Suddenly, the whole world has discovered London, a fast growing town 200 miles south of Manchester. First, BRAPA explores the so-called “hipster quarter” (well, the Tand, Quinno, Doris and I were there recently) King’s Arms, Bethnal Green. This is the most modern day London pub ever! Like a 2018 Chas n Dave with just… Continue reading “AIN’T NO WARM BEER IN THE HEART OF THE CITY”*
Tag: Wetherspoons
A BEER GUIDE HUNT IN MILTON KEYNES
GBG launch day; no hard copy of the Beer Guide yet, but I raided the piggy bank (it’s actually that hedgehog Matt splatted at EOTR) for the £4.99 App version. A bit proud of myself for managing to do that. It was either download the app (as the kidz say) or spent another day mooching… Continue reading A BEER GUIDE HUNT IN MILTON KEYNES
TAKING THE DUFF BEER OFF
More short reads, as I type this on a phone, which is my excuse for the inevitable typo. I can’t even do OS extracts to titillate Russ at the moment. You left me in a Winton micro trying to work out the most exciting way to walk into Bournemouth proper. But how can you walk… Continue reading TAKING THE DUFF BEER OFF
WESTON WRAP-UP
The problem with arriving back in town at 10.40pm is that you immediately look at options for an inadvisable last beer. The station bar, Off the Rails, had an Old Boy singing trad Irish songs, there’s a Bass pub in the Beer Guide, and some other “interesting options“. But, on the basis it had WiFi… Continue reading WESTON WRAP-UP
FLAMING DRAGON CURRY IN ABERDARE
I thought I’d seen it all by the age of 53. Jacaranda trees in bloom in Harare, Cliff Richard in Cambridge in the summer of ’74, the family naan in Balti Towers, two goals in injury time to win the League. Even the Pubmeister in shorts. But apparently I’d never seen Aberdare. A town… Continue reading FLAMING DRAGON CURRY IN ABERDARE
EBBW, EBBW HEY
Very exciting progress over the last week as I single-handedly revived the Gwent tourism industry en-route to my coveted first complete GBG Welsh county. Actually, it was two nights in Newport WetherHotel, so possibly all it’s benefitting is Watford. First stop, Ebbw Vale Spoons. It’s all Spoons this week. Normal travel time 3:01, new super-enhanced… Continue reading EBBW, EBBW HEY
HOW BIZARRE – MORE MORECAMBE
Any excuse for some Kiwi/Polynesian pop/rap crossover. This was the tune that stuck in the brain after I popped back to the Royal, before realising I’d forgotten to get a Chinese takeaway. They don’t write them like that anymore. Weirdly, that track from 1996 (where were you in 1996 ?) was the most contemporary thing… Continue reading HOW BIZARRE – MORE MORECAMBE
A LATE LUNCH IN LEOMINSTER
BLOGGERS TIP: Never pass up the opportunity for alliteration, even when you’ve no actual pub to write about. Having failed to decide on lunch in Monkland (the Cheesesplaining incident), we stopped off at Leominster (NOTE : NOT pronounced Leo’s minster). past the point of caring about food provenance at 3pm. Leominster suffers a bit against… Continue reading A LATE LUNCH IN LEOMINSTER
A HEREFORD HOP
Only one new Guide entry in Hereford, whose three GBG choices are slim pickings for a county town (there’s six in Tewkesbury, for comparison). But quality over quantity; I’d given previous entries high marks for beer and pubbiness. And this is a town that knows how to celebrate promotion from the Evo Stik League South.… Continue reading A HEREFORD HOP
SORRY
That was our lot in Glasgow, but as you’ll see below the sun never sets on Glasgow at the end of June. Iron and Wine come from the complex but delicate end of Americana; the Old Boys in the Laurieston would probably approve. Even if they wouldn’t recognise their most famous tune (PARENTAL ADVISORY:… Continue reading SORRY