Somerset and the Mendips has a fine collection of venerated old pubs. Names like Clapton in Gordano, Huish Episcopi and Faulkland (Tucker’s Grave) resonate with all serious pubgoers. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t been to the Ring O Bells in Hinton Blewitt; I’d definitely have remembered it, surely ? Perhaps it was in the Guide… Continue reading ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE. WELL, HINTON BLEWITT, ANYWAY
WONDERFUL WELLS
I’d never quite got Wells before. “it’s a scruffy town, with rundown shops and not much cutting-edge creativity, Prosecco Pong apart” I wrote in 2018, perhaps influenced by the dour micropub and dreich weather. I was wrong. I seem to have missed the beauty of the approach to the Cathedral from the north, joining a… Continue reading WONDERFUL WELLS
SUPERIOR TOILET SECURITY IN THE SOMERSET LEVELS
NO. I still haven’t got the new Good Beer Guide. And NO, I therefore don’t know whether I’ll attempt to repeat the feat in 2022-23. Back to mid-August, or as the Scots call it, “Winter”. After a few days “off” in Sheffield, it was back to work completing the Good Beer Guide. Yes, just Somerset… Continue reading SUPERIOR TOILET SECURITY IN THE SOMERSET LEVELS
AND A NIGHT OUT IN SHEFFIELD (SNUFF AND GREASY CHIP BUTTY FREE EDITION)
Obviously Will is my top drinking companion in Sheffield, but on those occasions when the Sheffield Hatter is otherwise engaged on his day job taking photos for Pubs Galore I’ll often persuade Mrs RM out on a tour of the fine hostelries in Kelham Island. It’s possible you might have heard of some of them.… Continue reading AND A NIGHT OUT IN SHEFFIELD (SNUFF AND GREASY CHIP BUTTY FREE EDITION)
BURNS’ FAVOURITE HOWFF
One final tick in Dumfries & Galloway, and in the county town, on a gorgeous Summer day. Dumfries looked splendid, if quiet, as I scrambled around looking for the Globe (High Street), distracted by the street art with its metaphorical depiction of the stormy waters in which GBG completists sail their ticking ships. Or something.… Continue reading BURNS’ FAVOURITE HOWFF
RESILIENCE PAYS OFF IN HAUGH OF URR
A penultimate tick in Dumfries & Galloway, and a second visit to the Laurie Arms in a year. “Stewarty Pub of the Year 2022” says What Pub, adding to my geographical confusion. Almost nothing to say about Haugh apart from there’s a pub but no shops, so here’s some apples. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t… Continue reading RESILIENCE PAYS OFF IN HAUGH OF URR
YOUR FULL SCOTTISH BREAKFAST GUIDE REACHES THE GATEHOUSE OF FLEET
“Have you got up to date with your *******(*) blog yet ?” says Mrs RM, whose swearing is almost at 2022 Taylor Swift levels. Well, not quite, but as I approach the last couple of reports from Dumfries & Galloway I can at least see an end to the backlog. Joan and Dave have been… Continue reading YOUR FULL SCOTTISH BREAKFAST GUIDE REACHES THE GATEHOUSE OF FLEET
SLOW SERVICE FROM DOLLY THE PUB CAT IN SANDHEAD
Ayrshire in the bag, I then headed down the coast, somehow avoiding the charms (honest) of Girvan, to pitch up down the road from Stranraer. Posts on minor Scottish football teams are always popular, so it was a shame Stranraer chose not to have a game that Friday morning when I arrived, and Sandhead’s appeal… Continue reading SLOW SERVICE FROM DOLLY THE PUB CAT IN SANDHEAD
RESERVED FOR THE SMIRNOFFS IN TROON
One last tick in Ayrshire, a delayed tick in Troon, which had failed to honour its promised if unlikely opening hours of 10:30 to 02:30 the next morning on my last birthday (22 December, make a note). I knew I’d be back, just like Boris. Perhaps my return to No. 47 was more welcome than… Continue reading RESERVED FOR THE SMIRNOFFS IN TROON
ARRAN IN A DAY. OR LESS.
Two more ferries after that meagre Spoons breakfast in Largs; I nearly succumbed to the Vegan Black Pudding Bene at Moka on my first ever perusal of Ardrossan (underpubbed, I reckon), and probably should have bought a plant pot for my travels. Back in 2000 we took a year-old James across the Clyde to Arran… Continue reading ARRAN IN A DAY. OR LESS.
