January 2024. Seaton Carew. Hartlepool. Not gonna lie, I was a bit disappointed that my birthday (22 December, pre-marked on all good calendars) wasn’t spent in Seaton Carew on the Durham coast, due to what we call “plumbing issues” because they involved a plumber coming out. Last Thursday, after watching the first few episodes of… Continue reading THE TICKER, HIS WIFE AND THE CANOE
HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 26 – SOUTH-EAST LONDON
One of the GREAT counties up next, though my map suggests all my top picks are relatively central, with only one out in the sticks in what traditionalists might call Surrey and Kent. No Lewisham, no Crystal Palace, no Peckham, no Tooting (or is that SWL ?) No excuses, either, but I will direct you… Continue reading HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 26 – SOUTH-EAST LONDON
A SYMPHONY IN BROWN – THE ROYAL OAK, ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS
January 2024. Royal Tunbridge Wells. Plenty of opportunities to revisit the Wells while helping my Father-in-Law recuperate, but the last of the Tunbridge GBG entries had eluded me till now, despite being the most “Proper” of all the Guide entries. The Royal Oak looks a suburban grown-ups pub, and indeed it is. perhaps more of… Continue reading A SYMPHONY IN BROWN – THE ROYAL OAK, ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS
MURK IN THE WELLS
January 2024. Royal Tunbridge Wells. On the Monday evening Mrs RM joined me on a short tour of Tunbridge Wells in search of murky keg, brown beer and a kebab of unknow origin. In truth, the first Monday after New Year is never going to be busy; even the Spoons was quiet, but I was… Continue reading MURK IN THE WELLS
HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 25 – NORTH-WEST LONDON
What even IS North West London ? Well, I’d have said it’s Euston, plus the posh suburbs around Hampstead, and then a giant wasteland of nothingness (except Harrow School) championed by Russell Grant as “Middlesex”. But that may be very, very, unfair. Let’s start off with the Big Two; Kentish Town – Southampton Arms Single… Continue reading HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 25 – NORTH-WEST LONDON
THE DAY THE SNOW FELL ON ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS
January 2024. Royal Tunbridge Wells. On Monday morning the snow fell in the Weald of Kent, rather scuppering any plans to take my Father-in-Law out for a drive to Lewes. Shockingly, despite having a Conservative MP, the Government was, as usual, passive in their response to this crisis; Mrs RM was working on her blog,… Continue reading THE DAY THE SNOW FELL ON ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS
HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 24 – NORTH LONDON
What even is North London ? Crudely, an upside town triangle stretching upwards from King’s Cross through the vast expanse of Islington, taking in the Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur support on the way to those hilly bits that Madness drove about in a car that wasn’t quite a Jaguar, I guess. And very specifically NOT… Continue reading HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 24 – NORTH LONDON
ON THE ROCKS – HARVEY’S AT MOUNT EDGCUMBE
January 2024. Royal Tunbridge Wells. I told you in that last post that Southborough only has a pub and a Chinese takeaway (and, to be fair, the Weald of Kent) to commend it. I lied. Rusbridge Family Bakery will sell you a Coronation Chicken roll, posh crisps, and a large Eccles cake for under a… Continue reading ON THE ROCKS – HARVEY’S AT MOUNT EDGCUMBE
SMALL STEPS, BUT FATHER-IN-LAW MAKES IT TO THE PUB
January 2024. Southborough. Royal Tunbridge Wells. We spent a couple of nights round Mrs RM’s Mum and Dad’s, seeing how my father-in-law is getting on after a lengthy period of hospitalisation and rehabilitation. He just wanted a Chinese takeaway and a trip to the pub, bless him. Only 8 minutes to the Imperial; you remember… Continue reading SMALL STEPS, BUT FATHER-IN-LAW MAKES IT TO THE PUB
NEW HAW ON SUNDAY
January 2024. New Haw. Addlestone. From Buckingham we headed round the M25 to the in-laws, a decent journey enlivened by a quick stop in that odd area of scruffy Surrey below Heathrow, You might not think it’s scruffy when a 2 bed Maisonette in Addlestone or Byfleet costs £2.8 million, but there’s not much sign… Continue reading NEW HAW ON SUNDAY
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