June 2026. London. Another long drive last Wednesday; Sheffield to Waterbeach to see Dad (firmly asleep), then down to Tunbridge Wells ahead of Father-in-Law’s 88th birthday (firmly awake and raring to go). There’s some longevity genes in our families. I dropped Mrs RM off at T’Wells Travelodge to blog, and ran for the South-eastern departure… Continue reading AN OTTER IN RICHMOND (LONDON)
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“BORDERLINE”
June 2026. Sheffield. Let the record show that I spent last Tuesday afternoon with Mrs RM at Meadowhall Shopping Centre, and spent nothing. There is nothing I want to buy now I’ve bought my annual pair of Riekes, though I’ll happily received Mrs RM’s discarded phone when she upgrades. I like the surveying part of… Continue reading “BORDERLINE”
NEW SPOONS ON MONDAY ? NOT IN WETHERBY
June (finally !) 2026. Wetherby. Monday morning brings us to Wetherby, famed for the lack of a railway station, a Sam Smiths (without sign) seemingly closed longer than you’ve been alive, and a wonderful collection of cakes and pies to draw in the gentlefolk. There’s a decent number of gentlefolk in the new Spoons on… Continue reading NEW SPOONS ON MONDAY ? NOT IN WETHERBY
IBO’S BUNKER. 3rd TIME LUCKY
May 2026. Loftus. North Yorkshire. For a third time this year I took the campervan to the mining villages of the north coast, parked up overnight across from Loftus Police Station, and hoped. And there it was, right next to the non-GBG Mad Alice, one advertising Japanese beer and darts, the other Clarkson and cover… Continue reading IBO’S BUNKER. 3rd TIME LUCKY
STANDING AT THE BAR
May 2026. North Yorkshire. There’s been a lot of Yorkshire on this blog this year. I won’t apologise; Yorkshiremen never apologise (I assume, having listeded to Geoffrey Boycott on Test Match Special all those years). Am I a Yorkshireman yet ? This year’s “pub just outside Northallerton” is one of those that will split opinion,… Continue reading STANDING AT THE BAR
I AM JIM B’s TAXI
May 2026. Sheffield. While I was in zen mode back in 2022, focused only on completing the Beer Guide before family disaster/pandemic/ash cloud struck again, I’d have got irritated with anyone wanting to pop over to Sheffield to spend a Saturday revisiting good pubs. But now I’m delighted to entertain visitors, as long as they… Continue reading I AM JIM B’s TAXI
THE KIRSTALL BRIDGE
May 2026. Kirkstall. Leeds. We’d managed 2 1/4 miles from the start of our Cask Camino before we called it a day due to holes in Mrs RM’s shoes (Neil not Traffic version), but in fairness we clocked up a few steps that day; 972.9 calories is a couple of pints and a pork pie,… Continue reading THE KIRSTALL BRIDGE
THE CASK CAMINO. DAY 1 – LEEDS TO LEEDS
May 2026. Leeds. Well, you have to start somewhere, don’t you ? Our Cask Camino started on the footpath of the Leeds to Liverpool canal, where a protective Mother Duck had just attacked a cyclist. It would have been understandable if Mrs RM had turned round a minute into the Camino*, but she’s made of… Continue reading THE CASK CAMINO. DAY 1 – LEEDS TO LEEDS
THE CASK CAMINO
May 2026. Leeds. Just as we get back from Transylvania, Blackpool Jane rejoins the blogosphere with her own tales from the Balkans (here). Mrs RM is in full flow on her own blog, earning commission from the sale of bags that will fit in Ryanair’s hand luggage sizer. Most of her posts are “Undiscovered Europe… Continue reading THE CASK CAMINO
CONGLETON MARKET QUARTER
May 2026. Congleton. I’d walked east from Congleton station, along the canal, west along the disused railway line, and now after Bass in the Throstle’s Nest it was a walk past the cemetery into town. I must stop reading gravestones; to have all three children predecease you is unimaginable. Congleton is a quaint Cheshire working… Continue reading CONGLETON MARKET QUARTER
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