I shall not be disheartened. I shall press on. To Wimbotsham. The Chequers was the nearest new GBG pub, 40 minutes north via the interminable roadworks at Waterbeach waste management centre (opened by Kim Wilde). The 30 miles between Ely and King’s Lynn is a bit of a wasteland for Guide tickers, though the newish… Continue reading PARSNIPS
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LEIGH-ON-SEA – IT’S LUVERLEY
I spent 10 minutes attempting a witty title and gave up. When the book about Covid is written it’ll say the biggest casualty was the quality of pub blog titles. Perhaps Si will name Leigh with pee and Peterboat with scroat and we’ll be redeemed. Yes, I was following in the steps of the great… Continue reading LEIGH-ON-SEA – IT’S LUVERLEY
OCTOBER ’20 STOCKTAKE + NOVEMBER PREVIEW
Another dull old month, ending with some bad news for your ticker (your Beer Guide completist, not your heart). But at least I made the most of all 31 days in October, and all our vehicles survived their routine services. Will I ever make a visit to Wales, Scotland or the Isle of Man again… Continue reading OCTOBER ’20 STOCKTAKE + NOVEMBER PREVIEW
ROYDON RUMBLES INTO THE GBG
Blimey. A month after I contemplated a first visit to Hoddesdon for the first time in a quarter century (football rather than pubs), the Beer Guide sends me there. Well, Roydon, which is on the edge, in some senses. Some lovely villages between the “challenging” towns of Hoddy and Harlow, with Roydon having the bonus… Continue reading ROYDON RUMBLES INTO THE GBG
HARLOW NEW TOWN SCULPTURE SPECIAL
These are worrying times, apparently. I understand some of you are being denied your human right to sit in a pub and stare at strangers over a pint of foaming Doom Bar. What you need is some pictures from Harlow New Town, I think. Look how happy Harlow’s most famous son was to escape to… Continue reading HARLOW NEW TOWN SCULPTURE SPECIAL
WELLINGBOROUGH WOBBLING
You left me in Wellingborough, you sods, contemplating my fate in a second new Guide pub in an otherwise unremarkable Midlands town (don’t start arguing with me, it’s Midlands). Would it be another 10 pump ale shrine like the Coach & Horses so beloved of Alan Winfield, a brewery tap selling undrinkable beers from a… Continue reading WELLINGBOROUGH WOBBLING
LASAGNE v MOUSSAKA
Along with Bedfordshire, Northants is a bit of a doddle to do each year. The odd estate pub putting on some microbrew, a village pub going gastro, perhaps a micro in a town you’d assumed would never trouble the GBG scorers again.. In 2021 that town is Wellingborough. Pub ticking teaches you many things; when… Continue reading LASAGNE v MOUSSAKA
DELIVERIES TO DODDINGTON
WARNING : Pub free edition to meet family obligations. On Monday I drove my Dad (Keith 1) the 40 minutes to Doddington to deliver a TV and some tat to my cousin (Keith 2), star of One Night In March (2016). Sickeningly, Keith 2 (my cousin) looks younger at 60 than I did at 23,… Continue reading DELIVERIES TO DODDINGTON
PUTTING BEDS TO BED
Great excitement in Slip End, home of my last GBG tick for Bedfordshire, a county whose seething resentment at its absence from my Top 10 was evident on my visit. Yes, a new grass cutting contract for this small village known locally as “that place just off the M1 you can’t actually get to“. A… Continue reading PUTTING BEDS TO BED
RED, GREEN, EMBER
Now it’s officially out, I can applaud those new entries to the new GBG without risk of sanction of the CAMRA Curfew Enforcers (who have now been dispatched to Bristol to enforce Covid crimes like handpump counting). It’s always best to get Buckingamshire over and done with early on. There’s 73 Guide counties and I… Continue reading RED, GREEN, EMBER
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