July 2026. Keighley. With Day 7 of the Cask Camino on hold due to a sporting injury, I spend an unnecessary day in Keighley making trips to the town’s three (3) supermarkets (Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s, Asda) to keep Mrs RM topped up with deli items and sparkling water, while I completed my 22k steps walking to pubs. I...

July 2026. Keighley. I could paint you two very different pictures of Keighley. One one hand, one of the UK’s scruffiest towns, litter down every street, laundry hung up across side roads, a virtual absence of vibrant independent trade. The old story of a once affluent mill town without a mill. And a town centre...

July 2026. Keighley. Well, a quiet night in Keighley Travelodge on Wednesday, quieter than the previous England World Cup Semi-Final, anyway. And then in the morning, as England celebrated qualifying for the Bronze medal match with their old enemy, Mrs RM sent me out to get photos of the Real Keighley. Actually, she...

July 2026. Keighley. You left us at the Airedale Heifer, a mile short of our end point on Day 6 of the Cask Camino, with the prospect of an exciting night in Keighley on World Cup Semi-Final Day*. As we entered Riddlesden, the soles of Mrs RM’s feet were playing up badly; there’s a Latin name for it but I’m not...

July 2026. Sandbeds. Keighley. Two hours into Day 6 of the Cask Camino; time for a posh pub break on the very edge of Riddlesden, technically in Sandbeds though I can’t see that on the canal walk map. In fact, ChatGPT told me it was the best pub in Keighley, and you’ll know that ChatGPT is infallible. I’d been to...

July 2026. Bingley, Bradford. Yes, Day 6. Some folk would have finished the Leeds to Liverpool Canal walk by now, especially with a tailwind. Like me, Mrs RM knows it’s about the journey, not the destination (even if that is the Azvex Taproom at Stanley Dock), so we booked two (2) nights at the rundown Travelodge in...

July 2026. Kelham. Sheffield. I know jealousy is a terrible thing, but I really am jealous of Simon’s frenetic progress towards completion of the Beer Guide. It’s not always fun, and BRAPA has the really scary stuff still to come (probably in a boat in a storm near Sark), but nothing gives you that adrenaline rush...

July 2026. Midhopestones. Sheffield. The Number 57 from the bottom of our hill (doesn’t really narrow it down) terminates at Unsliven Bridge 49 minutes later. I had no idea what Unsliven Bridge was, apart from a sense it was beyond the darkest recesses of Stocksbridge, a Sheffield suburb I’ve barely touched and for...

July 2026. Grantham. From Sheffield to Waterbeach to see Dad and back in the same day isn’t ideal. But I don’t really want to be hanging around in Cambridge when I could be back with Mrs RM, planning the next leg of our epic Cask Camino (which hit a slight big snag this afternoon). Life has been a lot easier since...

July 2026. Rotherham. Visiting Dad yesterday a long-term aquaintance said to me “You must enjoy sitting around relaxing at home“. I was speechless. I’m aware some folk do like spending time at home, but 4 years after completing the Beer Guide I’m still not one of them. More than a day in Sheffield and I need to...

July 2026. Sheffield. The only problem with keg beer is that you immediately wish you’d had cask, but I wouldn’t admit that on the cesspit that is CAMRA’s Discourse at the moment. Anyway, I found I couldn’t walk past the Gardeners Rest without seeing what Tribune newspaper just declared the Best Pub Garden In...

July 2026. Sheffield. When we moved to Sheffield during the second lockdown I thought there might be a protracted period of stabilisastion in the pub scene (ugh), but 2021-23 saw plenty of new openings to distract us from the Kelham Island usual suspects. Heist came first, 30 keg taps, a shuffle board and an unusual...