October 2025. Ticknall. 2 miles from Calke, in the heart of the National Forest, is yet another of those “HOW had I not been here before ?” pubs that the Beer Guide continues to throw up. Ticknall is a gorgeous little Derbyshire village, the sort of place recently retired footballers used to run pubs in,… Continue reading CHOICES, CHOICES. 🔺 TICKING IN TICKNALL
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.
CALKE AND THE MILKING PARLOUR
November 2025. Calke. Derbyshire. A late dash to tick a few National Trust properties before the subs are due (we won’t renew). Blimey, talk about a well-pubbed location. Calke sits between Coalville, Burton, Derby and Beeston in the posh bit of Derbyshire. Real Life After Football territory. Actually, forget pubs, what an astonishing little bit… Continue reading CALKE AND THE MILKING PARLOUR
JIMMY EAT WORLD, RETIRED MARTIN EATS AT THE GLOBE
October 2025. Leicester. Our 36 hours in Leicester concluded with a late lunch in another historic pub, the venue for local CAMRA’s branch meeting that very evening. Even my remarkable powers of persuasion weren’t enough to convince Mrs RM to stay and convince CAMRA to ban halves put the Cherry Tree in the GBG. The… Continue reading JIMMY EAT WORLD, RETIRED MARTIN EATS AT THE GLOBE
IN SEARCH OF KINGS (AND CAR PARKS)
October 2025. Leicester. Regular readers will know I’m no fan of history, which is I why I follow a team founded in 2008 and can’t tell my Art Deco from my Art Nouveau (or Garfunkel). But apparently Leicester is even more famous for a dead king than for the all-time footballing miracle or the curry… Continue reading IN SEARCH OF KINGS (AND CAR PARKS)
LEICESTER CASTLE
October 2025. Leicester. 36 hours in Leicester, and with lunchtime approaching (though we’d barely finished breakfast) it’s time to explore the castle. Leicester looked quite lively with shoppers that late October Thursday, but tourist trade is light, and we are virtually the only folk in Castle Park, apart from that giant heron (or whatever it… Continue reading LEICESTER CASTLE
LOOK UP !
October 2025. Leicester. 36 hours in Leicester, and a busy morning for Mrs RM if she’s going to tick her deers, the tourist highlights she’s got from ChatGPT blogs. Starting with Curveside Bistro’s Turkish breakfast, and the fonts of the Good Earth Cafe, the Art Nouveau stylings of the Turkey Cafe, and then into a… Continue reading LOOK UP !
INEVITABLY, THE ALE WAGON
October 2025. Leicester. Having paid for a night’s accommodation in the centre of Leicester that Wednesday (£60 at the well-equipped* Ramada Encore) I wasn’t going to bed at 6, even if Mrs RM was. A bit of night-time street art ? Nah, let’s do a pub. News of my visit had seen “incomer” Quinno go… Continue reading INEVITABLY, THE ALE WAGON
BACK ON THE DESI TRAIL. THE BLUE PETER, LEICESTER
October 2025. Leicester. 36 hours in Leicester; time to complete the GBG entries for the county and provide Mrs RM with enough material for her own blogpost to boost tourist trade, provisionally titled “Oh, go on, it can’t be worse than Maidenhead“. We’d petered out a bit after completing the art trail along the Soar… Continue reading BACK ON THE DESI TRAIL. THE BLUE PETER, LEICESTER
SOARING – LEICESTER STREET ART
October 2025. Leicester. A large gap (well, 3 hours) between pubs now as Mrs RM does a deep dive into her map of Leicester tourist deers (above), which I ignore and instead take photos of painted Cliff Richard albums, and colourful globes in Victoria Park, which I know are more interesting than the car park… Continue reading SOARING – LEICESTER STREET ART
HIGH TABLES, LOW TABLES. THE CLARENDON, LEICESTER
October 2025. Leicester. 36 hours in Leicester, loads to tick on Mrs RM’s “deer map“, let’s get my last Leicestershire tick (there WAS only one newbie, incredibly) and an early lunch at the Clarendon. In truth, a lot of Leicester seemed to open at four, while the Ale Wagon was actually “closing soon” with its… Continue reading HIGH TABLES, LOW TABLES. THE CLARENDON, LEICESTER
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