August 2026. Cardiff to Penarth. I left you pondering which crafty pub co. ran this futuristic looking diner facing the Welsh Senedd on Cardiff Bay, and the answer, of course, was Sam Smiths. The Waterguard (which was very quiet) looks rather older from the front, lying next to the Norwegian Church, now very much a...

August 2026. Cardiff. A whole day in Cardiff with no plans. No football, no pubs, no Chinese takeaway trail through Splott. A quick look at the market, a triumph of function over form, and a dither at the big clock facing what used to be (in my mind) a run of top Brain’s houses. The Cottage, now restyled TC (as in...

August 2026. Cardiff. We’d booked two nights at the £31 a night edge of town Zip Hotel, a Premier Inn concept that doesn’t seem to have taken, off despite high spec capsule rooms and a “Pizza and Pint for a tenner” offer. Because people are fusspots and can’t deal with windowless rooms. I’d fancied a trip to the...

August 2026. Cardiff. Well, it was a decent display of pyrotechnics at the Charity Shield, but another damp squib of a City performance against the Gooners, and NO, I didn’t stay for the presentation. But at least I stayed for the final whistle, and still found myself half a mile from the Principality within 15...

August 2026. Cardiff. I’d dragged Mrs RM down to South Wales for a few days to escape the monotony of that Yorkshire-Cambridge-Kent run, and treated her to a couple of nights in the Zip hotel on the corner of David Lloyds sprawling fitness centre that impressed me so much in 2023. £31 a night buys you a windowless...

August 2026. Newport. Gwent. Back at the ibis Budget hotel (not even a “where you been ?“) Mrs RM says only; “Hope we’re not going far for tea”. For a change, no, not with Sausage Saturday and Garin Fitter’s Oldies Show at the first pub after the underpass*. Not only can you never walk past the Murenger, but you...

August 2026. Newport. Gwent. My last visit to Newport resulted in a post called “Well, could YOU walk past the Murenger“, and though I rarely seem to visit Sam Smiths pubs these days you should never take that pint of cask OBB for granted. In and out of the Beer Guide, and often looking in need of a bit more trade,...

August 2026. Newport. Gwent. I challenge you to find anyone who’s written as much or as positively about Newport over the years. See also : Stockton, Paisley, Dereham. But I’ve still never been to the Transporter Bridge, or done the museum justice, so it won’t be the last time I subject you to pics of faded...

August 2026. Newport. Gwent. Four years since my last visit to Newport, but I’ve still probably blogged more about this wonderful town than anywhere outside “home”. Four years means a couple of Beer Guide debutants have crept in, that Weird Dad micro over the Usk, and a lively town pub run by Rhymney Brewery in the...

August 2026. Newport. The east side of Newport into Maindee doesn’t have the haute couture shops and artisanal delis of the city centre, but it does have the Chicken Man. And it has a GBG newbie that’s been awaiting my visit for a while. Weird Dad (“I know you are, Dad“, says Matt), plays to the stereotypes with a...

August 2026. Newport. (The Gwent one). It had been too long. A first night in Newport’s historic IBIS Budget (it wasn’t) since The Great Year of GBG Completion when it was only £34. Well, rather pricier 4 years later, with City and Arsenal fans fighting over Cardiff hotels after The Weeknd (who ?) had priority over...

August 2026. Ross-on-Wye. Surely you’ve caught up on the blog after subjecting us to a torrent of posts, Retired Martin ? Er, no. Last weekend saw a third big trip of the week (nothing compared to the real ticker who cross continents on a daily basis) as we headed down to Cardiff for the traditional curtain raiser...