September 2024. Sheffield. So, why am I heading back to the Grapes, Sheffield’s premier authentic Irish pub ? That would be an ecumenical matter. Perhaps it’s to admire the tiling in the right hand bar. Perhaps to admire the Somersby tap (proper Irish that). Nope. It’s because the rumour is true, this Guinness stronghold is… Continue reading KENNEDY

September 2024. Woodhouse. Sheffield. We arrived home last Monday lunchtime to a package on the door mat. “It’s your Beer Guide !” shouts Mrs RM, bemused at my lack of interest after 25 years when the bid drop was the highlight of the year. Nowadays, the GBG completed, the excitement comes from reading the embargo… Continue reading THE WOODHOUSE MILL REGULATOR

September 2024. Grantham. Is “Sunday last” yesterday or the one a week ago ? Is “Sunday last” the same as “last Sunday” ? These are the questions that keep me awake at night. Anyway, 8 days ago Mrs RM was having her second successive night in a Grantham car park, unwilling to join me on… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – THE LORD HARROWBY, GRANTHAM

September 2024. Grantham. Anyone who actually reads this will realise I’ve no problem with Spoons or Tim Martin. Like McDonalds or Maidenhead Conservative Club they fulfill a function, but I wouldn’t want to live there. And last Saturday in Grantham as the clock ticked past 9 it was Spoons or a kebab, all other chain… Continue reading A 33 MINUTE WAIT FOR A PINT IN SPOONS

September 2024. Grantham. The problem with writing a blog as a diary is you have to write what actually happens, the slog up and down the A1 punctuated only by the Greggs at North Muskham, the brewery taps in Manchester, the Sheffield pubs revisited just to get out of “doing the garden”. But September brings… Continue reading GRANTHAM AT NIGHT

September 2024. Manchester. The Matthew Curtis guide to Manchester is the best thing CAMRA has done since voting Doom Bar the best UK bitter (whatever) 20 years ago. Yes, that really happened, revisionists. But it wouldn’t claim to be a guide to the best pubs; there’s nothing from Eccles or Middleton or Hyde, for instance.… Continue reading ALL THE PUBS IN THE MANCHESTER BEER BOOK – CLOUDWATER BREWERY TAP

September 2024. Sheffield. A rare Friday evening in Sheffield, rather than Waterbeach. Still no new GBG, so what to do ? “We should go to the pub” says Mrs RM, reminding me why I married her all those years ago. Normally that means pizza and Blonde at the Blind Monkey as it’s closer, but I… Continue reading BLAKE’S HEAVEN

September 2024. Sheffield. A (short) break from pubs, as I encourage Mrs RM out for a walk round the lesser-known reservoirs in north Sheffield, 15 minutes from Retired Martin Towers. Picked at random, More Hall Reservoir draws you in with villages called Wigtwizzle, Bolsterstone, and the mysterious Ewden Village, a timber built hamlet constructed for… Continue reading IN SEARCH OF EWDEN

September 2024. Sheffield. A half hour walk round Walkley is worth 2 hours in the flats of the Fens, and Mrs RM’s 10k steps takes in some art (from Peachzz), and grandeur, but I sense she senses I’m looking for a pub stop. Matt and Emma are on their way back from Berlin so I… Continue reading ON A WHIM