May 2025. Dukinfield. Another trip to Manchester, another chance to admire the Mancunian Haute couture in this endless summer of 2025. Actually, they’re Athletic Club of Bilbao supporters, kindly conforming to their Basque stereotype ahead of their defeat in Trafford. I have NO idea about the digits on that red and white shirt; perhaps a… Continue reading DOIN’ DUKINFIELD
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BLAKE, BLOSSOM, BULLARDS
May 2025. Sheffield. I do try to visit all my local pubs every few months, but it’s a tough life. The Blind Monkey, the Raven, the Blake; 3 GBG pubs in a 5 minute circuit. You really need a hook to hang a visit on, and for the Blake it’s the spring blossoms at the… Continue reading BLAKE, BLOSSOM, BULLARDS
AOIFE NESSA FRANCES AT THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS
May 2025. Dalston. London. Dalston/Kingsland isn’t a hotbed of GBG entries; nothing at all in a half hour walk between the Pembury and the Mildmay. Plenty of Irish pubs round here, and some tantalising signs of pubs past. CAMRA’s What Pub website is its crowning glory, allowing you to find a dozen keg pubs within… Continue reading AOIFE NESSA FRANCES AT THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS
A DASH ROUND DALSTON
May 2025. Dalston Kingsland. London. I know how to get to Dalston Kingsland from Waterbeach; down the M11 to the North Circular, A12 past the Olympic site, slow bit past Homerton Hospital and the Pembury Tavern in Hackney, then park, anywhere. I hadn’t driven this far into London for an age, reminds be why I’ll… Continue reading A DASH ROUND DALSTON
THE SUN BEER FESTIVAL
May 2025. Waterbeach. I can’t believe I’m spending weekends in Waterbeach, rather than Wick or Warsaw. But that’s life, and there’s plenty of life in The Sun on their May Bank holiday beer festival weekend. Number 14. A credit to Helen, Theresa to keep this institution going after the loss of Andrew. Pub quizzes, live… Continue reading THE SUN BEER FESTIVAL
THE SHOEGAZE CAFE
May 2025. Manchester. 3 pints in and a half hour walk to the Etihad to come, I suddenly needed a coffee. “I know just the place” says Matt. I rather doubted that, never seen either of my lads drink caffeine, but a minute from the Castle and the Koffee Pot, he takes me in the… Continue reading THE SHOEGAZE CAFE
ALL THE PUBS IN THE MANCHESTER BEER BOOK – THE KOFFEE POT
May 2025. Manchester. Pre-football tea with Matt, and a tick in another Matt’s beer book. The Koffee Pot is a good example of the variety of bars in Mr Curtis’s exemplary guide, a quirky greasy spoon that’s added beer and burritos since moving from Stevenson Square round the corner to Oldham Street. Not the most… Continue reading ALL THE PUBS IN THE MANCHESTER BEER BOOK – THE KOFFEE POT
ALL THE PUBS IN THE MANCHESTER BEER BOOK – THE CASTLE HOTEL
May 2025. Manchester. Leaving the Crown I was almost distracted by the siren call of Heaton Mersey’s Griffin, a favourite of Old Mudgie, who I was oddly reminded of by this; but I’d arranged to meet Matt in town for pre-match tea, and had to dash to the end of the Didsbury line to catch… Continue reading ALL THE PUBS IN THE MANCHESTER BEER BOOK – THE CASTLE HOTEL
ANOTHER STOCKPORT STUNNER – THE CROWN, HEATON MERSEY
May 2025. Heaton Mersey. Stockport. I always like to give the impression of knowing everywhere on the map, an overconfidence attributable to a) having actually travelled so widely, b) being a man. As I walked along the banks of the Mersey towards Heaton Mersey I realised with alarm I knew little about western Stockport, or… Continue reading ANOTHER STOCKPORT STUNNER – THE CROWN, HEATON MERSEY
ON THE TRANSPENNINE TRAIL
May 2025. Stockport. Last Friday saw my last City home match of a frantic season (and no, I’m not spending £125 on a cup final ticket), and with an 8pm kick-off v Wolves a chance of an ultra rare new GBG pub, and a leg stretch along the Mersey. By being old, and promising to… Continue reading ON THE TRANSPENNINE TRAIL
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