July 2026. Liverpool. Since we got back from all that foreign muck in Armenia you’ve had a string of classic UK pubs. The Harp, the Cock, the Rutland, the New Barrack, the KIT, the Tunbridge Wells Spoons…. And a trip to Liverpool on Thursday to see long-term RM favourite Julia Jacklin preview her upcoming 4th… Continue reading SCOUSE
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.
CHECKING CASK QUALITY IN THE TAVERN
July 2026. Sheffield. As you’ll know by now, I care little about beer, but much about beer quality in pubs. Perhaps only someone who’s had an NBSS 5 Doom Bar and an NBSS 2 Harvey’s Sussex will understand the distinction. In truth, I reckon cask quality has got a little worse over the last year… Continue reading CHECKING CASK QUALITY IN THE TAVERN
JUNE ’26 STOCKTAKE + JULY PREVIEW
Late with the highlights, but at least the blog is now virtually up-to-date, or was before this week’s Proper Day Out in Sawley. Always best to start the month with a Dalek. A typical looking June map, lots of Lancashire, Yorkshire, London and Kent, but not much else. No idea why I’ve stuck a red… Continue reading JUNE ’26 STOCKTAKE + JULY PREVIEW
“THE LOWEST PUB IN THE BRITISH ISLES”
June 2026. Holme. Cambridgeshire. We popped down early on Tuesday to see Dad on his 91st birthday with card and chocolate. He barely stirred from sleep, at least until the Salvation Army band turned up after lunch to play for him. I couldn’t face staying down in Cambridge, so we came straight back. Finding an… Continue reading “THE LOWEST PUB IN THE BRITISH ISLES”
ALL CHANGE IN SHIPLEY
June 2026. Shipley. Despite the lure of a pint in Shipley’s top-rated pub, and a chance for Mrs RM to use David Hockney for a boost in views like I did with Humphrey, we called it a night after that curry. But as we headed back to the Travelodge, next to the half-decent Noble Comb… Continue reading ALL CHANGE IN SHIPLEY
A PROPER BRATFUD CURRY IN SHIPLEY
June 2026. Shipley. West Yorkshire. Well, I know two (2) readers who’ll want to see pictures of Bradford curry. We called it a day at Gallows Bridge, a memorable place from which to restart the Cask Camino, and headed to the £29.99 Travelodge next to the Noble Comb. You’ll be expecting that we’d then hit… Continue reading A PROPER BRATFUD CURRY IN SHIPLEY
CASK CAMINO DAY 3 – THE GEORGE AND DRAGON TO THE SALTAIRE TAP
June 2026. Bradford. You left us outside the George & Dragon in Apperley Bridge, where a couple of pedestrians had just used the horsey crossing rather than the human one in contravention of some ancient by-law or other, which was possibly the most exciting part of the next 3 hours along the Leeds-Liverpool canal. But… Continue reading CASK CAMINO DAY 3 – THE GEORGE AND DRAGON TO THE SALTAIRE TAP
THE CASK CAMINO DAY 3 – APPERLEY BRIDGE, STATION TO PUB
June 2026. Apperley Bridge. West Yorkshire. Back on the Cask Camino last Sunday, which seems to be the regular date solely on account of the Travelodges on the way being £30 rather than £189 that day, at least till we get to Skipton. We park at Shipley, take a 5 minute train back to where… Continue reading THE CASK CAMINO DAY 3 – APPERLEY BRIDGE, STATION TO PUB
CIDER WITH DOZY
June 2026. Sheffield. An actual day at home in Sheffield last Saturday. It was torture. I was so sleepy I needed a cool drink, so why I ended up drinking cider at the New Barrack is a mystery. This was of the the famous ale houses a couple of decades ago, helped by being the… Continue reading CIDER WITH DOZY
NIPPING OUT TO THE RUTLAND…
June 2026. Sheffield. Thursday morning saw a bit of tension in the dining room at Tunbridge Wells’s Russell Hotel, which had kindly found Mrs RM a fan while I was out melting in London. You’ll remember Mrs RM had ordered the Full English so I could have her artisanal sausage and black pudding (“You DO… Continue reading NIPPING OUT TO THE RUTLAND…
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