We were drinking at a moderate pace (by Mrs RM standards), and it was a quarter past one when we arrived at the Angel. Last time here I was here 5 years ago I met Mrs RM after a Dzeko goal had seen off Crystal Palace at the Etihad. Where did it all go wrong… Continue reading ANGELS & DEMONS
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.
TOP 100 PUBS – THE MARBLE ARCH, MANCHESTER
Five points for identifying what’s odd about the photo above. The Official US/UK New Year Pub Crawl of Manchester contained some expected names (but oddly not the Lost Dene). Our motley crew met up at the Lower Turks Head, but I ducked out in favour of another scolding coffee at Home Sweet Home and a… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – THE MARBLE ARCH, MANCHESTER
THE HERITAGE PUB BREAKFAST CLUB
I know there’s a few of you who like looking at pictures of old pubs, so here’s a pub I looked at for a few minutes while waiting for the 9.43 from Heaton Chapel to Manchester Piccadilly last Wednesday. I’ve never been in the Plough, or any pubs in Heaton Moor, which may be a… Continue reading THE HERITAGE PUB BREAKFAST CLUB
THE LAST ONES OUT OF SPOONS
We pressed on, past a sea of closed pubs (Rising Sun, Nag’s Head) up into Deansgate, a journey rarely made by heritage pub pilgrims. Stopping only in the Lost Dene for a comfort break, we finally found some real heritage. You may mock, but the Moon Under Water was once the biggest British pub IN… Continue reading THE LAST ONES OUT OF SPOONS
ALL IS QUIET ON NEW YEAR’S DAY, A PUB CRAWL IN MANC GETS UNDERWAY
It’s 35 years since I played “New Year’s Day” by U2, and I still can’t be sure about the apostrophe in Year’s. Russ will correct it now I’ve given him editing rights on the blog. I tipped up in Heaton Chapel on Tuesday afternoon having barely had a drop for 5 days, and therefore feeling… Continue reading ALL IS QUIET ON NEW YEAR’S DAY, A PUB CRAWL IN MANC GETS UNDERWAY
NEW YEAR, SAME LINCOLNSHIRE
By my reckoning the earliest you could have had a new GBG tick in 2019 was at the Sandpiper, Paisley/Glasgow Airport, mere miles from the Pubmeister’s moth collection. If I could have been there for the 5am opening, I would have been. Perhaps I will, someday. Instead, It Begins In Lincolnshire, which sounds like… Continue reading NEW YEAR, SAME LINCOLNSHIRE
ANNUAL RETIRED MARTIN AWARDS 2018
A year of joy and sadness, of tears and laughter. And 532 new Beer Guide pubs visited. Some poorly kept soup throughout the Long Hot Summer, some frankly marvellous cask in the autumn. By year-end I was up to 82% completion of the GBG, though a little over-focused on the low-hanging fruit; HIGHLIGHTS OF THE… Continue reading ANNUAL RETIRED MARTIN AWARDS 2018
DECEMBER ’18 STOCKTAKE
I am so proud to have finally caught up with my posts, I can overlook the mild complication of having a dozen Manchester pubs to write up tomorrow. December is a complex month, when some pubs aim to sabotage my ticking by being closed on the 25th as a prelude to shutting for the whole… Continue reading DECEMBER ’18 STOCKTAKE
PUB PHOTOS OF 2018
Golden Pints ? What’s all that about then ? Here, in no order at all, are some pictures of pubs that I found in half an hour skimming through blogs I read last year. Starting with the man who takes more photos than me (mostly of himself) BRAPA . It took me ages to… Continue reading PUB PHOTOS OF 2018
THE ONLY WAY TO END 2018
Yes, I’m in a rush to finish the 2018 blogging so I can get on to my “Best Of” posts. Will that Milton Keynes Ember Inn make the cut ? Last beer of the year, from rural South Leicestershire. Bass lives here. The Railway in Countesthorpe was closed at 3pm when the GBG said it… Continue reading THE ONLY WAY TO END 2018
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