Of course, if this were BRAPA it would be “Cheese munching spinster, illuminates Leominster” (actually that’s Mark E. Smith) or something. But when you’ve made as many trips to Herefordshire and been disappointed by The Lem’ster as often I have, you’ll know a decent pub in the county’s second town is cause for raising a… Continue reading LEOMINSTER IS BACK
Tag: Wye Valley
A PEAK INTO PEMBRIDGE
You always get one bit of classic Black & White Herefordshire in the new Beer Guide. Normally a village you can’t pronounce with lots of vowels, cherry blossoms on the approach, dull Wye Valley ales and that tempting sign for Robinsons cider the ticking rules won’t let you succumb to. Pembridge, the half-daytrip for Brummies… Continue reading A PEAK INTO PEMBRIDGE
HEREFORD : NO BULL
The oddest thing. I seem to have lost a few photos from a couple of weeks ago in Hereford. Perhaps they’ll turn up in 2021 and I’ll wonder what they are. Not to worry. I still have the photo of Duncan on his bike admiring the Cathedral while completing the Guide in 1977; As you’ll… Continue reading HEREFORD : NO BULL
OLD BOYOS IN THE OLDEST PUB IN WALES
Yes, Ushers. You don’t see that heading a post much these days, d’ya ?* A hefty walk along Offa’s Dyke, for once not too muddy, takes you towards the Skirrid Inn, supposedly even older than the debate about baps v cobs. Rather like the Royal Standard in Bucks or the Fighting Cocks, this is… Continue reading OLD BOYOS IN THE OLDEST PUB IN WALES
TOP 100 PUBS – BARRELS, HEREFORD
Yes, No.288 in my Top 100 series. So sue me. A third visit here in ten years, and heaving every time. Given what I wrote last time about how quiet Hereford was on Thursday night, that probably says it all. To be honest, it was never a good idea to finish at Barrels, after two… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – BARRELS, HEREFORD
T’OTHER BARNSLEY
Doyen of countless Good Pub Guides, Times Supplements and Pashmina Yearly editions over many decades, the Village Pub finally graces the only book that matters to tickers. So at last I get a trip to the other Barnsley. It’s pleasant, without being an essential stop for those touring the honeypots of north Swindon. The Barnsley… Continue reading T’OTHER BARNSLEY
BEERS OVER THE RIVER WYE
One of our great scenic areas, though we share it with the Welsh, is the Wye Valley. Beloved of Guardian readers and real people alike, it seems surprisingly down-to-earth, with amusement parks at Symonds Yat and relatively unpretentious pubs on both sides of the border (e.g. the Boat at Penallt, which I really ought to… Continue reading BEERS OVER THE RIVER WYE
