Yes. The source of that famous quote can now be revealed*. “At some point maybe pop in to the Philharmonic for a wee!”. Me pointing out that “The toilets are nothing compared to the main rooms of ‘the most ornate pub in England’” – Paul Mudge The most famous PubMan of them all (per… Continue reading THE PRICE OF FAME – A QUIET P*** IN THE PHIL
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LISTEN TO THE LION
I’m not really one for revisiting “Classic Pubs”, what with needing to do 600 new ones a year to finish the Beer Guide and all, but it’s been surprisingly rewarding doing a few oldies with the Beer & Pubs gang of late. The Lion in Liverpool’s business district has been on my “Must Do… Continue reading LISTEN TO THE LION
PAUL WEARS THE CROWN
The Crown came into view just as a light drizzle descended on Lime Street Station, overlooked but not overshadowed by the ongoing building works behind it. What a wonderful pub to step into on a drab Sunday morning. Inside, Stafford’s Paul Mudge seemed mildly surprised to see me nearly on time. He hadn’t even finished… Continue reading PAUL WEARS THE CROWN
STANLEY ROAD
Greetings from the cheap Travelodge in Brighton, where I’ve just completed the East Sussex GBG chapter in fine style. But I’m still not paying £4 for internet, so this is a short post. You left me at the top of Bootle, in need of a comfort break and a flat white. Ah, here’s an attractive… Continue reading STANLEY ROAD
A BOOTLE TOOTLE
That Cambridge diversion was particularly inadvisable, as I was off to “Bootiful Bootle” the next day (yours for a quid, that one). There’d been a particularly unsavoury joke about Bootle accommodation doing the rounds over the weekend, but let me be the living proof that you can survive, and indeed enjoy, this great Lancashire (never… Continue reading A BOOTLE TOOTLE
CAMBRIDGE TIPS
You left me one pint of 6% Green Devil down, and Brighton one-up on Derby, to the joy of no-one. Possibly not even Brighton. It’s a good job I know the Chesterton area of Cambridge better than anyone semi-alive, having had my first balanced ledger and doner kebab there. I literally bumped into Leon and… Continue reading CAMBRIDGE TIPS
A TOLLY FOLLY
Increasingly I’m getting away on Sunday nights, when the A14 is passable and hotels are half the Friday rates, but you can still expect 1 in 3 of the new GBG entries to be open. So that means I’m spending more Saturdays close to Cambridge, tidying up blogs and cupboards. Feel my pain. Last Saturday… Continue reading A TOLLY FOLLY
DEXY’S AFTERNOON JOGGERS
On the way back from Rye with Paul we popped in two Sussex stragglers that reminded us how inconsistent “service” is in pubs these days. Three Legs beers were on the bar at the Ypres Castle, but you know how I love a brewery tap on an industrial estate. Their Tap is only open… Continue reading DEXY’S AFTERNOON JOGGERS
HIGH IN RYE
This Pub Taxi Business is becoming addictive. Two days after dropping BRAPA in the middle of nowhere (aka Dorset), I popped down south again to take Paul Bailey to see Jeff Bell’s new home in Rye, something I promised on a drunken evening of Tonbridge karaoke last Easter (photos lost, I hope). Rye is the… Continue reading HIGH IN RYE
CHEESE NIGHT IN CRANBORNE
Here we go then, the final stretch of Dorset 2018. Day 5 for BRAPA, Day 3 for retiredmartin. The most anticipated tick of the day, the brewery tap on a converted stables. Like a micro pub, but with homebrew ! What’s not to like ! The WiFi ran out on entering the mythical city of… Continue reading CHEESE NIGHT IN CRANBORNE