A rare night in a chain hotel followed, as we stumped up £40 for one of those Marston places on the A5 at Gailey between Stafford and Wolves. I can feel the jealousy of Paul Mudge as I write. The rooms are good value, better than Premier Inn, but how would the adjoining pub diner… Continue reading SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW (NEAR STAFFORD)
Tag: Staffordshire
TOP 10 COUNTIES – No.10 – STAFFORDSHIRE
Well, I teased you with a promise of my favourite GBG counties, offered a great prize, and then failed to tell you what they were. Baa Baa Toure gave me a disapproving look at my lazy blogging. OK, let’s start with Staffordshire, in at a respectable 10th for a landlocked county without a standout Chinese… Continue reading TOP 10 COUNTIES – No.10 – STAFFORDSHIRE
QUINOA UTTOXETER
I felt fine on Friday morning, just like the Beatles song released a month before my birth, but still hung around to admire Preston over too many flat whites before setting off home for a break from beer. Like BRAPA, I know my limits. A stop in Uttoxeter for fuel seemed a good idea, till… Continue reading QUINOA UTTOXETER
RUGELEY’S CATHEDRAL OF BASS
31st January 2020 (ring a bell ?) Another day, another underrated Midlands mining town of about 25,000 souls. With daylight to help, you get the whole tourist package with Rugeley. Cancel those holidays in Rome and Runcorn and come to Rugeley this summer. Best known for the cathedral to rival Lichfield, I’ve given the town… Continue reading RUGELEY’S CATHEDRAL OF BASS
NOTHING’S GONNA STOP US NOW, SHIFNAL
Phew. Five glasses. No-one lost yet on our Shifnal Day Out. Not much sign of Kentish Paul in the photos though; he must have paid the blackmail money. Two to go, starting with one for traditional pub name fans. Jaspers is upmarket (by Shifnal standards) but not unpleasantly so. They can use that strapline if… Continue reading NOTHING’S GONNA STOP US NOW, SHIFNAL
SHIFNAL AND I, IN THE WHEATSHEAF
Thanks to Ethelred for the title; the usual pint of Doom Bar winging its way to you as soon as they start canning it as a craft beer. Well, my attempts to speed up Shifnal are going about as fast as the town itself. Not very. Pub 4 was the Wheatsheaf. Pubs called the Wheatsheaf… Continue reading SHIFNAL AND I, IN THE WHEATSHEAF
THE WILKES HEAD CRACKER THIEVES
One more pub for the Southworths in Leek last Thursday, and one more for me before the obligatory curry. Across the road to the Wilkes Head, Paul Mudge’s pick. It looks inviting during the day, but comes into its own at dusk. A Proper Pub always has a raffle of some sort, even if this… Continue reading THE WILKES HEAD CRACKER THIEVES
A SENTIMENTAL BOLLOCK OF DE KONINCK
Feels like I’m picking on the Southworths as soon as they land back in the States, but I guess that’s what they read the blog for. Only one and a half more pubs in Leek on Thursday, and the pace was telling on our Pub Heroes as I caught up with them after checking in… Continue reading A SENTIMENTAL BOLLOCK OF DE KONINCK
EARL GREY
Oh dear, another pub, another paucity of notes. BRAPA would be ashamed. Anyway, I’ll make it up, as we approach the first of a trio of classic revisits. My only note says “Less hoppy in the mouth than on the nose” which we can only hope was something Dick was saying about Sherbert Dip Dabs… Continue reading EARL GREY
BLUE MUGGE, PINK TICK, LEEK STAR
One of the most iconic photos on my blog, as Dick (pink pen) and Dave (out of shot, MAGA hat) combine effortlessly to tick the Blue Mugge in Leek. A few months ago I was in the Ship in Shaftesbury with BRAPA, wondering how many other great pubs I’d still to discover for the first… Continue reading BLUE MUGGE, PINK TICK, LEEK STAR
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