No big walks last week due to a gammy leg, but by Sunday afternoon I was up for a proper stretch. Mrs RM had chosen Mansfield over Camden the day before, so it only seemed fair to give North London another chance to impress. London’s micro-climate meant ideal conditions for an aimless ramble north of King’s Cross,… Continue reading HIGHGATE HILL
GARDEN CENTRES AND WETHERSPOONS
I took my Dad to the giant Van Hage Garden Centre just off the A10 at Ware. He wanted to go back for the first time in 30 years, and revisit some of the attractive Hertfordshire villages he used to drive through when delivering to the old Spitalfields. Visiting garden centres is somewhere below cutting… Continue reading GARDEN CENTRES AND WETHERSPOONS
TOP 100 PUBS – SOUTHAMPTON ARMS, KENTISH TOWN
I’ve never had great things to say about North-West London, outside of Euston anyway, so I gave it a short re-evaluation yesterday afternoon. A fuller post to follow, but it was the Southampton Arms that made the greatest impression. 5 years ago, not long after it opened, I rated it as highly as anywhere in London,… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – SOUTHAMPTON ARMS, KENTISH TOWN
MANSFIELD – ALL MICROPUBS & MACCHIATO
I gave Mrs RM a couple of enticing choices for the day – Camden Town or Mansfield and she looked at me like I was daft. I obviously chose my wife well. She probably had equally fond memories of our memorable weekend there 20-odd years ago. It must have been our anniversary as I distinctly remember paying £15… Continue reading MANSFIELD – ALL MICROPUBS & MACCHIATO
INDEPENDENTS IN T’OTHER BURY
The southern Bury (St Edmunds) is a wonderful town for an afternoon amble, with more attractive streets than Cambridge, if not Norwich. It’s also only a 40 minute hop on the train for me, a bit quicker than the northern version, though no doubt HS2 will remedy that just as I finally get to move… Continue reading INDEPENDENTS IN T’OTHER BURY
NEW BRUM
Beginning my appreciation of Birmingham in the early ’90s with trips to St Andrews, Villa Park, and the old Bullring wasn’t a good idea; though the Balti houses always were. Over 25 or so years I’ve grown to love the Regency and modern architecture, the gigs at the Hare & Hounds, the IKON Gallery, and many more… Continue reading NEW BRUM
THE LITTLE NIBBLE
Somehow I’ve managed to resist the charms of Bearwood over the years, while walking pretty much all of the neighbouring honeypots of Harborne and Oldbury, and knowing every inch of the A456. Hagley Road is the home of one of my regular curry nights with former colleagues, and I can recommend Bengal Delight for a… Continue reading THE LITTLE NIBBLE
LOCAL HERO
I wrote yesterday about the death of a traditional Greene King village pub which focused on quality of it’s core range, contrasting this with their Local Hero pubs, which over the last four years have given selected tenants the right to stock an extended range of beers, which tend to be from local breweries of varying size. There’s… Continue reading LOCAL HERO
CUCKOO – SPIRIT OF THE SOW
Back in the days when they were a regional brewer, Greene King ran some fantastic local pubs which could do justice to their IPA (Bitter of the year 2006, remember). In my part of the world this included the Plough at Ley Green, the Cock at Broom, and my particular favourite the Sow & Pigs… Continue reading CUCKOO – SPIRIT OF THE SOW
(BENEATH THE PLASTIC PALM TREES)
Just back from visiting my Aunt in Eaton Bray, a plain Bedfordshire village rescued by it’s proximity to Dunstable Downs on the edge of the Chilterns. Now in her mid-80s, my Aunt is still very sharp, and had quite a bit to say about housing developments in southern Leighton Buzzard, which has usurped Dunstable as the main… Continue reading (BENEATH THE PLASTIC PALM TREES)
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