retiredmartin

July 2024. Kilburn. Not only does the swathe of North West London beyond Regent’s Park feel a bit underwhelming pub wise (but wait), but it’s also resolutely grim, lacking green spaces bar the odd cemetery. So Kilburn Grange Park brings relief, albeit with the most oppressive smell of weed I’ve yet encountered. And I’ve lived… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – THE BLACK LION, KILBURN

July 2024. Finchley Road. London. New Beer Guide pubs are a rarity in the weird looking blob of North-West London. It starts OK in Euston, Camden and Hampstead, then loses the plot in featureless Brent, Harrow and Hillingdon. To be fair, the curry and dosas round here aren’t bad, and as I leave the underground… Continue reading THE LOST CATS OF FINCHLEY ROAD

July 2024. Northwood Hills. Hillingdon. Continuing the theme of unloved towns, I bring you Hillingdon, after a lengthy journey to King’s Cross due to shenanigans at Foxton (first time for everything) and a rather quicker tube trip into the Metroland of the real ale desert that is North West London. Well, possibly Hillingdon Borough (as… Continue reading NORTHWOOD HILLS TAKES THE LANDLORD TEST

July 2024. Royston. YOU asked for pictured of umbrellas in Hertfordshire market towns. Well, actually, you didn’t, but that’s tough. It’s 10am in Royston and there’s no pubs worth popping in, anyway. No, seriously, this must be one of the least inspiring non-modern pub towns in the country, on a par with Fareham or Stratford-on-Avon.… Continue reading UMBRELLAS OVER ROYSTON

July 2024. Royston. From St. Albans to Waterbeach via breakfast in Royston. If ever an English market town deserved the title “unheralded” it’s Royston, with much to be unheralded about. But in 2017, this was the site of the famed Wetherspoons Riots, when this chap kicked up a fuss over a faulty fruit machine. “The… Continue reading IN PRAISE OF MINER’S BENEDICT IN ROYSTON SPOONS

July was the month when family responsibilities really kicked in, and I was just glad I’d managed to complete the GBG in 2022 rather than letting it drift. You never know when your carefully laid plans will be derailed; if I were Simon I’d try and knock off those last few (1,500) pubs in August.… Continue reading JULY ’24 STOCKTAKE AND AUGUST PREVIEW

July 2024. Watford to St Albans. Still on last Thursday, I’m afraid, as I opt to give the rail replacement bus back to St Albans that will undoubtedly get lost in Bricket Wood, and instead take a more direct Green line route. OK, it means an extra two (2) quid, but the bus is green… Continue reading 7 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT IN ST. ALBANS

July 2024. Watford. There’s a famous quote, probably on page 366 of the Good Beer Guide, something along the lines of “When a man is in Derbyshire he shouldn’t drink wussy wine, he must drink the local beer. And a pint’s a taster“. And a man in the national HQ of JD Wetherspoons must drink… Continue reading A SPOONS IN SPOONS HOMETOWN

July 2024. Watford. No new blogs about Watford since 2018, when “unimproved” pubs near the Junction were all the rage. But last Thursday was a first walk in many years down bucolic Vicarage Road, home to the cemetery, football club, hospital and, on last count, 28 fried chicken shops. And now the Two Trees micro… Continue reading HERTFORDSHIRE HAS FALLEN, THE TWO TREES STANDS PROUD

July 2024. Watford. Apologies for short posts but Chorley Travelodge (don’t ask) only give me 30 minutes free, but I knew you’d want to see what I made of Wonderful Watford as I homed in on completing Hertfordshire last week. I only just made the last train from St. Albans Abbey to Watford Junction, after… Continue reading WELCOME TO WATFORD