retiredmartin

You left me in the posh bit of Birmingham with a combination of fried onions, mustard and ketchup oozing down the front of my fleece (a Christmas present from 2004). I’d just been the tardiest person in Pint Shop, and now it was time to repeat the trick in Head of Steam, which was clearly… Continue reading BAVARIAN CRAFT IN BRUM

I do hope that’s not a euphemism. If there is one, Curry Charles will find it. More to the point, should there be an umlaut in Brum ? Just like that, I’m up to yesterday (Monday 16th) with the blog. And it’s the Birmingham German Christmas Market, second only on Trip Advisor to rough backstreet… Continue reading DROPPING THE BRATWURST IN BRUM

More exciting micropubs in Midlands mining villages for you, and a cultural reference for the ages. As you’ll know, Émile Zola wrote J’Accuse, and many accuse micropubs of being run purely for the benefit of middle-aged mates of the Landlord. Not this one. Where is Dordon ?, you ask. The Wiki page for Dordon is… Continue reading DORDON-ZOLA

The last Buckinghamshire GBG tick. Always good for a blog title. Don’t feel too sorry for me. Only eight pubs to tick in the GBG20, and I end the county (as I often do) on a cracker. Last year Bourne End gave us KEG (which was cask); this year’s B’Ender was a classic BBB Boozer.… Continue reading THE BOURNE (END) ULTIMATUM – WHERE’S MY SCOTCH EGG ?

Astonishing. In June this year I’d never been to a pub (or anything else) in any of the eighteen Chalfonts in bubbly Bucks. Now, thanks to Mrs RM’s good fortune in having a Head Office in Maidenhead (!), and the weirdness of the GBG, I’ve been to St. Peter and St. Giles in the space… Continue reading THE MANY WILES OF CHALFONT ST. GILES

Three to go to finish this;` Note the effort to provide the contrasts in colour in those two photos. The travel map for the last three gets a bit messy. You’d left me in Lewisham, waiting for the short journey to London Beer Dispensary, one of those pubs that Deserter write about but which you… Continue reading DOWN TO THE RIVER (TO FINISH THE LONDON GBG)

Three down, five to go to finish South East London and the world London. SEL, as they call it in CAMRA-land, has the capital’s best pubs but worst transport. I really needed Tom Irvin to plan my routes, The problem with logistics is it doesn’t take into account a) Micro opening times and b) the… Continue reading TinSEL(ondon)town in the rain

Deciding on blogpost titles is the toughest game there is. Alliteration ?, pun ?, historical riddle ?, or something someone said to you in the pub ? It was either the one I picked or “Selsdon Sizzler“, to be honest. As you’ll know by now, the Good Beer Guide giveth (a trip to a suburb… Continue reading “DID YOU ENJOY YOUR CARDINAL SIN ?”

I knew things would pick up as soon as I made it into South-east London, they always do. On Tuesday I set off from Waterbeach with a notional target of eight pubs to finish off That London, my trusty Indy Man pencil, and a scruffy bit of paper I couldn’t read. Oh, and the Deserter… Continue reading GREATNESS IN GREENWICH