December 2023. Coalville. Yes, you’re still in Coalville, apparently. Bit of a change in tone now, as I take you from the Rock Bar with DIY keg wall to Calvary (not Cavalry, that’s a Jona Lewie hit). Ah, Calvary.”There is a green hill far away, without a city wall” in the words of Cecil Frances… Continue reading TO CALVARY
COALVILLE – A ROCK AND A WALL
December 2023. Coalville. Well, who’d have thought it. A new GBG pub in Coalville. Sadly, it comes in the same year that the landlord of the Stamford and Warrington, sulphurous Pedi and all, leaves us for good. The Rock Bar ? I was convinced this was the bikers pub that graced the Guide to Britain’s… Continue reading COALVILLE – A ROCK AND A WALL
ELUSIVE BREWING TAP TAKEOVER AT THE KELHAM ISLAND TAVERN
Extensive market research shows that including the pub and city names in the blog title gets you more views, and its blog views that pay for those pints of Doom Bar I keep giving away in the quiz. December 2023. Sheffield. Turn a different corner and we wouldn’t have walked straight from the Riverside to… Continue reading ELUSIVE BREWING TAP TAKEOVER AT THE KELHAM ISLAND TAVERN
ALRIGHT SAUSAGE ?
December 2023. Sheffield. Better safe than sorry, I guess, but I’d really wanted to go somewhere new and unexciting on Saturday, but the weather forecast for Sheffield suggested we were in for 55mph storms and I was best off hiding in the basement. Except we don’t have a basement. Those weather forecasts always overplay their… Continue reading ALRIGHT SAUSAGE ?
ARTISANAL SCRATCHINGS IN EYE KETTLEBY
December 2023. Eye Kettleby. Melton Mowbray. Excitingly, tonight sees the return of the famous Philip (one “l”) Navigator atlas, the one I’d been pinking for 25 years before I got a bit bored during lockdown, or perhaps there was a shortage of Stabilo Boss or something. So that page (153 ?) housing Melton Mowbray may… Continue reading ARTISANAL SCRATCHINGS IN EYE KETTLEBY
THE LONG HAUL TO BEXLEYHEATH
December 2023. Bexleyheath. Note ultra-rare photo of Mrs RM sitting patiently waiting for her pint, NOT scrolling on her phone. Frame that one. My father-in-law was moved from Tunbridge Wells Hospital to Sevenoaks, a cruel and unusual punishment for an 85 year old man I thought, but it made our visit to his rehab ward… Continue reading THE LONG HAUL TO BEXLEYHEATH
A LOCAL HERO
December 2023. Waterbeach. A pattern is now emerging; mid week spent in Waterbeach, a day either side in Tunbridge Wells, back home to Sheffield at the weekend. At least Mrs RM is now with me in Cambridge, and she joined our Thursday quiz team at the Sun as we sought vengeance for a corrupt defeat… Continue reading A LOCAL HERO
A DASH TO HAPPY HOUR IN CHEADLE HULME
December 2023. Cheadle Hulme. The 17:17 (delayed) was the slow boat back to Stockport, and presented the tantalising prospect of a second tick of the day, and let me tell young BRAPA that there will come a time when two (2) ticks is seen as riches indeed. A bit of a dull slog from Cheadle… Continue reading A DASH TO HAPPY HOUR IN CHEADLE HULME
MACCY B (+)
December 2023. Macclesfield. One last Macclesfield pub on the Old Codgers Grand Tour (available on Sky + shortly), as I finally get to stretch my legs and finally get to tick a new GBG entry. Phew ! I skipped the at risk Wharf, and finally got my street art hit. Kentish Paul has done two… Continue reading MACCY B (+)
“Let there be light”. Or at least Old Tom. But there wasn’t.
December 2023. Macclesfield. Barely a mile between these eight (8) pubs on the Old Codgers Macclesfield pub crawl (sorry, “curated hostelry exploration”, which frankly is a bit disappointing as it’s the street art and underpasses that make a place. Our penultimate pub was barely 3 minutes jog across the A523 (Paul Mudge speed), and the… Continue reading “Let there be light”. Or at least Old Tom. But there wasn’t.