July 2024. Sheffield. The question I’m most prepared for is “What’s new and exciting in Sheffield then, Retired Martin ?“. It’s not a question I’d get if we’d moved to Dereham or Milton Keynes, for sure. Not a lot brand new since The Old Shoe a year ago, I thought, but then suddenly remembered the… Continue reading DEYA, PICKLED ONION MONSTER MUNCH, DONKEY KONG AND THE CLASH

July 2024. Sheffield. Tramlines Fringe, a genuinely wonderful weekend of largely original live music across Sheffield. And not just in the usual suspects of the real ale bars like the Shakespeare. The late opening clubs along West Street that serve Madri till 4 in the morning deserve massive credit for promoting live music. So from… Continue reading ALL THE PUBS IN SHEFFIELD – FIREPIT ROCKS

July 2024. Sheffield. My Saturday afternoon in London declared on three (3) new Guide ticks and no (0) pre-emptives or revisits to the Parcel Yard, whose disgraceful toilets put me off the traditional closing pint of ESB. Those toilets almost, but not quite, put me off a late night Chung Hwa. I’m edging away from… Continue reading ALL THE PUBS IN SHEFFIELD – THE HALLAMSHIRE HOTEL

July 2024. Fulham (I think). It had been deadly quiet in the back streets just north of Fulham FC as I approached the Crabtree to finish off my London mini-crawl. And then I open the door. And that’s the quiet bit. The restaurant is busier, the wet trade spilling out to the patio and along… Continue reading CONSTANT CRAVEN (COTTAGE)

July 2024. Fulham (or is it Hammersmith). The last of a mixed trio of London ticks, as I finally clear that awkward W6 entry by the Thames that’s been bugging me all year. “A man who is bored of visiting London pubs is a man who’s actually just tired of £7 pints” wrote Samuel Johnson,… Continue reading LILLIE ROAD

July 2024. Kilburn. Not only does the swathe of North West London beyond Regent’s Park feel a bit underwhelming pub wise (but wait), but it’s also resolutely grim, lacking green spaces bar the odd cemetery. So Kilburn Grange Park brings relief, albeit with the most oppressive smell of weed I’ve yet encountered. And I’ve lived… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – THE BLACK LION, KILBURN

July 2024. Finchley Road. London. New Beer Guide pubs are a rarity in the weird looking blob of North-West London. It starts OK in Euston, Camden and Hampstead, then loses the plot in featureless Brent, Harrow and Hillingdon. To be fair, the curry and dosas round here aren’t bad, and as I leave the underground… Continue reading THE LOST CATS OF FINCHLEY ROAD

July 2024. Northwood Hills. Hillingdon. Continuing the theme of unloved towns, I bring you Hillingdon, after a lengthy journey to King’s Cross due to shenanigans at Foxton (first time for everything) and a rather quicker tube trip into the Metroland of the real ale desert that is North West London. Well, possibly Hillingdon Borough (as… Continue reading NORTHWOOD HILLS TAKES THE LANDLORD TEST

July 2024. Royston. YOU asked for pictured of umbrellas in Hertfordshire market towns. Well, actually, you didn’t, but that’s tough. It’s 10am in Royston and there’s no pubs worth popping in, anyway. No, seriously, this must be one of the least inspiring non-modern pub towns in the country, on a par with Fareham or Stratford-on-Avon.… Continue reading UMBRELLAS OVER ROYSTON

July 2024. Royston. From St. Albans to Waterbeach via breakfast in Royston. If ever an English market town deserved the title “unheralded” it’s Royston, with much to be unheralded about. But in 2017, this was the site of the famed Wetherspoons Riots, when this chap kicked up a fuss over a faulty fruit machine. “The… Continue reading IN PRAISE OF MINER’S BENEDICT IN ROYSTON SPOONS