“Never write posts after a penalty shoot-out” says the Pub Bloggers Manual. Oh well. I have a lot of photos and scrappy notes from the Great Penrith, Ayr & Glasgow Campervan Trip of 2018, some of them usable. Before I start on twenty-three pubs, here’s the quiz. “What will be the average NBSS score across… Continue reading A STEP BACK IN TIME ALONG THE A66
Tag: Crown
MATLOCK SPOONS PERSISTS WITH THE OLD-SCHOOL COFFEE MACHINE
I knew we should have gone in Matlock‘s Spoons when we walked past last year on a glorious Summer day. Perhaps we did go in. Google maps might know. But Matlock is always worth a return trip, even if the M&S Food Hall makes you unreasonably irate by not recognising anything as part of… Continue reading MATLOCK SPOONS PERSISTS WITH THE OLD-SCHOOL COFFEE MACHINE
ABBOTS BROMLEY – BACK ON THE BASS
My pub heroes of 2016 were Stockport CAMRA, for making a pub with one real ale their Pub of the Year. This year may well be the turn of Rochdale, Oldham and Bury CAMRA, for getting Draught Bass into two of their GBG pubs. Drink it up, Rochdale. The downside of the Beer Guide route… Continue reading ABBOTS BROMLEY – BACK ON THE BASS
NECTAR IN NUNEATON
Every 11th Thursday is curry night, when two middle-aged codgers from the east of England meet up in obscure parts of the Midlands to enjoy pubs and Indian restaurants. It’s a simple formula, only faltering slightly when I book rooms at a complete dump on the A5. Sorry Charles. The pub at the motel was… Continue reading NECTAR IN NUNEATON
PROPER PUBS IN MONTGOMERYSHIRE
Pub Curmudgeon rightly picked me up for placing the Railway Tavern in Powys. I’ll be sticking to historic counties from now on. For a week or so till I get to West Wales. I popped to Montgomeryshire‘s old county town (pop.1,200) to see if anything had changed since Mrs RM got a room at the… Continue reading PROPER PUBS IN MONTGOMERYSHIRE
LET IT GO – A HIT TO THE HEART IN HASTINGS
There’s a real joy about hearing a great new song live for the first time, especially by a band you’ve never heard of in a pub. Let It Go by the Wildflowers is 2016’s first classic, a real tearjerker that had more one old bloke welling up a bit. “Well, that’s the hit of the… Continue reading LET IT GO – A HIT TO THE HEART IN HASTINGS
BACUP
This is only marginally worthy of a separate post to be honest, but I bet no-one has ever blogged about Bacup before and I’m a glory hunter as you’ll know. There’s not a lot to be said about Bacup apart from noting it has great scenery, and the occasional great bit of tiling. The Crown… Continue reading BACUP
CHORLEY CHATTER
It’s not quite Proud Preston to be fair, but I always enjoy the annual trip to Chorley to tick off a new Guide pub or two. To me it’s an exemplar small market town, with an actual market that lacks the glamour of Bury but at least sells stuff people want. Not sure what Botany… Continue reading CHORLEY CHATTER
KNARESBOROUGH – A MARVEL BY THE NIDD
My regular stops on the way to and from the North-East are Wetherby and Knaresborough. Wetherby has a poor Beer Guide record, but a great riverside park and chippie. Knaresborough is overshadowed by Harrogate and York, which is fair enough, but it deserves the budget accommodation it lacks to make it a really good overnight… Continue reading KNARESBOROUGH – A MARVEL BY THE NIDD
PENZANCE REDEEMED BY BASS
My Sis wanted to explore Penzance, on the assumption that it must have an “independent” quarter. Even Glossop and Mansfield have one of those now, and surely Falmouth can’t have all the alternative scene. We didn’t find it. Only in the attractive but scruffy square housing the Beer Guide-listed Crown did we see much of… Continue reading PENZANCE REDEEMED BY BASS
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