It’s a while since I walked St Albans, a small Cathedral city generally characterised as both affluent and a hot-bed of late night rowdiness. In my experience, from having in the area, both are over simplifications. What is more true is that things change very slowly, if at all in St Albans. The best way… Continue reading NO CHANGE IN ST ALBANS
USE YOUR LEGS
I retired early so I could get out of a mainly office-based job and enjoy fresh air and exercise. Some of that exercise is taken walking from train stations to pubs and back again. I tend to regard a 5 mile round trip to a pub as an ideal – 5 brisk miles is about 90… Continue reading USE YOUR LEGS
OLD MUSICAL EXPRESS
I picked up my first copy of the NME in nearly 3 decades today; FOPP were virtually forcing the now free paper on people. I stopped reading it pretty much when Paul Morley left, and it is unrecognisable from the paper that, along with Peel, used to point me to new musical directions each week.… Continue reading OLD MUSICAL EXPRESS
E17
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
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