“Meet me at the Piccadilly Tap”

September 2026. Manchester. Early September is always an odd time for this #PubMan, with the new Good Beer Guide about to drop* (ugh), a recovery period after the annual music festival down in Dorset, and the change in the weather putting elderly parents at increased risk. While I spent 4 days walking between stages either… Continue reading “Meet me at the Piccadilly Tap”

TOP PUB STOPS ON THE M1. THE QUEEN’S HEAD, MARKFIELD, J.22

September 2026. Markfield. Leicestershire. I wasn’t looking forward to the long slog home from Dorset on Monday morning. For a start, the campervan battery had been judged “marginal” by KwikFit, and with Mrs RM A.W.O.L. in Prague I faced using her step-by-step guide to a restart if it had drained again*. It can be chaotic… Continue reading TOP PUB STOPS ON THE M1. THE QUEEN’S HEAD, MARKFIELD, J.22

END OF THE ROAD 2026. SUNDAY – THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

September 2026. End of the Road. Dorset. Four days on Cranborne Chase, 1% of my whole year, and again the time flies by, a “festival marking the passing of time“, as James sagely noted last year. I’m here to discover new music, eat too much, and make withering comments about heritage acts (Pulp, Oasis, Sophis… Continue reading END OF THE ROAD 2026. SUNDAY – THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

END OF THE ROAD 2026. THURSDAY – GETTING OUR GEESE IN A ROW

September 2026. Cranborne Chase. Dorset. Pubs and football and Chinese takeaways are all well and good, but it’s people who really interest me. Take the people Mrs RM and I brought into the world. What explains Matthew’s musical taste compared to mine (or James’s) ? Why’s he wearing a Townes Van Zandt t-shirt in 2026… Continue reading END OF THE ROAD 2026. THURSDAY – GETTING OUR GEESE IN A ROW

WHERE TO WAIT IN HILLSBOROUGH WHILE ARGOS GET YOUR BACK REST READY

September (YES !!!) 2026. Sheffield. Goodness knows what posts you’re going to get the next few days as I head into the internet wasteland that is Cranborne Chase, so this may be my last for a while. I expect you were hoping for something more exciting than a Mitchells & Butler family diner over the… Continue reading WHERE TO WAIT IN HILLSBOROUGH WHILE ARGOS GET YOUR BACK REST READY