October 2025. Chaddesden. Derby. Back at Derby station from Tutbury, I reckoned it was worth chancing a dash to the Hoppy Place, Derby’s lone new GBG tick a couple of miles east. Out the station’s back entrance, through the grim light industry and Tier 2 football of Pride Park, over the Brian Clough expressway via… Continue reading A BASS AND POPPADOMS HALT IN CHADDESDEN
Tag: Derby
THE BIG DERBY “CURATED PUB SURVEY” No. 8 – YE OLDE DOLPHIN
May 2025, Derby. Well the itinerary had gone to pot, but our #PubManHeroes from Leicester, Frome, Sheffield (x 2), Stafford and Worcester (x 2) were at least walking in a straight line, reminiscent of a scene from the Wicker Man. But where was our leader ? Life After Football presumably checking out Bunk and Brooklyn’s… Continue reading THE BIG DERBY “CURATED PUB SURVEY” No. 8 – YE OLDE DOLPHIN
THE BIG DERBY “CURATED PUB SURVEY”. No. 7 – THE WOODLARK
May 2025 Derby. And so, to a (third) unscheduled stop on our Derby crawl, and my own highlight of any Derby trip. The Woodlark isn’t a Guide regular, I only discovered it in 2018, but it’s where you’ll want to go to see what pubs were like 40 years ago, an era of Football Specials,… Continue reading THE BIG DERBY “CURATED PUB SURVEY”. No. 7 – THE WOODLARK
THE BIG DERBY “CURATED PUB SURVEY”. No. 6 – THE MAYPOLE
May 2025. Derby. Well, where to start ? Life After Football had curated a top quality pub crawl, all your old Derby favourites on a circulat route minimising walking. But I’d reckoned you couldn’t skip the Woodlark, in and out of the Guide after I described it as “perfect”, a pub performing the same function… Continue reading THE BIG DERBY “CURATED PUB SURVEY”. No. 6 – THE MAYPOLE
THE BIG DERBY “CURATED PUB SURVEY”. No. 4 – FURNACE
May 2025. Derby. I’d already dragged Will off the approved route, but with barely 15 minutes in the Exeter we felt confident that a sprint to the backstreet Furnace would allow us to catch up with reprimand and suspension of Old Codger privileges. But the sight of Stafford Paul sprinting towards the Five Lamps suggested… Continue reading THE BIG DERBY “CURATED PUB SURVEY”. No. 4 – FURNACE
THE BIG DERBY “CURATED PUB SURVEY”. No. 2 – THE SMITHFIELD
May 2025. Derby. The BIG unofficial Derby pub crawl went off-course immediately on leaving the Brunswick, our group deciding that no, they couldn’t wait 13 minutes for the Alex to open, so over the Derwent, looking all pastoral and romantic, until Paul brings my attention to the abandoned shopping trolleys on the left. This crawl,… Continue reading THE BIG DERBY “CURATED PUB SURVEY”. No. 2 – THE SMITHFIELD
TOP 100 PUBS – THE BRUNSWICK, DERBY
March 2024. Derby. On the homeward leg from the Black Country now, three great heritage pubs and some even better company, and I had the free entertainment of a zealous inspector telling two bemused girls they shouldn’t be using the Transport for Wales. “It might only be 5 or 10p difference but rules are rules;… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – THE BRUNSWICK, DERBY
CULTURAL DERBY. WITHOUT THE BASS.
March 2024. Derby. I didn’t feel my usual bouncy Retired Martin self after that night in Cambridge; something in the beer I reckon, so I made Saturday a “Pub-free day” for cultural exploration with Mrs RM. I guess Derby wasn’t the best place to taste my resilience, all that Bass and Pedi, but sometimes you… Continue reading CULTURAL DERBY. WITHOUT THE BASS.
PREEMPTIVE DERBY
February 2024. Derby. Almost back to the old days now, with a preemptive tick in one of our best but most stable of GBG cities. 11 minutes, less 3 minutes to leave and then re-enter the station, and the delayed train from Uttoxeter. That leaves about minus 5 minutes for a half in the Victoria.… Continue reading PREEMPTIVE DERBY
WAITING FOR THE BASS BARREL TO BE CHANGED IN WILLINGTON
November 2023. Willington. Derby. I like the fact the newbie Guide entries are so unpredictable; just like the Spanish Inquisition no-one (except Life After Football) would have predicted the Dragon in Willington. LAF even suggested a week’s holiday in your first stop south of Derby, but a night in a campervan in the station car… Continue reading WAITING FOR THE BASS BARREL TO BE CHANGED IN WILLINGTON
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