October 2025. Leicester. Regular readers will know I’m no fan of history, which is I why I follow a team founded in 2008 and can’t tell my Art Deco from my Art Nouveau (or Garfunkel). But apparently Leicester is even more famous for a dead king than for the all-time footballing miracle or the curry… Continue reading IN SEARCH OF KINGS (AND CAR PARKS)
Tag: history
LEICESTER CASTLE
October 2025. Leicester. 36 hours in Leicester, and with lunchtime approaching (though we’d barely finished breakfast) it’s time to explore the castle. Leicester looked quite lively with shoppers that late October Thursday, but tourist trade is light, and we are virtually the only folk in Castle Park, apart from that giant heron (or whatever it… Continue reading LEICESTER CASTLE
A WISTFUL LOOK AT THE RIFLE DRUM
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
A DASH ROUND DALSTON
May 2025. Dalston Kingsland. London. I know how to get to Dalston Kingsland from Waterbeach; down the M11 to the North Circular, A12 past the Olympic site, slow bit past Homerton Hospital and the Pembury Tavern in Hackney, then park, anywhere. I hadn’t driven this far into London for an age, reminds be why I’ll… Continue reading A DASH ROUND DALSTON
2024 RETIRED MARTIN TRAVELS – A YEAR OF TWO HALVES
You’ll be relieved to know Mrs RM and I welcomed in the new year and Dryanuary with a pint and a National trust tick yesterday, but before we get to 2025 I’ve got more of those contractually obligated “Best of ’24” posts for you. After all, there’s (marginally) more to life than pubs and beer,… Continue reading 2024 RETIRED MARTIN TRAVELS – A YEAR OF TWO HALVES
HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY No.72 – THE CHANNEL ISLANDS
A belated return to the celebrated “Half A Dozen Pubs” series, an early Christmas present. I’ve completed my Christmas present shopping of course; on 1 January, in fact, same as in the last 30 years. The in-laws have been touting a trip to the Channel Islands next year, and if I didn’t have the concern… Continue reading HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY No.72 – THE CHANNEL ISLANDS
FROM LANGLEY MILL TO EASTWOOD
October 2024. Langley Mill. Sunday afternoon means rail trips to godforsaken East Midlands towns to tick micros. 40 minutes to Langley Mill, the station built especially to meet the needs of micro pubs in industrial Derbyshire and Notts, then a 35 (RM – 22) minute slog over the Erewash Canal, past the county border, stopping… Continue reading FROM LANGLEY MILL TO EASTWOOD
TOP 100 PUBS – THE MILLSTONE, STAMFORD
September 2024. Stamford. Unlike “up all-night BRAPA“, I take my time cross-checking the old to new GBG, colouring in maps, and compiling a long (long) list of pubs to be visited in GBG25 TY (ticking year). So I’d initially missed the fact we had a bran’ new entry in stunning Stamford, a great town with… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – THE MILLSTONE, STAMFORD
ALL HUNKY DORY IN BURY ST EDMUNDS
September 2024. Bury St. Edmunds. Another night in Waterbeach, another lone new GBG tick. Yesterday I took a lovely fellow ticker to nine (9) South Yorkshire pubs; I think he was hoping for double that. But Chris Tavaré didn’t become our greatest cricketer by dealing in fours and sixes, oh, no. And a snatched Constitutional… Continue reading ALL HUNKY DORY IN BURY ST EDMUNDS
BEER AND “Zuckerbäcker Goop” NIGHT AT LIECHTENSTEIN YOUTH HOSTEL
June 2024. Schaan-Vaduz. Liechtenstein. You can stay in luxury in Bulgaria or Albania for £30 a night, but Mrs RM had to bust the budget to stay overnight as we completed the European micronations. This might be the most expensive youth hostel in the world, but luckily Mrs RM had booked a Sunday night for… Continue reading BEER AND “Zuckerbäcker Goop” NIGHT AT LIECHTENSTEIN YOUTH HOSTEL
retiredmartin 