Yes, these little blighters. 60p a packet, and I’ve kept Jakemans of Boston in business these last few weeks. You’ll be pleased to know a morning in Edinburgh New Town with Stafford Paul finally cured my itchy throat (that I don’t like to talk about). I tell you this in advance, so you will understand… Continue reading COUGH SWEETS BEFORE BEER
GIN, PUDDLES & PITCHFORKS AT CRADLEY BROOK
This was a tough one to write. My personal Hippocratic oath is always to tell the truth about pubs and beer, even if it means that the local CAMRA branch don’t tell me the GBG2020 entries in advance. Your pubby health is my No.1 concern. But I’m bound to upset folk with this short report… Continue reading GIN, PUDDLES & PITCHFORKS AT CRADLEY BROOK
LEOMINSTER IS BACK
Of course, if this were BRAPA it would be “Cheese munching spinster, illuminates Leominster” (actually that’s Mark E. Smith) or something. But when you’ve made as many trips to Herefordshire and been disappointed by The Lem’ster as often I have, you’ll know a decent pub in the county’s second town is cause for raising a… Continue reading LEOMINSTER IS BACK
A PEAK INTO PEMBRIDGE
You always get one bit of classic Black & White Herefordshire in the new Beer Guide. Normally a village you can’t pronounce with lots of vowels, cherry blossoms on the approach, dull Wye Valley ales and that tempting sign for Robinsons cider the ticking rules won’t let you succumb to. Pembridge, the half-daytrip for Brummies… Continue reading A PEAK INTO PEMBRIDGE
HEREFORD : NO BULL
The oddest thing. I seem to have lost a few photos from a couple of weeks ago in Hereford. Perhaps they’ll turn up in 2021 and I’ll wonder what they are. Not to worry. I still have the photo of Duncan on his bike admiring the Cathedral while completing the Guide in 1977; As you’ll… Continue reading HEREFORD : NO BULL
A GOLDEN FINISH IN FISHPONDS
And so to my final GBG pub in Gloucestershire. 103 Guide entries, 11 newbies this year, so actually not a lot of churn when you consider that tally includes Bristol, where you expect at least 11 new craft/tap/micros annually. I’d timed my trip to Snuffy Jacks to coincide with a rare Sharon Van Etten… Continue reading A GOLDEN FINISH IN FISHPONDS
NIBBLED IN NORTH NIBLEY
Yes, dogs again. The ones whose owners take them to the pub on long leads that wrap themselves around bar stools. Owners oblivious to folk like me tripping over and getting licked on the way to the bar. You never get that with cats, do you ? Anyway. North Nibley for the first time ever,… Continue reading NIBBLED IN NORTH NIBLEY
SHORT SHARP STROUD
The big news is that I’m back from Dundee, having survived an epic morning session in “Heritage Pub” Edinburgh with Stafford Paul, who was on top form. Lees Moonraker makes an ideal breakfast beer. I’ll be taking a break from pubs ’till Friday, splitting time between ensuring two teenagers don’t wither away unfed and… Continue reading SHORT SHARP STROUD
CHELTENHAM – HORSES FOR COURSES
Last day in Scotland, for now. But I’ll be back, I’ll be back, tipping warm beer down the urinal and queueing for fudge doughnuts like the CAMRA hipsters. For now, here’s some posts from the Cotswolds, rarely a great bet for beer quality if I’m honest, but then the pashminas and corduroys don’t come here… Continue reading CHELTENHAM – HORSES FOR COURSES
A CENTURY FOR THE CHEF, OYSTER STOUT FOR ME
One of the cheap treats available in Cambridge is the arrival of a county cricket team at Fenners to bash the local students in the warm-up for the new season. These days, all those students seemed to come from what was Cambridge Poly when I studies for my Accountancy exams there. A couple of years… Continue reading A CENTURY FOR THE CHEF, OYSTER STOUT FOR ME
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