The travel needed for new GBG ticks continues to rise. This weekend we’re taking the campervan into Kent (two hours) for three Thanet ticks (guess what those are), then another two hours westward into Worcestershire, where avoiding the Cheltenham Festival crowd is the priority. Occasionally you need to stay closer to home. Which means the occasional foray… Continue reading GRAVITY DISPENSE, BABY LAMBS & PIPERS CRISPS IN CONINGTON
A THIRST FOR THIRSK
You don’t get one of my pink pen masterpieces today, everyone knows where Thirsk is. Half an hour’s walk from the railway station, that’s where. One of the joys of a life based around the Beer Guide is the chance for an annual re-evaluation. At times a GBG free zone, Thirsk has rarely impressed for… Continue reading A THIRST FOR THIRSK
IN THE VALE OF MOWBRAY
I’ve had a good response to my hand-coloured maps (thanks Duncan) so here’s another one, with bonus shadow. This is a stretch of the Vale of Mowbray, named after the Boro’s robust captain from the late ’80s, whose promotion winning tackle was (probably) made in Burslem. At the top you can see Hutton Rudby, suffering from… Continue reading IN THE VALE OF MOWBRAY
A PARMO-FREE SUNDAY NIGHT IN MIDDLESBROUGH
The offer was there, but Mrs RM rejected my invite to a weekend in Middlesbrough, due no doubt to a prior commitment to reorganise the airing cupboard (whatever that is). She missed a top trip to the UK’s capital of cheap fun. My clean and simple room at the Gresham (not as posh as it… Continue reading A PARMO-FREE SUNDAY NIGHT IN MIDDLESBROUGH
FROM EASINGTON TO SUNDERLAND
As I’m sure I’ve said before, it’s not that far to Yorkshire from Cambridge. You can go county-to-county in 70 minutes, faster when they get round to bulldozing Elkesley. If there’s anyone reading this in the beer desert of Elkesley I apologise; but 20 years of slowing to 50mph in order to “admire” your village… Continue reading FROM EASINGTON TO SUNDERLAND
DAISY ISN’T SINGING IN BILLINGHAM
If you want to see the extremes of Durham/Cleveland/Teeside, walk from Norton’s Unicorn over the A19 footbridge into Billingham (or vice versa if you’re heading into Stockton for a Parmo afterwards). I haven’t marked the footbridge on my Navigator yet, that’s a treat for later tonight. Billingham has the pleasant country park, but the Art… Continue reading DAISY ISN’T SINGING IN BILLINGHAM
NORTON GOES IT ALONE
I can never get used to the absence of Cleveland as a Good Beer Guide county, for surely there can be no less Yorkshire a town than Middlesbrough. In contrast Norton, a mile over the A19 to the west, feels like the archetypal small North Yorks town, despite being firmly Durham. I’d describe it as… Continue reading NORTON GOES IT ALONE
SALTBURN CRICKET CLUB – THE ANCHOR, ANCHOR OF THE NORTH
There’s 4,522 pubs in the Beer Guide to visit, and they all have a story to tell, except the Ember Inns of course. Sometimes it’s the cheery landlord, often it’s the bizarre regulars, and occasionally it’s the sheer hard work needed to make a visit. I have mixed feelings that the Old Forge is out… Continue reading SALTBURN CRICKET CLUB – THE ANCHOR, ANCHOR OF THE NORTH
A HOLIDAY IN HEMSWORTH
I was chatting to a lady in her ’80s (as opposed to most people I know who are stuck in the 1980s). She’d moved from Warsop to the Fens 40 years ago, and still missed the scenery there. I pretended to know the town well, but eventually it dawned on me I’d only actually driven… Continue reading A HOLIDAY IN HEMSWORTH
THE ALETASTER, ST. NEOTS
Type micropubs into Amazon and two titles pop up; The first of those looks like an extended blogpost on the early flowering of the “Scene” in Herne, Hartlepool and Newark. If I invest the 99p I’ll let you know. The second (published 31 March) is a weightier looking volume (220 pages) apparently packed with anecdotes… Continue reading THE ALETASTER, ST. NEOTS
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