July 2025. Skeeby. North Yorkshire. It doesn’t look like I’ll complete the North Yorkshire chapter of the GBG this year but such is life. The newbies tend to be rural pubs or brewery taps only open Fri-Sat (Guisborough), and I’ve still not found a way to get to the Crown in Middlemoor and back in… Continue reading A SENSE OF COMMUNITY IN SKEEBY
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A REETH GOOD TIME
July 2025. Reeth. Back from Edinburgh at that night Mrs RM somehow got an Uber to take us back to the Darlington car park that had been our room for four (4) nights in July, That’s longer than I spent at “home” in Sheffield; perhaps I’ll get a Durham Council Tax demand. Two nights in… Continue reading A REETH GOOD TIME
COCTEAU TWINS DEEP CUTS IN EDINBURGH’S BLACK CAT
July 2025. Edinburgh. Last Edinburgh post, promise. I left the Argyle Bar just after 4pm, almost five hours till the train back to Darlington, but was already approaching 30,000 steps, and worried I’d just get distracted by Bow Bar, Halfway House, Oxford and the rest and undo all those calories walked off. So I slowed… Continue reading COCTEAU TWINS DEEP CUTS IN EDINBURGH’S BLACK CAT
THE MARCH OF THE TALL FOUNTS. ARGYLE BAR, EDINBURGH
July 2025. Edinburgh. It’s approaching 4pm on our Big Edinburgh Day Out and time to head Southside. This year’s collection of GBG ticks take you to New Town, Leith and the east, and down through the Meadows to the “Miss Jean Brodie” residential suburb of Marchmont, with its artisanal hardware and giant fish. We’ve got… Continue reading THE MARCH OF THE TALL FOUNTS. ARGYLE BAR, EDINBURGH
BASS SPOTTED IN EDINBURGH
July 2025. Edinburgh. Halfway through the Big Day Out In Edinburgh. It’s only just gone 2pm and I’ve already clocked up 22,000 steps and 3 GBG ticks (and half of Mrs RM badly chosen lunch). This is the stage in a long day where you think “Hmm, I could just about catch a train to… Continue reading BASS SPOTTED IN EDINBURGH
THE ARTISAN. SUNSHINE NEAR LEITH
July 2025. Edinburgh. Lunchtime in Edinburgh. Mrs RM had left me alone to walk at my own pace, so perversely I bought a tram day ticket I didn’t need and then felt obliged to hop down to the Port of Leith to justify it. The blue plaque commemorating Kentish Paul’s recent luxury cruise stop was… Continue reading THE ARTISAN. SUNSHINE NEAR LEITH
SHANG-A-LANG. SOLVING THE MYSTERY OF RYRIE’S
July 2025. Edinburgh. I had six GBG pubs to visit on my first visit to the capital since, oh, 2021, which became five as I realised the Old Eastway had been my pre-emptive punt back then. But I also looked at that Ryrie’s outside Haymarket Station, looking all heritage and wonderful, and thought “I must… Continue reading SHANG-A-LANG. SOLVING THE MYSTERY OF RYRIE’S
EDINBURGH CULTURAL DIVERSION. P**S FLOWERS AND PANINIS
July 2025. Edinburgh. Only one day in Edinburgh, but a glorious day, and I’d have got closer to 50k steps if I’d kept going when Mrs RM faded after tea. With the Festival (the posh bit) and the Fringe (also the posh bit) starting on Thursday, Tuesday saw a city heaving with Japanese and American… Continue reading EDINBURGH CULTURAL DIVERSION. P**S FLOWERS AND PANINIS
80 SHILLING. ONE QUID.
July 2025. Edinburgh. Yes, Edinburgh. A second Scottish tickathon in a month. This would normally have been a prohibitively expensive trip, but by the mere act of being old, fixing train times and also starting at 6am from a car park halfway up the A1 in Darlington, I got the cost down significantly. Just imagine… Continue reading 80 SHILLING. ONE QUID.
DARLO “FUN” RUNNERS MISS OUT ON THE ORB
July 2025. Darlington. A Monday night in a quiet Durham market town, before a Big Trip (Proper) North at 6am the next morning. Time to prove the old adage that England’s architectural glories lie above eye level. Lots of detail to admire, including the memorial to anti-slavery campaigner Joseph Pease. Darlo had looked very quiet,… Continue reading DARLO “FUN” RUNNERS MISS OUT ON THE ORB
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