retiredmartin

June 2024. Portsmouth. Two things were recommended for our Pompey trip. The Spinnaker Tower, and the D-Day museum. Wot ! no green tiled pubs ? Father-in-law had chosen to have his birthday the week of the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, which on the one hand made parking in Southsea an operation on a… Continue reading PRIDE DRINKING WELL AT GUNWHARF QUAY

June 2024. Gosport. In fairness to my parents-in-law, they’re game for anything, even Eritrean finger food, which means I can take them in micropubs and industrial estate brewery taps. and they’re quite mobile for (recently hospitalised) folk in their mid-80s. But can I get them to decide where to head for breakfast. “Where would YOU… Continue reading THE DEMISE OF WETHERSPOONS GREATLY EXAGGERATED

June 2024. Portsmouth. A break from blogging about pubs for a second (and the next post is from a Spoons, which hardly counts according to many), as I luxuriate in the views across Gosport Harbour. Once again, Portsmouth looks splendid leaving the hubbub of the Pembroke, and heading past the underrated Cathedral, back towards the… Continue reading THE VIEW FROM PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR

June 2024. Portsmouth. Mrs RM messaged me as I left the Vaults in pursuit of a third Pompey pint of the night, reminding me to bring back wine and chocolate. I didn’t need a third pint (but then Mrs RM didn’t need wine and chocolate, either), with my two newbies ticked, but I’d been chauffeuring… Continue reading QUIZ NIGHT IN THE PEMBROKE

June 2024. Southsea. A sunny Sunday evening in Portsmouth as I got the ticking done while the Old Folk (not Mrs RM) had an early night. Good to see Pompey getting down wiv the kidz with a cutting edge musical line up this year, though the Southworths may be surprised by Mr Zimmerman’s latest name… Continue reading THE VAULTS, SOUTHSEA

June 2024. Portsmouth. With the in-laws tucked up in bed at Gosport by 7pm and Mrs RM left bereft by the early closure of Aldi (“Bring me back wine”), I had a night in Portsmouth to myself. A bus from the vandalised stop at Gosport Leisure Centre to the barely more attractive ferry, where I… Continue reading IT’S SO HARD – TICKING POMPEY

June 2024. The long, long, weekend entertaining octogenarians approached 8 hours of driving fun as we pulled into Gosport’s Premier Inn. Wow. An awful lot going on in this Google Maps extract, to distract you from the sad reality that our hotel is nowhere near Portsmouth. Or even Gosport, come to that. But it’s under… Continue reading THE OBLIGATORY MARSTON’S DINING PUB NEXT TO A GOSPORT PREMIER INN

June 2024. Botley. Hampshire. A birthday trip to Portsmouth for my father-in-law, but still time to sneak in a few new Guide ticks on the way, which is how we ended up in Botley, on the premise of “looking for ice creams“. Oddly, while Botley, just above the Hampshire cricket ground was described as “the… Continue reading BACK TO BOTLEY