A Ferry from North Shields

The last time I blogged about this area it was across the river in South Shields, one of my more widely-read posts. It’s amazing just how popular a picture of a bride-to-be riding an inflatable, but nonetheless terrified, penis inside a pub can be. https://pubmeister.wordpress.com/2018/06/20/ride-a-cock-horse-in-south-shields/amp/ This time it’s the turn of North Shields, on a……

A Night in Silverdale

Silverdale is a village on the Lancashire coast that is as lovely as it sounds. For a village of 1,500 people it offers plenty and the sunsets are stunning. We stayed at the friendly Silverdale Hotel, apparently one of twenty listed buildings there. It’s a few yards from the sea and home to a mighty……

Part 3 of the Tallinn Trilogy

To the relief of both regular readers, this Tallinn trilogy draws to an end. We were extremely fortunate to fit it in at all as the requirement to self-isolate on arrival from the UK kicked in a week later. A week later you say? Day three involved a walk around the city’s ancient walls and……

Part 2 Tall-inn Tales in Estonia

Day 2 of our Estonian jaunt began soberly enough at Padarei prison. At various times Estonia has been under Swedish, Danish, Polish and Russian control. Indeed it has only enjoyed two periods of independence 1920-40 and 1991 to the present day. Padarei is an imposing, fearsome prison that you can now visit. It was latterly……

Tall-inn Tales in Estonia Part 1

It wasn’t too easy identifying a country to visit where lockdown, quarantine, and risk of cancellation weren’t likely to compromise the whole venture. But it seemed a reasonable gamble to book £56 flights from Edinburgh to Tallinn. Apart from the lack of tourists things felt very normalised there, no one wore masks and there seemed……

A Northumbrian Quartet

Holy Island might be the photogenic scene stealer of this Northumbrian blog but it will just need to wait its turn behind two rural gems close to the Scottish border. The Redesdale Arms is listed as being in Rochester but feels like it is not in anywhere. It’s an example of a bastle (bastille) house,……

The Long Delayed Staffordshire Completion

What did you do during lockdown? Did you fiddle with your codpiece and wait till the pubs re-opened? Did you grow some Togmeister? Or did you set a new world record like Joey ‘Jaws’ Chestnut, described on Wikipedia as a “professional competitive eater with Major League Eating”. Chestnut smashed the world hot dog eating record,……

And They’re Off

Where better to restart the pub ticking game than in one called the Starting Gate? It has been a gentle easing back into the world of pubs. In Scotland a more cautious approach to easing lockdown resulted in outdoor opening only on Monday 6th July. In the Renfrewshire branch area I have not managed to……

The 1987 Good Beer Guide

These old Guides are all well worn but they were working documents pressed into frequent service. The 1987 edition had a hefty 10% mark up to £4.95. Now that Thursday night clapping for pub tickers has stopped, we are left to our own devices and wistful recollections. Lockdown may be taking its toll but once……

The 1986 Good Beer Guide

Overwhelmed with a request to follow the triumph of the 1985 post with a sequel, I offer you the 1986 Good Beer Guide, complete with details on how pubs were selected. No change there? There were some familiar themes: ‘the past twelve months were probably the blackest period in British brewing since CAMRA was set……