March started with a two mile walk to the Buckinghamshire hamlet of Asheridge ......
And ended with a disgraceful but tasty £7 pint of ESB in the Parcel Yard at King's Cross ....
£7!! Even I might have to start boycotting the place on principle! Not like the majestic Charles I is a long walk is it?
March was a modest 37 tick month, the highlight of which was passing the 3,000 (two thirds of the Good Beer Guide) mark. I end the month on 3,024 (67.2% completion).
These are heady BRAPA times, and the aim is now to reach 3,250 to give myself a chance of staying above 3,000 when the 2026 GBG 'drops' in September.
Of course, if the churn is as cruel as last years 313 loss, I'll need to reach 3313. Let's not think too far ahead. April looks like being a biggun, May will be better than usual and June will be a disgusting pub explosion, before a quieter July and August. But let's not think too far ahead ..... hang on I just said that.
As we hit the halfway point in the 2024/25 season, the GBG wear and tear is showing too. I've now lost FOUR pages of my GBG - from Shepherds Bush to Bolton. When I tick Isleworth and Affetside, it'll be on loose pages. That'll feel weird. Go on, say it .... this is bad karma for the days I purposefully extracted the brewery section.
Let us have a look at counties which I made progress in .....
Kent (11 ticks, 90.3% complete, 14 left)
Two days out with Paul 'Man of Kent' Godden, and the Kent completion dream is still alive (well if the Castle Inn at Chiddingstone fills in its internal hole (ooh err) and reopens. Dartford coming soon (ad-hoc). Then two more Paul G. days - one Faversham area, one down near Folkestone and luvvly jubbly.
Kent is one of the stronger GBG counties, history tells me, but this batch weren't that stunning. If I had to pick a winner, I'd go Hop House, St Michaels. The weaker ones were Canterbury's Monument and the slightly off-key Hidden Treasure at Dymchurch.
Hop House, St Michaels - I knew Hull City were losing at home to Luton as soon as I saw this woeful specimen
Only two #ThirstyThursdays this month because being a model employee of Yorkshire-Clydesdale-Virgin Money-Nationwide, I agreed to work the other two because a 'project' left the team short on staff. I get them back in May which can be added to my BRAPA birthday trip, so that's good.
Two trips to Northumberland, I did the easier stuff, I cannot lie, but great weather, scenery and surprisingly strong pubs (not always the case up here) make it County of the Month (if we ignore Alnwick - blog coming soon).
Black Bull, Haltwhistle wins my monthly award but honourable mentions to Pele and Black Bull in Corbridge, Crafty Lodge at Seaton Deleval and Plough at Cramlington. All above average ticks.
Worcestershire (6 ticks, 25% completion, 42 left)
My abysmal Worcs is only abysmal because it is one of the few remaining handful of English counties I've never had a 'serious go at' - see also West Sussex, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Shropshire, Suffolk, Herefordshire and Warwickshire.
But a fantastic day with Daddy BRAPA in Malvern & Worcester has made me realise some of it is easily doable in the day - an eye opener, I tell ya, I thought it'd be too far. And he loved it so much, he's off back there with Mummy BRAPA for a few nights.
Quite a strong suite of pubs, but there can only be one winner. And probably my ultimate pub of the year so far, the Plough, Worcester.
You can buy 2.33 cheese & onion rolls for a pint of Parcel Yard ESB (get over it Si!)
Lincolnshire (4 ticks, 90.7%, 10 left)
Indebted to Daddy B. for this one, even if does have to finish runner up to Paul G of Kent this month, as we knocked off a few obscure bus-free villages in that abysmal Grantham to Sleaford corridor. Stop it with the churn guys, I've seen enough!
Actually, all four were pretty decent in their own little Lincs way, but I'm giving my award to Plough Horbling for commitment to live music, Johnny Rotten and a surprising 4* Bateman's XB, not a beer I always get along with.
Louth can do one, but Daddy B is going to help me with Marton on a Notts based car day - my fellow tickers say it is dreadful which makes me all the more excited to visit.
Long term closures at Burgh-le-Marsh and Anton's Gowt sort of help me, but also make my Skeggy Thirsty Thursday less appealing. I'll get back to Spalding area, Stamford and Grantham should be easy to knock off, and Swayfield / Halton Holegate depends if they open before 5pm in the summer! Gotta have a plan, Stan.
I need to try a bit harder with Bucks between now and September as it is quite high on my priority list. Plenty of relatively easy shit too, which helps.
Asheridge was good even if the elderly barmaid slagged off my seating choice, Ley Hill was kinda decent, but my favourite and second best pub of the month overall was the excellent Queen's Head at Chesham. And the ESB was definitely less than £7 ... jeez Si, get over it!
There was also one tick each in North London, Hertfordshire, West London, East Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.
Highlights were East Yorkshire completion at the much-better-than-expected Tailor's Chalk in Howden .... only my 4th county completion of the season. I'm gonna try and make a 'UK heat map' - there must be some tool in excel or summat!
And the Durham Ox at Orston, Notts deserves a mention for being classy but 'real'.
Nice shoes mate
And there we have it. No Thirsty Thursday this week cos I'm defrosting my freezer and cleaning my so-called self cleaning oven, but I might do a Wine, Western, Wotsits night because I accidentally bought 12 bottles of full bodied reds. Party like it's 2020 .... or not!
Pubwise, see you Saturday in some abysmal southern hole for BRAPA's 11th birthday. What a big boy he's becoming.
How did you accidentally buy 12 bottles of red ?