Due to a lack of family accommodation and quick train travel, I’d managed to avoid Deal until a few years ago when we braved a night in a Walmer campsite. An evening in the Berry, Just Reproach and Ship, and a day exploring Middle Street later, and it was one of our favourite UK towns. The torrential rain put the… Continue reading KINGSDOWN – A RAW DEAL ?
Tag: Kent
WEST OF FOLKESTONE
Thanet is the one of the UK’s great places to visit pubs, unless you really detest micropubs or the seaside. No doubt I’ll be heading back that way despite having visited all the Beer Guide pubs now. Round the coast, I’ve also enjoyed Folkestone a lot. It’s not quite Hastings, but has a few steep… Continue reading WEST OF FOLKESTONE
PUB CATS AND COOL FOR CATS IN RAMSGATE
At the risk of alienating my German reader, I should say I’m no animal lover. Like smokers though, I quite like to see them in pubs. Thanet’s pubs are among my favourites because they are closest to my own “Moon Under Water“, which is a bit more urban than Simon Everitt’s otherwise exemplary Green Owl. I like a… Continue reading PUB CATS AND COOL FOR CATS IN RAMSGATE
THE YARD OF ALE, ST PETERS
Nick from Erlangen doesn’t keep an active blog, but his twitter account is one of the best photographic accounts of current UK pubs I’ve seen, along with Alan Winfield and BRAPA. We’ve compared notes on our favourite pub towns, and I’ve still got work to do to persuade him of the merits of Mansfield and Macclesfield.… Continue reading THE YARD OF ALE, ST PETERS
WHITSTABLE – VICTORIANA, BREAKING BAD AND BASS
The sun always shines on North Kent, which explains why Whitstable was again packed mid-week with London daytrippers in search of pashminas, panna cotta and Prosecco. It really is my favourite bit of Islington. While it lacks the marsh walks of nearby Faversham, you can construct some decent rambles around Tankerton, but really it’s a place… Continue reading WHITSTABLE – VICTORIANA, BREAKING BAD AND BASS
DARTFORD’S SIREN CALLS
Mrs RM knew me well enough to predict Dartford would win its their mini-bout with Chesham for my affections. She worked in Erith for a while and so is well aware of the Thames estuary’s many merits. There’s a certain joy about being a decent-sized town’s only tourist, and even the closure of Dartford’s wonderful little museum… Continue reading DARTFORD’S SIREN CALLS
THE CASE FOR DOOM BAR
There’s a lot of good beer in Gravesend, but walk a couple of miles west to mainly residential Northfleet and things dip alarmingly, as you’d expect, near the Ebbsfleet football ground. You could, at a push, walk to the George & Dragon at Swanscombe, but not today. A succession of run-down pubs promote cheap lager,… Continue reading THE CASE FOR DOOM BAR
GRAVESEND – MORE THAN BEER AND POCAHONTAS
A change to our plans meant a day trip to Gravesend, and a chance to tick the famous Tilbury-Gravesend passenger ferry off my bucket list. It’s even better than Woolwich, and at £3 off-peak return a saving of 16p each way on the Dartford tunnel. Over a month that’s almost enough for a half of… Continue reading GRAVESEND – MORE THAN BEER AND POCAHONTAS
MICRO HUNTING IN EAST KENT
As Simon Everitt discusses in his BRAPA blog, planning pub visits is half the fun. But while annotated A-Zs and WhatPub map functions are fine, there’s nothing as rewarding as tracking down a pub that doesn’t want to be found with just an out-of-date Ordnance Survey map. Take a bow, The Wrong Turn in Barfrestone in… Continue reading MICRO HUNTING IN EAST KENT
DOVER – WELCOME TO ENGLAND
Falmouth-Brightlingsea-Manchester-Dover-Manchester is feeling like an ambitious schedule at the moment, but I need to follow the trail of cheap Premier Inns. I’ve been visiting Dover regularly the last few years, as it gradually acquires a proper pub scene to accompany it’s underrated scenery. It’s still a mess, but it’s hard to ignore the beauty of the… Continue reading DOVER – WELCOME TO ENGLAND
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