One of the most contentious issues in the pub blogging world is what makes the optimal music selection in a Proper Pub. This is very different from what constitutes good music; I don’t expect to hear Car Seat Headrest or Bo Ningen in a Sam Smiths pub, or Bruckner’s Eighth in a Brewer’s Fayre. I… Continue reading THE SUN GOES DOWN (ON THE A689) (LIVING IT UP)
Tag: Durham
MOTOR BIKIN’ TO MIDDLETON-IN-TEESDALE
Two days at home then off on Sunday to Durham, a trip which will culminate in this… Be very excited, Bass fans. But first, I went chasing waterfalls, and the end of the Durham chapter of the Beer Guide. Every week brings a new county to a close these days. My sixth trip up to… Continue reading MOTOR BIKIN’ TO MIDDLETON-IN-TEESDALE
ONE BEER IS ALL YOU NEED
I nearly forgot the Peacock at Tanfield Village, which is surprising given the cars I had to dodge on the half hour walk from the WMC to the posh bit of Tanfield and the care I spent setting up the photo above. A great green walk past industrial estates, sewage works and Shaft (dis), which… Continue reading ONE BEER IS ALL YOU NEED
TANFIELD LEA WMC – “IT’S A BELTER”
Next stop, Durham. One of my favourite counties, even if the Beer Guide entries can be a bit “marginal” at times, beer wise. Nothing marginal about the Tanfield Two though. That OS extract says everything about northern Durham‘s contrasts. A test cricket ground (Chester-Le-Street), world class open-air museum (Beamish), a B&B which grown its own turf… Continue reading TANFIELD LEA WMC – “IT’S A BELTER”
LAST CALL FOR DINERS BY THE DERWENT
It’s a little known fact that men become grumpy when they’re hungry, but women stay calm and phone ahead to find pubs still serving food at 8.30 pm on Monday in the middle of Dark Durham. “Our cook goes home at 9“. Our ETA was 8.47. Hoorah for the Punch Bowl in Edmundbyers, the… Continue reading LAST CALL FOR DINERS BY THE DERWENT
THE A68 – CRISPS, CASK AND CHOMSKY
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans“, as Yoko Ono once said. So I spend my time planning trips to the Isle of Wight, wherever that is, and dreaming of making inroads into East Devon, but end up driving up and down the A68 past the mining towns of Durham.… Continue reading THE A68 – CRISPS, CASK AND CHOMSKY
MINCE & DUMPLINGS, NOT MIGNON MORCEAUX IN MEDOMSLEY
Contrary to popular belief, Tipton pork scratchings aren’t the ultimate snack. That would have been Mignons Morceaux, the flagship product of Phileas Fogg until United Biscuits ruined the brand. In memory of the great MM, I walked the Medomsley Road* to the Royal Oak, slightly disappointed not to meet guys on street corners selling boxes… Continue reading MINCE & DUMPLINGS, NOT MIGNON MORCEAUX IN MEDOMSLEY
IMPOSSIBLE JIGSAWS IN DURHAM MICRO PUBS
The big news in Durham is the closure of Bella Pasta, or whatever it was called this year. This was the poshest place we’d ever been to when we first visited the city in ’96, memorable for the £12.99 chocolate fondue and the view of the castle. The “Closed” signs were a hammer blow… Continue reading IMPOSSIBLE JIGSAWS IN DURHAM MICRO PUBS
THE LAMBTON WORM
An overnight stop in Chester-le-Street, chosen only because every hotel with running water in Durham itself cost over £100, and Mrs RM wasn’t prepared to sleep in the car. I do like the town, though the Beer Guide pickings are meagre, and if I ever get up here for cricket at the Riverside I’ll give… Continue reading THE LAMBTON WORM
A LITTLE HUG FOR NEWTON GRANGE
One commentor in particular on my blog has it in for those lovely Marstons people. I‘m quite happy for my beer to be produced in a giant beer factory in Wolverhampton, though actually their brands are still produced petty much where they always were. I’m also aware many folk don’t rate Marston’s dining pubs that… Continue reading A LITTLE HUG FOR NEWTON GRANGE
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