March 2026. Sheffield. Our friends from Chicago roused themselves at an uncivilised hour on the Monday and we ferried them back to Luton, a journey which might have shattered their illusions about pastoral England. By Tuesday I needed to get out the house, anywhere, and jumped on the first bus from Langsett Road,...

March 2026. Sheffield. It was two-thirty on our “cultural Sunday” and we still hadn’t taken our Chicago guests (a bit wary of an extended pub crawl, perhaps), in a pub ! Apart from the breakfast pint in Spoons. Five and a half hours later we’d rather remedied that omission, and I think Meighan and Dave had worked...

I’ve never been to Chicago (or Minneapolis), but it’s been on my Bucket List since Ferris took us there on his day off forty (40) years ago. Yes, yes, press PLAY now. Having had their bit of Peak onm Saturday, Sunday was for culture. No, not whippets and Hendos, not even the Park Hill flats, but an aimless wander...

March 2025. Hilsborough. Sheffield. Much of the non-political discussion that Saturday night with our guests from Chicago centred on “service” culture and Wetherspoons. Dave (not THAT Dave) was in awe as I described folk drinking beer with their full English at 9am, and added a morning pint in Spoons to his To Do...

March 2026. Sheffield and the Peak. Last weekend we “hosted” (ugh) Meighan and Dave from Chicago during their whirlwind tour of Europe. I have never seen Mrs RM go into such a cleaning frenzy, which sadly extended to getting me to mow the lawn. What happened to the wild garden craze ? I knew nothing about Meighan...

March 2026. Nottingham. My Nottingham gig ends at a quarter to ten so Rescue Rooms can put on a Harry Styles “Fandom Party” (aka disco), a change from my usual London gigs that start just before 10pm and ensure I’m dashing to Kings Cross for the last train, full of drunk HR professionals from Royston. That gives me...

March 2026. Nottingham. Gig night in Nottingham, a first pint in the Olde Trip in years, and I would have had tea in another contender for the “Oldest pub” title, but the Bell looked a bit scruffy and unloved, so the Joseph Else, my go-to Notts Spoons, gets my business. Yes, yes, it’s non-acoholic Punk with my...

March 2026. Nottingham. The Americans were in town in early March, giving me as busy a gig schedule as I’ve ever had. Actually, Leith Ross is from Ontario, but since Russ is taking a break from commenting I can confidently tell you that Canada is now part of America, and who wouldn’t want to be ? Back from gigs in...

March 2026. Maltby. Rotherham. To add some colour to the monotony of the Waterbeach to Sheffield run I stopped in Maltby on the way home. It only adds 5 minutes to the trip, but gives you the joys of the A634, Roche Abbey and all, before posing the Eternal Question “Is there more to Maltby’s than meets the eye ?“....

March 2026. Shepherd’s Bush. London. Half an hour till my Shepherd’s Bush gig, ought to squeeze in one GBG revisit, surely ? Not a lot of choice in W12, the Defectors Weld has really fallen from grace, but the Crown & Sceptre is one of those glorious backstreet Fullers gastro (Thai, again) pubs that are a bit too...

March 2026. Shepherds Bush. London. From Balham, a trip across a foggy Thames to Shepherd Bush, where I suddenly found I had nearly two hours to fill and Westfield in front of me. Just like Charlene, I’d never been to Westfield W12’s flashy shopping centre, but if you’ve been to Stratford‘s version you won’t need...

March 2026. Balham. London. A second London pub tick in quick succession, the Southeastern service presumably making a request stop just for me at Balham, where I had a restorative double espresso in a cute station obssessed with the local football team. Matcha seems the drink of choice. What even is matcha ? What...