I realise I’ve been less than fulsome in my enthusiasm for Chichester* this year. The hills to the north are great though (try Compton), and the undeveloped harbourside villages have equally good walking potential. I walked from Westbourne to coastal Emsworth, taking in nature reserves, the A27, secluded farms and the harbour, proving that I can do… Continue reading GORGEOUSNESS AND GOTHS IN CHICHESTER HARBOUR
CHICHESTER – CORPORATE CRAFT AND SUNDAY DRINKERS
I needed one more night to finish off West Sussex‘s GBG entries for the first time. Not sure why it’s taken quite so long to crack the half-county (why is it split ?), probably a lack of gig venues and football grounds compared to East Sussex and Hampshire. What a great half-county it is though,… Continue reading CHICHESTER – CORPORATE CRAFT AND SUNDAY DRINKERS
MORE CLASSIC PUBS
WARNING – CONTAINS LINK TO DAILY MAIL CONTENT I much enjoyed Boak & Bailey’s well-written post on “classic” pubs yesterday. Buildings aren’t everything. Some of the new micropubs are more boxy than Wetherspoons conversions, and equally some have felt like welcoming public houses, others like private members clubs. Their closing comment is, itself, a classic. “Ultimately, for… Continue reading MORE CLASSIC PUBS
IN A NUTSHELL
Sunday night saw a steady flood of 4x4s returning to our Cambridgeshire village from Latitude, the music festival for people who like music they like, washed down with Adnams wines. I’m sure there will have been polite political debate. Mrs RM would like to go, but she doesn’t get it all her own way in… Continue reading IN A NUTSHELL
THIRSK’S SPOONS THRIVES
Perhaps I expect too much of Thirsk, but my latest stop again failed to find much sign of life, with a notable exception. As a prominent looking market town (gateway to Middlesbrough !) with racecourse, Herriot fluff and Wetherspoons hotel, it’s easy to forget a population of less than 5,000, a third the size of Ripon… Continue reading THIRSK’S SPOONS THRIVES
STOCKTON – THE GOLDEN SMOG
Durham isn’t a cheap night, even at it’s decently placed Travelodge, but Stockton is a bargain. Granted, many folks wouldn’t consider a 2 mile walk along the Teeside industrial landscape from a £27 Metro Inn (ex-Formule 1) in the less glamorous bit of Middlesbrough as desirable, but they’re wrong. The walk through Portrack Marsh, with… Continue reading STOCKTON – THE GOLDEN SMOG
MOVE TO DURHAM & NEVER LEAVE*
Last time I visited Durham was during their 2014 annual brass band festival, where I saw the astonishing Jo Hamilton preview new material to the accompaniment of bats in Durham Cathedral, seen here from Crossgate on Thursday night. I was there to see Durham punks Martha launch their 2nd LP in the rather different setting of the… Continue reading MOVE TO DURHAM & NEVER LEAVE*
CASTLE EDEN
Congratulations to Michael, seemingly a permanent resident of Crewe’s excellent Hops, for working out it was Peterlee. I think he has some local knowledge. I wouldn’t have guessed Peterlee from those photos, though obviously the Welcom(ing) Homes was a giveaway. I used to have a prurient interest in the town, second only to Jaywick on the… Continue reading CASTLE EDEN
GUESS THE TOWN
The photo above is a clue to a former brewery. The beer is a clue to the town’s lone Beer Guide entry. The welcoming homes below are a couple of miles from some of Britain’s best beaches. Good luck
HARVEYS IN HAILSHAM
The next leg of my mission to finish the southern Beer Guide counties took in Hailsham and Lewes. You can see Lewes lying like a box of toys under a great amphitheatre of chalk hills … on the whole it is set down better than any town I have seen in England. — William Morris (1834-1896)… Continue reading HARVEYS IN HAILSHAM
retiredmartin 