December 2023. Stratford. London. Pubbing in London is brilliant, and I can honestly say both the beer quality have the friendliness have got better since Covid. And as I jumped back on the overground at Hackney Central I rejoiced in the knowledge my next tick was only 20 minutes away. Such riches ! The only… Continue reading A Tribute IN Stratford…
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.
CHRISTMAS DRINKERS IN HACKNEY
December 2023. Hackney. I’m in danger of catching up on the blog, so let’s put an end to that with a Big(ish) Night Out in London ahead of the annual End of the Road Christmas Show.. I caught the train from Waterbeach and slept in the campervan to save the price of a “cheap” Premier… Continue reading CHRISTMAS DRINKERS IN HACKNEY
A PINT WITH WILLY WONKA
December 2023. Sheffield. Back in Sheff, Mrs RM said she wanted to go and see Wonka, a documentary about the 19th century cocoa industry or something. Going to see musicals with your wife earns 8.6 brownie points, according to Mumsnet Research, just below letting her finish your packet of pickled onion Monster Munch you’d been… Continue reading A PINT WITH WILLY WONKA
TO CALVARY
December 2023. Coalville. Yes, you’re still in Coalville, apparently. Bit of a change in tone now, as I take you from the Rock Bar with DIY keg wall to Calvary (not Cavalry, that’s a Jona Lewie hit). Ah, Calvary.”There is a green hill far away, without a city wall” in the words of Cecil Frances… Continue reading TO CALVARY
COALVILLE – A ROCK AND A WALL
December 2023. Coalville. Well, who’d have thought it. A new GBG pub in Coalville. Sadly, it comes in the same year that the landlord of the Stamford and Warrington, sulphurous Pedi and all, leaves us for good. The Rock Bar ? I was convinced this was the bikers pub that graced the Guide to Britain’s… Continue reading COALVILLE – A ROCK AND A WALL
ELUSIVE BREWING TAP TAKEOVER AT THE KELHAM ISLAND TAVERN
Extensive market research shows that including the pub and city names in the blog title gets you more views, and its blog views that pay for those pints of Doom Bar I keep giving away in the quiz. December 2023. Sheffield. Turn a different corner and we wouldn’t have walked straight from the Riverside to… Continue reading ELUSIVE BREWING TAP TAKEOVER AT THE KELHAM ISLAND TAVERN
ALRIGHT SAUSAGE ?
December 2023. Sheffield. Better safe than sorry, I guess, but I’d really wanted to go somewhere new and unexciting on Saturday, but the weather forecast for Sheffield suggested we were in for 55mph storms and I was best off hiding in the basement. Except we don’t have a basement. Those weather forecasts always overplay their… Continue reading ALRIGHT SAUSAGE ?
ARTISANAL SCRATCHINGS IN EYE KETTLEBY
December 2023. Eye Kettleby. Melton Mowbray. Excitingly, tonight sees the return of the famous Philip (one “l”) Navigator atlas, the one I’d been pinking for 25 years before I got a bit bored during lockdown, or perhaps there was a shortage of Stabilo Boss or something. So that page (153 ?) housing Melton Mowbray may… Continue reading ARTISANAL SCRATCHINGS IN EYE KETTLEBY
THE LONG HAUL TO BEXLEYHEATH
December 2023. Bexleyheath. Note ultra-rare photo of Mrs RM sitting patiently waiting for her pint, NOT scrolling on her phone. Frame that one. My father-in-law was moved from Tunbridge Wells Hospital to Sevenoaks, a cruel and unusual punishment for an 85 year old man I thought, but it made our visit to his rehab ward… Continue reading THE LONG HAUL TO BEXLEYHEATH
A LOCAL HERO
December 2023. Waterbeach. A pattern is now emerging; mid week spent in Waterbeach, a day either side in Tunbridge Wells, back home to Sheffield at the weekend. At least Mrs RM is now with me in Cambridge, and she joined our Thursday quiz team at the Sun as we sought vengeance for a corrupt defeat… Continue reading A LOCAL HERO
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