September 2024. Newmarket. Most weekends are still based in Waterbeach, but at least there’s a chance of a snatched tick in GBG25, with a first furtive foray across the Suffolk border last Friday. “Why didn’t you pop in here when we stayed in Newmarket last month ?” Well, that’s an annoying question, Mrs RM, almost… Continue reading AT THE RACES – NEWMARKET’S BULL

September 2024. Mexborough. While Simon ticked Mexborough’s Spoons, I set out to bring you the cultural highlights. It’s instructive to look at What Pub and untick the “real ale” and “open pubs only” tabs. Oooh, loads of pubs. Now, untick them; A Spoons, a brewery tap, the Imperial club and a lone “Proper Pub” in… Continue reading MEXBOROUGH – FADED GRANDEUR

September 2024. South Yorkshire. I guess you like to imagine us pub tickers all living in one huge gated community, lounging about all day comparing notes on micro opening hours and mascot names. The truth is, we all live in our own gated communities, and meet up entirely by accident in Dronfield or at Northern… Continue reading “TAXI FOR BRAPA”

No, I hadn’t forgot about the contractually obligated monthly review, I’ve been “travelling” (shock) and couldn’t do the travel map. Here’s September; A hectic month, starting listening to weird music in a field on Cranborne Chase, ending in a new classic in Stamford, and taking it a rich collection of pubs in Greater Rotherham. Those… Continue reading SEPTEMBER ’24 STOCKTAKE AND OCTOBER PREVIEW

September 2024. Barnsley. £8.60 it had cost me for the rail return to Barnsley. Not THAT bad, it’s £58 (fifty-eight) to Atherstone, which has zero GBG entries but does have the Paul Mudge seal of approval, which will no doubt be all have to direct us to the best pubs when CAMRA dies as ageing… Continue reading SOUTH YORKSHIRE HAS (DEFINITELY) FALLEN

September 2024. Barnsley. Barnsley always seems unusually compact, it’s typical ration of half a dozen GBG pubs barely 10 minutes apart, but it’s easy to forget this is a small town of 71,422, albeit with a vast hinterland stretching into the Peak. “Hinterland” is one of those words I don’t really know the meaning of,… Continue reading REAPPRAISING BOYGENIUS IN BARNSLEY

September 2024. Barnsley. Back home from Driffield, I had the sudden urge to actually finish a GBG chapter. South Yorkshire would do, you ought to knock off your home county first. Unless it’s Rutland, when it’s already done. That burst of Rotherham ticking last week had left just a couple in Beautiful Barnsley, which had… Continue reading CULTURAL BARNSLEY

September 2024 (but it might as well have been 1984). Driffield. Before we leave the South worths in Filey I must apologise for not letting them know about the new Wetherspoons on the Haven Holiday Park, worth visiting if early reviews are anything to go by. You need to be a holidaymaker and do a… Continue reading THE BLOKE PLAYING POOL SHOUTS “SAUSAGE”. IT’S DRIFFIELD PERSONIFIED.

September 2024. Filey. Catching the 19:15 from Filey back to Driffield would have given us an hour to tick the GBG newbie in Bridlington, but we were in good company so stayed for a nightcap in the Star. And who knows if we’ll ever see the Southworths again if it all goes wrong (again) on… Continue reading A STAR IN FILEY

September 2024. Filey. A Tuesday in Filey, just like in the John Denver song. We’d come for company and curry as much as cask, but 4:30pm was a bit too early for Monsoon Indian, even for Stafford Paul. So we did the micro. I know, I know, a man in North Yorkshire should do Proper… Continue reading NOT A LOAD OF COBBLERS – THE FILEY MICRO