September 2026. North Hykeham. Lincolnshire. Friday was a perfect day, and not in a corny Lou Reed charity single way. I drove down to see Dad, who despite advancing dementia was as chatty as he’s been for many months, was eating well, and had somehow acquired the Russian resident’s hat. I stayed a couple of hours,...

September 2026. Grantham. A few new Beer Guide entries to break up the interminable slog up and down the A1, and a characteristically eclectic bag of Lincolnshire debutants in GBG27. The one place I didn’t expect a newbie is Grantham, a town I thought I’d done to death over the years, even stayed over in the...

September 2026. Sheffield. There’s some great Proper Pubs just above West Street in Sheffield studentland (also home to its best Asian restaurants). Some, like the Grapes and Perch and Fagans flit in and out of the Beer Guide; the Dog & Partridge and Red Deer the perennnial entries. Until recently, when the Red Deer...

September 2026. Sheffield. The first few weeks after the publication of the annual Good Beer Guide are invariably a whirl of travel to the nearest towns to mop up the easy wins (ugh), the low hanging fruit (ugh, ugh) and get the closest counties pinked in. But then you come up against limiting factors like remote...

September 2026. South Anston. South Yorkshire. Obviously I’m not actually aiming to complete the Beer Guide again; not sure I could afford all those helicopter flights and ferries in the final year anymore, never mind the stress. But I’m still visiting as many new Guide pubs as I can, and a bit more conscientous...

September 2026. Manchester. Apart from an essential haircut, I was also in Manchester to see Ninush, whose single “Neighbours” (not THAT one) is a modern classic. A gig at a rare pre-emptive tick in Manchester’s studentland, too, which I head for on the V2 bus, taking in the Oxford Road pub sights. Oxford Road is...

September 2026. Salford. Two quick ticks by two in Flixton and Urmston, and I’m safely back from Trafford at Oxford Road station, where I decide this odd staircase is the highlight. I’d hoped to minimise the walking last Tuesday, but decide you can walk off a broken leg, so head through majestic Manchester to my...

September 2026. Urmston. Greater Manchester. Mrs RM will confirm that my brain is wired a bit differently from most of the population, and only works when fed new experiences on a daily basis. Last Tuesday, that experience was a tour of unsung Greater Manchester (Trafford, strictly) suburbs. Having hobbled to...

September 2026. Flixton. Greater Manchester. By Tuesday I was itching at the bit to get out of Sheffield, determined to walk off that leg injury I don’t like to talk about. Ideal, then, that Flixton in the middle-class suburbs of west Manchester Trafford has the UK’s largest collection of crumbling pavements,...

September 2026. Chesterfield. Having spent at least a tenner getting to the outer edge of Chesterfield for that Beer Guide newbie, and with the next nearest GBG tick a) an hour away or b) not open till Friday I decided to try an old favourite at random. One of the things you notice each September when the Guide...

September 2026. Chesterfield. When a new Beer Guide comes out each September the temptation is always to look for trips to towns with lots of new ticks, even if that means a train to Newton Abbot or Carlisle. But my priority on Monday was nursing my gammy leg I don’t like to talk about, but still will, and it’s a...

September 2026. Shireoaks. Nottinghamshire. 10 minutes through the old colliery site to the GBG brewery tap, ten minutes back to the station, still feeling that ache at the back of my leg but keeping up with Google maps generous timings now. One of the most attractive approaches to a Beer Guide pub anywhere, I...