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
November 2025. Tonbridge. Having spent the extravagant sum of £3.20 to park next to Tonbridge Castle (it was 6.43pm, they charge 8am till 8pm but kindly gave me a credit of those 43 minutes in the morning) we were going to get full value...
November 2025. Tonbridge. There’s five (5) Tonbridge entries in the Good Beer Guide this year. Southwold has none (0), Stafford only has three. One of those is the very beery Nelson Arms, one’s a Spoons, one is the upmarket...
November 2025. Tonbridge. A day attending to the in-laws of Royal Tunbridge Wells, where it transpires all Michael wants is a front row seat at the Assembly Hall, listening to a sombre piece about Anne Frank performed by his own choral...
November 2025. Rye. I’d almost overdone it on that first visit to the Ypres on my return to Rye (not the only one, apparently), and it was unfortunate that I had exactly 32 minutes till the bus back to our caravan park, which is exactly...
November 2025. Rye. First time at our caravan down in Rye Harbour for a year; it’s been on let almost continuously in an attempt to recoup the site fees. It all feels worth it as you take the A2070 from Ashford past Snargate and Romney...
November 2025. Thurnham. Maidstone. Into posh Kent and the North Downs we go, for a night in Rye before opera with the in-laws. There may be something in that last sentence to make you a tad jealous. I’m betting it’s not opera. A...
November 2025. Antifascist Walkley. Sheffield. Back from London to Cambridge (eventually, someone pulled the emergency cord at Stevenage), then a slight return to Sheffield for a couple of nights before bringing Mrs RM down to Kent and...
November 2025. Highbury. London. A big (for RM) gig in London, a new venue for me just outside Highbury Station and just below the Arsenal ground, and I find myself with 2 hours to kill before doors. I know it’s imperative I get the...
November 2025. Hampstead. London. I’m timing my trips down to see Dad to coincide with the nostalgia music afternoons at his care home (Dave from Chatteris, it’s always a Dave, sings Beatles and Neil Diamond) and my rather less nostalgic...
October 2025. Ladybarn. Manchester. That’s my view from a £17 a match season ticket at Manchester City a week ago, for one of the most exciting games I’ve seen at the Etihad. Staying over near Stockport meant I had time to join the 15%...
November 2025. Levenshulme. It’s been a slow start to ticking the new cohort of Greater Manchester Guide pubs. If you’re approaching middle age like it’s wise not to drink too much before a match or a gig, but a pint in Levenshulme gives...
October 2025. Heaton Chapel to Levenshulme. I’m no fan of night driving these days, it’s almost like I’m approaching middle-age or something. And with my usual cheap option for train to Manchester scuppered (no service to Hyde) it...
October 2025. Ticknall. 2 miles from Calke, in the heart of the National Forest, is yet another of those “HOW had I not been here before ?” pubs that the Beer Guide continues to throw up. Ticknall is a gorgeous little Derbyshire village,...
November 2025. Calke. Derbyshire. A late dash to tick a few National Trust properties before the subs are due (we won’t renew). Blimey, talk about a well-pubbed location. Calke sits between Coalville, Burton, Derby and Beeston in the...
October 2025. Leicester. Our 36 hours in Leicester concluded with a late lunch in another historic pub, the venue for local CAMRA’s branch meeting that very evening. Even my remarkable powers of persuasion weren’t enough to convince Mrs...