My Quiz question for Castle Donington was, of course, Nikita Khrushchev, who opened the power station at short notice when “H” from Steps became unavailable. Just over the border in Derbyshire is the large canalside village of Sawley, where no doubt Nikita stopped for a cob and pint of Pedigree back in 1956, though those records have… Continue reading PEDIGREE & A COB IN SAWLEY
MANIFOLD CONTRASTS
Nowadays children at Cottenham Village College get to go to China, Berlin and Peterborough for their expensive research trips into modern beer production. Back in ’78 it was Ilam Hall or nothing. I remember the highlight was being allowed to stay up to watch the Home International highlights with teachers well beyond 10pm. I presume it’s… Continue reading MANIFOLD CONTRASTS
BUXTON ALE STOP
You’ve probably deduced by now that I don’t jump for joy at the prospect of even more micropubs in the Beer Guide. Despite decent beer quality, keen pricing and plenty of banter, they rarely produce the variety of custom, and atmosphere, of a great English pub. And many of them look exactly the same. Buxton’s Ale Stop is… Continue reading BUXTON ALE STOP
DONINGTON AFTER OZZY
I knew I should have sneeked out of Download Festival in June to try a bit more of Castle Donington, but our nanny-state authorities take a dim view on child abandonment in muddy fields. The main employment in the town remains the reclamation of bodies from the Download mud, of course, which is a useful… Continue reading DONINGTON AFTER OZZY
“LIVE AS YOU DREAM” – DEREHAM IN A CAMPERVAN
Slightly out of sequence due to temporary hysteria, but here you go, Dereham. In a campervan. Miles from “London-on-Sea”, a safe distance from the self-pronounced “City of Beer“, and without so much as an overhyped town trail to promote it, Dereham competes vigorously with Swaffham to be Norfolk’s dullest town. Or so I thought. Not only is… Continue reading “LIVE AS YOU DREAM” – DEREHAM IN A CAMPERVAN
A PERFECT NIGHT IN STOCKPORT
There are times when you just to have to say it. Last night at the Etihad was as good as it gets, whatever “it” is. So good that I won’t even ridicule the “tourists” who spent the first half looking for their seat and the second half visiting the (alcohol-free) bar, thereby missing what they… Continue reading A PERFECT NIGHT IN STOCKPORT
THE RETURN OF LACONS
I first notice the revived Lacons brand when I kept walking past one of their delivery vans parked up in Chesterton. The styling is impressive, and their beers weren’t bad when they popped up as guests in Cambridge and Norfolk. Since their revival in 2013, I’ve been noticing some well-preserved heritage like this from Diss.… Continue reading THE RETURN OF LACONS
OCTOBER STOCKTAKE
A dry October filled with decent walking, pub going, and the conclusion of the Desperate Housewives boxset. Surely the best thing to come out of the US of A since Craft beer. 44 new pubs in 18 counties was a decent return, but the pubby highlight was a startling crawl round the unregarded Fenland town of… Continue reading OCTOBER STOCKTAKE
BASS AT ITS BEST, NEARLY
Just outside Lichfield in the village of Whittington is the parish church of St Giles where I once attended the wedding of one of Mrs RM’s Uni friends. It cost about a zillion times more than our own wedding; I think her Dad owned the salt mine. I’m sure Mrs RM wants to tell me off… Continue reading BASS AT ITS BEST, NEARLY
LICHFIELD – TIRED OF MICROPUBS, TIRED OF LIFE
“Those who attain any excellence, commonly spend life in one pursuit; for excellence is not often gained upon easier terms”. Samuel Johnson, on completing the 1770 Good Beer Guide. What a wonderfully underrated little place Lichfield is. There’s not much to do, but its streets are made for walking. Mostly into the back of slow… Continue reading LICHFIELD – TIRED OF MICROPUBS, TIRED OF LIFE
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