Wetherspoons may be retrenching a bit, but their new (March ’16) pub in Portishead is a reminder of their ability to deliver what people want. Portishead is a smallish town in industrial, rather than beachy Somerset coast, and the development near the Marina is long overdue. Apart from our Premier Inn there’s a Sainsbury’s, Waitrose,… Continue reading PORTISHEAD’S NEW SPOONS – A GLORY BOX ?
POLDARK, PASTIES & PHILLACK
We’ve been visiting a few stragglers in inland Cornwall, on the way to completing the county’s Beer Guide entries before Simon Everitt gets off the mark. I’ve enjoyed the industrial landscape round here as much as the coast. The remains of the tin mines at Porkellis Moor near Helston were particularly attractive, if a bit… Continue reading POLDARK, PASTIES & PHILLACK
10 am, BLUE ANCHOR, HELSTON
I have one more wedding-skiving confession to make. During the post-legalities photos at Helston Registry Office yesterday, I nipped in the Blue Anchor. I didn’t get caught either. This is one of the great brew-pub survivors, a wonderful building, and one of the 25 entrants in the first 25 Good Beer Guides Mrs RM and… Continue reading 10 am, BLUE ANCHOR, HELSTON
IF CARLSBERG DID WEDDINGS
I’ve been at my niece’s Tricia’s wedding to Jon in Constantine, Cornwall. An informal affair in a greenhouse with beer pong laid on. Mrs RM will tell you I don’t do weddings; our own was cheap and minimalist (until we got to Southsea). It seems Tricia also realises that, love apart, beer and falafel are all you need.… Continue reading IF CARLSBERG DID WEDDINGS
TOP 100 PUBS – THE BAG OF NAILS, BRISTOL
For a place with so much craft beer (craft by anyone’s definition) Bristol has a superb collection of traditional boozers. I rarely see the city mentioned in the same league as Norwich or Sheffield, which is odd. Being picky, the Beer Guide pubs can seem dominated by students, and I’ve had the odd bit of… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – THE BAG OF NAILS, BRISTOL
A BATH BLASPHEMY IN HOTWELLS
An evening in Bristol revealed yet more new architectural and pubby discoveries, the supply of great street art seemingly endless. Hotwells is the suburb connecting the centre to Clifton, home to the brilliant Bag o’ Nails which gets its own post later, and not just because of the cats. Round the corner is the Myrtle… Continue reading A BATH BLASPHEMY IN HOTWELLS
MAIDENHEAD PROVIDES RELIEF
Once you get to your eighties sixties you need fairly regular comfort breaks, and so it was that I found myself in Maidenhead searching for a lunch stop for my parents today. This was by no means a stop of choice, but the need to park fairly close to the lunch venue overrode the need to… Continue reading MAIDENHEAD PROVIDES RELIEF
CROWN INN, ASHLEY – CAMBRIDGE PUB OF THE YEAR
I’m not sure I’ve spent this much time in Cambridgeshire since my youngest son was born, which inconsiderately reduced my ticking time for a week or so. A shorter walk on Saturday with Mrs RM around the horse-breeding villages was a bit flat, but did give us a chance to take in the just-crowned Crown in… Continue reading CROWN INN, ASHLEY – CAMBRIDGE PUB OF THE YEAR
APRIL STOCKTAKE
A good month pub wise, with 37 new Beer Guide pubs in 15 counties (more if you’re using proper county definition), and finishing off the West Midlands, West Yorkshire, Warwicks chapters of the GBG. I didn’t get to the Anchor in Anchor or the Isle of Wight, but an impromptu trip to Thanet compensated for that. As Erlangen… Continue reading APRIL STOCKTAKE
WATERBEACH SUN’S BEER FESTIVAL
It’s a rare day I stay at home, but I promised Mrs RM I’d go with her to our local pub’s Beer Festival, just to be unusually sociable. The Sun is the drinkers pub in a village of about 5,000, recently reduced by the closure of the RAF base. It’s the first pub I went… Continue reading WATERBEACH SUN’S BEER FESTIVAL
