Manx Men

We can all agree it would be foolish to travel to the Isle of Man to do one required pub in the 2018 Good Beer Guide, can’t we? So greetings from the Isle of Man with pub ticking professionals https://retiredmartin.com/ and the Maltmeister. Our night out in Douglas was guided by https://mobile.twitter.com/irishseadave local CAMRA Chair,……

Gimme Shell-ter, Midland Brewery Taps and Troublesome Opening Hours

Pubs come in many different forms. Coaching inns, pubs, theme bars, roadhouses, micropubs etc. For a frisky canter through them read 20th Century Pub by https://boakandbailey.com/ Brewery taps, where they existed, usually meant the pub next to, and supplied by, the brewery. Now they are fast growing aspect of the microbrewery business. It’s easy to……

Worcester Wonders

You know you are in Worcester when you see the warning sign for Swans.  They gather in large numbers on the River Severn. One of life’s pleasures is watching cricket in the shadow of the cathedral at New Road then crossing the river into town for a lunchtime beer or two. The Plough is an……

Microphobia in Middlesbrough

Some say Microphobia is a fear of microorganisms. But spare a thought for an estimated 28% of the pub-going community for whom it means a very real fear of micropubs. Symptoms include difficulty talking to strangers and uncontrolled weeping when encountering closed Bass pubs, like the beautifully tiled Masham (above) or the Shakespeare (below). Those……

Ride a Cock Horse in South Shields

Ride a cock horse (to Banbury Cross) is an English nursery rhyme.   To be honest, I had never interpreted it in quite the same way as this bride-to-be in South Shields.  As someone pointed out on twitter, the ‘horse’ looks absolutely terrified. This year’s North Sea Cycle Route trip took us from Dunbar to Middlesbrough.……

Moors the Merrier

One final push to finish Yorkshire for another year, so we decided to make a night of it in Appleton-le-Moors. Before that short visits were made to a couple of good micros, the Cobblers Arms in Filey, followed by the Old Post Office Tavern in Brompton by Sawdon.  It’s not too difficult to guess what……

Waiting for a Train

There’s a Good Beer Guide-listed pub in this picture. The bars symbolise the pain of the ticker and imply that it’s a micropub, closed two days a week and open relatively limited hours on the other days. The Waiting Room is on Whitby station from where steam trains run to Pickering as well as mainline……