June 2025. Byker. Newcastle. That photo from the garden of the Free Trade was a dud so here’s one from the other angle; Folk always think of Sheffield and Bristol and Wolverhampton Rock as centres of the UK microbrewing scene, but look (!), Byker has five (5) brewery taps in a 5 (five) minute walk… Continue reading PUGH, PUGH, BARNEY McGREW. BYKER’S CURIOUS BRINKBURN ST.

June 2025. Newcastle upon Tyne. Why does every trip to Newcastle end up as a never ending pub crawl ? And where was the culture? I guess, the culture is in the pubs, no more so than in the Free Trade. Blackpool Karen had been to Uni up here when Byker/Ouseburn was a no-go area,… Continue reading CRAIG DAVID REMEMBERED AT THE FREE TRADE

June 2025. Byker. Newcastle. Thanks to Pub Curmudgeon for the blog title. Only took me 3 years to use it. Usual half pint of Doom Bar, Mudgie ? Day 2 of 2 on the Great Tyne Tick, and this is where Greater Newcastle’s normally impeccable metro let us down. Stuck at Tynemouth without any sign… Continue reading BYKER TROVE

June 2025. Tynemouth. A scorchio day by the Tyne had given way to showers and metro cancellations; no trains back up to Whitley Bay and the delights of that grumpy but brilliant micro at Spanish city. So we had to wait patiently back at Tynemouth station for an announcement. Luckily, it is actually a legal… Continue reading JUST HOW GOOD IS NEWCASTLE ?

June 2025. Tynemouth. Staying in Gateshead gives you that wonderful walk across the High Level Bridge on the return from Corbridge, but in the morning you have to contend with Gateshead’s less than pedestrian friendly streets (2 minutes for the lights to change !) on the way to the metro to start Day 2’s pubbing.… Continue reading THE TURK’S HEAD, TYNEMOUTH. DARTS, DEAD DOG, DRAUGHT BASS

A busy June, the usual slogs up and down the A1 interspersed with diversions as far as The Midlands, wherever that is. A bumper month for blog views, too, aided by visits from some scary sounding places; If any of you have survived a visit to Upwell (Wisbech) I’d love to hear about it. My… Continue reading JUNE ’25 STOCKTAKE + JULY PREVIEW

June 2025. Corbridge. 1 tick down, 2 more to go in tiny Corbridge, and then a mile  sprint back to the station with a tummy full of curry. Mrs RM was not impressed. She was also done for the night, sitting out the Pele, possibly the only pub in the GBG named after a footballer… Continue reading (aka) Edson Arantes do Nascimento

20th June 2025. Corbridge. The recommended post-curry train back to Newcastle was due just after 9pm, but there were three (3) GBG pubs in Corbridge to tick, and no-one should run after curry, particularly on the longest day of the year. I know that 20 June has the same number of hours (I think) as… Continue reading THE LONGEST DAY, THE SHORTEST CORBRIDGE PUB CRAWL

June 2025. Newcastle-Corbridge. In 1995, on our first visit to Newcastle, we stayed in a rambling country house in Corbridge with the largest free standing bath in the UK. And the Corbridge stand-out, apart from (I think) having all six pubs in my first GBG, was a curry house directly on the station platform which… Continue reading A PASSAGE TO INDIA (via CORBRIDGE)

June 2025. Newcastle upon Tyne. You left our “curated pub exploration” looking for trousers in Grainger Market, giving up, and heading up pedestrianised Northumberland Street, with its reminders of Newcastle’s crucial role in UK history. I’d like to have brought you the traditional picture of the Town Mouse, but there isn’t really an exterior to… Continue reading “CLASS IS PERMANENT, CONDITION IS EVERYTHING”. NEWCASTLE’S TOWN MOUSE