Despite Basingstoke*, I rate Hampshire as highly as any County, if I can’t call Greater Manchester a County. The big cities are surprisingly good cultural centres, St Mary’s and Fratton Park are great, contrasting, places to watch football. Ignore the New Forest; walks around the commons, downs and valleys of Yateley, Whitchurch and Swanmore are varied and feel… Continue reading FULLERS & WATERCRESS
AN OTTER FAR FROM HOME
West London between Brentford and Windsor is a bit of a struggle for me to rave about. The odd Spoons shop conversion apart, only a few very dull Fullers pubs have made the Beer Guide over the year. Even Brentford doesn’t seem quite the beery paradise it did five or so years ago, when the Express… Continue reading AN OTTER FAR FROM HOME
PUB WITH NO NAME
I finally found the Pub With No Name at Prior’s Dean, which is odd because it’s called the White Horse. It’s appeared in Beer Guides and Pub Guides over the years, as famed for it’s remoteness as it’s historic interior. As with quite a few “remote” pubs, it’s only a couple or so miles off… Continue reading PUB WITH NO NAME
POMPEY CHIMES
A couple of days in Hampshire, taking advantage of some sunshine by the coast. Accor Hotels are my new hotel friends; some of their Ibis Budget range are going for £30 or less, and not just on Sundays. Last week I attended the funeral of a friend from our church, who in his youth had… Continue reading POMPEY CHIMES
IT’S PRONOUNCED BEAVER
The Vale of Belvoir is the small but posh bit between Grantham, Melton Mowbray and Bingham, and so a bit of the 3 dullest East Midlands counties. It’s relatively hilly, at least where the castle is perched, but would appear very flat to anyone north of Belper. There’s been a Beer Guide pub in virtually… Continue reading IT’S PRONOUNCED BEAVER
A PINT OF JOHNS*
Just looking at the Good Beer Guide updates on the CAMRA website now (It’s wet outside) I was saddened to read of the closure of the Prince of Wales in Greasbrough near Rotherham, due to an accident to the licensee. This is the pub where I began a long appreciation of John Smiths, before the… Continue reading A PINT OF JOHNS*
GAINS AND LOSSES ON THE A1
Ram Jam (closed) I get odder looks about my perpetual travel plans than I do my early(ish) retirement. Friends in Cambridge still refuse to believe the journey to, say, North Yorkshire is a mere two hours (within the speed limit). It’s not just Londoners who never travel north (North Norfolk doesn’t count). I timed it between the county… Continue reading GAINS AND LOSSES ON THE A1
(This Is) What We Call Progress
There was one other pub I revisited in Kentish Town last Sunday. It got a bit lost among a cluster of gems but deserves it’s own post. It’s hidden just off the main Fortess Road, in one of those streets straight out of Mary Poppins. The Pineapple is one of the country’s most beautiful mid-Victorian… Continue reading (This Is) What We Call Progress
KURT VILE @ LEEDS UNI
I seem to be favouring gigs in Leeds this year, which says something about the quality of the developing pub scene as much as the drawing power of 30,000 students. It might also reflect on the attraction of perfectly good Ibis Budget rooms for £25 in mid-week. Kurt Vile at Stylus, in the mysterious rabbit… Continue reading KURT VILE @ LEEDS UNI
HIGHGATE HILL
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
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