July 2025. Northampton. I’m drowning in blog material at present, but resisting the temptation to rush through some of our loveliest unsung towns. Like Northampton, on a first visit to the centre in seven years, an old codgers trip where we met the actual Mayor of that fine town. It seems to be a town… Continue reading A WISTFUL LOOK AT THE RIFLE DRUM
Tag: food
Could YOU walk past the Laurieston ?
July 2025. Glasgow. Back at Glasgow Central from edgy but exciting East Kilbride I had a couple of hours till my £66 return to Sheffield, sadly not long enough to attempt a visit to Carluke’s craft bars but time aplenty to walk across the Clyde for a curry. That area southside down to Hampden Park… Continue reading Could YOU walk past the Laurieston ?
STRANGEWAYS, STRANGE DAYS IN CHEETHAM HILL
June 2025. Manchester. Driving Matt home from Luton Airport yesterday I asked him to guess how many pubs I’d managed on my two (2) days in Manchester. “A dozen ?” says Matt, who obviously reads this blog. “None“. Yes, a couple of cultural days, and a £34.99 Travelodge next to the AO Arena, itself rather… Continue reading STRANGEWAYS, STRANGE DAYS IN CHEETHAM HILL
ROOSTERS AND CHICKEN WINGS
May 2025. Sheffield. And so we leave Georgia, the capital’s airport so comfortable we arrived there over 3 hours early and still nearly missed Last Call. Great name for a bar; but with Staropramen at a tenner I gave it a miss. Back home in Sheffield I lasted almost a day before sneaking out up… Continue reading ROOSTERS AND CHICKEN WINGS
A RAINY NIGHT IN GEORGIA. YOUR TBILISI CRAFT BEER GUIDE
May 2025. Tblisi. Georgia. Your final post of holiday snaps; I’ll skip over the Vardzia cave network, and return to good ol’ English BBB tomorrow. I had to squeeze Randy in here somewhere; she’s a big fan of the Caucasus craft scene, particularly tomato gose. Due to Independence Day our Uber into Tbilisi had to… Continue reading A RAINY NIGHT IN GEORGIA. YOUR TBILISI CRAFT BEER GUIDE
THE GOOD GRUB GUIDE TO GEORGIA
May 2025. Georgia. Yes, some themed blogging for you, as I struggle to cope with putting 466 photos into posts. Come back, oooh, June and you might be able to read about Bass and Derby instead of this foreign muck. Back in 2023 it was a final Lithuanian meal in Kaunas that added Georgia to… Continue reading THE GOOD GRUB GUIDE TO GEORGIA
RETIRED MARTIN ON VOCATION
April 2025. Sheffield. Mrs RM was in full “am blogging, don’t disturb me” mode last Thursday so couldn’t accompany me on my calorie burning walk into town to check out a new Bass tip. The refurbished Foresters had a turned round pump clip that day, turning it round as soon as I’d gone past, to… Continue reading RETIRED MARTIN ON VOCATION
APRIL ’25 STOCKTAKE + MAY PREVIEW
Seventy (70) posts published in an month that was my second best for blog views ever, and I still end April a week and sixteen pubs adrift. It didn’t seem an especially exciting month, the usual ploughing up and down that strip from Manchester to Tunbridge Wells via Waterbeach, but there were fifty-six different pubs… Continue reading APRIL ’25 STOCKTAKE + MAY PREVIEW
“Early to bed, early to rise…”
March 2025. Iaşi. Romania. Yes, we’re not in Kaunas now, Tonto. Iaşi has its share of brutalist housing estates (this one facing the Opera House), but it’s also packed with gorgeous buildings housing smart shops, and speakeasies. There’s some money around in Europe’s fastest growing economy. I always aim to explore the streets of a… Continue reading “Early to bed, early to rise…”
TOP 100 PUBS – THE ROCK INN, CHIDDINGSTONE HOATH
February 2025. Chiddingstone Hoath. Kent. You left us out in the gorgeous, straggly, villages west of Royal Tunbridge Wells, cheering up an octogenarian who’s not allowed out much except to have medical interventions and rehearse Handel’s “Messiah”. My last commenter (commentator ?) writes “You should have walked 30 minutes along the road to The Rock,… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – THE ROCK INN, CHIDDINGSTONE HOATH
retiredmartin 