Tuesday morning (hey, a week ago, need to catch up) saw us head off down south for some ticking family duties. Lunch in Banbury, I think. We parked up right by the eponymous cross, named after a ticker who was disgruntled at incorrect opening hours at the micro in 1859. I must have stopped in… Continue reading MRS RM TAKES THE BEER BACK. A BANBURY BONUS.
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.
“Torn”, medical complaints and Hi-Vis. A Proper Pub up Hillsborough way in the Golden Hour.
But I did walk to the Rose & Crown in Wadsley, in the hills above Hillsborough. I didn’t actually head out to the edge of Rivelin Valley for a pint. Honest. But could YOU walk past this pub just after it opened ? Probably Will could, he’s the man of steel, though his nerves will… Continue reading “Torn”, medical complaints and Hi-Vis. A Proper Pub up Hillsborough way in the Golden Hour.
RELAUNCHING THE SHIP
16 months into life in Sheffield and I’ve barely scratched the surface of the city’s culture, Chinese takeaways and cask outlets. The Ship, on the edge of Kelham, is undoubtedly one of the gems for lovers of brown tiling. And aren’t we all ? It re-opened last summer, had an inconclusive visit from Will and… Continue reading RELAUNCHING THE SHIP
TOP 100 PUBS – THE DUFTON STAG
I’d managed fifteen GBG ticks in Norfolk and Cumbria last week, the pace I’ll need to keep up to complete the Guide, but the Stag at Dufton was a good place to call it quits for the week. With Curthwaite curtailing operations, I couldn’t complete Cumbria (alliteration !), and several of the Eden Valley pubs… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – THE DUFTON STAG
BARKING, BORROWED PLATES AND BOWNESS-ON-SOLWAY
I’d always wanted to go to Bowness-on-Solway, but somehow it had avoided me. Its loss, I guess. The Hadrian’s Wall walk starts here, rather than Carlisle, so I feel we cheated last year. I was quite keen to walk a bit now, but Mrs RM declared it “much too cold*, bitter, ugh“, and since she… Continue reading BARKING, BORROWED PLATES AND BOWNESS-ON-SOLWAY
TIMMY TAYLOR DARK
Thwarted in Curthwaite last Saturday, but redemption came 10 minutes later at Moorhouse’s Royal Oak. You see ? Google Maps collecting all this personal data about me and Mrs RM; it’ll probably start sending me adverts for houses in the west of Carlisle soon. There’s some nice houses, and some decent pubs, like Great Orton’s… Continue reading TIMMY TAYLOR DARK
“We’re refurbishing, call back later”
“He’s not STILL moaning about opening hours, surely !” You lot love it. Only today a post I wrote about a Margate craft bar in 2018 is getting read, probably in Moldova. And the Royal Oak in Curthwaite was an absolute gem for lovers of unexpectedly closed pubs. The Royal Oak is a dining pub… Continue reading “We’re refurbishing, call back later”
WORKINGTON “UPPIES AND DOWNIES”
The day before Mad Friday 2019 I stayed the night in Workington, a feat oddly unrecognised in the New Years Honours. The Conservatives had just taken the Parliamentary seat, and I predicted great things for an unsung Cumbrian town. And sure enough, two years later they had their own Travelodge, costing barely more than the… Continue reading WORKINGTON “UPPIES AND DOWNIES”
“How are you supposed to find out opening times, then ?” – The Lemon Posset on the door issue.
So many pubs to tell you about and I’m only “dropping” (ugh) one post a day, basically the Kate Bush of blogging when I should be the Van Morrison. Or something. Last Friday our second “near Workington” tick was in the flat farmland of Tallantire, somewhere I guarantee you will NEVER go. Mrs RM has… Continue reading “How are you supposed to find out opening times, then ?” – The Lemon Posset on the door issue.
CRISP NIGHT AT THE COCKERMOUTH COMMUNITY PUB
The drive from tourist Lake District through Ambleside and Keswick and Bassenthwaite Lake to Workington, the jewel of the west. “Jewel” as in Jewel Kilcher, faded beauty from Payson, Utah, of course. I think it fairest to say Mrs RM “tolerated” this trip to Workie on the basis that I could clear the two later… Continue reading CRISP NIGHT AT THE COCKERMOUTH COMMUNITY PUB
