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
March 2026. Ipstones. Staffordshire. An invigorating Spring trip through the Dales towards the Staffordshire Moorlands at the start of Spring. And then, Staffordshire has fallen ! I couldn’t even be bothered to colour in the whole Staffs...
A busier month, not just at home, where we entertained guests from Chicago on a memorable weekend where the Shakespeare stood out as exemplifying what Sheffield pubs are all about, but also abroad. I needed those 3 nights in northern...
March 2026. Sheffield. Things never end well when I agree to meet Quosh for “a quick one“. After slightly too long in SMOD it was time to ensure the quiet lad from east Manchester got home safely from the dangerous back streets of...
April brings the joy of the annual CAMRA conference, this year from St Albans (aka Greater Luton), a chance to assess whether the Fighting Cocks really does have the oldest beer in the country. CAMRA, once again, stands at a crossroads....
March 2026. Attercliffe. Sheffield. Quosh was in town, headed for St Mars of the Desert; I felt duty bound to save him a seat. 20 minutes along the Five Weirs path from the KIT to SMOD, where you wait outside the Smallest Carrot. I...
March 2026. Sheffield. Back home (they’ll be thinking of us) I managed a day’s housework before succumbing to the lure of Kelham on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon. Oh well, the KIT, then. Earlier this month I treated our 2 Chicago...
March 2026. Cologne. A final Cologne post (promise) as Mrs RM gets to tick her tourist essentials by the waterfront, including the Lindt chocolate museum (not as much free stuff as Cadbury world) and the Kranhäuser im Rheinauhafen, a...
March 2026. Cologne. Our lads had headed down to the banks of the Rhine on our last afternoon in Cologne, and while joining them for a Kolsch at Martinswinkel (stop it) seemed appealing, those familiar outside seats at Pfaffen looking on...
Yes, it’s edited March 2026. The Belgisches Viertel. Cologne. Our last day in Cologne, a day carrying our luggage around, but that’s OK because I follow Mrs RM’s packing guidance. I should stop promoting her blog; she’s getting a...
No, the bloke with the sword waver isn’t a famous American real ale drinker you might know. March 2026. Cologne. Germany. You left me and our lads in Kupferhut in the Cologne suburb of Mülheim, finishing our second Gaffel and deciding...
March 2026. Mulheim. Cologne. Our last night of three in Cologne, time for a gig out in the slightly edgier suburb of Mülheim, the only place we’d see much “diversity” (most of it in Turkish kebab shops). Seven minutes on the train, 25...
March 2026. Cologne. Germany. Back from Bonn on our last night with the lads in Germany, with a BIG indie gig (not Nicole) to come in Cologne. Indie gigs don’t start till late, so no rush; I walked Mrs RM back to our ring-road hotel and...
March 2026. Bonn. Germany. More highlights from our half day in Bonn, which seems to have stolen the Pied Piper from Hamelin for its pedestrian crossing. Apart from schnitzel and a beer, the essential activity in Bonn is a visit to Haus...
March 2026. Bonn. Germany. You can’t really claim to have visited a German city till you’ve bought a pastry in Rewe, misunderstood the local transport system, and checked in a beer on Untappd. At Brauhaus Bonnsch you go for the cloudy...
March 2026. Bonn. Germany. 3 nights in Cologne, 1 new city (Wuppertal), 3 revisits. The only memory I had of former West German capital Bonn, 11 years ago on a post-exam (his, not mine) trip was a long closed kneipe, and the Haribo shop....