September 2026. Manchester. Early September is always an odd time for this #PubMan, with the new Good Beer Guide about to drop* (ugh), a recovery period after the annual music festival down in Dorset, and the change in the weather putting elderly parents at increased risk. While I spent 4 days walking between stages either… Continue reading “Meet me at the Piccadilly Tap”
Tag: life
END OF THE ROAD 2026. SUNDAY – THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
September 2026. End of the Road. Dorset. Four days on Cranborne Chase, 1% of my whole year, and again the time flies by, a “festival marking the passing of time“, as James sagely noted last year. I’m here to discover new music, eat too much, and make withering comments about heritage acts (Pulp, Oasis, Sophis… Continue reading END OF THE ROAD 2026. SUNDAY – THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
TO THE END OF THE ROAD. VIA DUSTON
September 2026. Sheffield to Northampton. Yes ! I’m alive, just back from four (4) days without internet (unless you stand in a field of sheep in Cranborne Chase). Lots of exciting music reviews from End of the Road ’26 to come, but first, and most excitingly, a night in the western suburbs of Northampton. Calm… Continue reading TO THE END OF THE ROAD. VIA DUSTON
WHERE TO WAIT IN HILLSBOROUGH WHILE ARGOS GET YOUR BACK REST READY
September (YES !!!) 2026. Sheffield. Goodness knows what posts you’re going to get the next few days as I head into the internet wasteland that is Cranborne Chase, so this may be my last for a while. I expect you were hoping for something more exciting than a Mitchells & Butler family diner over the… Continue reading WHERE TO WAIT IN HILLSBOROUGH WHILE ARGOS GET YOUR BACK REST READY
WHY STOP IN LUTTERWORTH ?
August 2026. Lutterworth. The Great British Bank Holiday never disappoints; our trip home from visiting Dad wrecked by bumps at Grantham and, after a switch from A1 to M1, Leicester. We paused at Lutterworth, not as exciting as Shepshed or Rothwell I grant you, but it’s only 5 minutes off the motorway, and has a… Continue reading WHY STOP IN LUTTERWORTH ?
BASS AND CRISPY BEEF NIGHT IN CAMBRIDGE
August 2026. Cambridge. I drove down to Waterbeach yesterday to see Dad. The back pain is worse than the pain from lack of recognition now, and I at least got to watch “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. Having sold Sunnyside I’ve got to find somewhere cheap to stay overnight to break the journey, and Whittlesford opposite… Continue reading BASS AND CRISPY BEEF NIGHT IN CAMBRIDGE
THAT RONNIE O’SULLIVAN MURAL
August 2026. Sheffield. Part 2 (of 2) from Cluedo Pubs with Walsall Evo, which was one of those days that makes this blogging lark so worthwhile. As a shy 22 year old newly qualified accountant with a stammer I wouldn’t have believed I’d be chatting to such interesting folk every week as I approach middle… Continue reading THAT RONNIE O’SULLIVAN MURAL
REMEMBERING ALVECHURCH’S FA CUP HEROICS
August 2026. Alvechurch. A well-trod three and a half hour drive back from Cardiff to Sheffield, M4/A449/A40/M50/M5/M42/M1, and I got as far as the M42 before I needed to stop (bones not bladder). It’s a quarter of a century since I last stopped (for a Balti at the New Dilshad) in Alvechurch, pop. 6,564, so… Continue reading REMEMBERING ALVECHURCH’S FA CUP HEROICS
CARDIFF BAY
August 2026. Cardiff. A whole day in Cardiff with no plans. No football, no pubs, no Chinese takeaway trail through Splott. A quick look at the market, a triumph of function over form, and a dither at the big clock facing what used to be (in my mind) a run of top Brain’s houses. The… Continue reading CARDIFF BAY
SPOONS OR NOTHING, THEN
August 2026. Bristol. A day in Bath, a day in Frome, two (2) identical Chinese takeaways from Twerton’s wonderful Bamboo Garden, which proves I know how to live. After the Zig Zag beer in Frome, the Zig Zag rail journey home, as a fallen tree (posh version of cows on the line) near Bristol Parkway… Continue reading SPOONS OR NOTHING, THEN
retiredmartin 