I feel a bit sad writing this in Cawood, near York, after three tremendous pints. And a (SPOILER) rather emotional last episode of the Bridge. But I have to tell the truth. I’ve had some woeful cask in June, nearly all in the South (below Stoke-on-Trent). The next two are in the sort of quintessential… Continue reading IT GETS WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER
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.
TWENTY-THREE SHILLINGS WASTED IN BILLINGSHURST
When I first started writing this blog someone wrote a comment along the lines of “If you dislike pubs so much why don’t you sit at home and watch Bargain Hunt you old codger”. If they’re still reading this blog,.. (no, of course she’s not still reading it). Anyway, the point I made then is… Continue reading TWENTY-THREE SHILLINGS WASTED IN BILLINGSHURST
HORSHAM – DARK STAR, DEAD (HOP)HEAD
At last a post about a place I haven’t been to for a few years. I’d be lying to say my postbag is bursting with requests for photos of Horsham Shopping Centre, though weirdly there is a Horsham thread on the Beer & Pubs Forum, which tells you a lot about those weirdy beardies* For… Continue reading HORSHAM – DARK STAR, DEAD (HOP)HEAD
INTO THE (PEWSEY MICRO PUB) VALLEY
As you’ll know by now, I never miss a chance of squeezing a Skids song title in , even in an area as tranquil as Salisbury Plain. This is more “Out of Town” than “Sweet Suburbia“. As I must have said before, I have a cousin in Pewsey, but as I’d already had my tea… Continue reading INTO THE (PEWSEY MICRO PUB) VALLEY
SOMETIMES, ALL I NEED IS THE (WESTBURY PUB) AIR THAT I BREATHE
Highly tempted to skip the next two Wilters, because not much happened (Russ “Does it ever”). But as Maslow said, self-actualisation comes from doing your blog in the correct order and writing witty comments under photos. And it may give you the chance to berate me for slagging off a pub you like. I start… Continue reading SOMETIMES, ALL I NEED IS THE (WESTBURY PUB) AIR THAT I BREATHE
A LOAD OF OLD LACOCK
Three years next month since I started this blog, and it’s pleasing to note that the post titles are getting even worse. So are the pubs that enter the Beer Guide, by and large. But not always. Pub No.2 on the Great Wiltshire Almost Completion (GWAC) of 2018 lies in Whitley, just outside lovely but… Continue reading A LOAD OF OLD LACOCK
WILTING IN WILTS
A short break from Sussex while I attempted to finish irritable Wiltshire. You’ll already know how this one ends (here). Just to be clear, travelling the country, staying in cheap hotels and visiting English pubs (with or without a Chinese takeaway at the end of the day) is an absolute joy. But empty pubs and… Continue reading WILTING IN WILTS
OUTSIDE LOO JOY IN HADLOW DOWN
Once we get back from Ayr (if we’re not burnt to a crisp as we re-enter England), I need to add some tags, as youngsters call them, to recent posts. Worryingly, the most common tags will be “closed pub” “Ugh !” and “outside loos“. At least the last of those are always a joy, and… Continue reading OUTSIDE LOO JOY IN HADLOW DOWN
THE SEAFORD TICKERS
Ah, found the rest of my Seaford photo cache. Some more dramatic coastline, actually only a few minutes from the Golden Galleon at Exceat Bridge. But more dramatic than that was the realisation, as I passed the Wellington, that I’d been there before. And had no recollection of it at all. But there it was… Continue reading THE SEAFORD TICKERS
IDENTIFYING ROCK STARS IN THE SEAFORD OLD BOOT
June is turning into my “Seaside Month“, with GBG ticks from Thanet to Ayr. Ayr could do with Thanet’s micro pubs, I can tell you. Next stop, dangerously close to Beachy Head, is mysterious Seaford. Mysterious in that I couldn’t remember ever going there, having clearly confused it with Littlehampton, world centre of mobility scooters.… Continue reading IDENTIFYING ROCK STARS IN THE SEAFORD OLD BOOT
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