19th February 2020 On Thursday I popped down to meet Mrs RM in Sevenoaks ahead of a big adventure I’ll tell you about later (rest easy). The Thameslink train towards Brighton, if it’s not cancelled as usual, stops at London Bridge and spares you much of the chaos of the Kings Cross/ Underground route with… Continue reading HARVEY’S IN THE ROYAL OAK
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NOTTINGHAM – A HAZY RECOLLECTION
18th February 2020 The train journey from Aslockton to Nottingham was notable for some terrible criminal damage by L***s fans (above) and a ticket man (what are they called Tom) railing against the evil of contactless payment. It was drizzling when I arrived at 15:23 on Platform 2, a mere half mile from the ticket… Continue reading NOTTINGHAM – A HAZY RECOLLECTION
ASLOCKTON – 23 MINUTES FROM NOTTINGHAM
18th February 2020 Tantalisingly close to being up to date on the blog, but those trips to find new ticks get ever more exhausting. I’ve been lucky with the weather though, compared to the poor folk in Worcestershire whose cricket ground is once again a water polo stadium. A first ever trip to Aslockton, on… Continue reading ASLOCKTON – 23 MINUTES FROM NOTTINGHAM
CHELMSFORD – SWEARING ON THE WID
17th February 2020 WARNING : ESSEX On Monday night I met up with friends on the edge of Chelmsford, which hasn’t graced this blog since 2016, amazingly. With a couple of hours to kill I had time to do the county town justice. No-one told me it was now a city. One of Nick Clegg’s… Continue reading CHELMSFORD – SWEARING ON THE WID
WITNEY BABY, ONE MORE TIME
16th February 2020 Closing in on Oxon now, as the Home Counties fall to my relentless winter charge. Two to go after Oxbrew Witney, which was always going to be a challenge with its limited opening hours (perhaps generous by modern standards) and the micropub tendency to select closing hours by rolling a dice. Sunday… Continue reading WITNEY BABY, ONE MORE TIME
SHIPSTON-NOT-DOUR
16th February 2020 Another day, another GBG county falls to the flood-dodging retiredmartin juggernaut (Aygo). An underrated county, is Warwickshire, though of course Stratford is our most overrated tourist attraction (after Stonehenge). From bucolic Bedworth, affluent Atherstone and naughty Nuneaton with their £2.30 Pedi, to languid Leamington Spa with its £4 Purity, and thence to… Continue reading SHIPSTON-NOT-DOUR
A QUIET PINT IN THE SUN
14th February 2020 Back home, where Mrs RM is working on a huge IT project that makes 5G look like the installation of Supercalc at the village social club (they’re not really that advanced). I fancied a proper pint in a Proper Pub, and with Storm Derek on her way that meant the local. I… Continue reading A QUIET PINT IN THE SUN
ARCH LIFE – RUNCORN ROARS
13th February 2020 What a great way to complete Cheshire GBG20, in a place I don’t really know, in a bar with uncertain opening hours and three possible names. Later that night I coloured Runcorn in with great care on the map. First trip to Halton Borough since a lively Widnes fun pub in 2017… Continue reading ARCH LIFE – RUNCORN ROARS
NORTHWICH VICTORIOUS
13th February 2020 My penultimate Cheshire GBG tick, leaving the very best ’till last (says reader Lady K Walker). People who read this blog, rather than just looking at the pictures as advised in the instructions, will remember a visit to Northwich barely a year ago, when I did a fair job of making the… Continue reading NORTHWICH VICTORIOUS
CHESTER – A LITTLE DEVA
12-13th February 2020 Later today you’ll get tourist Northwich and tourist Runcorn, but first here’s tourist Chester. Yes, it’s my holiday snaps. I know you love them. The Limes B & B comes highly recommended at retiredmartin Towers. Chatty staff, clean rooms, hot shower, good WiFi, free sweets, ten minutes walk to the station and… Continue reading CHESTER – A LITTLE DEVA
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