May 2025. Manchester. Leaving the Crown I was almost distracted by the siren call of Heaton Mersey’s Griffin, a favourite of Old Mudgie, who I was oddly reminded of by this; but I’d arranged to meet Matt in town for pre-match tea, and had to dash to the end of the Didsbury line to catch… Continue reading ALL THE PUBS IN THE MANCHESTER BEER BOOK – THE CASTLE HOTEL
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.
ANOTHER STOCKPORT STUNNER – THE CROWN, HEATON MERSEY
May 2025. Heaton Mersey. Stockport. I always like to give the impression of knowing everywhere on the map, an overconfidence attributable to a) having actually travelled so widely, b) being a man. As I walked along the banks of the Mersey towards Heaton Mersey I realised with alarm I knew little about western Stockport, or… Continue reading ANOTHER STOCKPORT STUNNER – THE CROWN, HEATON MERSEY
ON THE TRANSPENNINE TRAIL
May 2025. Stockport. Last Friday saw my last City home match of a frantic season (and no, I’m not spending £125 on a cup final ticket), and with an 8pm kick-off v Wolves a chance of an ultra rare new GBG pub, and a leg stretch along the Mersey. By being old, and promising to… Continue reading ON THE TRANSPENNINE TRAIL
THE HEAD ON THE BEER
May (at last !) 2025. Sheffield. I read that the average Briton walks between 3,000 and 4,000 steps a day, a paltry amount. I did more than that aged nine walking to school along the A10. 15-20k is my target, and though things slipped a bit these last 3 years spending time with ill parents… Continue reading THE HEAD ON THE BEER
BASS. ALMOST AS FASHIONABLE AS PABST BLUE RIBBON
April 2025 (last post in April !). Sheffield. Having just had a bottle of non-alcoholic German wheat beer as a social experiment, I had 15 minutes trudge back to Mrs RM via Kelham Island. 5 minutes brought me to Alder, and you know what’s there. Yes, yes, Pabst Blue Ribbon, which the UK just promised… Continue reading BASS. ALMOST AS FASHIONABLE AS PABST BLUE RIBBON
ON THE WAGON IN THE FAT CAT
April 2025. Sheffield. Not only has the UK got a trade deal with the US of A to sell them Pipers crisps at only 10% tariff, we’ve also got a heatwave, that if we can just forget is due to global warming will boost our spirits and tourism immeasurably. The emergence of the sun in… Continue reading ON THE WAGON IN THE FAT CAT
RETIRED MARTIN ON VOCATION
April 2025. Sheffield. Mrs RM was in full “am blogging, don’t disturb me” mode last Thursday so couldn’t accompany me on my calorie burning walk into town to check out a new Bass tip. The refurbished Foresters had a turned round pump clip that day, turning it round as soon as I’d gone past, to… Continue reading RETIRED MARTIN ON VOCATION
A HALT IN HARDWICK HALL
28 April 2025. Hardwick. Derbyshire. A brief cultural interlude to break up the pubs, and a first visit to one of the big (well, £23.10 for non-members) National Trust houses on the way home from Smeeton Westerby. Quite how we’ve avoided it, a few yards off the M1 between the bucolic towns of Chesterfield and… Continue reading A HALT IN HARDWICK HALL
GLASSWARE DRAMA IN SMEETON WESTERBY
April 2025. Smeeton Westerby Leicestershire. We’re getting good use out of the campervan now, and that 4 pint container of Triple fff Moondance that serves as my en-suite. It comes into its own visiting remote pubs like the King’s Head in Smeeton Westerby, tucked away in the posh villages betwixt Leicester and Harborough. This is… Continue reading GLASSWARE DRAMA IN SMEETON WESTERBY
LAST ORDERS IN THE ELY LAMB
April 2025. Ely. “Have you been there ?” asks Mrs RM as we pass Ely’s top hotel on the walk down hill back to the campervan. And I have to confess that I haven’t, but I really want to. I’d popped my head in the Lamb a fortnight earlier on the search for the Abbot… Continue reading LAST ORDERS IN THE ELY LAMB
retiredmartin 