Walthamstow is a fairly unremarkable suburb of London, notable for it’s long-closed Racing Stadium and it’s highly regarded Labour MP. In recent years it has seen some impressive modernisation that made a repeat visit unmissable when I was in the area at the weekend. The main areas of interest are the vibrant High Street market, the… Continue reading E17
THE REINDEER, SAXON STREET – WORTH THE WAIT
One of Cambridgeshire’s few new entries in the just issued Good Beer Guide is a real curiosity. The Reindeer in Saxon Street is the only pub in a tiny village a few miles south of Newmarket, with very little population catchment. It was taken on in 2013 by a renowned figure in the world of… Continue reading THE REINDEER, SAXON STREET – WORTH THE WAIT
KINVER
One of my venues for catching up with ex-colleagues is the small Staffordshire town of Kinver. It’s only a few miles from the Black Country towns of Wolverhampton and Dudley, with the affluence of the many attractive villages leading out to the Shropshire hills. Kinver is worth a visit for its wonderful National Trust caves,… Continue reading KINVER
BACK TO BROWN
My trip down to Cranborne Chase last weekend gave me the chance to sample a few renowned “boring brown bitters” close to source, and see whether they really were better on home territory. Palmers, Ringwood, Otter and Butcombe are all beers of some heritage, but rarely now seen in the free trade, certainly north of the… Continue reading BACK TO BROWN
MODERN MUSIC IS RUBBISH
I’m just back from my fourth End of the Road Festival, where I’ve seen more than 40 artists across all musical genres and with only the fact they make music in 2015 in common. I must have heard nearly 300 songs and only 2 cover versions (bizarrely Johnny B Good and Atmosphere). Unfashionably, I reckon… Continue reading MODERN MUSIC IS RUBBISH
END OF THE ROAD
Tomorrow I’m off to End of the Road, a smallish music festival near Salisbury (just below the Sixpenny Handley Brewery which I hope to visit at last). This annual festival is the only one I visit, and is usually one of the year’s highlights. This will be the first year I’m going on my own… Continue reading END OF THE ROAD
QUALITY v QUANTITY IN BRISTOL
I’ve been visiting a few of the pubs new to the Beer Guide on a trip to Bristol. I’m more convinced than ever that beer quality is being sacrificed in the name of choice and variety, and that this will have bad consequences for real ale in the long run. Firstly, Bristol is an increasingly… Continue reading QUALITY v QUANTITY IN BRISTOL
COV
Coventry is one of those cities, like Stoke, that the rest of the UK seem to miss the merits of. I must visit Cov twice a year, though it’s 15 years since I last saw football there. I’m spending a day there now with Mrs RM, waiting for our boys to exhaust their brains at… Continue reading COV
GOOD BEER GUIDE 2016
My favourite day of the year is the day the new Beer Guide arrives. That may be sad but I really enjoy looking through a new guide to see the annual changes and the trends they reflect. The 2016 Guide arrived today quite a bit earlier than usual. It’s officially launched in mid September and… Continue reading GOOD BEER GUIDE 2016
THE DUKERIES
Yesterday I made an early morning trip to Hazel Grove using a slight variation on one of my many routes (A1/M62 and A14/M1/A50 are least disliked). I don’t use SatNav, but a quick look at Google Maps showed that because of A1 delays a trip from Elkesley to Bolsover, and then through the Peak, would… Continue reading THE DUKERIES
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