retiredmartin
retiredmartin
Martin
Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.
Latest Posts
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...
April 2026. Sheffield-Grantham-Waterbeach-Southborough-Sheffield. Another week, another slog down and back up the A1, this time with the added bonus of a day trip to Tunbridge Wells to take my Mother-in-Law for surgery (all well,...
April 2026. Sheffield. I did get back from Retford, eventually, and arriving in Sheffield at 10 to 5 gave me a rare chance of a seat and tea with Mrs RM in the Rutland. I gave my dearest an hour’s notice, so she’d only be half an hour...
April 2026. Retford. I had a look at my last blog post from Retford (a bit like Alistair Cooke’s Letter from America without the golf ) while walking the mile into town and realised how little had changed. It’s a low-key market town of...
April 2026. Retford. You left me at Lincoln Bus Station, waiting for the Number 56 to Wragby that never came. There’s a sadness about missing out on a planned GBG tick that only the ticker knows. But if you can’t have an actual tick,...
April 2026. Lincoln. South Herts have made a splendid job of organising this week’s CAMRA Members Weekend, putting the emphasis on pub crawls curated surveys of licenses premises. If you’re in St Albans this weekend and see Paul Mudge,...
April 2026. Lincoln. I’m not adding the Ritz to my extensive “2026 Pubs Visited” spreadsheet, as I didn’t even have a can of San Pellegrino, so terrified was I of needing a comfort break on the bus to Wragby in half an hour, and having...
April 2026. Lincoln. Easter Monday means one of a) pubs you expect to be closed are open, b) pubs you expect open are closed, c) trains don’t run, or d) you’ve got a hangover from Sunday night. I took a punt on the Adam & Eve in Wragby,...
April 2026. Barkisland. West Yorkshire. As you’ll observe, I don’t tend to suffer from writer’s block, unless I stupidly follow pints of Old Peculier with pints of Wobbly Bob and suffer the consequences. Vikram Seth is still struggling...
April 2026. Norden. Greater Manchester. Look at those contour lines ! An underrated place, Greater Rochdale, with micros in the town and hills all around. And top blogger (and bloke) Tandleman and the lovely E close by. But what does...
A Gusty Good Day In Walsall.
April 2026. Norden. Greater Manchester. Closing in on a belated completion of Greater Manchester GBG entries now (two Wigan brewery taps left, and who can guess when they’ll be open). As you’ll know by now I tend to go stir crazy if I...
April 2026. Bingley. West Yorkshire. A very quick in Steeton in the drizzle, then a hop back on the train to Leeds and home. Very unsatisfactory, there must be a worthwhile stop that isn’t Leeds or Wakefield. Where to break the trip back...
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...
April 2026. Manchester. A day in central Manchester, the modern bit between St Peters and the Irwell, with a diversion through Spinninfields (no ta), and a quick look at the history of Unionism (yes please) in the wonderful People’s...