October 2025. Leicester. 36 hours in Leicester, and with lunchtime approaching (though we’d barely finished breakfast) it’s time to explore the castle. Leicester looked quite lively with shoppers that late October Thursday, but tourist trade is light, and we are virtually the only folk in Castle Park, apart from that giant heron (or whatever it… Continue reading LEICESTER CASTLE
Tag: Oakham
A GLASGOW WESTENDER
July (finally) 2025. Glasgow. We leave June with Dad celebrating his 90th in some style, and the next morning I’m at Sheffield station catching the TransPennine to Glasgow. £65.90 return, old folk advance rate, that’s not bad. And in fairness all the trains were on time with actual seats that hadn’t been taken. The Avanti… Continue reading A GLASGOW WESTENDER
A DASH TO BEAT LAST ORDERS AT THE ALEX
March 2025. Cambridge. With “Sunnyside” on the market I’m looking for some budget options when I visit Dad in his care home, and as an alternative to the camper the Travelodge on Cambridge’s Newmarket Road Travelodge looks a good bet. Free parking on Sunday, Lidl bakery for breakfast, Wrestlers over the road for your Thai… Continue reading A DASH TO BEAT LAST ORDERS AT THE ALEX
THE NEW RAD
June 2024. Cambridge. A Sunday night back in Waterbeach, where Mum & Dad have found a new gardener, one less task for me. We squeezed in a quick trip to Cambridge, where the 800 year old Midsummer Fair (looking a little slimmed down compared to its 1298 peak, I thought) was wrapping up. Newmarket Road… Continue reading THE NEW RAD
LA GAVROCHE IS CLOSING, SO HEAD TO SHEFFIELD’S FAT CAT FOR YOUR GOURMET DINING NEEDS
August 2023. Sheffield. We only embarrass our eldest son with our presence occasionally by in Sheffield, and he always seems happy to pop over for a Mrs RM roast/pizza in the Blind Monkey/pie and chips in the Fat Cat. There’s a theme there. James is a big fan of the Fat Cat, and having had… Continue reading LA GAVROCHE IS CLOSING, SO HEAD TO SHEFFIELD’S FAT CAT FOR YOUR GOURMET DINING NEEDS
The one where Retired Martin goes to the Barton(s) Arms and takes more pictures of the Visitors’ Book than the Heritage Pub.
14th April 2023. The centrepiece of our Big Brum Bender was NOT, as you might have thought, the trophy room at Villa Park, but rather a recently re-opened heritage pub gem a few yards away. Shamefully, I’d popped in here last for an emergency comfort break, and owed it some belated custom. The Bartons Arms… Continue reading The one where Retired Martin goes to the Barton(s) Arms and takes more pictures of the Visitors’ Book than the Heritage Pub.
TOP 100 PUBS – THE LIVE & LET LIVE, CAMBRIDGE (it lives again !)
Mid June. Back “home” in Waterbeach to make sure my parents are eating enough of that yummy Chinese food from Chung Hwa (yes, yes they are). I’d notice on Twitter that Roxanne de Bastion was playing Blue Moon that night, too good to miss. And a chance to feel nostalgic about Mill Road 18 months… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – THE LIVE & LET LIVE, CAMBRIDGE (it lives again !)
LAUGHING ALL THE WAY TO BIGGLESWADE
More saving pubs outside the GBG, this time aided by trusted Covid data expert and J20 connoisseur James. With my Mum on the mend (thanks for your kind words) but under watch I’ve committed to stay in “the county“. Let’s not argue about boundaries, folks. I was JUST over the Beds border when the ambulance… Continue reading LAUGHING ALL THE WAY TO BIGGLESWADE
PLUGGING PRESTON
28th December 2019 Some of our friends take exotic holidays over Christmas to places like Florida, Tenerife and Tunbridge Wells. Mrs RM wanted to go to Preston. Not, it transpires, to see whether the John Smiths in the Market Tap is as good as I said, but to look at actual houses in actual streets… Continue reading PLUGGING PRESTON
A CITRA BEFORE THE KEBAB
No, not the famous pub blogger, the beer. My beer of choice while I waited for the return of the Waterbeach Kebab van after his long Summer holiday, the big news in our village this last week. Large chicken kebab, £6, loads of salad. Matt eats the chicken. I never tire of bringing you NBSS… Continue reading A CITRA BEFORE THE KEBAB
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