Regular readers, the ones who get my blog posts early and on shinier paper, may remember me moaning like a spoilt child about geographical oddities in the 2020 Guide. The Wooden Walls in Staple Hill is probably described as “Bristol” by 99% of people who live there, the exception being a bloke called Colin who… Continue reading SO WHERE IS STAPLE HILL, EXACTLY ?
THE BUTCHER’S HOOK – NO MORE A THORNBURY IN MY SIDE
Mrs RM is winding down her IT gigs a bit so she can spend more time winding me up (joking, joking). On our first joint trip away in months we headed to Gloucestershire, coincidentally home to my final 4 Guide ticks in that intriguing county. Back in the Olden Days when people travelled to go… Continue reading THE BUTCHER’S HOOK – NO MORE A THORNBURY IN MY SIDE
MORE McMULLENS MAGIC
Yet more Hitchin highlights for you. Could I yet become an ambassador for the town, after slagging it off a week ago ? Well for a start, there was nothing in Hitchin as scarily unwelcoming as THIS obstruction heavy craft bar in Letchworth… And you arrive at Hitchin Railway Station on this lovely train. As… Continue reading MORE McMULLENS MAGIC
TOP 10 COUNTIES – No.6 – ESSEX
Essex ? Really ? Yep, even though I haven’t had to do visit it too much since the blog started, it was a cert for the Top 10 Counties. BRAPA was brought up there, for a start. I think he’s saving a return to The Walden for a special occasion. Down the road from his… Continue reading TOP 10 COUNTIES – No.6 – ESSEX
A JOB DONE, IN CLEVEDON
October is always an exciting time for us hardy band of GBG tickers. New stuffed mascot embedded into the team, new year’s Guide in hand, cross-checking complete, inroads into the GBG with pink marker in hand. Not this year. The delayed release of GBG21, due to some spurious reason or other (probably a debate about… Continue reading A JOB DONE, IN CLEVEDON
ROCK OF AGES
As the Government’s inspirational advert says, “stop whining and get on with it” And spend money, I guess. We failed to spend money at Burrington Ham, our next chance to stretch calf muscles on on the Great Somerset GBG Overnighter. “The hilly bit south of Bristol” is my best description of the area. No, I… Continue reading ROCK OF AGES
EBBOR, EBBOR, (GORGE) HEY !
We’d come to walk, not tick pubs, so after a mammoth sleep we joined the dinosaurs in Wookey Hole. SPOILER: They’re not real. You can see the “attractions“ from the public footpath up to the cave entrance, and I’ll be honest it’s well worth the £16.50 on-line price. You can probably get 25% off by… Continue reading EBBOR, EBBOR, (GORGE) HEY !
IN A WOOKEY HOLE
Our Somerset Saunter reached Wookey (Hole). It always suprises me when I realise Wookey (Hole) is virtually a suburb of Wells, which never fails to disappoint for pubs (ZERO Guide entries this year). I seemed to have booked a £45 twin room (actually the disability accessible with wet room one) at the actual Wookey caves.… Continue reading IN A WOOKEY HOLE
UP TO THE TOR, DOWN TO THE 6X
Ooh, genuine tourist material for you. James and I, bonding on another Father-Son walking trip this week, agreed that THIS is Britain’s worst tourist attraction as we whizzed past it on the A303; Wouldn’t it be sensible if we moved those silly stones somewhere out of the way (South Dakota would be fine) so we… Continue reading UP TO THE TOR, DOWN TO THE 6X
A BATH HALF
I wanted to call it “A laugh, a barf and an OK half near Bath” but whipper-snapper BRAPA has copyrighted that title. And there were no laughs. Or barfs. Nearly no half either. I’d actually given up on the Inn at Freshford, tucked away in the posh valleys beneath Bath. You’ll remember this honey-coloured wonder,… Continue reading A BATH HALF