January 2024. Hartlepool. We checked into our Travelodge at 3pm, and set up Alfie, Baa Baa and Charlie (l-r) up with a nice view of the derelict car parks and marina. Alfie and Charlie dreamed of escaping the harsh winters of Teesside (they have no sense of time) and emigrating to Chile. But then Mrs… Continue reading STRONGARM – DECENT, BUT WHERE’S MY BANKER ?
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THE HARTLEPOOL CULTURAL EDITION
January 2024. Hartlepool. 11% Imperial stouts have a lot to answer for. My plans to use 2 nights in Hartlepool as a base to tick pubs in Sunderland, Morpeth and Hexham went in the bin after overdoing it in the Golden Smog, and I never wanted to drink again as we parked up in Travelodge’s… Continue reading THE HARTLEPOOL CULTURAL EDITION
WORKIE TICKET AND UNTAPPD MADNESS
January 2024. Hartlepool. Quite a lot of short posts coming up. Clear your busy diaries. A big Thursday night out in Stockton meant a slow start to Friday in Seaton Carew, after a typical budget hotel full English breakfast (inedible sausages) enlivened by the owner’s singing. He was sanguine when I admitted I’d broke the… Continue reading WORKIE TICKET AND UNTAPPD MADNESS
HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 28 – WEST LONDON
The last of the London chapters, and West is definitely not best for pubs, though I feel really bad picking five that are so central, with nothing to show in Feltham of Hayes or Twickenham. Actually, I could never feel sorry for “Twickers“. My first pick is a Top 20 pub (there’s only 145 of… Continue reading HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 28 – WEST LONDON
BE CLEVER NOT CLEVERLY, VISIT STOCKTON-ON-TEES
January 2024. Stockton-on-Tees Obviously every place in the UK has its own particular merits, but it is hilariously to hear a Government minister born in Lewisham and representing Braintree (allegedly) slagging off lovely Stockton. Not only does it have one of the best Bass pubs and micro pubs, but there’s stunning Georgian architecture and a… Continue reading BE CLEVER NOT CLEVERLY, VISIT STOCKTON-ON-TEES
AFTER THE SUN, THE GOLDEN SMOG
January 2024. Stockton-on-Tees. A pint of banked Bass in the Sun, then straight back on the train to Seaton for a Parmo Platter and an early night. That would have been the sensible thing. But I’m afraid I bullied Mrs RM into a second Stockton revisit, though to be fair it would have been a… Continue reading AFTER THE SUN, THE GOLDEN SMOG
“Why do you need a Flake ?”
January 2024. Stockton-on-Tees. Big mistake, huge. Having arrived in Seaton Carew and completed Durham’s Guide entries we could have had a quiet night watching the new Emma Stone movie (Emma is slated to play Mrs RM in the film of my 2022 GBG completion). But no, I had to drag her (Mrs RM, not Emma)… Continue reading “Why do you need a Flake ?”
HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 27 – SOUTH-WEST LONDON
Another set of “Half a dozen pubs…” then I can get onto one of the Top 10 pubs in the world, (in all the world). Knowing that I start my journey in Seaton Carew must give that one away. I’ve just realised that my Central London set omitted a certain pub in favour of the… Continue reading HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 27 – SOUTH-WEST LONDON
DURHAM HAS FALLEN
January 2024. Seaton Carew. Hartlepool. I do like a town with a postcard painted on the wall, but it’s rather impractical to stick in the post box. Mrs RM and I had dumped our bags in the Durham Hotel (more on that later), and with some alarm realised it was only a quarter to four,… Continue reading DURHAM HAS FALLEN
THE TICKER, HIS WIFE AND THE CANOE
January 2024. Seaton Carew. Hartlepool. Not gonna lie, I was a bit disappointed that my birthday (22 December, pre-marked on all good calendars) wasn’t spent in Seaton Carew on the Durham coast, due to what we call “plumbing issues” because they involved a plumber coming out. Last Thursday, after watching the first few episodes of… Continue reading THE TICKER, HIS WIFE AND THE CANOE
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