Sunday’s beer garden joy in Welford reminded me we’re coming to the time when non-smokers suddenly wish smokers were back in the pub, instead of contaminating their fresh air. Whingers. When the weather is nice, should the pub smoking ban be reversed to force the smokers indoors and leave the beer garden smelling nicer? —… Continue reading FIRST OF THE SUMMER WHINE
Tag: cambridge
JIMMY, JIMMY
A short break from the real world of Thimbleby and Willoughby Waterleys as I return to the fictional town of Cambridge, where Punk IPA costs us £6 and our new cutting-edge Station Tap is run by Youngs. We also have year-round sunshine here, which means retired folk like me can watch cricket at Fenners AND… Continue reading JIMMY, JIMMY
MAMMOTH PENGUINS & THE LAST CASK OF CLOUDWATER
A short break from east coast market towns (don’t worry, they’ll be back) as I put a tenner into the local economy on Wednesday night. £5 for some great guitar pop at the Portland Arms, and £5.20 for a pint of what might have been the last ever pint of Cloudwater. (It wasn’t). Could this… Continue reading MAMMOTH PENGUINS & THE LAST CASK OF CLOUDWATER
ON THE KEG IN CAMBRIDGE
On the sunniest day of the year so far I managed to coax Mrs RM out for a walk. Only down to Waterbeach station and round the main drag of Cambridge at lunchtime, but it’s a start. Cambridge station is looking rather different these days, a vast development of flats, hotels and bike shops transforming one… Continue reading ON THE KEG IN CAMBRIDGE
VALENTINE’S DAY IS OVER
“For the girl with the hour glass figure Time runs out very fast We used to want the same things but that’s all in the past” Because I know how much you love Billy Bragg. We’d set the day aside to visit a few micro-pubs in the suburbs of Dartford, but the freak emergence of… Continue reading VALENTINE’S DAY IS OVER
USING UP THE SPOONS VOUCHERS BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Mrs RM put the Christmas tree up on 30 November. You can imagine how thrilled I am about that, but I put the figures into my “Quiet Life Model” and it told me to live with it. At least she didn’t ask me to help. I haven’t bought a present for 25 years, and that… Continue reading USING UP THE SPOONS VOUCHERS BEFORE CHRISTMAS
A REQUIEM FOR CHERRY HINTON
The one downside of meeting old work colleagues (apart from them blaming you for the collapse of the NHS) is that they always want to meet in dining pubs. Not that there’s many dumpy old men’s pubs left in Cambridge for a pint and scratchings anyway. The closest boozer to work used to be the… Continue reading A REQUIEM FOR CHERRY HINTON
DEVONSHIRE ARMS, CAMBRIDGE
Mrs RM and I are working our way through the Cambridge Beer Guide entries, purely for research purposes. At 11.55am we were hovering outside the door of the Devonshire looking very suspicious. This is one of our favourite Cambridge pubs, being a few steps from the shiny but dull station and with a shiny line-up… Continue reading DEVONSHIRE ARMS, CAMBRIDGE
OXFORD v CAMBRIDGE REVISITED
There’s an assumption of a great Cambridge/Oxford rivalry. It doesn’t exist, anymore than Uttoxeter and Doncaster are daggers drawn because both hold horsey races. I don’t know anyone who watches the boat race, and even on trips to the Manor or Kassam Stadiums I doubt many United fans bothered to set foot in the centre.… Continue reading OXFORD v CAMBRIDGE REVISITED
A RESTORATIVE FOR MRS RM IN THE ELM TREE
I’m falling behind on the posts, believe it or not. Reports on Ipswich, Theale, Melton Mowbray and the Spennymoor suburbs exist as scribbled notes and unfathomable photos. The collapse of my trusty laptop last week hit me hard, and Mrs RM has had to interrupt her despair to get it fixed. Yesterday she had a… Continue reading A RESTORATIVE FOR MRS RM IN THE ELM TREE
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