If Stevenage needs an advertising slogan, they could do better than “Mrs RM preferred you to an evening in Bexleyheath“. “Last tick in Greater London, you’ll never sing that !” counters The Bex. An expensive tick, but relatively quick from Stevenage with the bonus of a stop in London Bridge on the return. Which pub… Continue reading TO BEXLEYHEATH !
AND A NIGHT OUT IN STEVENAGE
No, I’ve no idea what happened to Jason Shackell after 2012, but he was the Ian Clarkson of his time, a “generational talent” as everyone is now described. Jason was born in Stevenage, but then so was my lad James, and he’s done OK. Jason left for Norwich at 17, a brave decision, so probably… Continue reading AND A NIGHT OUT IN STEVENAGE
J. STANFORTH PORK PIES, SKIPTON
When I ask Twitter for pub suggestions, as I did for Skipton, they tend to come in 3 forms, all equally valid; 1.Visit ALL the pubs. They’re all great. 2. The Good Beer Guide pubs are the best, that’s why we chose them. 3. Here’s some new micropubs we discovered yesterday. They won’t be open,… Continue reading J. STANFORTH PORK PIES, SKIPTON
SKIPTON SOUND BAR
Having spent £18.60 on my return ticket to Skipton (not having booked advance tickets 3 years ago like BRAPA and Tom Irvin would) I wanted some value from my fare. So I walked from the Slater’s Arms into Skipton via the canal, passing 327 pretend walkers who were actually only going as far as the… Continue reading SKIPTON SOUND BAR
CONSTANT CRAVEN
Ticking gets difficult when you’ve got the easy counties in the bag. Getting four ticks in a day, never mind a BRAPA half-dozen, is tricky. But nothing much beats the thrill of finishing a GBG county, especially one as vast as North Yorkshire, on a first beautiful day of the last weekend in February. Technically… Continue reading CONSTANT CRAVEN
OVER THE IRWELL
No new GBG entries to tick in Manchester, of course, but a slew of brewery Tap houses offering pizza and burgers to tempt that lads away from the Northern Quarter before Thursday’s gig at the Uni. I was actually tempted to walk through Spinningfields* by the appearance of a Rise Pizza food cart outside the… Continue reading OVER THE IRWELL
THE LINCOLN
Another short post from Thursday, celebrating the completion of Manchester’s Lincoln development tucked between the Town Hall and Spinningfields. No actual pubs, though I think this bottle on the table outside the City Arms might be a radical new form of DIPA dispense. The next part of my 5 mile journey takes me back to… Continue reading THE LINCOLN
TOP 100 PUBS – CITY ARMS, MANCHESTER
Back to Manchester on Thursday for a haircut and a gig with James. Much less depressing than football at the moment. Blackpool Jane will never know the pain of only being six (6) points ahead of the Scouse having played a game more and with a six-pointer to come. We’ll struggle to stay up. While… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – CITY ARMS, MANCHESTER
“I’m a firestarter, a twisted firestarter”
Us pub ticking bloggers will do anything for your attention. Public urination, tangerine Aeros, even St Mirren home matches. But only retiredmartin.com brings you pyromania from Turnpike Lane. 50 minutes took me from Wandworth via Vauxhall and Finsbury Park to The Westbury, my penultimate Greater London tick for GBG22. The announcer on the Wandworth to… Continue reading “I’m a firestarter, a twisted firestarter”
THE RAM INN
Blimey. How has the Ram Inn escaped the attention of the Guide for so long ? Well, though I’ve been ticking London for 25 years I guess it’s nearly 16 years since the Ram Brewery closed and its former tap returns to the Guide mainly due to the in-house Slybeast Brewery. Keep up. How could… Continue reading THE RAM INN
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