March 2026. Beverley. There’s more to life than pubs. “No there’s not”. My blog, my rules, time for culture. One of the bonuses of parking up in the campervan at Driffield Riverhead (£10 donation to canal conservation), apart from a quiet night (put the handbrake on) and Spoons breakfast in the morning, is a 20… Continue reading BEVERLEY MINSTER
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.
EAST YORKSHIRE HAS FALLEN
March 2026. Wansford. East Yorkshire. A mile south of delightful Driffield, our final Humberside + tick, and once again not a classic, but plenty good enough. Always best to leave your final East Yorkshire pub to Hull. Not much to say about Wansford (pop. 142), canal barge apart, but it is in the same parish… Continue reading EAST YORKSHIRE HAS FALLEN
HORNSEA SPRINGS TO LIFE
March 2026. Hornsea. East Yorkshire. Saturday at home in Sheffield means tearing at the leash to get out Sunday, despite, you know, weeds to pull and all that. Two hours later I’m in Hornsea for my penultimate East Yorkshire tick, which given there’s only three (3) newbies to begin with isn’t that impressive. Whereas Hornsea… Continue reading HORNSEA SPRINGS TO LIFE
NOBODY SAID SOUTH KESTEVEN WOULD BE FUN
February 2026. Edenham. Lincolnshire. Not quite Greater Grantham, more Bigger Bourne. Have any of you ever been to Bourne ? I knew nothing about little Edenham, 15 minutes off the A1 and Newton’s house, just past that Corby Glen I wrote so pointlessly about on New Years Day. But I know everything about Edenham now.… Continue reading NOBODY SAID SOUTH KESTEVEN WOULD BE FUN
THE WENLOCK
February 2026. Islington. 20 minutes walk from Bombay Corner to my gig at Islington Assembly Hall over Regent’s Canal. Walking London is a joy, questionable football clubs apart. Not the most, or best, pubbed part of London, but great to see young folk (discuss “young“) filling the trad pubs early evening. While the youth (my… Continue reading THE WENLOCK
THURSDAY IS THE NEW FRIDAY
February 2026. London. From Charlton the train takes you back over the Thames, then stops abruptly at Cannon Street. It’s a quarter to six in the City of London; let’s have a look. Not many suits or bowler hats or folded copies of the Financial Times, but young workers pack the pubs. Plenty of pubs,… Continue reading THURSDAY IS THE NEW FRIDAY
CHARLTON, FOR THE ATHLETIC
February 2026. Charlton. Two South London pubs relatively close together, but with no great public transport option that I understood, so an athletic walk west from Plumstead to Charlton through some “unprepossessing” suburbia, where unprepossessing is a posh word for “a bit daggy”. You’re on the edge of the historic Woolwich Royal Artillery Barracks; this… Continue reading CHARLTON, FOR THE ATHLETIC
UP THE (WOOLWICH) ARSENAL
February 2026. Woolwich to Plumstead. Gig night in London, a chance to get a rare couple of GBG ticks, with an exciting Thameslink trip past London Bridge (new and shiny) and Greenwich (old) to Woolwich (scruffy but exciting). I knew Woolwich had suffered a few pub closures, but goodness me that’s a lot of grey… Continue reading UP THE (WOOLWICH) ARSENAL
A LAST HURRAH FOR DOOM BAR
February 2026. Downham Market. £9.30 “invested” on an old person’s evening out in Downham Market, and all I had to show for it were some blurred photos from the Crown, which I’m out to convince you is a great pub. Perhaps I can borrow Mrs RM’s superior phone camera (she denies it’s any different). Even… Continue reading A LAST HURRAH FOR DOOM BAR
TOP 100 PUBS – THE CROWN HOTEL, DOWNHAM MARKET
February 2026. Downham Market. When mum was coming towards the end of her life just over a year ago I was virtually living in Waterbeach. The only thing keeping me sane were a few short rail trips once mum was in bed, exciting places like Littleport and Downham Market. As the sun set, I returned… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – THE CROWN HOTEL, DOWNHAM MARKET
