A quick review of a busy April and a look ahead. Fifty-eight (58) new GBG pubs spread over twelve counties, finishing off the GBG counties of West Midlands (not a county), Norfolk, Surrey and Nottinghamshire. Alan Winfield may well notice I haven’t yet brought you reports from Notts. That’s not because the pubs are dreadful,… Continue reading APRIL ’17 STOCKTAKE
FUDDLED IN FREEMANTLE
My first use of “fuddled” in a post, and therefore my last. I’m looking forward to reading the BRAPA account of Southampton; I’ll be in awe of Simon if his critical faculties held up till his own trip to Freemantle after his session in the Butcher’s Hook. My own faculties held up just long enough… Continue reading FUDDLED IN FREEMANTLE
DRAUGHT BASS IN TOTTON, BUT NOT IN MANCHESTER
Nathaniel brings some promising news from Norfolk; @NHS_Martin @RogerProtzBeer Draught Bass is currently being served on gravity at the fat cat in Norwich and is tasting good — Nathaniel Southwood (@NateDawg27) May 1, 2017 As you’ll gather from previous posts, the beer range is well down the list of reasons I visit pubs, and I have reservations about… Continue reading DRAUGHT BASS IN TOTTON, BUT NOT IN MANCHESTER
LACONS PASS THEIR AUDIT
I do hope Simon wasn’t too upset by my Tom obsession in the last post, which stopped me saying what a great pleasure it was to chat pubs with Si and his Dad. Now I’ve found my notes I can also reveal the conversation included the classic lines, “It’s the French in them” and “Colchester… Continue reading LACONS PASS THEIR AUDIT
LEGENDS IN SOUTHAMPTON
Mrs RM is off for her 3 days drinking walking trip to Kerry today; I’ll be disappointed if she doesn’t come back with enough material for a guest blog about Irish craft keg breaking into Killarney. I snuck in a couple of days in Hampshire before she went. Finding new GBG pubs to tick does… Continue reading LEGENDS IN SOUTHAMPTON
ELY INVADED BY TONBRIDGE
This post is a bit pointless, as Paul Bailey has already extensively chronicled our Friday night in Ely, but I enjoy pointless stuff. Paul’s blog is rich in the personal detail that gives a “sense of place” to his reports on pubs and beer, so I’ll have to add a few things that Paul couldn’t.… Continue reading ELY INVADED BY TONBRIDGE
THE ESSENTIAL EPSOM
Apart from winding up Mrs RM, one of the ambitions of this blog is to find something positive to say about the lesser lights of our great land. Epsom shouldn’t need much help, with regular visits by Her Majesty to the Downs, but I don’t think she’s ever done an overnighter in the shiny new… Continue reading THE ESSENTIAL EPSOM
PANTILES PERFECTION
A nice short post to help me clear some more backlog and my conscience. The good folk in the Sussex Arms, Tunbridge Wells, are probably wondering where their write-up is, given they’ve been following my Tweets since a visit that seems like decades ago. Rubbish blog management is the answer. In fact, it was only… Continue reading PANTILES PERFECTION
FOLLOWING THE PUBMEISTER TO CLAYGATE
Each year’s Beer Guide quest throws up one pub that becomes the Holy Grail, the Kilimanjaro*, the Cloudwater cask of pub ticking. It used to be the Old Forge and the Sixpenny Tap; this year’s it’s Platform 3 at Claygate. It should be a doddle; a platform bar at a busy railway station just outside Zone 6 (and… Continue reading FOLLOWING THE PUBMEISTER TO CLAYGATE
THE QUEEN’S ARMS, COWDEN POUND – AN UNSPOILT CLASSIC
Travelling round the country* I’m always struck by how little I actually know about our great land. I’m also amazed by how many wonderful pubs, like Stockton Heath’s Red Lion and Fleetwood’s Royal Oak, I’d never heard of before their inclusion in the new GBG prompted a visit. But the Queen’s Arms in Cowden Pound had… Continue reading THE QUEEN’S ARMS, COWDEN POUND – AN UNSPOILT CLASSIC
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