Even if we hadn’t had the Giants Causeway on the Belfast To Do list, we’d have needed to hit the northern coast as Coleraine was home to my final Northern Irish tick. Look carefully at the GBG map and you’ll see more breweries than Guide entries outside Belfast. The withdrawal of Spoons from the North… Continue reading MRS RM SEARCHES FOR ME IN THE WRONG COLERAINE PUB
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.
London(s)
Originally posted on Wait until next year:
Tired of London. Not necessarily tired of life, as the old maxim goes, but that’s a story for another time. Tired of London, but not a Leaving of London, where someone pens a farewell to their city, I’m not going anywhere yet. This is just a tiredness of…
ON THE GIANTS CAUSEWAY
The big question, of course, is does Giants have an apostrophe ? I tend to think of plural Giants. Mrs RM was definitely going to drag Matt and Emma to the Causeway, even if they would have preferred to laze on Bangor beach drinking cocktails and contemplating how Dublin can be so expensive. It was… Continue reading ON THE GIANTS CAUSEWAY
BASS CLICKBAIT ON THE ANTRIM COAST
Friday was designated “Antrim Coast”, the day we did the Giant’s Causeway, the Game of Thrones sites (no idea why) and (by luck) my last Northern Ireland tick. 180 miles, and all of them on far better roads than we have in England, an absolute joy. Shame about the drizzle. A notable absence of coffee… Continue reading BASS CLICKBAIT ON THE ANTRIM COAST
MURKY TICKS ON THE ORMEAU ROAD
The lone Belfast Spoons was boisterous, filthy and showed little signs of food trade, so I ignored the temptation top check out the Bridge House’s Norn Irish specialities and headed for some authentic Lebanese felafel in the heart of the student quarter. Next door, Molly’s Yard remains the upmarket choice for your scallops, potted venison… Continue reading MURKY TICKS ON THE ORMEAU ROAD
JUST A NORTHERN INDUSTRIAL TOWN
Thursday night in Belfast. One GBG tick down, one to go. It’s a decade or more since I was in Belfast, when the town already looked shinier than at end of the ’90s. As William Bragg noted in ’96, it’s just a Northern Industrial Town, full of grand Victoria architecture, culture, and dangerous hotels. It… Continue reading JUST A NORTHERN INDUSTRIAL TOWN
YOUR ACTUAL BELFAST CASK. ASK FOR IT BY NAME.
We checked into the Princetown Guesthouse in Bangor (NI), a 40 minute train ride from Belfast. It’s very pleasant, though no longer the bargain you might have expected. Turns out, Ed Sheeran was in town (well, a football pitch in the Belfast suburbs) that weekend, and we were lucky to get a room. How unlucky… Continue reading YOUR ACTUAL BELFAST CASK. ASK FOR IT BY NAME.
THE THINKER. AND OTHER GREAT REASONS TO VISIT NEWTOWNARDS.
“Time for a Spoons in Ards before we check-in to Bangor, Mrs RM ?” Do Ards, and there’s only 3 (plus Donaghadee just in case it restores cask) left to do and I can pink in the whole of N.I. ! Why not, it’s on the way, we’ve never been to Ards/Newtownards/N’ards and there are… Continue reading THE THINKER. AND OTHER GREAT REASONS TO VISIT NEWTOWNARDS.
THE “INTERNATIONAL SIGN OF THE HANDPUMP” USED TO NO EFFECT AT STRANGFORD LOUGH
Day 1 of the Northern Ireland Tickathon, and while my son hit the Dublin Guinness factory, Mrs RM and I wobbled round Strangford Lough trying to find cask. Strangford Lough has some cultural resonance, I’m sure Van Morrison wrote about a light snack of two pounds of potted herrings or similar, but I bring you… Continue reading THE “INTERNATIONAL SIGN OF THE HANDPUMP” USED TO NO EFFECT AT STRANGFORD LOUGH
BANG BANG (CHICKEN) THE IRISH TICKS FALL, BANG BANG WHEN RETIRED MARTIN CALLS
I know you’ve been patiently waiting for an obscure B.A. Robertson reference (especially Scott), and there it is. Pub No. 2 on the Norn Iron Tickaton, and the first one actually in the Guide. It’s the White Horse in Saintfield (pop. 3,381), which looks promising when framed by bodies of water either side on the… Continue reading BANG BANG (CHICKEN) THE IRISH TICKS FALL, BANG BANG WHEN RETIRED MARTIN CALLS
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