September 2026. Cranborne Chase. Dorset. Pubs and football and Chinese takeaways are all well and good, but it’s people who really interest me. Take the people Mrs RM and I brought into the world. What explains Matthew’s musical taste compared to mine (or James’s) ? Why’s he wearing a Townes Van Zandt t-shirt in 2026… Continue reading END OF THE ROAD 2026. THURSDAY – GETTING OUR GEESE IN A ROW
Author: 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.
DUSTON, DONE & DUSTED
September 2026. Duston. Northampton. You left me in the Squirrels in Duston, having volunteered to leave the pub (kitchen closed by 8) in search of food for James, Matt and Emma. And they thought Oates was a hero in 1912. Five steps across the road lies the quaintly named “Duston Village Chippy“, whose stock is… Continue reading DUSTON, DONE & DUSTED
TO THE END OF THE ROAD. VIA DUSTON
September 2026. Sheffield to Northampton. Yes ! I’m alive, just back from four (4) days without internet (unless you stand in a field of sheep in Cranborne Chase). Lots of exciting music reviews from End of the Road ’26 to come, but first, and most excitingly, a night in the western suburbs of Northampton. Calm… Continue reading TO THE END OF THE ROAD. VIA DUSTON
WHERE TO WAIT IN HILLSBOROUGH WHILE ARGOS GET YOUR BACK REST READY
September (YES !!!) 2026. Sheffield. Goodness knows what posts you’re going to get the next few days as I head into the internet wasteland that is Cranborne Chase, so this may be my last for a while. I expect you were hoping for something more exciting than a Mitchells & Butler family diner over the… Continue reading WHERE TO WAIT IN HILLSBOROUGH WHILE ARGOS GET YOUR BACK REST READY
AUGUST ’26 STOCKTAKE + SEPTEMBER PREVIEW
An exciting looking travel map for a change, though it’s been a quiet couple of weeks back from Wales, as I sort out Dad’s paperwork (it never ends), delete photos, and bring the blog completely up-to-date for the first time since COVID. Seventy posts, fifty-three (53) pubs, from old (Bath Star), to new (Alexandra, Newport).… Continue reading AUGUST ’26 STOCKTAKE + SEPTEMBER PREVIEW
WHY STOP IN LUTTERWORTH ?
August 2026. Lutterworth. The Great British Bank Holiday never disappoints; our trip home from visiting Dad wrecked by bumps at Grantham and, after a switch from A1 to M1, Leicester. We paused at Lutterworth, not as exciting as Shepshed or Rothwell I grant you, but it’s only 5 minutes off the motorway, and has a… Continue reading WHY STOP IN LUTTERWORTH ?
BASS AND CRISPY BEEF NIGHT IN CAMBRIDGE
August 2026. Cambridge. I drove down to Waterbeach yesterday to see Dad. The back pain is worse than the pain from lack of recognition now, and I at least got to watch “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. Having sold Sunnyside I’ve got to find somewhere cheap to stay overnight to break the journey, and Whittlesford opposite… Continue reading BASS AND CRISPY BEEF NIGHT IN CAMBRIDGE
THAT RONNIE O’SULLIVAN MURAL
August 2026. Sheffield. Part 2 (of 2) from Cluedo Pubs with Walsall Evo, which was one of those days that makes this blogging lark so worthwhile. As a shy 22 year old newly qualified accountant with a stammer I wouldn’t have believed I’d be chatting to such interesting folk every week as I approach middle… Continue reading THAT RONNIE O’SULLIVAN MURAL
FINDING COLONEL MUSTARD
August 2026. Sheffield. More “Ticking the Tickers” on Saturday, as I finally meet up with one of my favourite bloggers Evo of EvoBoozySaddler fame. I’d been waiting till Walsall got a new entry in the Beer Guide to catch up, but it looks like that’s never going to happen so he had to visit me.… Continue reading FINDING COLONEL MUSTARD
A WOMBWELL WOBBLE
August 2026. Wombwell. Greater Barnsley. “You’re weird” says Mrs RM, which I’m taking as a compliment. A week after that foreign holiday in Wales, I’d barely left Sheffield. At Dad’s care home this afternoon, the lovely staff note my absence from Waterbeach for a couple of weeks* and I feel guilty. By Thursday, my brain… Continue reading A WOMBWELL WOBBLE
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