There are disadvantages to playing your Cup match on Friday night, but only if you’re the poor souls having to make the Manchester-East London return journey. It was ideal for proper plastic fans like me, home by midnight on Friday and fresh for a trip back to the Smoke with Mrs RM. I know she… Continue reading ESB AND ECCENTRICITY IN SOUTH CROYDON
Tag: London
TOTTENHAM’S BEEHIVE
I’ve been wanting to get to know Tottenham better for a while. Trips to White Hart Lane seem to coincide with torrential rain, a flood of goals, and the sense that there isn’t much there, at least till you reach Seven Sisters. Predictably, I was met at Tottenham Hale by a downpour. And a bit… Continue reading TOTTENHAM’S BEEHIVE
GIDEA PARK – TAKE COURAGE YOU ‘APPY ‘AMMERS
There can’t be many posts about Gidea Park, except of course the ones from Simon and Alan. It’s basically a garden suburb in the styles of Petts Wood or Shirley, with some attractive foliage and a functional shopping arcade. Until recently, it was dangerously close to the appropriately named Zombieland Skatepark, a favourite of my younger son until… Continue reading GIDEA PARK – TAKE COURAGE YOU ‘APPY ‘AMMERS
HELLO HACKNEY, GOODBYE ALLO DARLIN’
Having finally escaped the Gooners in lovely Clissold Park (few of them walk very far to the ground) my journey’s end came after a detour through Stoke Newington. Stokey seems to have lost its proper pubs. I invite you to read the What Pub description of the Stoke Newington Tea House here. ” the lease was taken… Continue reading HELLO HACKNEY, GOODBYE ALLO DARLIN’
N19 – DODGING THE GOONERS
From Rotherhithe I took the Overground service to Highbury, hoping to do my last couple of GBG ticks in North London. You’d assume that the internet would work on the Overground service but it didn’t, so my planning reached BRAPA-esque depths. Usually my travel plans factor in football matches limiting entry to pubs near the… Continue reading N19 – DODGING THE GOONERS
BERMONDSEY RAILWAY ARCHES, ROTHERHITHE JETTY
It’s always awkward when the truth undermines your underlying narrative, and I have to admit that beer quality in London has been decent in recent months (the financial heart apart). On the other hand, I’m always stressing my admiration for CAMRA branches and their ability to find the best beer for the Beer Guide, which… Continue reading BERMONDSEY RAILWAY ARCHES, ROTHERHITHE JETTY
END OF THE ROAD CHRISTMAS SHOW – THE FAIRYTALE OF SHOREDITCH
Barely back from Burton an hour, we had to shoot off to Shoreditch for the End of the Road Christmas show. This is typically a tiny show in a new east London club venue with decent sound; last year’s gig at Oslo had the best sound and most overpriced beer of the year. The last few… Continue reading END OF THE ROAD CHRISTMAS SHOW – THE FAIRYTALE OF SHOREDITCH
SURVIVING SOUTH-WEST LONDON PART 2 – TOOTING TO CLAPHAM
The No.44 dropped off us off at Tooting Broadway, allowing us half a mile walk along one of London’s most calorific streets. Yet another place Mrs RM has worked (St Georges) though she claimed to have resisted the lure of the barfi in Nirala back then. Asian sweets and cake shops all the way up to… Continue reading SURVIVING SOUTH-WEST LONDON PART 2 – TOOTING TO CLAPHAM
GOOD BEER IN LONDON SHOCKER
Contrary to what you might think, I’ve nothing against London. It’s one of the top ten cities in the South, with a musical heritage stretching from Adam Ant to Gary Glitter. Music drew me there on a super off-peak slow train on Sunday; a rare one-off gig by alt-country legend William Tyler and a very… Continue reading GOOD BEER IN LONDON SHOCKER
NO-GO CAMDEN ?
I’m unimpressed by media alarmists (that’s all of them) telling old folk that our town centres are no-go areas and they should stay at home on a Saturday watching “Strictly” with a bottle of imported booze. They should get down the pub and watch English eccentrics with a pint of English beer. In the last year I’ve… Continue reading NO-GO CAMDEN ?
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