March 2026. Malton. North Yorkshire. This won’t make a lot of sense to most of you, but my brain only really comes to life when I’m taking in new sights, sounds and smells experiences, which is why the repetition of those A1 trips from Sheff to Cambridge are so exhausting. But stick me on a train heading north-east...

March 2026. York. You might think the hardest part of the pub ticking game, the toughest in the world, is working out which one of the sods are going to deign to actually be open when you tip up. But actually it’s the logistics of travel, deciding whether to take the campervan to Guisborough or risk a bus trip from...

March 2026. Long Sutton. Lincolnshire. A couple of nights down in Waterbeach seeing Dad, eating Nepalese mixed grill at the White Horse, and trying to fathom out the new post box on The Gault. and then, like Supertramp, the long way home via Curry Charles and Dereham Spoons. Charles is in splendid form, though he...

March 2026. Heeley. Sheffield. Mrs RM couldn’t bear being inside any longer either, and on Tuesday we took the tram out east to the housing estates of Park Grange, with a view to Bramhall Lane and not much else. 20 minutes downhill brings you to Heeley, “beloved” of the Sheffield middle-classes for its organic...

March 2026. Sheffield. Sheffield is a great city but I can’t spend a whole day there. Mid-afternoon on Monday I headed down to the station, intending to bring you exciting reports from, I dunno, Retford or Adwick. But there was “trouble beyond Worksop“, and my sister called, and I abandoned my mission at the Rutland...

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 map; have you seen the cost of pink marker pens nowadays ? I paid £2.29 for a...

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 Germany as the relentless journeys up and down the A1 between Sheffield and...

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 Attercliffe, following the River Don along the Five Weirs Way to Kelham. “Look ! A...

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. Can it attract young (under-62) members with its exciting programme of motions...

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 guarantee that The Smallest Crarrot will be a craft bar, exclusively serving carrot...

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 visitors to practically perfect beer (NBSS 5) in the Tavern. “At this stage you’re...

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 weird modernist housing estate/office complex where you’d expect to see craft bars...