June 2025. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, via Gateshead. For reasons that will become clear later, I’ve just been searching Blackpool Jane’s blog for mention of her bunions. And people this blog lacks forensic research. A BIG weekend with Mrs RM in Newcastle (t’other one), doing the culture pubs with Jane and fellow Tangerine Karen. An early start, too,… Continue reading TYNE AND WEAR (AND TEAR). AWAITING THE BUNION UPDATE IN THE CENTURION

June 2025. Shevington. Greater Manchester. I was comparing notes on the trickiest looking new entry in Greater Manchester this year, wondering how to possibly get to Shevington, tucked away in the wilderness between Standish (aka Stockport in GBG ’99) and Skelmersdale, about which the less said the better. Well, just stay on the train from… Continue reading GREATER MANCHESTER COMPLETED IN SHEVINGTON. WHEREVER THAT IS

June 2025. Wigan. Off to Wigan for my last Greater Mancunian GBG tick, via a station I’ve never been to before. I’ll be honest, I’m very jealous reading BRAPA going to towns like Cirencester for the very first time, even if I don’t envy his liver (it’s probably perfect). One thing a long career in… Continue reading “THE MOTHERSHIP”. PIE, PEAS AND BASS IN WIGAN’S SWAN AND RAILWAY

June 2025. Manchester. A lot of gigs in Manchester this endless Summer, all from angsty American females you’ve never heard of, so a chance to tick a few pubs in the GBG’s greatest chapter. All the fast trains from Sheffield head through Piccadilly towards Liverpool, but I have to change at Oxford Road, home to… Continue reading 12 MINUTES WAIT AT OXFORD ROAD STATION. WHAT TO DO ?

June 2025. Cambridge. Some pubs open on Mondays, even if not ’till 4, though there’s not much traffic (vehicle or human) on Cambridge’s Mill Road heading towards them.e So I feel a civic duty, on the dash back to the station, to nip in for a half in the Dev. The most central pub run… Continue reading MARCUS IN THE DEVONSHIRE

June 2025. Cambridge. More Cambridge adventures “over the bridge” into Romsey, where respect and diversity rule. This half mile of Mill Road isn’t as middle class as its western neighbour, though it’s lost the Cambridge Resale shop I bought surplus LPs in the ’90s and I’m not sure if ABC Kebabs has survived. The best… Continue reading BIRDSONG AND BELLERUCHE IN THE BROOK. MORE RARELY VISITED CAMBRIDGE PUBS

June 2025. Cambridge. It’s not just pubs that close on Mondays; the top takeaways in Waterbeach shut up shop, too. Leaving Mrs RM to add the final touches to her blog (she is Kate Bush to my Mark E Smith when it comes to blogging) I took the £2.45 return to Cambridge. I was born… Continue reading THE ROYAL STANDARD, CAMBRIDGE. MILL ROAD OVER THE BRIDGE

June 2025. Nostell. Wakefield. A (short) break from pubs as we attempt to get full value from our annual National Trust membership, our first in a decade. Nostell is 45 minutes north into industrial West Yorkshire, though you wouldn’t know in this bucolic bit betwixt Wakefield and Pontefract. Last time here must have been out… Continue reading MORE SAM SMITHS ANNOYANCE NEAR NOSTELL PRIORY

June 2025. Waterbeach. While all is peace and quiet over in America, here in the UK there’s a heatwave that’s affecting our internet quality. That’s my only explanation for the map extract above. Note in particular the size of the telephone above the White Horse. It’s good to celebrate excellence, and last Sunday we enjoyed… Continue reading A SUPERIOR CURRY NIGHT IN WATERBEACH