Ding dong the Humph is dead, and I'm hoping this illicit photo I took on Saturday didn't hasten his demise .....
It has been a successful month here at BRAPA Towers with 61 Good Beer Guide pubs visited in the month of June, plus 8 pre/post-emptives.
This moves me onto 78.26% GBG completion, and most thrillingly (for me) is 978 pubs remaining, under 1,000 for the first time. I'm basking in the glory until September's churn comes along and undoes most of my good work!
Yes, we are less than three months away and even have a front cover, shit just got real .....
Thankfully I went to Edinburgh's Oxford Bar last year, or that would've been potentially embarrassing. They're even selling GBG tee-shirts to swell those ailing CAMRA coffers. Wonder if anyone will buy me one? I mean, could I get any cooler? Impossible!
Without further ado, let's take a look at the five counties which I visited this month .....
Somerset (42 ticks, 48 still to visit, 52.94% completion)
A Somerset heavy month, and I needed it. My most neglected county by 30 (THIRTY) whole pubs going into my epic Taunton break. By the time I'd left, 'tis only my fifth most neglected county!
The heatwave limited what I planned to do both in the Cheddar area and further west, and there were two 'shut pub alerts' (one my fault, one not).
But as Arnie said in his Somerset GBG debut year, 'I'll probably be back'. Before the end of 2026. Staying in Bristol or Bath and combining it with a bit of Glos/Wilts. I'll also need something more Yeovilly shaped at some point which I guess I can pair with Dorset if I'm feeling fruity.
Pubs, pints and people were all generally better than expected. Special shout out to FamilyRug (Martyn) for driving me around four tricky buggers in difficult circs. I could pick out 15 quality pubs easily, but I'll limit it to my favourite four.
Ship Inn, Porlock
Etsome Arms, Somerton
Crown Inn, Churchill
Halfway House, Pitney
Durham (7 ticks, 3 still to visit, 96.3% completion)
After nine months of neglect, it was about time I paid a couple of visits to my neighbouring county. The quality wasn't reet canny, in fact an Ember Inn on the outskirts of Durham city was one of my more enjoyable experiences. High Coniscliffe Spotted Dog deserves an award for being the nambiest pambiest pub of the entire year.
A Darlington 'Spoons is my lowest hanging fruit tick remaining in the entire Guide. The other two keep abysmal hours, especially Sedgefield which is the Enfield Botany Bay of the north. Hardcore tickers will understand that reference.
Pub of the month - Devonport Arms. Middleton One Row
Surrey (5 ticks, 19 still to visit, 72.86% completion)
I've dragged Surrey to the brink of respectability (said no-one ever) with 19 remaining after a winning Thirsty Thursday. Not one of the hardest counties in the GBG, but it can be deceptively rural.
I'd finished it back in 2020-22, which just shows how quickly the gaps can open up. More to come from Surrey before the new Guide, and a further boost is my old mate Ed Wray saying he might be up for a car day out west.
The beer wasn't too crash hot but I did meet a nice BRAPee called Steve Jackson for his BRAPA debut.
Joint pubs of the month, of contrasting styles .....
White Lion, Egham
Thames Side Brewery, Staines
Cornwall (4 ticks, 21 still to visit, 66.13% completion)
It was a last minute decision to leave Somerset for Cornwall (8 degrees cooler apparently, never happened, still boiling!) on the final day. I would've also ticked two in Saltash or Plymouth but the train tracks were buckling in the heat and Taunton felt a long way off so I hedged my bets.
If I'm moaning about Surrey churn, then multiplying that moan x 10 for Cornwall. Unlike Devon and Somerset, I've spent loads of time here over the BRAPA years, I've even had the mainland 'fully greened' before and I would've done Scilly too had I not bottled New Grimsby harbour / Penzance info had been less vague.
But it keeps putting new pubs in, most of which I've walked / bussed past just for added annoyance. Still, nice to finally visit St Austell and Liskeard for ticks, and not as random transport interchanges!
Pub of the month - Red Lion. Liskeard
North Yorkshire (3 ticks, 2 still to visit, 98.63% completion)
Two left in my home county and I guess there's a chance for a rare 100% county completion if Daddy BRAPA offers me a car day combined with a cheeky bit of eastern Cumbria (are you watching Daddy B?)
The standard of NY ticks was superior to the Durham lot, and it was nice not only to finally get the limited hours Ravensworth pub done, which was excellent, but also the tricky BrewStation at Richmond which has stymied many a pub ticker this year with its tardy opening and closing times.
Bay Horse, Ravensworth
So that's the crux of the blog done. Hope I didn't sound too distracted, tis Monday night and I'm writing the majority of this (though I did edit it on Tuesday) whilst cheering on Paraguay against the bloody Germans. 1-1. Hydration break as I speak, of course it is!
Let's finish the blog then where seeing (dons N.I. accent) 'Where My Head is At' .....
Thanks Rachel.
July looks a tricky month for ticks. No holidays. One Saturday totally ruled out cos 'fwends'. Thirsty Thursday's potentially patchy. I'm actually thinking of postponing this coming Thursday because I've got post-Somerset man-flu and have a Lemsip in front of me as I write this.
If I could get 31 ticks (one a day), I'd snap your hand off as it stands.
I can however console myself in a more fruitful August than usual. And a proper push early September just before the GBG comes out.
The annual 'Foxtures Fixtures' day was held last Saturday, where I sit down with Daddy BRAPA and discuss Hull City away games in relation to BRAPA.
As wonderful as promotion was, the Premier is an uninspiring league to be catapulted into pubwise! You spend half your time in London so I'll actually welcome a big churn there. And I'll also have to try not to go too early with my ticks around Manchester, Liverpool and in the NE. Not that I'm moaning (I really am).
And in sad news, it looks like Ivor Panda and Kale Joseph are off to British Heart Foundation. A new mascot needed to take the pressure off Owlie McBurnie and Junior Col.
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