Always one for an accommodation bargain (£27), I booked the newish Trivelles Liverpool for my Merseyside jaunt. Trivelles has an exclusive range of hotels in the suburbs of Stockport, Salford, Bradford and Liverpool, which tells you all you need to know. There’s some mixed reviews on the web of the latter hotel but I can… Continue reading LIVERPOOL – THREE GRACES, TWO ACES
SOUTHPORT IN NOVEMBER
A good test of the strength of a marriage is whether it can survive four nights in Southport Pontins in September. 13 years ago it was touch and go when Mrs RM saw the hell-hole I’d booked, but a shared acknowledgement of a bargain (£15 a night for a family of four) got us through. Our toddlers… Continue reading SOUTHPORT IN NOVEMBER
A DURHAM DOUBLE
There are some counties where the pubs are better than the beer. My highly subjective scoring system suggests many of Durham’s GBG entries, particularly outside the city, have been very marginal indeed over the years. In the ex-Vaux houses to the west of the county, despite (because ?) of very limited beer ranges, real ale… Continue reading A DURHAM DOUBLE
RITES OF PASSAGE IN NOTTINGHAM
My 15 year old son has acquired a taste for death metal. Nothing wrong with that; I was into The Fall and Joy Division at his age. On Tuesday we took Matt and his mate to Nottingham to see Architects, a metalcore (?) band actually younger than me. Pleasingly, also an opportunity to tick off the last… Continue reading RITES OF PASSAGE IN NOTTINGHAM
DEVONSHIRE ARMS, CAMBRIDGE
Mrs RM and I are working our way through the Cambridge Beer Guide entries, purely for research purposes. At 11.55am we were hovering outside the door of the Devonshire looking very suspicious. This is one of our favourite Cambridge pubs, being a few steps from the shiny but dull station and with a shiny line-up… Continue reading DEVONSHIRE ARMS, CAMBRIDGE
WONDERFUL WELLINGBOROUGH
As you can probably tell Mrs RM has sorted out my laptop. John Lewis wouldn’t help, but Lenovo were happy to talk through their unique TIOTIOA solution. This means I can post on Wellingborough‘s surprisingly attractive centre at last, and put my comments on the Coach & Horses in context. I searched for something interesting… Continue reading WONDERFUL WELLINGBOROUGH
FRENZY IN NORTHAMPTON
Decades of dull but solid progress in Northampton, and suddenly it’s become a must-visit pub destination. The Nuneaton of the civilised world, perhaps. Not since the County Ground stuck up Meccano stands and duckboards for “big” games, just before their move to Sickfields, have I seen such a building frenzy in the county town. First… Continue reading FRENZY IN NORTHAMPTON
THE REAL THEALE
As the song goes, “For each pound of joy, there’s an ounce of regret“, and for every trip to Newbury there’s one to Theale, one of our most bewildering large villages. You might assume West Berkshire is all horsey racing, drama societies and Good Old Boys. Theale, though, would be more at home as a… Continue reading THE REAL THEALE
OXFORD v CAMBRIDGE REVISITED
There’s an assumption of a great Cambridge/Oxford rivalry. It doesn’t exist, anymore than Uttoxeter and Doncaster are daggers drawn because both hold horsey races. I don’t know anyone who watches the boat race, and even on trips to the Manor or Kassam Stadiums I doubt many United fans bothered to set foot in the centre.… Continue reading OXFORD v CAMBRIDGE REVISITED
IPSWICH CONFIRMS ITS CRAFT CREDENTIALS
The firm time I realised the poetic genius of BRAPA was when Simon described Ipswich as “a cross between Ely, Knaresborough and Monaco“. Like Andy Murray winning Wimbledon, that would have seemed “ludicrous” a few years back. But now I have the confirmation of Mrs RM that this is absolutely true. You really need to… Continue reading IPSWICH CONFIRMS ITS CRAFT CREDENTIALS
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