A few hours early for the contractually obligated monthly highlights post, let’s hope it’s not tempting fate and something really significant happens this afternoon. September was a month of returns. Biggest of all, Russ returned to the comments page after a traumatic period out, and how we’d missed him (and not just to correct the… Continue reading SEPTEMBER ’25 STOCKTAKE + OCTOBER PREVIEW
Tag: Pubs
MATCHING M & B MILD WITH DESI BAKRA IN SMETHWICK’S RED COW
August 2025. Smethwick. Our last day in Birmingham, though the new GBG is going to send me back there soon enough (NO SPOILERS) and a rare stop in Smethwick, famed for its Gurdwara. The fast train from Kiddy to Brum takes you past fields of pumpkins at Blakedown and drops you at Galton Bridge, handy… Continue reading MATCHING M & B MILD WITH DESI BAKRA IN SMETHWICK’S RED COW
DID I ENJOY THE GREAT BRITISH BEER FESTIVAL ?
August 2025. Birmingham (or is it Solihull ?) I’m not a beer festival fan. I always say this to folk who equate beer with pubs. Frankly, the venues are dull, the beer not as cool and crisp as in the pub next door and if I’m going solo I find it hard to start the… Continue reading DID I ENJOY THE GREAT BRITISH BEER FESTIVAL ?
LACINGS DON’T LIE. THE COMMERCIAL, BURNLEY
August 2025. Burnley. My feeble attempts to visit GBG pubs since Guide completion seem limited by a) having to spend the weekends ploughing up and down the A1 between Sheffield and Cambridge, b) only drinking pints and c) using public transport. Just as well none of the other tickers would do b) and c)…. Shockingly,… Continue reading LACINGS DON’T LIE. THE COMMERCIAL, BURNLEY
STANNINGTON BRASS
July 2025. Stannington. Sheffield. Back from Newcastle, GBG ticks in the bag, I then added an NCTSS 4 with a “cheeky” crispy beef and Singapore rice from China Dragon outside Darlington station. It deserves an extra half mark, really, for being open after 10pm when Google says it’s shut. I genuinely have no idea if… Continue reading STANNINGTON BRASS
Could YOU walk past the Laurieston ?
July 2025. Glasgow. Back at Glasgow Central from edgy but exciting East Kilbride I had a couple of hours till my £66 return to Sheffield, sadly not long enough to attempt a visit to Carluke’s craft bars but time aplenty to walk across the Clyde for a curry. That area southside down to Hampden Park… Continue reading Could YOU walk past the Laurieston ?
LET’S FINISH SUFFOLK ! THE QUEEN’S HEAD, BRAMFIELD.
June 2025. Bramfield. Suffolk. My Dad reached 90 at the end of January, a remarkable achievement considering his appetite for Chinese food, a mid-life heart bypass, 50 years of manual work and the stresses caused by his son over an even longer period. Some of that stress would no doubt have come on the A1120… Continue reading LET’S FINISH SUFFOLK ! THE QUEEN’S HEAD, BRAMFIELD.
RETIRED MARTIN ON VOCATION
April 2025. Sheffield. Mrs RM was in full “am blogging, don’t disturb me” mode last Thursday so couldn’t accompany me on my calorie burning walk into town to check out a new Bass tip. The refurbished Foresters had a turned round pump clip that day, turning it round as soon as I’d gone past, to… Continue reading RETIRED MARTIN ON VOCATION
APRIL ’25 STOCKTAKE + MAY PREVIEW
Seventy (70) posts published in an month that was my second best for blog views ever, and I still end April a week and sixteen pubs adrift. It didn’t seem an especially exciting month, the usual ploughing up and down that strip from Manchester to Tunbridge Wells via Waterbeach, but there were fifty-six different pubs… Continue reading APRIL ’25 STOCKTAKE + MAY PREVIEW
GILLINGHAM, PAST AND PRESENT
April 2025. Gillingham. The in-laws took a post-Dockyard nap at the Travelodge; I reckoned two hours, plus half an hour to make themselves a cup of tea, which gave me 150 minutes to restore my sanity. Absolutely no new GBG ticks possible in that time, so let’s revisit much maligned Gillingham. You’ll see from the… Continue reading GILLINGHAM, PAST AND PRESENT
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