retiredmartin

Oooh, a very Somerset place name, as I set up camp in Exmoor for a concerted attempt to finish that GBG county for the first time. £32.30 a night B & B in the White Horse in Washford, which I can assure you is an all-time bargain. If they can open branches across Devon and… Continue reading THE ROAD TO BEGGEARN HUISH

The GBBF may have diversity (not the dance act, a serious omission) and a 70s cover band, but you only see oversized vegetables in pubs. So pubs win. The biggest pumpkin I ever saw was a prize winning specimen in the Three Horse Shoes in Boroughbridge. Between giant veg, Yorkshire weather and Boycott, you’d never… Continue reading LAST OF THE SUMMER SQUASH IN YATTON

Well, I cracked.  Despite beer festivals killing pubs and all that, I went to the Great British Beer Festival for the first time. There’s some things you have to do once despite your better judgement; opera, oysters, non-league football in the rain, a Virgin trains, and the GBBF. I gave in partly because I didn’t… Continue reading I GO CRAFT CRAZY AT GBBF ’19

Simon went home to watch Neighbours on his VHS tapes, despite Luke and I telling him that round the corner Slocken was an absolute GBG cert. He said he’ll save it for September. Bet it’s not in now, despite having the best beer in Leeds on my two visits. Perhaps not a pub for the… Continue reading HEART & SOUL

I made my way from Leeds City Museum to Wapentake via the Temple of Boom, where Matt was headed a few days later for a gig on the same day as Ed Sheeran would bring the city’s transport to a grinding halt. SPOILER : He survives. If anyone has had a drink in the Temple… Continue reading THE PEELER

My Leeds Ibis was the one west of centre, bang next to the HQ of my last NHS role. Ah. such happy memories. Between HEE, DOH, QH and SHA (all actual NHS acronyms) I probably averaged six days a year in Leeds over 20 years, and by the end I’d learnt to tolerate love the… Continue reading THE ROSCOE SMOKE ROOM

Only two weeks behind on the blog now, which feels like a triumph.  And I reckon the 15 pubs that Duncan took me round in 24 hours this week might fit into a single blog called “Watering West Scotland“. Next up for me was an event to commemorate the great Richard Coldwell by brewing a… Continue reading BAO BUNS IN LEEDS

And so my last Dorset GBG ticks for 2019. Sadly it left two still to do, but some pubs believe in observing the Sabbath and Manic Monday. Lyme Regis is beautiful, though I wish folk wouldn’t ruin it by determinedly driving to the beach when there are perfectly good buses and Park & Rides. Anyway,… Continue reading LYME REGIS – THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT’S PUB TICKER

Down to Charmouth beach next. As you can imagine, my ability to just sit on the beach is rather limited, about 7 minutes is long enough to bung a stone in the direction of France. But Charcombe has decent hills. And I stretched my beach holiday out to 22 minutes while waiting for the Royal… Continue reading THE OUTSTRETCHED PALM