The third of my trio of Cardiff Guide ticks, and a stroll across Bute Park, via this Government building which looks a complete rip-off of Low’s Double Negative album cover. Weirdly, I took a photo of this unremarkable but haunting tree, which I now realise bares more than a passing resemblance to Ones and Sixes.… Continue reading GLASSES CLEANED, LOW ALBUM COVERS SPOTTED, THE ROMILLY TICKED
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NO REAL ALE TWATS IN CATHAYS BEER HOUSE
Cardiff tick 2, a 25 minute hike into the cosmopolitan area of Cathays, the Walkley of the West (think I’ve used that one before but hey-ho). Close to the University but no student ghetto, with the populace clearly imagining themselves as Welsh Peaky Blinders. Cathays is still recovering from the shock of losing the secret… Continue reading NO REAL ALE TWATS IN CATHAYS BEER HOUSE
“1021 PINTS OF ALE POURED LAST WEEK”
Two days in Cardiff to tackle that tricky bit of Glamorgan I always struggle with. But first, a hattrick in the capital, from a base at a contender for Best Premier Inn in Wales. Not because the Premier Inn Cardiff Central South is in any way different from their 537 other models, but you get… Continue reading “1021 PINTS OF ALE POURED LAST WEEK”
CWMBRAN CONQUERED
I finished Lincolnshire’s Guide entries again today (no applause, it was only 5 newbies this year) and realised just how much fun BRAPA will have getting to places like Pinchbeck and Donington unless he can find a sucker disciple to ferry him round the northern Fens in a post-Beeching world. In contrast, most of my… Continue reading CWMBRAN CONQUERED
BLAENAVON – MORE THAN A BIG PIT
One of my favourite parts of the world are old mining towns in the Welsh Valleys running down from the A465. Blaenavon is the centre-point of the mining tourism, the Big Pit museum the place where you experience the sensation of being a ’70s Welsh miner for free, though it’s closed at the moment. So… Continue reading BLAENAVON – MORE THAN A BIG PIT
Raglan mourns the end of the Château d’Yquem 1969
You might think that the new entries in the GBG are all micro pubs, brewery taps, Wetherspoons and community restaurants pubs, but you’d be wrong, so wrong. There’s a real mixed bag, with unprepossessing village boozers, Marston’s new builds and upmarket rural hotels, like the Beaufort Arms in little Raglan, your pashmina refuge before you… Continue reading Raglan mourns the end of the Château d’Yquem 1969
MAKING A DENT IN GWENT – No.1, MONMOUTH
Oh you tease, retiredmartin, we all know there’s no Bass in Wales as they’re hogging it in Derbyshire. You’ll have your own thoughts on signs that promise but don’t deliver, and I was to be disappointed in my search for good Brains (post-Marston takeover) on my 3 nights in South Wales this week. This was… Continue reading MAKING A DENT IN GWENT – No.1, MONMOUTH
WITH EVERY HERTS (GBG PUB) BEAT
A steady start to 2022, with just 42 pubs saved in the first 12 days. I should have saved more. The highlight is, of course, putting a GBG county to bed (particularly when it’s Beds), and it was good to see off Hertfordshire as the county is a funny shape and requires skilful colouring. The… Continue reading WITH EVERY HERTS (GBG PUB) BEAT
ALL THAT’S HOT IN ALDERSHOT
An important day for blogging, as Runcorn Kirsty returns (here) and I get onto Aldershot. In fact, he highpoint of my Great Southern Tickathon, a night at a the Westy Beer Festival. Me at a beer festival ? With more than one beer ? Well, the West End Centre, host of the Westy, was in… Continue reading ALL THAT’S HOT IN ALDERSHOT
TICKERS TAUNTED BY TATTINGER IN ODIHAM
Odiham. The Edenbridge of the, er, South. Or is it North. Depends which way you’re facing, I guess. Odiham is rather posh for a place so dangerously close to Aldershot, twinned with Sourdeval in the Manche Department of France. Sourdeval sounds like a wild fermentation beer from Waterbeach. It’s attractive, but once you’ve seen 57 half-timbered buildings you’ve seen them… Continue reading TICKERS TAUNTED BY TATTINGER IN ODIHAM
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