November 2024. King’s Cross Station. Mum came home from Addenbrookes, for a second time in a month, with “reablement” carers popping in four times a day to oversee her rehab. I sensed all she wanted was peace and quiet and a Chinese takeaway. I also sensed I needed to pop off and see Mrs RM… Continue reading WHAT WOULD BRAPA DO ?

November 2024. Manchester. Yes, a third “tick” in the Mancunian beer book in an evening ! This one is the closest to Matt’s flat a minute’s walk from Piccadilly and 25 from the Etihad, which sounds like the perfect place to be in your early 20s. Rather than Milton. I get my True North (they… Continue reading ALL THE PUBS IN THE MANCHESTER BEER BOOK – NORTHERN MONK REFECTORY

November 2024. Manchester. Last Tuesday saw ward C4 still under quarantine due to an infection outbreak, and Mum no closer to a discharge, honourable or otherwise, from Addenbrookes. I took my opportunity; driving back to Sheffield to check the house was still there, turning the boiler back on, doing a round of laundry, then hopped… Continue reading ALL THE PUBS IN THE MANCHESTER BEER BOOK – THE GREY HORSE

November is the cruellest month. I’ve started a little spreadsheet counting where I’ve spent every night this year, and it shows only two (2) days spent at home in Sheffield in November, twenty in Waterbeach looking after Mum and Dad, and a few down in Kent where Mrs RM’s parents are continuing their remarkable recoveries.… Continue reading NOVEMBER ’24 STOCKTAKE AND DECEMBER PREVIEW

Only three in this series to go, and I really want to leave December free for posts on “The best pub Christmas decorations” (only available to Patronised readers), so let’s crack on. Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and, to magnificently conclude, the Isle of Man, have some of the very best the GBG has to… Continue reading HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY No. 71 – NORTHERN IRELAND

November 2024. Hounslow Three (3) pints in new GBG London pubs, not quite BRAPA standards, but not bad for me in 2024. Time for a curry. I know nothing about Hounslow, but goodness me it’s multi-cultural. Think Wembley rather than Southall perhaps, all the chains are there, but I’ve rarely seen as many Asian restaurants.… Continue reading HOUNSLOW – MOON, MARKET PLACE, CULTURAL MELTING POT

November 2024. Hounslow./numberc Well, I’ve pretty much completed the central London GBG pubs now, the ones with a letter/number combo, leavings some tricky ticking in what Russell Grant insists is Middlesex, which is a bit like Stockport saying it’s in Cheshire. 25 minutes, but a long 25 minutes sandwiched between folk taking their life’s clothing… Continue reading PRIDE DRINKING OK, I SUPPOSE, IN ISLEWORTH

November 2024 – Gospel Oak. One new GBG tick in the bag by 3pm, my first for a fortnight, and a route mapped out for my second an hour later. London ticking is the best ticking. Time to explore that mysterious bit between Camden and Hampstead, a place of contrasts, and curious fonts, and undemanding… Continue reading St. Dominic’s Priory, a preview.