A last post from the South West for a month or so. After this week I’ve nearly finished the many Bristol Guide pubs, so time to concentrate on Cheltenham next. On our way back from Falmouth, we stopped at Weston-Super-Mare, where I gave my Mum and Dad a brief tutorial on the works of Banksy. … Continue reading THE BEERY MISEDUCATION OF LAWRENCE HILL*
BRISTOL’S KING STREET
Bristol is certainly in my Top 10 pub towns, just ahead of Sheffield but behind Ramsgate. I particularly like the spread of Beer Guide pubs across the city, though the outer eastern suburbs are a bit disappointing. I may be very lucky, but I’ve always found the pubs pleasingly busy, and if that’s often due… Continue reading BRISTOL’S KING STREET
PORTISHEAD’S NEW SPOONS – A GLORY BOX ?
Wetherspoons may be retrenching a bit, but their new (March ’16) pub in Portishead is a reminder of their ability to deliver what people want. Portishead is a smallish town in industrial, rather than beachy Somerset coast, and the development near the Marina is long overdue. Apart from our Premier Inn there’s a Sainsbury’s, Waitrose,… Continue reading PORTISHEAD’S NEW SPOONS – A GLORY BOX ?
POLDARK, PASTIES & PHILLACK
We’ve been visiting a few stragglers in inland Cornwall, on the way to completing the county’s Beer Guide entries before Simon Everitt gets off the mark. I’ve enjoyed the industrial landscape round here as much as the coast. The remains of the tin mines at Porkellis Moor near Helston were particularly attractive, if a bit… Continue reading POLDARK, PASTIES & PHILLACK
10 am, BLUE ANCHOR, HELSTON
I have one more wedding-skiving confession to make. During the post-legalities photos at Helston Registry Office yesterday, I nipped in the Blue Anchor. I didn’t get caught either. This is one of the great brew-pub survivors, a wonderful building, and one of the 25 entrants in the first 25 Good Beer Guides Mrs RM and… Continue reading 10 am, BLUE ANCHOR, HELSTON
IF CARLSBERG DID WEDDINGS
I’ve been at my niece’s Tricia’s wedding to Jon in Constantine, Cornwall. An informal affair in a greenhouse with beer pong laid on. Mrs RM will tell you I don’t do weddings; our own was cheap and minimalist (until we got to Southsea). It seems Tricia also realises that, love apart, beer and falafel are all you need.… Continue reading IF CARLSBERG DID WEDDINGS
TOP 100 PUBS – THE BAG OF NAILS, BRISTOL
For a place with so much craft beer (craft by anyone’s definition) Bristol has a superb collection of traditional boozers. I rarely see the city mentioned in the same league as Norwich or Sheffield, which is odd. Being picky, the Beer Guide pubs can seem dominated by students, and I’ve had the odd bit of… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – THE BAG OF NAILS, BRISTOL
A BATH BLASPHEMY IN HOTWELLS
An evening in Bristol revealed yet more new architectural and pubby discoveries, the supply of great street art seemingly endless. Hotwells is the suburb connecting the centre to Clifton, home to the brilliant Bag o’ Nails which gets its own post later, and not just because of the cats. Round the corner is the Myrtle… Continue reading A BATH BLASPHEMY IN HOTWELLS
MAIDENHEAD PROVIDES RELIEF
Once you get to your eighties sixties you need fairly regular comfort breaks, and so it was that I found myself in Maidenhead searching for a lunch stop for my parents today. This was by no means a stop of choice, but the need to park fairly close to the lunch venue overrode the need to… Continue reading MAIDENHEAD PROVIDES RELIEF
CROWN INN, ASHLEY – CAMBRIDGE PUB OF THE YEAR
I’m not sure I’ve spent this much time in Cambridgeshire since my youngest son was born, which inconsiderately reduced my ticking time for a week or so. A shorter walk on Saturday with Mrs RM around the horse-breeding villages was a bit flat, but did give us a chance to take in the just-crowned Crown in… Continue reading CROWN INN, ASHLEY – CAMBRIDGE PUB OF THE YEAR
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