May 2025. Putney. London The best remedy for monotony is a trip somewhere you don’t know, or know well, and by Monday afternoon even Putney seemed enticing. It was the journey from hell. The train stopped short of Finsbury, the District line gave up before Earls Court, and finally at Putney Bridge the barriers were… Continue reading PRIDE DRINKING WELL, HALL & OATES SUNG BADLY, IN PUTNEY
Tag: London Pride
THE RED LION ON HILLINGDON HILL
February 2025. Hillingdon Hill. Only a pub ticker, or a very weird human, could have been excited as I was heading to the Red Lion on Hillingdon Hill. My photos capture the drama of the 10 minute bus trip from Uxbridge. Never mind “And did those feet, in ancient times…“, did BRAPA drop that soft… Continue reading THE RED LION ON HILLINGDON HILL
A CRAFT HUNT IN HARPENDEN
April 2024. Harpenden. We left bucolic boring Bucks and headed into boring bucolic Beds via Woe-burn, and thence onto the Dunstable Northern Bypass, which probably deserves a blog of its own. I’d have taken a night in the campervan at Leighton Buzzard, but the prospect of an hour’s walk back from town to Heath &… Continue reading A CRAFT HUNT IN HARPENDEN
UP THE JUNCTION. PRIDE DRINKING WELL IN THE FALCON
February 2024. Battersea. Mrs RM had booked two nights at bargain rates (well, heaper than 5 pints of murk in Bermondsey) during the Travelodge New Year Sale, the only downside being an insalubrious looking location behind the grimier exit of Clapham Junction Station. But that’s OK, we’re used to insalubrious, and Clapham Junction is only… Continue reading UP THE JUNCTION. PRIDE DRINKING WELL IN THE FALCON
QUIZ NIGHT IN THE SUN – THE MYSTERY OF “BAGELSTEVE”
November 2023. Waterbeach. Evenings in Waterbeach revolve around tea at 5pm and then The Chase. In fairness, tea is often from one of the village’s award-winning takeaways, and The Chase is the best TV quiz show since Deal Or No Deal, which was a game of great strategy skill under Edmonds. Typically I get more… Continue reading QUIZ NIGHT IN THE SUN – THE MYSTERY OF “BAGELSTEVE”
PRIDE DRINKING WELL IN TOWER HILL’S SHIP
September 2023. Tower Hill, London. A second randomly selected City of London pub before my Hoxton gig, and an annual chance to go “Wow” on the walk from Aldgate north of Tower Hill to the Ship. It’s that clash of modern and medieval that always gets me. Quiet on a September Monday in the City;… Continue reading PRIDE DRINKING WELL IN TOWER HILL’S SHIP
PRIDE DRINKING WELL ENOUGH IN CHISWICK
July 2023. Chiswick, London. Train tickets are so expensive these days (£40 Travelcard from Waterbeach) that you feel you need to get a full day’s value out of London. I remember making Mrs RM walk miles from King’s Cross when the Super-Off Peak ticket was £16.60 to save the cost of the tubes. Sensible people… Continue reading PRIDE DRINKING WELL ENOUGH IN CHISWICK
BATTERING SW LONDON IN BATTERSEA
This post is brought to you from the 10.45 from Sheffield to Leeds, from where I’ll head on to my final North Yorkshire GBG 22 tick. I’ll expect fanfare, I’ll expect a welcome committee from BRAPA and Colin, I’ll expect a top pint of Landlord. Who knows? Wednesday saw me on a train from Waterbeach… Continue reading BATTERING SW LONDON IN BATTERSEA
GRANGE HILL
More East London fun, though more strictly the ancient county of Essex, and I know how seriously my readers take their historic counties. On the southern edge of Epping Forest, but within spitting distance (don’t spit) of the dying trail of the M11, lies Woodford, famous as the birthplace of Derek B, the third (3rd)… Continue reading GRANGE HILL
UNICORNS – ALMOST AS RARE AS DRAUGHT BASS
His look of sympathy was the one you’d give a child asking you if he could have a unicorn for Christmas. Second best, particularly if you’re six years old, but I could have a pint in THE Unicorn, one of the almost permanent Stoke GBG entries. Blimey, it’s even better than I remembered it (admittedly… Continue reading UNICORNS – ALMOST AS RARE AS DRAUGHT BASS
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