Two Spoons to do in and around Sunderland meant it was a great place to stay overnight, when compared to a ditch in Blaydon, anyway. And £35 for a Travelodge on the High Street, too.  Musn’t grumble; it would have been £100 to stay in Durham, and £54 in Middlesbrough. Why have people got a… Continue reading BIG NIGHT OUT IN SUNDERLAND PART I

Back to my favourite type of post; a pub in a town I can really explore as if for the first time. Which is almost true of Houghton-le-Spring, a 40 minute bus trip on the Number 35 from Sunderland, enlivened only by the close-up of the Penshaw monument. This was my third trip to Houghton… Continue reading SPOONS PUTS A HOUGHTON-LE-SPRING IN MY STEP

This post has been designed by computer to appeal to my audience by addressing their core interests; The death of cask Greene King Old folk arguing about splitting the bill Taking back your pint Pudding Pub cats Some of you will remember the Ship in Brandon Creek. Yes, the campervan is back on the road… Continue reading HOW TO TAKE YOUR PINT BACK

Simon has been practising his alliteration in the Wolds this week as he attempts to beat me to finish North Yorkshire (Spoiler : He fails). Just down the road below Malton from the “posh old gastro” of Burythorpe lies the Cross Keys in Thixendale GBG entry that has eluded me for decades. It’s a few… Continue reading ALL HAIL THIXENDALE

Wow. Just when you think you’ve seen all the great pubs in the UK, one comes along that no-one has ever told you about.  Even the people who live in the same county. To be fair, Si hasn’t been to the Station Hotel in Loftus yet.  He may never leave. I’m already planning a return… Continue reading SOOTY HIDES THE BASS AT LOFTUS-PEAK

Sadly, it’s too hot for me to do my night in Gifford today, and Scott tells me that Scotland is burning anyway. So I’m stuck in Waterbeach listening to England wallop Ireland on TMS, and catching up with blogs. But don’t expect epic posts. Continuing along the coast from Whitby to Robin’s Hood Bay, the… Continue reading SITTING ON THE DOCK OF (ROBIN HOOD’S) BAY

I’ll take any opportunity to make Dick and Dave jealous. There’s few better ways to spend a couple of hours in this country than jostling past slow OAPs on the cobbled streets of Whitby. Honestly, even outside Goth Weekend it’s busier than central York these day. Even blatant capitalism (a coffee in Spoons is £1.80… Continue reading WHITBY, PEDIGREE, CHIPS

No, that’s not a comment on today’s events. Just a sample of the breweriana in lovely Scarborough‘s second new Guide entry. At least, this was my first time in the Tap & Spile, one of the last survivors of a once mighty chain. Actually, it wasn’t, was it ? In fact I’m struggling to remember… Continue reading 1997 AND ALL THAT

Too hot for long posts. I may escape to Scotland tomorrow where it’s cool. Anyway, a night in Scarborough. Always a treat, even more so with TWO new Guide pubs this year, neither of them micros. What a great name for a pub.  Sounds like an Antic in East London. Only GBG devotees would find… Continue reading BOYCOTT