It took me a while to get to grips with what constitutes Greater Manchester, itself an entirely artificial construct. What I quickly realised were the essentials; Stockport and Manchester are quite different, and Manchester United don’t play in Manchester, or even in Salford. “That [neighbouring] Stretford and Salford are not administratively one with Manchester is… Continue reading THE OTHER SIDE OF SALFORD
LEIGH WEAVES ITS MAGIC
My last Beer Guide entry for Greater Manchester was in Leigh. I always save the best Manc tick till last, except for the time I had to go to Walkden. Leigh doesn’t make a natural weekend break, but while Mitchells & Butler ran their Innkeepers Lodge in Lowton at bargain rates (£59.90 for 3 nights… Continue reading LEIGH WEAVES ITS MAGIC
DON’T EVER CHANGE
I often observe in this blog on the transformation of British cities, for example by independent enterprise in Mansfield or street art in Weston Super Mare. I didn’t notice much different about Blackpool this week, and that’s fine with me. It displayed plenty of the qualities that made it famous, and the beach looked the best… Continue reading DON’T EVER CHANGE
DOWN TO THE WYRE – POSH BLACKPOOL
I always love my trips to Blackpool, particularly when it enjoys what looked suspiciously like sunshine. A great day to appreciate the local culture. Two of my new Guide pubs are as far from this side of Blackpool as it gets. Poulton le Fylde is a small market town that seems able to rely on Blackpool for all its… Continue reading DOWN TO THE WYRE – POSH BLACKPOOL
TOP 100 PUBS – THE VICTORIA HOTEL , CLEVELEYS
I’m in Blackpool for a couple of days, the only possible follow-on to Royal Tunbridge Wells. It’s entirely coincidental that the trip coincides with an invasion of slugs into our kitchen, no doubt attracted by the smell of spilled Yeastie Boys. Mrs RM has it in hand. Kitchen slugs are no doubt just one… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – THE VICTORIA HOTEL , CLEVELEYS
ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS – HOPS AND HIGH ROCKS
I took my nearly-octogenarian in-laws on a pub crawl round their home town* on Sunday. They loved it, but then they were drinking 7% beers by the end. To be fair to what I’ll now call RTW, it looked at its very best. The modern town is quite functional, but there’s enough hilly streets on the way down… Continue reading ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS – HOPS AND HIGH ROCKS
BRIGG GETS ITS SPOONS
Brigg has punched above its weight for years. With only 5,000 souls, it still manages a good train service (on Saturdays to Cleethorpes), an FA Vase winning football club, a great Chinese takeaway and eight pubs in half a mile stroll through an attractive market town. Ideally placed for Scunthorpe too. As with Goole, a… Continue reading BRIGG GETS ITS SPOONS
ALL CHANGE IN DONCASTER
I was shocked to read about the serious financial problems at Doncaster & Bassetlaw Hospitals last week. The town has had its share of governance scandals over recent years, but not long back NHS financial concerns were largely confined to the south. Clearly the changes to deprivation weighting in funding formulas are starting to bite. Doncaster… Continue reading ALL CHANGE IN DONCASTER
HULL PREPARES FOR ITS DAY IN THE SUN
Hull is one of Europe’s great cities, the Old Town in my Top 10 for architecture, museums and pubs. Next year as the Capital of Culture they’ll hope to capitalise on those treasures, but I suspect there’ll be more European than UK visitors. Apart from a few folk who went to Uni there, and my… Continue reading HULL PREPARES FOR ITS DAY IN THE SUN
GOOLE – AN APPRECIATION
I had no reason to break my train journey in Goole today but I did. Mrs RM may very well have turned down the opportunity. In the ’90s I made her stop there, en route back from Hull and Driffield, more times than is strictly necessary, in the pursuit of the mysteries of Goole Fields. It looked… Continue reading GOOLE – AN APPRECIATION
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