17th March 2023. I’ve been spending 3 days a week down with my parents, giving Dad guided tours of Fenland urbanisation projects and garden centres. On the upside, I get to see my parents and am guaranteed crispy beef and Singapore rice (plus a NEW dish !); on the downside it limits my chances to… Continue reading Retired Martin’s Honest Norwich Reappraisal Part I
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.
INSPECTING THE 1926 ACCOUNT BOOKS AT ST THOMAS, BURTON-LE-COGGLES
16th March 2023. Enough of pubs, let’s focus on Grade II listed Anglican churches on quaintly named Lincolnshire villages. More importantly, let’s liven up the relentless 2:20 hours journey from Sheffield to Waterbeach with a stop in a place I’ve never stopped before. Quite why I’d never been to tiny Burton-le-Coggles before last Thursday is… Continue reading INSPECTING THE 1926 ACCOUNT BOOKS AT ST THOMAS, BURTON-LE-COGGLES
A Giant Garlic Naan and Cookie Dough Ice Cream Porter
15th March 2023. One of the real joys of the blog is meeting up with fellow enthusiasts of travel, pubs and calorific excess (as part of a rigid dietary plan). Since completing the Guide (did you hear ?) I’ve rarely said “No*” to any invitation to a meet-up, particularly with blogging legend Blackpool Jane. And… Continue reading A Giant Garlic Naan and Cookie Dough Ice Cream Porter
TURN A DIFFERENT CORNER AND I NEVER WOULD HAVE GONE TO THE KELHAM ISLAND TAVERN FOR THAT IMPERIAL STOUT
13th March 2023. I was just heading down to central Sheffield for my 10,000 steps when who should I meet but Sheffield Hatter, still dancing in the streets after Luton’s smash-and-grab win at Bramall Lane on his way to the supermarket. “Fancy a pint, Will ?” I probably said. Never ask a Lutonian a question… Continue reading TURN A DIFFERENT CORNER AND I NEVER WOULD HAVE GONE TO THE KELHAM ISLAND TAVERN FOR THAT IMPERIAL STOUT
DON’T AVOID, MYTHOLMROYD
11th March 2023. When you’re setting out on your Good Beer Guide ticking career, you can confidently expect to find half a dozen new Guide entries in an afternoon. But, as BRAPA well knows, the deeper the you go the harder to extract are those ticks. And so I approach the penultimate West Yorkshire entry… Continue reading DON’T AVOID, MYTHOLMROYD
ESCAPE TO THE BLIND MONKEY
10th March 2023. Mum and Dad are always surprised when I tell them Sheffield’s weather is generally much the same as their own in Waterbeach. In fact, S6 seems to have the better of it at the moment; But as I arrived home last Thursday it was clear we weren’t escaping the snow. I was… Continue reading ESCAPE TO THE BLIND MONKEY
REJOICE ! FAGAN’S IS BACK, AND SO IS BASS.
9th March 2023. When Tom and Barbara (good not Good) retired from Sheffield’s timeless Fagan’s in January there would have been a few who worried for its future. Despite being a Sheffield institution, and with THAT Andy Capp painting on the wall, it had been quiet the few times I’d been in there and a… Continue reading REJOICE ! FAGAN’S IS BACK, AND SO IS BASS.
A RARE MOMENT OF PEACE IN HAXEY
February 2023. I’m not one for customs, apart from the famous ones associated with my own birthday (22 December, make a note), but I quite fancy turning up in Haxey, North Lincs to watch the giant scrum known as the Haxey Hood. It’s the most famous thing about the “capital of the Isle of Axholme”,… Continue reading A RARE MOMENT OF PEACE IN HAXEY
PORK PIE, STILTON, BASS – MELTON MOWBRAY MARVELS
7th March 2023. Closing in on completion of Leicestershire’s GBG entries, a very minor pleasure, but the penultimate tick takes me to magical Melton Mowbray on market morning, which sounds an alliterative dream. All change in Melton’s GBG entries, what happened to the brewery in the market and the bowls club ? And what have… Continue reading PORK PIE, STILTON, BASS – MELTON MOWBRAY MARVELS
BACK TO THE OLD (HALLAMSHIRE) HOUSE
5th March 2023. Not enough/too much Smiths references on this blog. I’ve been coaxing Mrs RM out of the house for strenuous walks around Sheffield. As some of you will know, if you don’t keep active in your 50s everything stops working at 60. The walk from the Blind Monkey up to Crookes is Lincoln… Continue reading BACK TO THE OLD (HALLAMSHIRE) HOUSE
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