April 2026. Skinningrove. North Yorkshire. It wasn’t until the last few years of Beer Guide completion that I really got to appreciate the Scottish coastline, but I always assumed 30 years of ticking meant I knew most of our seaside villages. But apparently not. A night in the campervan in a car park in Loftus (the...

April 2026. Staithes. North Yorkshire. I took this picture of Staithes High Street on a dreich day in 2017, when we oddly walked past the Royal George, oblivious to its GBG pre-emptive potential. And this one last Thursday. You get a better picture of the cobbles in the first one, so I’ll keep that in. Nothing much...

April 2026. Staithes. North Yorkshire. One of the best stretches of coastline anywhere, I reckon. From Scarborough all the way round to the edge of Middlesbrough, with Whitby the big tourist draw and Staithes and Robin Hoods Bay the day trips. Not much has changed since our last Staithes stagger in 2017, they still...

April 2026. Easington. North Yorkshire. Mrs RM declined my offer of a night in a a campervan in a Cleveland car park, her loss. Two hours later I’m at the coast, “I can see the seaside !“, and planning blog titles for the Tiger in tiny Easington (pop. 400). I’m expecting it to be full of folk on day trips from...

April 2026. Sheffield. Something very heavy on the brain seemed to lift after Dad’s house sale completed, though we’ll still be popping down to Waterbeach to see him, no longer needing to sleep in an empty Sunnyside. Mrs RM presses on with her blog, inbetween planning Spring trips to Armenia (there may only be...

April 2026. Stockport. Back at Stockport Travelodge (£37.99, wouldn’t buy a pie, pint and programme at the Emirates) after the game I decided I wasn’t paying a fiver for WiFi, and the only watchable thing on the telly was “The Story of the Bee Gees“. Did you know they’re named after a famous UK band from the early...

April 2026. Stockport. “City, tearing cockneys apart, again“. That’s the only post-match chant this PG version of the blog can bring you from an evening at the Etihad when I lost my voice and risked a permanent ban for my shouts of “and your beer’s not very good” at the Arsenal fans. You can’t swear at football...

April 2026. Alderley Edge. I’m not sure my heart will stand these tense City games, but after a period of letting the lads use my season ticket I thought I’d better see The Arsenal, apparently champions elect. If you don’t use your season ticket enough it gets cancelled and you have to pay £88 a game. Mrs RM came...

April 2026. Mareham-le-Fen. Lincolnshire. A productive weekend in rural Lincs leaves me with just the one tick to finish the county, but as that’s in bucolic Skegness I’m saving it for a special occasion. Mareham-le-Fen is another small (pop. 944) village on way to t’coast, but no chippy for the bikers this time....

April 2026. Wragby. Lincolnshire. Your actual new Wragby Beer Guide pub isn’t a classic, but then the Lincolnshire Wolds aren’t renowned for classics. Prove me wrong. But you do get this extraordinary piece of art in the garden of the Adam & Eve, which bears a striking resemblance to Ali & Nino in Mrs RM’s new...

April 2026. Wragby. Lincolnshire. You’ll remember my brave but doomed attempt to get to Wragby by bus last week ? Well, I tried again. A man who is tired of East Lindsey district has already been once. Actually, that’s not fair; Skegness, Louth and the Wolds, who could want more ? OK, the A158 is a bit featureless,...

April 2026. Sheffield. As I may have hinted, the last few months have been stressful, and not just due to the more limited recent availability of the £1.89 salt and pepper calamari from Home Bargains, which I used to fill out our celebratory Sang Lung takeaway last Friday night. A think I could have cooked them a...