July 2025, Darlington. The last few years, where elderly parents take priority, have brought home the need to Do It Now, going on those little trips you’d put off, waiting for the perfect time. So, for the third time in a fortnight, I hit the A1 for Darlington and parked the campervan up in the… Continue reading TAPAS NIGHT IN DARLINGTON

July 2025. Swallowfield. Berkshire My blog has been attacked by those bots from American data centres again, scraping my blog for Chat GPT Version 5. Oddly, they seem particularly interested in my posts on Salford Holt pubs, so expect my blog to become the reference point to Yanks asking “What’s the best way to get… Continue reading “Are you waiting for friends ?”

July 2025. Arborfield Green. Berkshire. Ah, Berkshire brewery taps. How long have I yearned to tick you, thwarted by your resolute Friday/Saturday opening hours. So let joy be unconfined as I get a Saturday away from Waterbeach to finally do the elusive Elusive and discover the less exciting housing development at Arborfield Green. The GBG… Continue reading ELUSIVE NO MORE. EXPLORING ARBORFIELD GREEN

July 2025. Alton. I’d picked a very cheap hotel for my night in Alton, though the Crown was fine, if a little “fuzzy” as the pic shows. Or perhaps that was just me. Staying in Alton meant I could tick GBG newbie Cassidy’s with its irritating but increasingly normal 3pm on a day most pubs… Continue reading MEMORIES OF A FARNHAM BEER EX

July 2025. Farnham. Surrey. Five pubs, total walking time, ooh, about 10 minutes (or 5 for me). An efficient pub crawl, though I never felt I got to the heart of Farnham. If it has a heart. But certainly the heart of its pub scene is the Borough Beer House, part of the 17th century… Continue reading FARNHAM 5 of 5. BOROUGH BEER HOUSE. CITRA WAS RIGHT

July 2025. Farnham. Surrey. The penultimate pub of our Big Day Out, and the most Surrey of the Farnham Five. And perhaps the most surprising. “What did it used to be ?”, said someone, possibly me, of the Tellers. Did a market town TSB really look this grand ? Young’s Pubs have gone big here,… Continue reading FARNHAM 4 of 5. THE TELLERS ARMS

July 2025. Farnham. An 8 pub day out, artisanally (?) curated by Citra Mick who cruelly denied us the delights of Doom Bar in his home town. Farnham had much for the Pub Man who likes beer he’s heard of; Fullers, Youngs, Tim Taylor. But it didn’t always have a lot of custom, whether for… Continue reading FARNHAM 3 of 5. THE NELSON ARMS

July 2025. Farnham. While Kentish Paul waited for his Club Ciabatta in Farnham Pub No.1, I nipped out and bought my own lunch, a rather less artisanal affair from Poundland. Those packs have been a quid for near on 20 years now, which raises some questions I’d rather not be answered. My escort of Paul… Continue reading FARNHAM 2 of 5 – THE HOP BLOSSOM

July 2025. Farnham Mick aka Citra, definitely not a codger, had put together a superb day out, all the better for ensuring all five Farnham pubs were almost literally next door to each other. When you’re approaching middle age you really don’t want to be wasting valuable drinking time admiring ancient Surrey market towns. Unless… Continue reading FARNHAM 1 of 5. THE QUEEN’S HEAD

July 2025. Alton. Hampshire. Our big Southern day out in mid July was a 2 stage affair, 3 pubs in Alton and a nap hand   12 minutes by rail over the border in Farnham. Both unexplored territory for pub crawls, let alone curated surveys. That train journey starts yards from the station at Alton’s best… Continue reading Top pub signs No. 1. The Railway Arms, Alton.