARMENIA, WETHERSPOONS CALLS

June 2026. Royal Tunbridge Wells.

We arrived back from Armenia at 1:30 in the morning, delighted to have won the Wizz seat roulette and secured aisle seats.

A quick snooze in the campervan before a whizz down the A505 to see Dad in Waterbeach, and then a tortuous 3 hour slog on the hottest day of the year (so far) to Tunbridge Wells to catch up on the in-laws.

But that could wait till the Wednesday. First, tea in the Opera House,

Korean chicken and a cool £1.95 of Abbot. Almost as good as that tomato gose.

You know, I really feel I’m getting my money’s worth out of CAMRA life membership this year with all those 50p tokens. Yes, I know that punishing pubs for putting cider on handpump is more important.

Spoons are showing the World Cup (silently) this year, and the lads were already out in force ahead of the exciting draw with Ghana.

Armenia is great, but they’ll never have what an English pub has.

And you won’t get a full English breakfast like the one in the Russell,

where as you’ll see I persuaded Mrs RM to order the full works this time and let me have her unwanted sausage and black pudding this time.

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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.

7 thoughts on “BACK FROM ARMENIA, WETHERSPOONS CALLS”

  1. Glad you arrived back safely and in nice seats too. This Spoonies looks a treat! Working my way through blogs the wrong way wrong now I know but WP does not make it easy trying to work from the Reader past.

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    1. I’ve been missing your regular posts, Lana, such a positive outlook on life. Hopefully you’re back now?

      That Royal Tunbridge Wells Spoons still hosts an annual opera for the locals, part of the license. It’s not the smartest but it is a cultural melting pot !

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      1. Tunbridge Wells Spoons is fine, as long as you avoid the lobby area, just behind the entrance doors. That’s the place where all the nicotine addicts congregate, as it’s easier for them to nip out for their next fix!

        I wouldn’t say that all Tunbridge Wells life is there, but the part you don’t want to mix with, certainly is. The language is colourful, at the best of times, and rather expletive at others, although I’m not sure that makes it a cultural melting pot.

        Tonbridge Spoons re-opens next week, after its six-week facelift.

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      4. Well I enjoyed my friend’s book which helps! I do step into help folks out as and when, sort CVs, check dissertations etc. I used to take on 90 page techy engineering documents at work and if you can cope with those you can cope with anything 🙂

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  2. Not being an air traveller, I’m wondering what the attraction of an aisle seat is.
    I must admit that a quarter of the way through the twelve months I’m nearly a quarter of the way through my Timbo vouchers, but I have used 347 pubs over the past six months.
    Yesterday the Abbot was drinking quite well not in the Picture House but in its beer garden watching another brood of moorhen chicks.

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