Once/if things get back to “normal” I’ll be able to catch a train to Durham in less than 2 hours, which sounds like a win. I’ve been scouring my newly acquired first Guide to North East pubs for a Durham City boozer that’s in the current GBG I can write about. It’s harder than I… Continue reading YE OLD ELM TREE
Tag: Durham
TOP 10 COUNTIES – No. 8 – DURHAM
Oooh, clickbait Bass. Is a pint of banked Bass REALLY the best visual representation for County Durham (not to be confused with Durham the City or Adrian of Talksport infamy) ? Stockton-on-Tees, home to the Sun’s famed bankers, doesn’t even appear on the Bing Map for the county. But it does appear in the Good… Continue reading TOP 10 COUNTIES – No. 8 – DURHAM
IS THIS THE WAY TO BARNARD CASTLE ?
Six to do in the Durham chapter (vague reference to my last tick on Wednesday night) of the Guide, but three of those are micros so, oh you guess the rest. A second campervan trip to Durham in July, saving me the extortionate B&B charges in honeypots like Chester-le-Street and Barnard Castle, which is… Continue reading IS THIS THE WAY TO BARNARD CASTLE ?
(LOOKING FOR) THE HEART OF SATURDAY NIGHT
You left me in the Coalhouse, the Seaham micropub you CAN visit and get a pink tick. They were playing “Heart of Saturday Night”. It was a Tom Waits sorta bar. I hit the town. It was closed. I’m afraid there’s not a wealth of cask in Seaham. The next pint of real ale is… Continue reading (LOOKING FOR) THE HEART OF SATURDAY NIGHT
VISITING BARNARD CASTLE
Last night’s Government Briefing heralded a new dawn for GBG tickers (if there’s any pubs left to tick in 2024) with the announcement of the dual-carriaging of the A66 between Scotch Corner and Penrith. I reckon that’ll save another 9 minutes off future journeys into western Scotland and the Lakes, which along with the improved… Continue reading VISITING BARNARD CASTLE
DARLINGTON – QUOFFING IN QUAKERLAND
That’s the first and last time I use the phrase “quoffing“. Eagle-eyed readers will note yesterday’s Swansea programme from ’76 cost a staggering 12p. Today, same division, just two years earlier, Darlo’s is yours for a shilling. EVERYTHING cost a shilling in ’74, before the 3 day week and hyper-inflation heralded a Callaghan Government… Continue reading DARLINGTON – QUOFFING IN QUAKERLAND
MY GRANDFATHER’S CLOCK
Some artists are best known for their worst work. McCartney made his fortune singing about frogs, Bowie is best known for a gnome, and BRAPA‘s fortune rests on a single act of public urination at a Nottinghamshire station. Despite classic blogs from Spurn Head, Kilmarnock and Gozo, my blogging highlight appears to be this faulty… Continue reading MY GRANDFATHER’S CLOCK
DURHAM DAWDLINGS
Just to prove I am going out for my prescribed/allowed one hour of continuous exercise, here’s the highlights from my walk up and down Car Dyke, Waterbeach’s third biggest tourist attraction. After the Sun and my parents’ house . This morning’s highlights come from Durham, for no good reason whatsoever. Bit surprising to see only… Continue reading DURHAM DAWDLINGS
A NORTON PIONEER
Next up an exciting yomp from Stockton up to Norton, which is definitely NOT a suburb of your new favourite Durham town. However much it looks like one on the Navigator. Sheer suburbia between the two towns, though I do fancy the building below as a future micropub accessible only by scaling the fence. It… Continue reading A NORTON PIONEER
CLOUDWATER COMES TO STOCKTON
WARNING: Contains trip to Stockton-on-Tees without a visit here; No banked Bass, but another day to admire the ongoing revitalisation of Darlington’s hitherto scruffy sister. Goodness me, Stockton is scrubbing up well. The big project is the refurb of the Globe Theatre, which once played host to the Beatles in the days before Lennon switched… Continue reading CLOUDWATER COMES TO STOCKTON
