Always tell the truth. Well, obviously, don’t. That would be daft. But when it comes to pubs, say what’s good and what’s not*. Otherwise you’re left with rubbish pubs in the Beer Guide just making up the allocation, and no-one wants that. Equally, always acknowledge that the beer or welcome on your visit might be… Continue reading WELSH BEER WATERS THE DAFFS
BODGE-UPS IN BARTON ON HUMBER
A few posts from the “M180 corridor” as I finish Lincolnshire, a large county rather over-represented in the Beer Guide if you ask me. But I always welcome a trip to Barton-upon-Humber, which seems intent on giving all its pubs a crack in the GBG. Rotation, rotation, rotation. I was last here for the… Continue reading BODGE-UPS IN BARTON ON HUMBER
SEEING SENSE IN SWINDON
“Why didn’t you have something decent like Butcombe or 6X ?” said Pub Curmudgeon of my trip to the reservation-friendly Fosse Bridge. Good question, though the choice of Windrush Ale (the day before that word burnt into the national consciousness) seems oddly appropriate now. Still, I didn’t make the same mistake in Swindon. Or Blunsdon,… Continue reading SEEING SENSE IN SWINDON
T’OTHER BARNSLEY
Doyen of countless Good Pub Guides, Times Supplements and Pashmina Yearly editions over many decades, the Village Pub finally graces the only book that matters to tickers. So at last I get a trip to the other Barnsley. It’s pleasant, without being an essential stop for those touring the honeypots of north Swindon. The Barnsley… Continue reading T’OTHER BARNSLEY
FUSS ON THE FOSSE WAY
Next stop on the Cotswold caper was Fossebridge, a hamlet comprising a btidge and a hotel for folk too posh for Bourton-on-the-water (is that even possible ?). Keen readers of “Notes from a small island” will know that Bill Bryson came here to unveil Roman mosaics at Chedworth; I came here for an irritating middle-class… Continue reading FUSS ON THE FOSSE WAY
THE GREAT MORETON-IN-MARSH SPILT PINT DRAMA
I can’t match BRAPA for disappointment, though if he will do all those dreadful Cheshire GBG pubs what can you expect. But I’m definitely getting lots of opportunities to be grumpy, whether it’s due to opening hours, the failure of the Government to force people to drink cask, or uncontrolled dogs. Plenty of the latter… Continue reading THE GREAT MORETON-IN-MARSH SPILT PINT DRAMA
CHEER UP BARRY FRY
As mentioned already, I’m spending more time than strictly advisable in Peterborough at the moment, due to Mrs RM’s foreign excursions up the east coast starting at the nation’s favourite railway station. On my recent visit to the Abbey Stadium, Cambridge fans were still singing that immortal ditty; “Cheer up Barry Fry Oh what can… Continue reading CHEER UP BARRY FRY
PUB SNACKS IN WIBSEY
Someone who will be nameless just slagged off Bradford on here. And it wasn’t that Coldwell bloke either. I never tire of Bradford and its never-ending quirkily-named suburbs, shown rather poorly on this bit of Navigator. This is the sort of complex geography I spend too much time over. Despite getting its own entry in… Continue reading PUB SNACKS IN WIBSEY
WITHERING HEIGHTS
Next stop, Oxenhope, your first stop when you flee the kitch tea shops of Haworth. Regular readers will remember a walk here in Bronte waterfall country in November 2015 when temperatures touched 20 degrees. Not quite that warm on this Saturday, but good enough for an uphill stroll or two. Most folk, of course, walk… Continue reading WITHERING HEIGHTS
TINGLY IN BINGLEY
Next stop, Bingley, the poor man’s Saltaire, the rich man’s Keighley. And the only town named after an internet search engine, apparently. But always a lively town, full of those things us Southerners come to The North for. Plenty of pubs, though it seems that the Proper Pubs in the Guide like the Brown… Continue reading TINGLY IN BINGLEY
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