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
A RESTORATIVE FOR MRS RM IN THE ELM TREE
I’m falling behind on the posts, believe it or not. Reports on Ipswich, Theale, Melton Mowbray and the Spennymoor suburbs exist as scribbled notes and unfathomable photos. The collapse of my trusty laptop last week hit me hard, and Mrs RM has had to interrupt her despair to get it fixed. Yesterday she had a… Continue reading A RESTORATIVE FOR MRS RM IN THE ELM TREE
NEW IN NEWBURY
I’m not saying Newbury is irritating, but its new (GBG-wise) micro was my only unticked Beer Guide entry within a thousand mile radius in the wild west of Berkshire. It is irritating that even BRAPA has been to the Cow & Cask before me. Simon was unusually kindly about it too, perhaps because the errant children had been… Continue reading NEW IN NEWBURY
TOO MANY BEERS !
I’ve been commenting on the impact of very large beer ranges on quality since the start of this blog, and this post by Pub Curmudgeon also tackled some of the realities of choice, a thread entertainingly developed in the comments. My immediate reaction to the assertion that most pubs had a dozen beers of varying… Continue reading TOO MANY BEERS !
GATESHEAD’S PUB BUSKERS
As you’ll know, all the best bits of Newcastle are actually in Seaton Sluice. But Gateshead has its attractions too, including some of the darkest, scariest roads outside of Harare (but better pub windows). I was too early to make the BALTIC cutting-edge Christmas ceramics workshop, so had to make do with a couple of new… Continue reading GATESHEAD’S PUB BUSKERS
KNOTTINGLEY KICKS BACK
One of the few downsides of the improvements to the A1 (Newcastle in 3hrs 30) is that it’s much harder to turn-off to little Knottingley these days. That’s meant that our custom for West Yorkshire’s finest pizza takeaway has rather dried up. Dario’s is still hanging on in the fairly grim little arcade along the… Continue reading KNOTTINGLEY KICKS BACK
NEWCASTLE COMPLETE
Another new batch of Beer Guide pubs in Newcastle, which only needs to add a fast hovercraft service to Bergen and a Vietnamese café or two to get in the same league as Manchester. Last year was all about a clutch of new Uber-Craft places, including two microbrew places lumped into a confusing new “Quayside”… Continue reading NEWCASTLE COMPLETE
JULIA JACKLIN & PUB CATS IN THE OUSEBURN VALLEY
Among plenty of reasons to visit Newcastle, I count some of our best live music venues, craftiest (?) pubs and proper graffiti art. The Free Trade has two of those qualities, and a legendary free jukebox. Much more importantly, it also has a quite wonderful pub cat, clearly a favourite of the FT’s resident bog artists. I hadn’t been… Continue reading JULIA JACKLIN & PUB CATS IN THE OUSEBURN VALLEY
retiredmartin 