retiredmartin

July 2024. Coleman’s Green. Wheathampstead. Hertfordshire was always one of the first counties to be completed when ticking the Guide really mattered, but it’s taken me till now to put my old home county to bed for GBG24. And the weird thing is, I’m absolutely certain I’d been to Coleman’s Green years ago, when Mrs… Continue reading THE TICKER’S PROGRESS – THE JOHN BUNYAN, COLEMAN’S GREEN

July 2024. Stamford. I didn’t have space for the tourist shots in that Stamford post, yesterday, which I realised would be a disappointment to fans of lil’ ol’ England‘s costume drama sites. Anyone who has seen such seminal TV series as “Eastenders“, “It Ain’t Half Hot Mum” and “Bagpuss” will be familiar with the gorgeous… Continue reading TELEPHONE KIOSK, STAMFORD

July 2024. Stamford. The journey back from Mum’s to Sheffield is well trodden, too well trodden for much enjoyment from a 100th stop in Grantham or Newark. But Mrs RMs Instagram post demands “content” and my tummy demands artisanal burgers beloved of Daniel Lambert, recently of Stamford. One of these days we’ll actually do the… Continue reading THE KING’S HEAD, STAMFORD

July 2024. Swaffham Bulbeck. A week in Waterbeach, but on the Wednesday we again gave the parents thatched cottage a swerve in favour of superior WiFi down the road. The Black Horse is Swaffham Bulbeck’s sole pub for 826 (mostly elderly) souls on the edge of racehorsey land, and the closest boozer to the National… Continue reading A NIGHT IN SWAFFHAM BULBECK

July 2024. Dereham. I’m not sure Dereham has any essential sights or pubs, but it has essential pub company in Charles and Julia, who was taking a morbid polite interest in our ticking exploits as we finally left the Cock in search of curry. The lovely chap at the Spoons had suggested the Romany Rye,… Continue reading I’ve seen the future and it’s blood orange

July 2024. Dereham. An absolute joy to meet up with Curry Charles (though blog debutant Julia was the star) properly again after a year or two of no more than exchanging smutty political cartoons on WhatsApp with the King of Double Entendres, whose hilarity is commemorated in our next Dereham pub, appropriately the GBG Cock,… Continue reading AT THE CHIME OF THE DEREHAM CLOCK

July 2024. Dereham. A whole (difficult) week spent in Waterbeach; we’d had enough of sleeping upstairs at Mum’s thatched cottage (rubbish Wi-Fi), so took advantage of the ultra-expensive UK hotel rates in the scruffy posterior of Norfolk and booked the Wetherspoons in Dereham on a gorgeous Monday evening. Free parking 6pm to 10am, round the… Continue reading DEREHAM SPOONS – GOOD ENOUGH FOR JOHN TRAVOLTA, GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME

July 2024. Attercliffe. Sheffield. A rare day at home in Sheffield (I spent more days in Waterbeach last month); an even rarer shopping expedition. The Rieker slip-on purchased a year ago have, after 3,488 miles of use, finally worn through, so it was finally time to take the tram back to Meadowhall and replace them… Continue reading SMODFEST AND A NEW PAIR OF SHOES

July 2024. Knaresborough. Mrs RM realised it wasn’t Ripon, it was Knaresborough that she’d wanted to pop in for her Instagram binge, which was lucky as we shortly passed the home of Mother Shipton escaping the chaos on the A1 , and needed a comfort break. Oddly I seem to have made a dozen trips… Continue reading So, what pub should we visit in Knaresborough next time ?

July 2024. Ripon. Yes, from ripping Yarm to Ripon yarns on the same trip. Some of you think no effort goes into this. The journey back from Sunderland was going smoothly till Boroughbridge, when the A1 had a sharp case of “amateur driver-itis“, as folk who haven’t driven since Easter hit the road for their… Continue reading RIPON YARNS