“And the lights on the bridgeWilliam Blake and the gridAnd the whisper room that winds around Saint Paul’sSir John Soane, found me in his parlor all aloneWeeping at the beauty of it all“Maria McKee, Right Down To The Heart Of London, 2020 When Lockdown hit hard in March I turned to my melancholia for comfort,… Continue reading “And the whisper room that winds around St Paul’s”
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.
A LAST HURRAH
Lots of short posts for you, in case I run out of material before December. November 4th 2020. The last day before Lockdown 2, with no idea how long it might last, and whether there’d actually be any pubs to return to. Disastrously, I’d allowed young BRAPA to score more GBG ticks than me in… Continue reading A LAST HURRAH
THE KING OF UPPINGHAM
The last week before Lockdown 2 was a frantic attempt to bag as many GBG counties as possible, targeting (in the words of Management Consultants who’d charge $30k a day for this stuff) the low hanging fruit like Rutland. You might think you’ve heard scant detail about Rutland (53rd on my list of favoured counties),… Continue reading THE KING OF UPPINGHAM
JIMMY HILL’S KOSSAK
Lunch in Leicestershire’s Langtons., which are a bit like the Hamptons This is the Welland Valley, previously a haven for Proper Pubs with pub games selling Marston’s and Batemans. This was the Horse & Trumpet in Medbourne. I believe the centuries old tradition of kicking the Watneys Red barrel between Hallaton and Medbourne continues in… Continue reading JIMMY HILL’S KOSSAK
ALTHORP LACINGS
One for our happy American readers now. Althorp, family home of Diana, burial place of Lawrence Washington, and part of a map where you’ll find Chinkwell Clumps and Nobottle Woods. Technically Daventry, though I’m sure that’s still being contested with Northampton. A second GBG pub in Little Brington joins its Greater neighbour this year under… Continue reading ALTHORP LACINGS
LIVE AND LET LYNN
Really stretching out these posts from the week before “Lockdown 2 : Only the Welsh may go to the Pub“. With Doom Bar denied, I headed to the cluster of pubs in South Lynn nearest the football ground; bound to be a midday (or earlier) opener there. I’ll be honest. I really should have explored… Continue reading LIVE AND LET LYNN
DOOM BAR DESPAIR AT THE PORTERHOUSE
Two more King’s Lynn posts for you, as I get full value from my £11.40 off-peak return having completed Norfolk. I know you’d been waiting for that pic. Choices, choices. The perennial Guide entry for Lynn is a characterful old small hotel bar that doesn’t open till 6pm every night, which seems a bit miserly.… Continue reading DOOM BAR DESPAIR AT THE PORTERHOUSE
LYNN LOCKDOWN SPECIAL
Since Pubmeister’s seismic report last year, King’s Lynn has become THE Norfolk destination for #PubMen bored of Norfolk’s endless identikit backstreet free houses. Even Kentish Paul braved the town recently; his report includes words like “Hanseatic”, “Bullards” and “Boondoggle” which may be of more interest to those of you interested in beer and history. How… Continue reading LYNN LOCKDOWN SPECIAL
BEER NUTS & ARTICHOKES
Not many Bob Carters in the Beer Guide, or Artichokes. Plenty of pubs, though, in one of the prime cities for GBG entries. The Artichoke is just north of Norwich’s artisanal inner ring road, and I must have walked past the pub’s lovely flinty curves a dozen times en route to the Lord Rosebery, Duke,… Continue reading BEER NUTS & ARTICHOKES
“I DON’T LIKE RUGBY”
More fearless pubbing in the wilds of Norfolk, the inexplicably popular* county that came 71st in my list of top UK GBG counties. Pleasingly, only seven new Norfolk entries this year, six of which I’ve already forgotten. The Horse & Groom at Tunstead, on the edge of the Broads, was memorable only for a tense… Continue reading “I DON’T LIKE RUGBY”
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