retiredmartin

July 2024. East Boldon. Mrs RM began a 15 minute walk back to the metro while I headed to the Club to complete Tyne & Wear. I like to give her a head start, and recently she dislikes me walking ahead of her as I get in the way of her photos, so win-win. East… Continue reading TYNE AND WEAR FALLS AT THE MID BOLDON CLUB

July 2024. East Boldon. Some gorgeous/grotesque Sunderland art to bring you, but let’s finish the Tyne and Wear GBG chapter first. If I had unlimited time I’d analyse the final ticks in my favourite GBG county, but recently they’ve all been quirky micros, so it’s nice to finish this year in a quirky club. See… Continue reading CONSERVATION AREA, EAST BOLDON

Parked up at our “Boutique” Bed & Breakfast, it was time to explore Sunderland. There’s a lot of dead pub here, but we’re off to a live one, an actual new GBG entry in the heart of the city. I can’t believe I’d never been in the Peacock (or its Londonderry predecessor); I love a… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS (No. 1973) – THE PEACOCK, SUNDERLAND

July 2024. Sunderland. I know that many of you rely on this site for your holiday tips, so here’s your monthly hotel recommendation when next visiting Super Sunderland. I’d picked the Boar’s Head because it’s “boutique”, perhaps in the meaning of the word used by “Woke” Ron Atkinson when asked about the role of women… Continue reading RETIRED MARTIN GOES BOUTIQUE BY THE WEAR

Time to finish the Welsh chapters of “Half A Dozen Pubs…” I reckon. I only “completed” West Wales for the first time in 2022; seventy pubs hidden around the sprawling coast and hidden down tiny lanes in unpronounceable hamlets. It was a magical journey. West Wales does pubs which open at 6pm and have blokes… Continue reading HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY – No. 58 – WEST WALES

July 2024. Seaham. Another week, another snatched overnighter in the North-east, heading now from pashmina Yarm to parmo Peterlee (or something), though I missed out the Apollo Pavillion as it might be too brutalist for Mrs RM’s Instagram followers, and instead headed inland to the more tourist-friendly beach at Nose’s Point (top), where I spent… Continue reading ON SEAHAM BEACH

July 2024. Yarm. Reader Spinko advises the A19 route, even if you’re off to Doddiscombleigh, and Thursday saw us heading there again, via a “comfort break” in That Yarm, just south of Banked Bass Land. I think Spinko had a rather different stop in mind in posh Yarm, the “Marlborough of the North”, but it… Continue reading RIPPING YARMS – CAKE, CHURCH AND CASTLE

July 2024. Waterbeach. The pattern of the summer; Sunday to Wednesday round Mum and Dad’s, then a mad dash up north to visit somewhere, anywhere, new to stimulate the brain. Last week was A Good Week. The parents garden looked gorgeous, and Dad had a visit from his older sister, from whom he was clearly… Continue reading GLASS REPLACES PLASTIC IN THE WATERBEACH TAPS

July 2024. Sheffield. 14th July, in fact. England in the final of a football tournament (again, yawn). Our lads are getting blasé about winning. A reminder of my youth watching England. 1974 FAILED to qualify 1976 FAILED to qualify 1978 FAILED to qualify 1984 FAILED to qualify 1994 FAILED to qualify You get the picture.… Continue reading A 3rd SOUTH YORKSHIRE SAM SMITHS REOPENING IN A YEAR. WHAT’S OCCURRING?

July 2024. Blyth. Northumberland. Our Northumbrian explorer came to an end in Blyth, which will always hold a place dear to my heart as the town that pubs re-opened at 9am on 4th July 2020, after a nervous night spent in a dogging car park. Who’d have guessed they’d be closed 4 months later ?… Continue reading BLYTH SPIRIT, 2024