I know some people think that travelling round the country on rickety trains (and increasingly rickety legs) is daft, when there’s such exciting beer close to home, but I care little for the beer. If I didn’t follow the path of the Guide and locally “recommended” pubs, I’d never get to drink with real people… Continue reading CHEESY CHIPS IN HIGH HEELED SHOES
JAMIELAND
Regular readers will have guessed I’m a big fan of Jamie Oliver and his relentless attempts to improve our diet through his range of pizza restaurants. I know Pub Curmudgeon shares my admiration. Jamie was brought up in the badlands south of Saffron Walden where his parents ran a pub that failed to make the Beer Guide.… Continue reading JAMIELAND
TOO MANY HANDPUMPS – THE CAMBRIDGE EXCEPTIONS
One of the themes of my blog (along with “Avoid Maidenhead“) is that the explosion of choice is rarely beneficial to quality. One of the best pints I’ve had in recent weeks was in a tourist-driven Spoons that had a minimal, but quality, cask range. The argument for heading for pubs with many pumps seems to be… Continue reading TOO MANY HANDPUMPS – THE CAMBRIDGE EXCEPTIONS
WONSTON WINNERS
A few average beers and pubs of late, but I ended the life of GBG17, and completed Hampshire, on a high. Wonston’s eponymous pub is in the mysterious triangle (and virtual GBG desert) between Andover, Winchester and the “posh bits of Basingstoke“. At a push this is Watership Down country, but really it’s where… Continue reading WONSTON WINNERS
HOPPING BACK TO SALISBURY
The pub-ticking, gig-going life can be a bit repetitive. 3 trips to Bristol in a month, 2 to Salisbury in a week. Until the embargo lifts, I don’t even know if I’m visiting pubs not long for this Beer Guide world. Anyway, my last two ticks in Wiltshire’s GBG17 chapter were fairly typical of the… Continue reading HOPPING BACK TO SALISBURY
SALTFORD’S RED HAT MAN WITH COMPLEX BAGUETTE INSTRUCTIONS
Not a post that will detain you long, but I thought Saltford’s Bird in Hand deserved a mention on my blog to illustrate the joyous contrasts you get in English pubs two miles apart. The main A4 through Saltford is the sort of dull parade of shops and Greene King Pizza Pub you travel to… Continue reading SALTFORD’S RED HAT MAN WITH COMPLEX BAGUETTE INSTRUCTIONS
KEYNSHAM – SWEET LIKE CHOCOLATE
What an extraordinary place Keynsham turns out to be, hidden between the scary craft of Bristol and the Spoons queues of Bath , and surrounded by garden centres. Home to Keynsham Humpy Tumps (I’m not making this up), Jacob Rees-Mogg and an old Cadbury factory now converted into posh housing. As they say, a heady mixture.… Continue reading KEYNSHAM – SWEET LIKE CHOCOLATE
A LONGING FOR LANCASTER
I’ve just discovered a cache of photos from our Easter trip to Lancaster. I might make a post of them, particularly if I can find my notes of Mrs RM’s cutting comments on the town. “It’s no Preston, is it ?” sums it up. Actually, I’d put Lancaster on hold as I was in a huff… Continue reading A LONGING FOR LANCASTER
KENDAL – CATS, DOGS & CHINTZ
Some folk run marathons for fun. It’s much more enjoyable (and better for pubs) to walk the 26 and a bit miles, stopping at Beer Guide pubs on the way. My first walked marathon in 2014 took in Wigan and Cumbria, and included a little stretch from Oxenholme, “Gateway to the Lakes” into Kendal. Some… Continue reading KENDAL – CATS, DOGS & CHINTZ
END OF THE ROAD FOR BBB IN CANS ?
My annual trip to Dorset for the festival of new (and not always obscure) music that is End of the Road ends today. I’ll take in 30 bands, 12 food carts, and be taken for £5.50 a half pint for the Beavertown Cowboy Lightning. But it was worth it. Wish it wasn’t against my principles… Continue reading END OF THE ROAD FOR BBB IN CANS ?
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