January 2024. Preston. Sorry for a two part post about one pub, my first such extravagance since a similarly photogenic wonder in Plymouth. Mrs RM had spotted the bargain pies, and if anything is guaranteed to fuel appetite for pork in pastry in Old Tom and Plum Porter. A marvellous combination, in a pub with… Continue reading “Another pie, then ?”
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.
WHERE DID THAT OLD TOM COME FROM ?
January 2024. Preston. Short posts from the front carriage of the inevitably delayed Manchester to Sheffield EMR service. Leaving NICOs after mixing beer and wine, Mrs RMs first words were, “That looks nice we should go in there” No, we shouldn’t. We had to be sensible with a gig in a couple of hours. Somehow,… Continue reading WHERE DID THAT OLD TOM COME FROM ?
NEVER MIX BEER WITH WINE. ESPECIALLY SERBIAN MARMALADE ORANGE WINE.
January 2024. Preston. The train back from Accrington arrived at Preston station at 16:38. I really should have stopped off in Blackburn and taken pictures of the modern cathedral, you’d love it, but I was missing Mrs RM. Our big gig at the Ferret started in less than 3 hours; what could possibly go wrong… Continue reading NEVER MIX BEER WITH WINE. ESPECIALLY SERBIAN MARMALADE ORANGE WINE.
HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 36 – RUTLAND
“Multum in Parvo” – roughly translates as “one new Guide entry per year”. The UK’s smallest county, famous for keeping Corby off the top of the Covid charts in those halcyon days of Lockdown 2021. And a few other worthwhile features. There ARE good pubs here, but I wanted to stick to those I’d blogged… Continue reading HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 36 – RUTLAND
SHOULD I HAVE STUCK TO THE MILK IN ACCRINGTON RATHER THAN CHASING PRE-EMPTIVE TICKS ?
January 2024. Accrington. For the benefit of our less culturally aware US readers, here’s the reference. Never gets old. Stanley have thrived since that cruel 1989 advert, but at the time of of my first visit years later still languishing in the Northern League. Back in 1995, we rejected a night in a £33 Blackburn… Continue reading SHOULD I HAVE STUCK TO THE MILK IN ACCRINGTON RATHER THAN CHASING PRE-EMPTIVE TICKS ?
TICKING ACCRINGTON LIKE A TROOPER
January 2024. Accrington. A night in Preston, but still 5 hours till our gig. Exactly the wrong amount of time, really. Despite the station’s perfect positioning, there’s insufficient time to reach a place with more than a lone pub to tick (that would be Carlisle or Glasgow). It’s too late to get to a football… Continue reading TICKING ACCRINGTON LIKE A TROOPER
HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 35 – OXFORDSHIRE
Ah, Oxfordshire, a curate’s egg of a pub county for a county of curates. You might be wondering how I pick five pubs from the thousand in a typical GBG chapter. Well, I could use Artificial Intelligence. Here’s what Bing’s version of AI suggests; Yes, Irish-inspired food, super soft drinks, and “tranquillity” are the key… Continue reading HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 35 – OXFORDSHIRE
WELCOME TO PRESTON
January 2024. Preston. On the Friday Blackpool Jane had bravely visited Preston properly for the very first time, and lived to tell the tale (just about). We arrived just after lunch the next day ahead of a gig that evening at the Ferret, and without a clue how to spend the next 7 hours, but… Continue reading WELCOME TO PRESTON
APPLEJACKS – ALL YOU NEED IN LONGRIDGE
January 2024. Longridge. Perhaps the shortest post* since the Golden days of 2015, as I nip in a Lancashire micro for a quick half. Just like in 2022 when I was frantically finishing the Guide. The West Lancs small pubs, in particular, are virtually indistinguishable from each other in style and I don’t say that… Continue reading APPLEJACKS – ALL YOU NEED IN LONGRIDGE
EVERY OVER-INDULGENT DAY STARTS WITH MILLIONAIRE’S SHORTBREAD IN CLAUGHTON-ON-BROCK
January 2024. Claughton-on-Brock. Catteral. As Carmel once sang, Saturday was a bad day, though we didn’t know it at the time. If only we’d read Blackpool Jane’s post before it was written. It started gently enough, with a GBG entry on a new (2020) retail park on the A6 north of Preston. This is rarely… Continue reading EVERY OVER-INDULGENT DAY STARTS WITH MILLIONAIRE’S SHORTBREAD IN CLAUGHTON-ON-BROCK
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