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retiredmartin

On permanent exploration of places, pubs, people and new music.

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OFFA’S DYKE

OFFA’S DYKE

July 16, 2021July 17, 2021 11 Comments

It’s always exciting to enter a new principality country, and the A49 (and a scary Roman road near Craven Arms) weaves its way via lovely South Shropshire to the Welsh border. Mrs RM decided to have a sleep in Knighton car park, allowing me to reacquaint myself with Offa’s Dyke and a town of 3,172… Continue reading OFFA’S DYKE

KnightonOffa's DykeWatson's Ale HouseWelsh pubs
UP AND DOWN THE LONG MYND

UP AND DOWN THE LONG MYND

July 16, 2021October 4, 2021 13 Comments

That carb overload on Tuesday night came back to haunt us the next morning as we headed into the Shropshire Hills for an ambitious assault on the Long Mynd. By extraordinary coincidence, there’s a new GBG pub at the foot of the Long Mynd in Church Stretton. Even more astonishingly, it will be the FIRST… Continue reading UP AND DOWN THE LONG MYND

Church StrettonLong MyndMalt HouseShropshire
SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW (NEAR STAFFORD)

SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW (NEAR STAFFORD)

July 15, 2021July 16, 2021 9 Comments

A rare night in a chain hotel followed, as we stumped up £40 for one of those Marston places on the A5 at Gailey between Stafford and Wolves. I can feel the jealousy of Paul Mudge as I write. The rooms are good value, better than Premier Inn, but how would the adjoining pub diner… Continue reading SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW (NEAR STAFFORD)

GaileyMarston'sPedigreeSpread EagleStaffordshire

TWO ANDYS, ONE GREAT WYRLEY

July 15, 2021 4 Comments

Last Tuesday we set off west, like in the Village People song*, to Do Some Wales. Mrs RM, still “tired of pubs”, deigned to allow me a rare Staffordshire tick in Great Wyrley 20 minutes from our stop for the night. So, what’s great about Great Wyrley, halfway between Walsall and Cannock. Let the OS… Continue reading TWO ANDYS, ONE GREAT WYRLEY

HEAVEN IN THE HALLAMSHIRE HOUSE

HEAVEN IN THE HALLAMSHIRE HOUSE

July 15, 2021July 15, 2021 3 Comments

Seven months in Sheffield, and there are STILL famous pub I’ve yet to (re)visit. After a few days recovering from BRAPA (3 months is recommended but 3 days had to suffice), I wandered down to Commonside for a 4pm Monday pint. Mrs RM was still in her “I’m tired of pubs” phase (it didn’t last),… Continue reading HEAVEN IN THE HALLAMSHIRE HOUSE

Hallamshire HouseSheffieldThornbridge
THE ONLY WAY IS ESSEX (TAXI FOR BRAPA)

THE ONLY WAY IS ESSEX (TAXI FOR BRAPA)

July 14, 2021July 15, 2021 10 Comments

I assume you’d want to see a bit of my Grand Tour of Essex, in which I deposit your pubbing hero (above) at the door of a boozer while locals stare, take his photo, and return 27.5 minutes later to see his level of deterioration. No ? Tough. I took him round four pubs about… Continue reading THE ONLY WAY IS ESSEX (TAXI FOR BRAPA)

BelchampBRAPAEssex pubs
JUST CHAMPION

JUST CHAMPION

July 14, 2021July 14, 2021 9 Comments

You left me at 21:30 outside the Champion of the Thames on Cambridge’s once-mighty King Street, hoping I might nab a table and ensure BRAPA could have a pint in the city’s most proper of Proper Pubs, Is there anything more gorgeous than the light from within a Proper Pub ? Someone came out, I… Continue reading JUST CHAMPION

BRAPACambridge PubsChampion of the ThamesGreene King IPA
CAMBRIDGE AWAITS BRAPA

CAMBRIDGE AWAITS BRAPA

July 14, 2021July 14, 2021 6 Comments

The first weekend of July; I visited my parents to make sure they’d got enough garden tools, had the obligatory Crispy Beef from Chung Hwa, and sneaked out like a naughty schoolboy to meet BRAPA when they’d gone to bed. Talking of Crispy Beef, Cambridge has been celebrating its bovine heritage (visit Midsummer Common or… Continue reading CAMBRIDGE AWAITS BRAPA

BRAPAcambridge
THIS IS THE PERRY GREEN, THIS IS SOCIETY

THIS IS THE PERRY GREEN, THIS IS SOCIETY

July 13, 2021July 14, 2021 16 Comments

When the going gets tough, squeeze a Jam reference into your blog post. Life After Football will get it. A trip to the Herts/Essex borders west of Bishops Stortford and Stansted Airport is a rare treat for me. The “Stort”, as BRAPA will no doubt call it, is a dull old place, but those tiny… Continue reading THIS IS THE PERRY GREEN, THIS IS SOCIETY

Hertfordshire pubsHoopsPerry GreenSocial pubs
THE CASE AGAINST TABLE SERVICE Vol 73.

THE CASE AGAINST TABLE SERVICE Vol 73.

July 12, 2021July 14, 2021 12 Comments

Mudgie asked me what beer I had in Matlock and I confess I’ve no idea, as I wasn’t allowed to see the hand pumps as I was shown to the table. I know it was their Moot Ales homebrew, and I’m sure the enthusiastic barperson gave me a lengthy answer describing “A crispy hoppy beer,… Continue reading THE CASE AGAINST TABLE SERVICE Vol 73.

HurdlowRoyal OakTable serviceThornbridge

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