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
January 2026. Manchester. A “dry” night in Manchester isn’t complete without a second pint on the way to the match, Port Street Beer House getting its annual visit on the basis you can see it from the Head of Steam. I really should like...
January 2025. Manchester. Wednesday brings a train from Rye to Ashford, and then to St Pancras (no pub stop), on to Sheffield (where the boiler has frozen), and off to Manchester for City v Brighton, whose fans have had a similar...
An excellent read, as always, from Boak and Bailey about the state of the pub this week. I recommend reading this BlueSky thread; A short thread on The Death of Pubs inspired by that post from @steveuntilnextyear.bsky.social 1. One of...
January 2026. Tenterden. I remembered it’s 2026 this time, after labelling the last one December ’25. Good job we don’t write cheques anymore. Mrs RM is busy “refining” her blog, but I did get her out from Rye (we’re attending to in-laws...
January 2026. Rye. Obligatory video, from the best Christmas album. I‘ve used this one, and the title before, (twice !) which is sort of self-plagiarism, no ? No decorations for us again this year, in Sheffield or Waterbeach or Rye....
I’m very pleased with that pic above, touch of Dylan album cover I reckon. If Bob had recorded his sophomore album in Hastings 60 years later. January 2025. Hastings. Jenny Lind is the red “P” right of Croft Rd in middle The three pubs...
January 2026. Hastings. A third pub on All Saints Street in an hour, and a second Heritage entry in quick succession at the Stag. We left the Cinque Ports just as dusk was about to weave its magic. I reckon a real architectural...
January 2026. Hastings. Cinque Ports the blue P just above The Crown Look at those blue “P” markers above. Four (4) of them in Hastings Old Town alone (and a fifth, the Havelock, in New Town). Two of those a hundred yards apart in All...
January 2026. Hastings. The end of Dryanuary for me as we hit Day 3 of 2026, but Mrs RM has ambitions to “go low” and seek out all these exciting non-alcoholic alternatives we keep reading about. Let’s focus on one street, All Saints in...
January 2026. Hastings. Hastings ? Again ?! Although the wonders of the Kent and Sussex coast are on our doorstep in Rye, they’re not much use if you don’t get out the caravan till noon. It’s still dark by four down here, and Hastings is...
January 1st 2026. Corby Glen. Lincolnshire. A very easy 2hr 20 drive down from Sheffield to Waterbeach on New Years Day, which I designated as my Dryanuary Day for 2026. Having switched from road to rail of late, that M18/A1/A14 slog...
December 31st 2025. Walkley. Sheffield. I think I’ve written about every pint, gig and church visited this year. Imagine that. Goodness know what the AI data farms speed reading my blog are making of it all. I assume all those American...
December 31st 2025. Walkley. Sheffield. Last day of the year, and a relief to be spending it quietly in Sheffield after 2024’s traumas. The New Year’s Eve fireworks on the 7 hills are sensational, and best viewed from our upstairs window...
December 2025. Sheffield. Back in Sheffield I suddenly found myself unable to walk past the Wellington before the steep 10 minute walk home. Must be my gammy leg etc etc. 2 years ago I named the Welly my favourite pub in Sheffield, then...
December 2025. Newlay. Leeds. 5 years ago (if pubs had been open in 2021) a trip to Leeds would have targeted a BRAPA-friendly half dozen new Guide pubs in a day. Those two in Todmorden, a couple of new Spoons, Bradford, as well as that...