April 2026. Sheffield. Walking back from the Botanical last Saturday I had a lot of worries on my mind. The chance of Dad’s house sale falling through at the last moment (it didn’t), Mrs RM’s blog getting more views than mine (it might) the prospect of another year of not using my full Spoons voucher… Continue reading WOBBLY BOB OR OLD PECULIER ? BIG DECISONS AT THE START OF THE NEW SPOONS VOUCHER YEAR
Tag: travel
AN UNUSUAL EXCUSE FOR A DIVERSION TO A PUB
April 2026. Sheffield. Some good news today. Sunnyside is finally sold, to a lovely couple with two toddlers. Mum would be delighted. A week ago I was waiting for something to go wrong with exchange/completion/WW3, and persuading Mrs RM to get out of the house on a Friday night for some exercise, but definitely no… Continue reading AN UNUSUAL EXCUSE FOR A DIVERSION TO A PUB
BOYS, BOYS, BOYS IN THE ATTIC (TAP)
I know it’s an Aerosmith tune, but I played the R.E.M. version a lot, so… April 2026. Stirchley. Birmingham. Arriving “home” from Waterbeach last Thursday afternoon I let Mrs RM the front door, grabbed a charger, and half an hour later was on the Cross Country to Birmingham. And half an hour later, Bournville. I… Continue reading BOYS, BOYS, BOYS IN THE ATTIC (TAP)
DRIZZLE NEAR KEIGHLEY
April 2026. Steeton. West Yorkshire. I shouldn’t be jealous of anyone, really, jealousy gets you nowhere. But I do look at Simon’s blog and wish I was travelling round the country doing seven pints a day again. While BRAPA was finding half a dozen new pubs in Oxon I was scrambling around for a single… Continue reading DRIZZLE NEAR KEIGHLEY
TAKE THE FIRST GUIDED BUS TO TYLDESLEY
April (finally !) 2026. Manchester to Tyldesley. You learn a lot about the UK transport networks as a pub ticker. Some towns stand out as tough to tick, particularly the string of mining towns without a railway station between Manchester and Wigan. Thanks a bunch, Mr Beeching. But this very week celebrates a decade of… Continue reading TAKE THE FIRST GUIDED BUS TO TYLDESLEY
Geese after Gaffel. Gig night in Cologne
No, the bloke with the sword waver isn’t a famous American real ale drinker you might know. March 2026. Cologne. Germany. You left me and our lads in Kupferhut in the Cologne suburb of Mülheim, finishing our second Gaffel and deciding that we were never going to get a third, so let’s get to the… Continue reading Geese after Gaffel. Gig night in Cologne
Nicole in front of a washing machine, Bonn
March 2026. Bonn. Germany. More highlights from our half day in Bonn, which seems to have stolen the Pied Piper from Hamelin for its pedestrian crossing. Apart from schnitzel and a beer, the essential activity in Bonn is a visit to Haus der Geschichte Bonn, 10 minutes south of the station by tram or underground… Continue reading Nicole in front of a washing machine, Bonn
I❤️WuBÄRtal
March 2026. Wuppertal. Germany. Only three (3) nights in Cologne with the boys, but so much to explore in North Rhine-Westphalia, which kindly lets a group of five of you travel round the state all day for 59,80 euros. We’d had a big argument family planning meeting that first lunchtime in Gaffel and decided to… Continue reading I❤️WuBÄRtal
Brauhaus Gaffel am Dom
March 2026. Cologne. Germany. A short family holiday in Cologne, the first since New York in 2019, a year before Donald J Trump was unceremoniously booted out of office. And a year before the pandemic briefly made pubs insignificant. In 2022 we met up with a former Pub Man of the Year and her husband… Continue reading Brauhaus Gaffel am Dom
PEAKS AND PIES AND PINTS
March 2026. Sheffield and the Peak. Last weekend we “hosted” (ugh) Meighan and Dave from Chicago during their whirlwind tour of Europe. I have never seen Mrs RM go into such a cleaning frenzy, which sadly extended to getting me to mow the lawn. What happened to the wild garden craze ? I knew nothing… Continue reading PEAKS AND PIES AND PINTS
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