Wednesday 10th December 2025 All I've got to show for January 2026 at the time of writing is 11 ticks in the first 16 days, though I'm hoping by the time you read this, Southampton (yesterday) has been semi-productive. Skinny ticking months cause me feelings of anxiety and guilt. Sitting at home thinking about all those times in life where I've been idle when I could've been ticking. Why didn't it occur to me to start this quest at a younger age? Just imagine, I could've c

I want to start this blog with the sad news I learned yesterday evening that Peter 'Pub Curmudgeon' Edwardson has died. I'm so pleased that I met this talismanic #PubMan on three occasions. The first being on 31st March 2018 in one of those 'Sizzling' pubs at Culcheth (Cherry Tree). He'd kindly DM'd me whilst I was in Daresbury's Ring O' Bells offering to drive me to other required ticks at Golborne (Queen Anne) and Lowton (Travellers Rest). Mudgie wields the green Stabilo

Saturday 11th October 2025 Victoria Hotel, Norham (3066 / 5907) Outdoor drinking on the Scottish/Northumbria border in October? Who says the polar ice caps melting is all bad? A friendly pub but with limited space, plus Dad's sudden craving for a smuggled Melton Mowbray pork pie and a fine village green and such warmth, outdoors was a no-brainer and made a mockery of Bath's Coeur de Lion barman who claimed 5th September was the last warm day of 2025. And an excellent Jarl

Thursday 9th October 2025 Before we head to deepest Borders, we'll start with a reassuringly thirsty #ThirstyThursday yielding six ticks across three different parts of the north west. Such is the plethora of pub options available to me in the first month of the new Good Beer Guide year. Pack Horse, Affetside (3057 / 5898) My one Greater Manchester miss of 2025 that's retained its place in the GBG. Truth is I couldn't be arsed to travel up to rural Bolton-Bury just for one

Saturday 27th September 2025 A wise man called RetiredMartin agrees that there's nothing more joyous in life than an early Autumn mop-up of Central London's new Good Beer Guide entries, of which there's always thousands, even if you're an experienced completist like him. And I had the perfect excuse, Watford away with Daddy BRAPA just two days after the official GBG release date. A quick note on why I think C.London's churn is so brutal. Two reasons. Firstly, it doesn't

Thursday 17th July 2025 I'm on an early morning LNER heading north for my first Scottish ticks of the 2024/25 season. I keep forgetting...

Saturday 12th July 2025 It was all aboard the Severn Valley Railway on another scorchio summer Saturday down south, travelling in style...

A gentle 34 pub month was probably the comedown my liver needed after my June Gloucestershire epic (67 pubs in 11 days) as I move on to...

Saturday 24th May 2025 It was a tricky start to our latest BRAPA outing, crossing the Pennines in search of five pub ticks east of...

Sorry for the late release time, I fell asleep after work for far too long and Wales v Belgium has been distracting me. Thursday 22nd May...

Thursday 15th May 2025 I'd made it as far north as Low (& High) Newton-by-the-Sea on my last Northumbrian coastal jaunt, running out of...

Greetings pub lovers, 66 new Good Beer Guide pubs visited in the month of May, smashing the previous record of 55. It takes me up to...

Sunday 4th May 2025 People who wish you a 'Happy Star Wars day' every May 4th need to be shot. It is important we get that straight from...

I've already decided this concept is flawed - ranking the pubs based on social media 'likes'. There are so many variables as to why...

Thursday 30th January 2025 Four above average pubs. Four good pints for £3.50 each. Two in Merseyside. Two in Greater Manchester. Two...

Saturday 18th January 2025 I was missing my work Christmas do for this one! Pool, free drinks and beige snacks in L**ds. "You and Hull...

Thursday 16th January 2025 The #ThirstyThursday Winter Break was over, a shortish Spanish La Liga / French Ligue 1 style break, not as...

Saturday 16th November, 11:57am A last minute decision to swerve off the heavy traffic on the A64 and into Malton meant we'd reversed...

Thursday 29th August 2024 I think it was Charli XCX who this week lamented the end of this BRAP Summer. And now I've alienated my Journey...

September is here! The most highly anticipated month in the pub ticking calendar as it sees the arrival of the new Good Beer Guide, and...