How I wish I could find something to rhyme with Oswestry. BRAPA will make up a word that translate into Welsh as something rude. I was here a year ago, rediscovering a town on the rise and proclaiming the Bailey Head one of the pubs of the year. It takes great self-control to avoid a… Continue reading “£2 A PINT. ALL DAY, EVERY DAY”
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.
WREXHAM AFTER THE DEJECTION
I arrived in Wrexham/Wrecsam to find the locals shuffling down the High Street, still in a state of dejection after Danny Holland’s ill-deserved winner kept them in Non-league for a 43rd successive season. Though still a step higher than Chester. What a goal from @EastleighFC's Danny Hollands last night 😱 pic.twitter.com/rzeLuUwuh0 — Football Carpets (@FootyCarpets)… Continue reading WREXHAM AFTER THE DEJECTION
NO TRAVAILS IN TREVALYN
The Beer Guide seems determined to promote lovely Wrexham’s pub tourist credentials. Another GBG packed with new entries in the posh Cheshire-lite villages to the north and the grittier hills towards Mold. I had the joy of a walk from the bus stop at Rossett through tiny lanes with giant hedges. A quiet, straggling, bucolic… Continue reading NO TRAVAILS IN TREVALYN
SETTLE DOWN
No, not the rare James B side, but a rarer Settle tick that I couldn’t really take offence with. Last time here, Jimmy Anderson and Root were adding 198 for the last wicket against India, and I had to superstitiously hop on one leg up the hills or risk breaking the partnership. Five years later… Continue reading SETTLE DOWN
I YIELD TO HELLIFIELD
Into the Yorkshire Dales, almost, and one of those Craven villages you whizz by en route to the honeypot villages of Giggleswick and Feizor (?). Luckily for the ticker, Hellifield (pronounced Heffer) have commissioned a railway station, just for my visit. For a moment it looks like they won’t be getting my £1.65 as a… Continue reading I YIELD TO HELLIFIELD
CLITHEROE REDEMPTION
I must stop banging on about how far behind I am on this blog. But for context, I think they were still ducking witches when I made this trip to Clitheroe. For evidence of the antiquity of this post, just see the spelling of “bollack” on the town’s official graffiti wall. Clitheroe and the Forest… Continue reading CLITHEROE REDEMPTION
BOWLAND – 41 HANDPUMPS, WHAT CAN GO WRONG ?
I’d been expecting to visit Bowland Brewery last year. But oddly, a brewery bar with more than 40 handpumps inexplicably failed to be fast-tracked into GBG 19. After all, choice ? Isn’t that what we want from our pubs in 2019 ? Anyway, I was thrilled to be finally making a return to old-fashioned Clitheroe,… Continue reading BOWLAND – 41 HANDPUMPS, WHAT CAN GO WRONG ?
“DON’T SHOOT VINNIE !”
Yes, I’m really that far behind, and have no idea whether City will escape relegation this season. The whole day of the Leicester game was one of the most nervous I’ve ever been, 13.5.12 included, which I know will sound daft to football philistines. The prospect of jubilant Scousers if we mucked it up was… Continue reading “DON’T SHOOT VINNIE !”
SUFFERING IN SALFORD QUAYS
I’m getting quite addicted to my little hotel in Weaste, the rough bit of Elegant Eccles. Four stays in 3 months, AND they give me a 5% loyalty discount, so I only paid £27 the other Sunday. H & C in all rooms. As you can see, I took the lesser-known tourist trail from… Continue reading SUFFERING IN SALFORD QUAYS
WHERE THE HECK IS WIMBOLDSLEY ?
Yes, almost a Crewe post ! After the joys of finishing craft bar Stafford, it’s back to the slog of twee gastro Cheshire, which is even less satisfying in lots of ways. Not that the Verdin Arms is twee. But it’s very hard to find Wimboldsley on my Philip Navigator, which tends to go down… Continue reading WHERE THE HECK IS WIMBOLDSLEY ?
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