December 2025. Todmorden. I’d really needed to get away, anywhere, after the boredom of the Christmas visits, and Todmorden (via Mirfield) provided the perfect day trip. Two hours, two changes of train, perfect winter Calderdale scenery, and two (2) new GBG ticks in a town I hadn’t visited since 2018, when I described it as… Continue reading DISCUSSING “FAKE NEWS” IN THE FOX, TODMORDEN
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WELCOME TO MIRFIELD
December 2025. Mirfield. Enough of this “Christmas” nonsense scuppering rail plans, the 27th brings a chance to escape Sheffield and gets some steps in. My route skips Leeds for a change, with a stop in Wakefield Kirkgate’s artistic tunnel, and another in Mirfield. Something to do with Star Wars, I guess. I guarantee you can… Continue reading WELCOME TO MIRFIELD
RETIRED MARTIN’S 2025 IN TRAVEL
You’ve had the pub awards, now it’s time for Retired Martin’s highlights in travel, food and music. And possibly fashion. Though possibly not. Two maps for you, domestic, and international, with a heavy emphasis on countries nervously looking over the Ukraine and Russian borders. Talking of Soviets, Tirasapol in Transnistria was the higlight of 2025.… Continue reading RETIRED MARTIN’S 2025 IN TRAVEL
BOXING DAY MEANS A SPOONS BREAKFAST
December 26th 2025. Tonbridge. Our boys were keen to get the grandparent visits done early on Boxing Day and head back North, and with no Christmas night entertainment in Waterbeach (they play charades and whist in Histon) we found ourselves on the M11 by 8 sharp. Mrs RM was suddenly alarmed at being at her… Continue reading BOXING DAY MEANS A SPOONS BREAKFAST
CHRISTMAS DAY DES
December 25th 2025. Cambridge. Up until COVID we’d try to be away every Christmas, as far from turkey dinners as possible. 10 years ago it was Cuba, one year we were in a Travelodge in Workington. This year, duty calls. As you’ve already seen, Dad had the approved roast in Waterbeach, while we feasted on… Continue reading CHRISTMAS DAY DES
MOTHER AND CHILD REUNION. CHRISTMAS EVE, 2025.
December 2025. Cambridge. I may have been happy to spend 25th December back in Sheffield reheating Chinese takeaways and eating crisps in the Blake with Will, but “society” insists I follow certain protocols. More to the point, our two lads wanted to see their grandparents at Christmas. Someone brought them up OK. James drove Matt… Continue reading MOTHER AND CHILD REUNION. CHRISTMAS EVE, 2025.
THE 2025 RETIRED MARTIN PUB AWARDS
Welcome to the annual review of Retired Martin’s pubby 2026. Part II can cover life, whatever that is. THE STATS Six hundred and thirty-one (631) pub visits, 580 different pubs, only 160 of those were new Beer Guide pubs but who cares about GBG ticking nowadays. Go, BRAPA ! And go, Daddy BRAPA, too. What… Continue reading THE 2025 RETIRED MARTIN PUB AWARDS
BASS CLICKBAIT AT THE DOLPHIN
December 22nd 2025. Hastings. A solid if unspectacular birthday ends with a last look at Rock-A-Nore, and a half in the Hastings pub I’d meant to have birthday fish pie in. But I’d have needed to book for lunch in the Dolphin, and I NEVER book. The Dolphin is a classic, though I’d struggle to… Continue reading BASS CLICKBAIT AT THE DOLPHIN
THE STADE
December 22nd 2025. The Stade. Hastings. One of my most photogenic birthdays, even if one of the dullest. The next post-lunch stretch takes us from the brutalism of Sports Direct in Hastings New Town, past that iconic view of Pelham Crescent’s amusement arcades with the castle ruins behind, through the mini-golf and swan boats and… Continue reading THE STADE
TURKISH DELIGHT
December 22nd 2025. Hastings. I’ve given up on getting the blog up-to-date before year end, and you’ll be wanting my awards issue tomorrow, but I’m not rushing Hastings. In fact, I think I’ve invented the birthday (22/12) equivalent of slow tourism, as we spent last Monday wandering aimlessly taking photos of crumbling Sussex-by-the-Sea. Crumbling, but… Continue reading TURKISH DELIGHT
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