That pic above is of me, descending the steps to the Underbanks to a secret vault where I’ll be collecting the correct answers to my “Guess my favourite counties competition“, now into its 7th year. The tension is growing in London (North-West), Bedfordshire and the Kingdom of Fife. Are they in my Top 2 ?… Continue reading TOP 10 COUNTIES – No. 2 – GREATER MANCHESTER
Tag: Greater Manchester
JARL AND A MINI PLOUGHMANS IN RAMSBOTTOM RBL
6th February 2020 Onto my latest trip now, a rather disastrous attempt to get my hair cut. My base for the next two days was Heaton Chapel, which some of you may have heard of. It’s in Greater Manchester/Stockport/Cheshire Lancashire. I paid the princely sum of £54.40 for a two night stay in Trivelles on… Continue reading JARL AND A MINI PLOUGHMANS IN RAMSBOTTOM RBL
A SURMOUNTABLE HITCH IN MICRO PRESTWICH
I spent literally minutes trying to find a Fall track for this post, but sadly M.E. Smith’s “Middle aged Middleton micropub man” remains unreleased. On the tram back from Bury to Victoria I planned an afternoon in West Manchester, and admired the lack of GBG pubs on the route. Ah, the Crooked Man. Wait, the… Continue reading A SURMOUNTABLE HITCH IN MICRO PRESTWICH
AND IT ALL ENDS IN BOLTON…
The completion of the Greater Manchester GBG entries is always a high point in the pubbing year. I know Duncan and Simon have been desperate to see what it looks like; Of course, if you had to choose your last Manc pub you’d opt for a Brunning & Price on the Cheshire border to give… Continue reading AND IT ALL ENDS IN BOLTON…
WAITING FOR A TRAIN
I feel I’ve neglected Mark Crilley of late by forgetting to add videos of classic 1983 UK pop hits. Here’s one I’d long forgotten from our Antipodean convicts cousins. I had 12 minutes to wait for the 19:08 from Wigan North Western to Bolton, scene of my final tick. Time for a quick half in… Continue reading WAITING FOR A TRAIN
A WOBBLE IN WIGAN
After the high of Roger Protz introducing Bad Kitty at Manchester Beer Festival, there’s nowhere else to go. Except Wigan. 30 minutes from Manchester Deansgate, and a few years ago it would have been 30 years back in time. But not these days. “Wigan is Really Great” as they probably say. Now Duncan had set… Continue reading A WOBBLE IN WIGAN
CHEER UP, LEIGH
Oh, joy. A trip out to lovely Leigh. Something always happens there, even if it is just the birds hovering overhead waiting for a carcass. Normally mine. Last time here was New Year’s Day 2017, when an improbable Greene King diner was making its GBG debut. Pleasingly, the traditional George & Dragon has survived… Continue reading CHEER UP, LEIGH
“GET THE RUBY IN FIRST, EH !” LANGWORTHY LEGEND
And, in the end, it all came down to Langworthy, an exciting trip over the M602 at 10pm. A year ago today I was at the Grand Canyon, and it can’t match this view. For fans of great street names (see also: Whitwick), here’s My Street. It could be yours, too. I’m heading for the… Continue reading “GET THE RUBY IN FIRST, EH !” LANGWORTHY LEGEND
YOU’RE MY-YY-YY, YOU’RE MY FAVOURITE WEASTE OF TIME
Back to my Birthday. With any luck I’ll finish this mini-series before my next one. I think you know the route by now, a zigzag through Castlefield and Salford Quays into the glories of Greater Eccles. Clearly, I should have gone straight to bed and listened to the Match of the Day inquest on the… Continue reading YOU’RE MY-YY-YY, YOU’RE MY FAVOURITE WEASTE OF TIME
FIT AND WORKING AGAIN – TICKING PRESTWICH
You’ll remember my failed attempt to visit the Church Inn, Prestwich back when the Guide came out. A rather better attempt to capture the spirit of Mark E Smith, I thought. Since then Pubmeister has beat me to the Prestwich Punch, though he seems to have failed to find sufficient comedy there to blog about. … Continue reading FIT AND WORKING AGAIN – TICKING PRESTWICH
