Another in my occasional series of pubs you can walk to from the Motorway Service Station if you’re not quick (and you’re not driving, of course). A sort of alternative to Mr Protz’s guide to the Great North Road, perhaps. I haven’t heard from Alan Winfield for a while, I hope he’s OK. There’s something… Continue reading TIBSHELF SERVICE STATION PURPLE PUB
Tag: Derbyshire
DOUBLING UP IN DRAYCOTT
Fear not, I’ll soon have completed Derbyshire’s GBG entries, including one with a Derby County flag in; I’ll wait until Alan is asleep before I sneak that post out. This week I see Duncan the Pubmeister posting on Irvine, and Simon on North Marston, so Draycott doesn’t seem that unusual a blog topic. Following the… Continue reading DOUBLING UP IN DRAYCOTT
ILKESTON PUBS – ONE STEP BACKWARDS, TWO STEPS FORWARD
And a nice Shipstones mirror for Alan Winfield today, as I get even closer to the Stapleford home of the great man. I’m sure Alan has done virtually all of Ilkeston‘s 30 odd pubs. Quite a few closures of late, including the Brewery Tap, a pleasant but quiet micro. Last year I wrote; “The new… Continue reading ILKESTON PUBS – ONE STEP BACKWARDS, TWO STEPS FORWARD
DRONFIELD – THE GLOSSOP OF THE EAST
As noted many times before, the Beer Guide leads you to places the average Englishman has never heard of and will never visit, waiting instead for a Virtual Reality headset that allows them to explore Goole and Maidenhead from their living room. They’ll miss out on the delights of Dronfield, a resolutely traditional bit of Derbyshire despite… Continue reading DRONFIELD – THE GLOSSOP OF THE EAST
MELBOURNE 1 v DONINGTON 1
South Derbyshire isn’t much fun in the rain, unless you’re watching thousands of old blokes with Sabbath T-Shirts drowning in the mud. The countryside around the mudbath, airport and racetrack is unexpectedly hilly and attractive, though obviously with special appeal for fans of power stations. Last year’s rare visit to Castle Donington found the micropub… Continue reading MELBOURNE 1 v DONINGTON 1
BAMFORD – PEAKS, PALE, POST & PROG
Yesterday I found myself in one of those patches of the UK with more breweries than Good Beer Guide pubs, the type which make a bit of a nonsense of the GBG App when you’re looking for the nearest pub. It won’t be too long before Guide entries are outweighed by breweries, few of which will have… Continue reading BAMFORD – PEAKS, PALE, POST & PROG
NEW MILLS, HANDY FOR THE HILLS
New Mills seems to have a particularly poor reputation among people who’ve never been there, rather like Oldham in fact. A work colleague who stayed in one of those posh B&Bs in neighbouring Hayfield, Smarmfields I think it was called, claimed never to have heard of the town. Clearly, I’m a big fan. We stayed… Continue reading NEW MILLS, HANDY FOR THE HILLS
TOUGH CHOICES IN REPTON AND SWADLINCOTE
No new Beer Guide pubs in Burton this year, which means no trips to the spiritual home of Bass, run brilliantly by Joules. I’ll find an excuse. Some rare new ticks in the east though, and some good walking on the edge of the National Forest. The Forest is coming along nicely two decades in,… Continue reading TOUGH CHOICES IN REPTON AND SWADLINCOTE
PEDIGREE & A COB IN SAWLEY
My Quiz question for Castle Donington was, of course, Nikita Khrushchev, who opened the power station at short notice when “H” from Steps became unavailable. Just over the border in Derbyshire is the large canalside village of Sawley, where no doubt Nikita stopped for a cob and pint of Pedigree back in 1956, though those records have… Continue reading PEDIGREE & A COB IN SAWLEY
MANIFOLD CONTRASTS
Nowadays children at Cottenham Village College get to go to China, Berlin and Peterborough for their expensive research trips into modern beer production. Back in ’78 it was Ilam Hall or nothing. I remember the highlight was being allowed to stay up to watch the Home International highlights with teachers well beyond 10pm. I presume it’s… Continue reading MANIFOLD CONTRASTS
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