Suddenly I was within two (2) ticks of completing Tyne & Wear GBG, and all that was needed was an hour on the metro to north Sunderland and then another hour slog in the biting cold along the coast. See, it’s easy. The hardest part was finding a loo at Monument before I jumped on… Continue reading FULWELL (NEARING THE) END
BYKER TREASURE TROVE
From the Heaton Tap I walked the couple of miles down through Byker to the Tyne for my (checks spreadsheet) 69th Newcastle Brewery Tap. Coincidentally, ’69 was the last time Newcastle United won a trophy. Byker itself, between the metro and the river, is a sharp contrast to the pashmina enclave of the Ouseburn valley… Continue reading BYKER TREASURE TROVE
HEATON EYEFULS
Back on t’tram, or whatever it’s called, and a jolly stretch along the North Tyne back towards the Toon. Before jumping off at Chillingham Road. Newcastle feels vast when you’re on the tram. And Chillingham Road, the main drag of studenty Heaton, feels like a different world compared to Byker lying below it. A police… Continue reading HEATON EYEFULS
METRO MAN MAKES IT TO MONKSEATON
Durham in the bag, I reached base camp at 13:30. The Premier Inn just south of Newcastle Airport is your perfect £40 location from which to mop up Tyne & Wear AND that irritating Northumberland straggler a mile over the border in Ponteland. £5.40 for a Metro all-day ticket which will take you from airport… Continue reading METRO MAN MAKES IT TO MONKSEATON
SHILDON TAKES THE TICKERS SHIELD FOR MOST INTERESTING NEW GBG ENTRY
I’m a bit worried how much food is featuring in this blog these days; that’s the influence of culinary Queen Blackpool Jane, I guess. I doubt she’ll need to a report on Shildon, Durham’s famous Railway town. The parmos of Teesside call when she heads back to Middlesbrough. I wouldn’t have needed to drop in… Continue reading SHILDON TAKES THE TICKERS SHIELD FOR MOST INTERESTING NEW GBG ENTRY
CORPORATE HOSPITALITY
Wednesday night is football night in Manchester, as Matt finds himself with three (3) tickets for the hospitality suite at the Etihad. Don’t ask how. Barbers keep secrets. So I get to leave my usual seat in the top tier of Colin Bell stand and join the prawn cocktail plastics in the posh bit of… Continue reading CORPORATE HOSPITALITY
TEA IN THE TOBIE NORRIS
Mrs RM had spent 9 nights in Royal Tunbridge Wells solving family dramas so was grateful when I came to drive her home, particularly as the in-laws toilet was broken and the outside privy had been decommissioned in 1972. It’s a four hour journey from Kent to Sheffield, so Stamford is a decent half-way stop… Continue reading TEA IN THE TOBIE NORRIS
APPLEDORE WEDDING REMINISCENCES
More from That Kent, and an unexpected tick on the edge of Romney Marsh, though Paul Bailey will no doubt claim it for nearby Ashford given that town’s apparent beery renaissance. People who read this blog, and I don’t even think I count myself in that number, may remember my failed attempt in Autumn to… Continue reading APPLEDORE WEDDING REMINISCENCES
Turning over the “Masters of the Galaxy” Soundtrack in Smeeth
Next stop, Smeeth. Never heard of of it ? Me neither. It’s a village of 924 souls about whom Wiki can tell me NOTHING. No left backs for Ashford Town in the ’60s, no Retired Colonels, no 18th century eccentrics barred from Ashford. And our new Beer Guide tick is on a small modern business… Continue reading Turning over the “Masters of the Galaxy” Soundtrack in Smeeth
TENTATIVE 10 A.M. TICKING IN TENTERDEN TAPS
3 days down in Kent. 3 ticks. That’s a 100% record ! Some gorgeous countryside in the Weald of Kent, though I regretted the 56 minute journey back to Tenterden, which I’m sure I only did 2 years ago. Ah, it was 2 years ago. Right before the Lockdown. A pretty place overrun by gentlefolk… Continue reading TENTATIVE 10 A.M. TICKING IN TENTERDEN TAPS
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