BRAPA MONTH END REVIEW : OCTOBER 2026
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7 min read
Happy November folks,
70 Good Beer Guide ticks in the month of October represents my best return of the year so far. And so it should be with a week in Bath and a brand new GBG in my possession. I've only bettered 70 four times in BRAPA history. 77 is the record.
It moves me on to 75.4% completion. 'Only' 1104 to go! Which was incidentally the year in which St Cuthbert was reburied. No evidence that the lad was a zombie, but makes you wonder doesn't it?
I also managed seven pre & post-emptives. Please can we have a campaign for Manchester's Wetherspoons at Piccadilly Gardens to get in the good book? Stranger things have happened. Harlow 'Spoons for example. Betcha didn't see that coming, I didn't!
Regular readers will know the format by now.
I'll go through each of the 10 (TEN) counties where I've made progress, with a map, stats, a bit of commentary, and my 'pub of the month' in each. And there were some worldies that'll definitely be in the discussion for the prestigious 'BRAPA pub of the year' award on NYE.
Somerset - 27 pubs ticked - 30 left - 70.6% completion
Considering I went into June needing 91 in the home of England's most generous cricket team, AND have had to account for September's #CruelChurn to boot, I'm buzzing to be down to 30 after a productive week based in Bath.
Plenty of work still required of course, and with other counties needing more urgent attention (Devon, Suffolk, Norfolk, Dorset, Hants, most of Wales), it might not be until 2028 GBG territory until I get back. The plan was to stay near Yeovil next, but now I'm wondering if a return to Taunton makes more sense so I can attack the west. Nice dilemma to have.
Cheshire - 8 pubs ticked - 5 left - 92.8% completion
Apologies for the accidental Staedtler map highlighting, when I then use a Stabilo for my highlighting on the day. Looks rubbish! In fact, I think I prefer the Staedtler shade of green. Might bring it back for the '28 GBG.
Anyway, York replacement bus pain for two consecutive weekends has given me the excuse (if I needed one) to stay semi-northern and make some much needed Cheshire progress after a poor '26 GBG effort.
I'm determined to finally get Tilston done when I get back to Shrops in the next 12 months, similar with Farndon and North Wales. Macc should take care of itself, and Alsager's bod goes nicely with Nth Staffs which needs much attention. Sutton Weaver hours are proper limited, but it looks a 'fun' place, I s'pose.
London (South) - 7 pubs ticked - 9 left - 92.93% completion
The second #CruellestChurn (after my home county of North Yorkshire funnily enough!) during September's big cross-ticking exercise came here in S.London, so I was glad to claw it back to semi-respectability as a result of Daddy BRAPA attending Fulham away (which sounded as dreadful as our first half performance yesterday and not at all jealous I missed it).
I'm pretty relaxed about making further progress. I consider most of London low-hanging fruit, and I don't want to make the same mistake as last year where I went 'all in' on London when I should've been looking at neighbouring counties, and mopping up the odd Lon tick on the way back in. Better tactics required! 12 years doing this, you'd think I'd have learned by now.
Gloucs & Bristol (7 pubs ticked - 19 left - 81.6%)
All ticks were done in the Bristol ' inset' section, so I'm only showing you that part of the map. Staying in Bath it would've been rude not to make the effort.
In the most boring stat you'll read all blog, not one of my remaining 19 ticks here have been in each of the last three editions of the GBG, which hopefully illustrates the decent progress I've made with Glos & B. recently.
I could do with staying in Stroud, hope I don't catch a weird strain of meningitis (which always feels possible in that weird town) and hoping a nice dude will drive me around some awkward stuff.
But a return visit, like Somerset, isn't high priority for this GBG.
Berkshire - 5 pubs ticked - 10 left - 81.8% completion
BRAPA personality of the month is the lovely Tim Thomas of West Berks CAMRA fame, for driving me around some of that tough rural stuff. We even strategically left his home town of Newbury alone cos I can get there easily enough on my own.
In fact, most of what I have to do is relatively straightforward, so I'll definitely be back once, probably twice in the coming months for either full completion or very close to it.
Boring BRAPA stat alert - I don't have even ONE county fully completed yet this GBG. Not even Rutland. Not even East Yorkshire. Not even Borders. And I honestly don't care.
Wiltshire - 5 pubs ticked - 30 left 51.6% completion
One of my more neglected counties, who'd have thought one week in Salisbury several years ago wouldn't be enough to cut it?!
Still, at least my week in Bath allowed me the short hop across the border for some of the easier ticks of my week.
I'm looking into the possibility of a Swindon Saturday via London if I can book myself super early down and super late back, but needs a bit more research. No hols planned down here this GBG, but I'd say 2028 definitely in a Somerset / Glos kinda way.
Hampshire - 4 ticks - 35 left - 70.6% completion
On 4th March 2022, the classy Golden Lion in the private bus-free village of Southwick became my final Hants tick. So to have so many gaps 4.5 yrs on pains me, and makes it one of main aims of this GBG season to bring it back down to levels of respectability.
The #CruelChurn makes sense however, as my completion was built on a bed of sand i.e it had no base (if that makes sense, I'm getting into ticking metaphysics now) and I've only been back sporadically for the odd Pompey/Spying Cheats away game. But yes, with a bit of Isle of Wight / Chichester area, I'll be looking for a productive week.
This month, I snuck a few in with Surrey borderlands to ease the pressure! Very nice it was too. Even Aldershot 'Spoons.
Northamptonshire - 3 ticks - 8 left - 82.6% completion
Fewer ticks were living as rent free in my head as the Boat Inn at Stoke Bruerne. It had actually moored a canal boat in the deepest recess of my brain.
So to FINALLY get it done, absolutely buzzin'. It came at a cost, on the unluckiest day of the BRAPA year I barely ticked anything else. And it cost a fortune. I'll write the blog about that sometime in the distant future! If a new strain of COVID hits tmw and we're locked down, don't worry because I should have enough blog material in the locker to keep you entertained for the next year.
I hope to chip away sporadically at a few of the others over the next 12 months, not sure 100% completion will be on the cards though. I could really do with getting back to North Oxon too.
Merseyside - 2 ticks - 6 left - 91.7% completion
I was pleased to sneak in a late Sth. Liverpool duo yeserday evening even if it did come at an Uber cost due to replacement buses over here as well.
And it was only this morning that I realised I hadn't actually done New Brighton's Bow-Legged Beagle. Ticked it off in my 2027 book by accident, cos I've done the others in the chain. So that's annoying. But with Everton and Liverpool to play away this season, it is probably wise I hold onto a few Merseyside ticks. And in that 1936 Fruitgum Company, ace pre-emptives abound.
Surrey - 2 ticks - 11 left - 84.29% completion
I snuck in a couple on Thursday, but despite a good late push at the back end of the last GBG, I'm still paying the price for a few dry years in a county I have no excuse for being dry in!
Definitely won't rest on 11, but should be fairly straightforward to get something like close to completion.
Right, almost there. You're doing well. Sorry I never know whether these blogs are my best monthly work, or a bit staid and boring and self indulgent.
But in BRAPA month end tradition, and with apologies to Rachel for one month only, over to Maya Jama .....
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