February 2026. Letchworth Garden City. According to the times on my photos, I left my first Letchworth pub of the afternoon at 16:27 and entered my fifth at 17.29, which even by my standards is going some, particular with a detour to the old hosiery factory and some nostalgia thrown in. You’ll guess my last pub from...

February 2026. Letchworth Garden City. I write my posts almost entirely chronologically (rather than thematically), because, oddly, that’s how my life tends to work. So, from the Arena to the Cinema, Letchworth’s Art Deco gem, “now showing Billy Goats Gruff“, who I presume to be a Biffy Clyro tribute band. North...

February 2026. Letchworth Garden City. Just for you, a map showing all the things in Letchworth, a town rather changed from our time there 35 years ago. Notably, Sagar Tandoori where we ended our £40 Friday night splurge with a flaming sambuca is closed, not that I’d have been able to see it in the drizzle. Broadway...

February 2026. Letchworth Garden City. Not a great day to explore Letchworth on foot, and apart from pubs and “Marty Supreme” at the cinema there’s not a lot to do apart from loiter in pubs, but you can’t visit and not see the old underwear factory. It’s now offices where people sit at desks and encourage you to sue...

February 2026. Letchworth Garden City. If you can’t be bothered to read the next week’s deluge of posts, here’s the spoiler: Letchworth was really good, with a great variety of drinking establishments (I’ll let CAMRA debate whether they’re “pubs”). Start onLeys Avenue, the main shopping street; there’s a rambling...

February 2026. Letchworth Garden City. The weekly visit to see Dad in his Cambridge care home found him in rude health, no doubt in part due to the food at Hatley Court, which is (genuinely) better than anything I eat these days. I’d hoped to use the weekends in Waterbeach to get a few ticking and gig trips into...

February 2026. Gleadless Townend. Sheffield. I suppose it’s best to accept the inevitable…in 2026 we’re just not going to get any new Victoria/Edwardian multi-room heritage pubs. But there’s an infinite number of one room shop conversion micros to be developed in otherwise underpubbed suburbs. No more so than in...

February 2026. Banner Cross. A rare trip out to posh (but not snooty, oh no) Banner Cross in Sheffield’s West End, to get Ian his new GBG tick. He wasn’t rushing to leave for the bus back, with the terrifying prospect of a pint with BRAPA at the end of his journey. I feel obliged to find something new, if not shiny,...

February 2026. Banner Cross. Sheffield. Approaching middle-age, I feel less and less inclined to turn down any offers of a pub and a chat, even if it does mean staying in Sheffield rather than a slog to Shetland. And the pub tickers are the best of men, always positive despite that setback in a micro miles from...

February 2026. West Didsbury. I left Matt back at Piccadilly, no doubt to attend to housework, and added a rare Greater Manchester GBG newbie before City v Fulham. This year’s Manc ticking has been a bit of a slog, with brewery taps in Wigan and Timperley only opening weekends, craft bars not opening at all, and...

February 2026. Stockport. Hah ! Clickbait. Not a new local for me, though Mrs RM is already tired of Sheffield as our house has a garden that she now regrets buying. Why can’t you make an increased offer to buy a property without a garden. Youngest lad Matthew is looking to leave the rents of central Manchester and...

February 2026. Turin. And finally from Turin, a redemptive afternoon exploring the western half of the city, a half almost entirely ignored by the internet. ChatGPT had summarised the internet and listed ten (10) highlights, somehow omitting the indoor markets, both the historic fresh food hall visited by Pope John...