I have very little interest in beer, or the process of making it. The only possible purpose of a brewery tour is the chance to get the beer the way intended at the end. But hats off to Banks’s (a.k.a. Marston’s) whose tour I joined along with a small bunch of pubby ne’er-do-wells last Wednesday.… Continue reading BANKS’S – IT’S ALL IN THE PULL
Tag: Marston’s
CAMBOURNE – NEW TOWN, OLD PROBLEMS
Well, not technically a town yet, but (Cambridge’s) Cambourne has that feel already. Best known for hosting the only Morrisons for miles (and therefore having the best cakes), it’s a curates egg of a place. 10,000 people, 1 chippy, 1 Indian restaurant, 1 supermarket, 1 large church and 1 “pub”. And no train station… Continue reading CAMBOURNE – NEW TOWN, OLD PROBLEMS
STRAIGHT OR HANDLE ? SPARKLED OR FLAT ?
Yes, life’s big questions. Apart from “Was that referee at Stamford Bridge last night really Delia Smith in disguise“. Today I say “Thank you, Derby CAMRA” for picking GBG pubs on the basis of beer quality, and giving us the White Swan in Littleover. a village-cum-suburb that BeerMat brings us regular reports from. It looks… Continue reading STRAIGHT OR HANDLE ? SPARKLED OR FLAT ?
PICKING WINNERS IN WIDNES
I suspect I’m not going to be getting the honorarium as Widnes Tourism Officer after this post. But I can do better than those quoted in Wikipedia; In 1888 the town was described as “the dirtiest, ugliest and most depressing town in England”[22] and in 1905 as a “poisonous hell-town“. It really isn’t that bad.… Continue reading PICKING WINNERS IN WIDNES
DISS – MERE & MARSTONS
You can’t really avoid Diss while travelling to the occasional new pub ticks in the Waveney Valley. It’s one of our preferred Norfolk towns. A decade ago it had one of the UK’s premier analogue Hi-Fi shops, and I still have bits of valve amps in the garage waiting for Mrs RM to stick on… Continue reading DISS – MERE & MARSTONS
ALREWAS
Yesterday I had a day out with Dad in Alrewas, visiting the National Memorial Arboretum. One of the highlights of retirement is the opportunity to spend time exploring with parents, as long as you can avoid taking up golf. The Arboretum is a site of remembrance and reflection, and particularly poignant for Dad, who still… Continue reading ALREWAS
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