September as a pub ticker. It is the best of times. It is the worst of times. Dickens said that on receiving his 1851 Good Beer Guide. A tough central London churn that year.
I can sympathise.
Me as the cat, the boy as CAMRA
As my cross-ticking exercise rumbled towards conclusion at 8pm on Sunday 15th September, my projections (I'd been treating it like a cricket match) had me losing 250-280 but it fell away towards the end and I lost 313. I blame Duckworth. And Lewis.
I went to bed with a dark cloud hanging over me, which carried on through Monday, only lifting when I did the first of 14 secret embargoed ticks later that evening.
Getting back on it at the Brown Cow, Bingley (no time to brush my hair, too busy ticking)
So how many ticks did I manage for the month of September? Well, technically .... minus 256.
But in reality, 55. And I'll need 54 in October to stay on course for my yearly aim!
For the rest of this blog, let us look at the seven counties which I made progress in, in order of most ticks.
Despite my beer trials in D & G, I loved getting into a new county. Stunning scenery, nice pubs, some decent folk. And even better, ALL 15 ticks remain in the Guide! So we can't blame the #CruelChurn on this part of the world. They've added one (Drummore) but that is in the Stranraery bit which I never had any intention of visiting as I'm looking to combine those with a ferry to NI in 2026.
Highlights - Isle of Whithorn, Garlieston, Kirkcudbright's Masonic, the town of Dumfries and very nearly Annan's Blue Bell.
Lowlights - No cask in Newton Stewart. Dreadful beer for most of Dumfries. Horrid coach like buses with no buttons. Or loos!
Harbour Inn, Garlieston
Cumbria (9 ticks, 19 left, 78.16%)
And all nine ticks in Cumbria remain in the GBG too. Funny if I was to do a recount and find out I've only actually lost 200. Don't go there! No huge plans for a return to Cumbria soon, but perhaps when spring/summer come around again, I might get a day or two in to keep me 'ticking' over.
I might even see if Daddy BRAPA is up for something close to the NY border, convince him Ravenstonedale is a suburb of York when we're drunk in Norwich?
Highlight - Seatoller and the Glaramara.
Lowlight - Keswick being irritating.
Sportsman, Carlisle - a quite good pub
West Yorkshire (9 ticks, 4 left, 96.99% complete)
I've completed West Yorkshire every year since 2016 and I'm not about to let it get the better of me now, despite some spread out awkwardness this year. My secret ticking means I've made good inroads, and I'd have done Wetherby yesterday if it hadn't been for a pesky bus replacement service.
Will it be first to fall? Or will South Yorkshire swoop down? Who knows. Not even me. Been very impressed with the new entries, beer quality in particular.
Highlights - Pecket Well's Robin Hood & Riddlesden's Applegarth Club.
Lowlights - The interior of Moorthorpe's Mallard.
Colin enjoys a pint of Hopback Entire Stout in Pecket Well
Cheshire (8 ticks, 20 left, 71.83% complete)
Having left Cheshire largely untouched since I got it fully greened at the Willey Moor Lock Tavern in the summer of 2018, one of my first missions of the 2025 GBG was always to get back there.
Really pleased with the start I've made, beer has been decent, pubs pretty average, but nothing bad. Just like I remember it. Bit 'meh'. Bucks of the north? That's only controversial because Cheshire isn't really in the north.
Highlight - Earl of Chester, Crewe / Audlem barmaid local taxi-bus revelation
Lowlight - Nantwich signal drop / walking through Crewe / Uber pissing off
From a distance - backstreet boozery fun at the Earl of Chester
Edinburgh & the Lothians (6 ticks, 8 left, 82.22% complete)
A morale boosting day-trip to Edinburgh at the end of my Dumfries jaunt, it was generally impressive. Five of my six ticks remained in the Guide, only Leith 'Spoons dropping out, which is fair enough cos the beer tasted more and more questionable as time went on.
If there's one part of Scotland that's easier for me to do in a day than any other, it is Ed. & L. so I'm not ruling out a devilish plan to get it fully greened for a second time.
Highlights - Edinburgh South - namely Argyle Bar and the Cask & Barrel Southside. Interior of Ryrie's.
Lowlight - The beer at Ryries. Struggling to find the entrance to Waverley station despite about 50 previous visits.
Weekday afternoon bliss at the Argyle Bar
South Yorkshire (5 ticks, 7 left, 91.14%)
RetiredMartin enters the chat with some chauffeuring brilliance.
South Yorkshire has four main places - Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham - and each year, they take it in turns to be the 'problematic' one for the pub ticker. This year, Rotherham. Who'd have thought I'd be returning to Kimberworth two years running? And 'The Colin' STILL hasn't made the Guide which saddens a certain pub mascot.
Despite Hickleton's dodgy opening hours, SY is probably looking even more completable than West Yorks at the mo, but we'll see how it goes.
Highlight - RetiredMartin being awesome / Weirdly brilliant all round experience at a Sizzly pub called the Homestead in Broom.
Lowlight - my pint in Thrybergh's Deer Park Tap, memories of Dumfries.
Life saving platter paired well with Old Pecuilar
Greater Manchester (3 ticks, 17 left, 89.31% complete)
Apologies for the extreme close up of South and East Manc section of the map, I couldn't be arsed to colour the whole thing in which is a statement of my (lack of) intent here, plus a Staedtler which is reaching 'end of life'. Hospice for highlighters? But GMR is handy coming back from Cheshire for the the Piccadilly train. And I expect more to be done ad-hoc in the coming months.
Despite only three ticks, they made more impression on me than Cheshire's eight which is telling.
Highlights - Old skool ticks in Alty and Sale, especially Dave the guv'nor / Beer quality at Runaway off the charts.
Lowlights - Kids and crayons at Runaway / my phone dying in Alty and refusing to come back on until we'd left town!
The Railway at Sale
So there we have it. A week off work in October so hopefully I can close that horrid deficit, marching past the 2750 mark like I'm swatting away a fly. Not a Shroppie Fly, I've swatted that one already.
Counties I'm focused on in 2024/25 - Yorkshire (all), Oxfordshire (South), Devon (North), Bucks, Kent, Cheshire, London (all), Glamorgan, Greater Glasgow & the Clyde Valley, Northumberland, Merseyside, Lincolnshire, East Sussex.
Don't Rule them Out - Derbys, Notts, Durham, Tyne & Wear, Gwent, Shropshire, GMR, Lancs, Essex, Cumbria, Ed & Lothians, Ayrshire & Annan.
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