Mrs RM was in charge of selecting our overnight stop in Oxon on Monday. I always delegate the important decisions to her. Some people (i.e. Mumsnet) will be amazed we’d left Sheffield without a booking, the sort of people who love to plan months in advance to avoid having to sleep in their cars I… Continue reading HALTING THE WAGON IN DORCHESTER-ON-THAMES
BACK TO BENSON
Here’s the Oxon map you were denied because I’ve had to do recent posts on the phone. When I self-publish my book “Blogging – How to get views from East Timor AND East Grinstead“, my only advice will be “DON’T write posts on your phone“. From Burford to Oxford to Benson to complete Oxon. Benson… Continue reading BACK TO BENSON
BUSTING THE PARKING BUDGET IN OXFORD
A week of continuous travel, not much of it to pubs, and now I’m on my fourth (4th) train of the day and it’s only 10.13. On Monday night I was in Oxford for my penultimate Oxon tick, Mrs RM parking the campervan in the first available car park (it’s a hellish city) and shouting… Continue reading BUSTING THE PARKING BUDGET IN OXFORD
BURFORD BIFFED. IN 20 SECONDS.
The day after returning to Sheffield from London we had to head straight back down south for a family emergency (don’t worry, the Doom Bar cellar hasn’t been raided). I negotiated a stop in Oxon (3 pubs needed) on the way, having seen the public transport options for Burford were a challenge; Mrs RM parked… Continue reading BURFORD BIFFED. IN 20 SECONDS.
“TOM SAWYER COVERS” IN STAINES SEA CADETS HALL
A third Surrey tick from last Sunday, another chance to reward Mrs RM with more taxi duties to unfashionable South Eastern towns like Staines. The highlight of Staines is the tree on the bridge over the Thames with a plastic bag over its branches to stop you bumping into it. I still bumped into it.… Continue reading “TOM SAWYER COVERS” IN STAINES SEA CADETS HALL
THE SUN SHINES ON THE RIGHTEOUS DOOM BAR DRINKER IN SUNBURY-ON-THAMES
Sunbury-on-Thames is one of those places that both irritate and uplift the GBG ticker with an annual new entry seemingly plucked from nowhere. The Admiral Hawke would be my sixth (6th) Guide entry in a decade, and the best, but it very nearly never happened. Look at the route I’d devised for Mrs RM taxis;… Continue reading THE SUN SHINES ON THE RIGHTEOUS DOOM BAR DRINKER IN SUNBURY-ON-THAMES
FEBRUARY ’22 STOCKTAKE + MARCH PREVIEW
Welcome to the contractually obligated highlights package for February, a month in which I completed the GBG pubs for London, Oxon, Merseyside, West Midlands, Cheshire, Durham, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, East Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, and North Yorkshire. Eleven (11) counties in a month, a record. That’s great, though in actuality it only knocked forty-four (44)… Continue reading FEBRUARY ’22 STOCKTAKE + MARCH PREVIEW
HERSHAM BOY (& GIRL)
Sunday means Surrey, and Mrs RM joined me on a trio of tricky ticks in that quaint corner of that mysterious county between London and the M25. We start an hour round the M25 in Hersham, the Leighton Buzzard(s) of the South, named after the Sham 69 classic. I genuinely had no idea Jimmy Pursey… Continue reading HERSHAM BOY (& GIRL)
IN SEARCH OF STEVENAGE’S “PROPER PUB”. AND GREENE KING MILD.
Back at Stevenage at 10pm*, and Mrs RM’s request for some munchies (do adults say “munchies” ?) from Tesco meant I could justify nipping in to the Old Town for a last pint of Saturday night. I consulted the GBG app; the Guide entries are the red markers. Oh. Never mind, Mrs RM had told… Continue reading IN SEARCH OF STEVENAGE’S “PROPER PUB”. AND GREENE KING MILD.
AN NBSS 3.5 PINT IN 3.5 MINUTES AT LONDON BRIDGE
I caught the first train back from Bexleyheath into London Bridge, contemplating a leisurely reacquaintance with Borough’s beauties; the Royal Oak, the Rake, the King’s Arms. Now I’ve completed London’s GBG entries I can actually enjoy the place again. But as the train approached Lewisham I felt oddly guilty about leaving Mrs RM alone for… Continue reading AN NBSS 3.5 PINT IN 3.5 MINUTES AT LONDON BRIDGE
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