BRAPA .... OCTOBER MONTH END REVIEW (Brat Summer v BRAP Autumn)

Good evening pub lovers,

Out of the burning wreckage of September's #CruelChurn emerges BRAPA, like a smooth shiny healthy baby miraculously pulled out by a kind fireman.

Yes, October has been a good month. 66 ticks, joint second best ever though some way off my record (75).

It brings me back to 61.89% of the Good Beer Guide 2025 complete. That is 2785 / 4500 pubs. Not to torture myself but my original 2,785th pub was achieved in Sidmouth on 2nd May. It had the best pub fish tank I had ever seen and pubs with fish tanks are always good pubs.

Let us break it down by county - see where the progress has been made with a pub highlight and a few thoughts for the future. I made gains in ten counties which must be some kind of record.

1.London - 33 ticks (48 left)

No prizes for predicting That London was my most productive area after five days in sunny Sutton.

A fully green SW for the first time ever - has anywhere been more comprehensively greened than New Malden I ask you?

Still plenty of work to do in SE, N and E but I consider 8 of my remaining 48 ticks 'very low hanging fruit' (like 'down to the knees' levels) and you gotta love that.

DETERMINED to get London fully green by the end of this GBG. That'll feel like a big moment in BRAP history.

Park Tavern, Kingston

2.Cheshire (5 ticks, 15 left, 78.87% complete)

Another 'full greening' I'm challenging myself to get done is Cheshire. Eight of the fifteen left are easy to get to, the other 7 are various levels of difficulty.

But no one ever said Cheshire would come quietly, it never does. It kicks and screams like a twild in a Knutsford wine bar.

And yes I might be forced to stray into Staffs, Merseyside or even North Wales, but so be it. Three trips already using the 2025 GBG, a 4th to follow in November.

Castle, Macclesfield

3.Lincolnshire (5 ticks, 20 left, 81.82%)

At the special request of Daddy BRAPA AKA 'The Chauffeur King of Lincs' , I'm only colouring in the new ticks this year. He tells me that it helps him to plot our progress on these rural car days.

I think Lincs will be more a 'second half the season' county, but with idiot Surfleet rightly dropped, could this be the year I finally get it complete? Oh and if you wondered what the little spidery symbol next to Owston Ferry is (you almost certainly didn't), I've been tipped off the other pub in town is highly pre-emptive.

Also BRAPA Lincs Pub of October 2024 - add it to the trophy cabinet

4.Norfolk (5 ticks, 47 left, 55.24%)

Daunting. That's the word that springs to my mind whenever I accidentally open the GBG on this page. No real plans for much 2024/25 ticking beyond Terrington St Clement, but despite losing 4-0, Norwich has redeemed itself in my eyes after a cracking Saturday evening down there at the beginning of Oct.

Champion, Norwich

5.West Yorkshire (4 ticks, 100% complete, 0 left)

Every year since 2016 I've finished West Yorks, even in those abysmal Covid years.

And in 2015 I only failed cos I never made it to the Muse in Wetherby. And it was in Wetherby where I finished it this year. Why is Wetherby such an awkward place to get to even when you live in York? Like there's no way on either the Palk Arms at Hennock should be easier. Pub ticking is mad.

Was well impressed with the majority of West Yorks new entries this year.

Lord Clyde, Bradford

6.Derbyshire (4 ticks, 91.49% complete, 8 left)

I wasn't going to be too arsed about the often brilliant Derbys this time around, but when 'ole mates Rich & Steve drove me around both before and after our 1-1 draw at a bubbly Pride Park, it reignited a spark within in - and now I wanna fully green Derbs before September 2025.

Rosliston - if you are listening, you aren't gonna escape again. You can hide, but you can't run. Cos you don't have legs. And that's the good thing about (most) pubs, they stay still. Wise words from me there.

Pot Hole, Allestree, Derby (sober but you wouldn't know it)

7.East Yorkshire (3 ticks, 95.45%)

Kilnsea heroics from Daddy BRAPA (note his almost meticulous Spurn Point greening) before a 1-1 draw at home to Burnley followed a more straightforward Driff & Brid double, leaving me with two closer to home (I feel like I'm on The Chase), but opening hours are the elephant in the micro.

Laxton is fine, it even has a station (Saltmarshe) so it is really only Howden causing the headaches with opening hrs of Fri-Sat 5pm only. Ugh!

They used to be more generous, my friend who works in Howden reports, so now I feel I'm being punished for failure to do this pre-emptively for about 10 years, this ain't a new micro by any means and one I've been acutely aware of.

I've even picked up a cat (Ruby) for Mummy & Daddy BRAPA from Howden! She was sick in the back of the car cos the owner had been feeding it pasta and toffee yoghurts. Life is weird.

Crown & Anchor, Kilnsea - a very good pub

8.South Yorkshire (3 ticks, 94.94% complete, 4 left)

It's all about that Sheffield (3 central, one Woodhouse) but I'm saving it til Jan for Dad's birthday game away to the filthy Blunts. And if I miss any, there'll be a further opportunity at Attendance F.C. later that spring. Killamarsh in Derbys might pair better with Sheff too.

And I owe Dad for getting me to Hickleton, a real nightmare due to opening hours, oh and it didn't even exist on Google Maps just for shits n giggles. Liked it, and liked Worsbrough Dale even more.

Boatman's Rest, Worsbrough Dale - a cracker

9.Greater Manchester (2 ticks, 91.82%, 13 left)

Like Derbys, I wasn't prioritising another GMR completion this Guide, but it has proved very handy on the way back from my Cheshire trips.

And then, last weekend, my Derbys friends told me Romiley's Hop Haus was the same place as Jake's Ale House which I'd done (how had I missed that?) and whilst I was updating my records, Jim's all seeing spreadsheet also told me Atherton's Mechanics Rest at the Tap House is the same as plain old Taphouse which I did couple years back, so two bonus ticks without leaving my flat!

Suddenly I'm down to 13 and looking at where they are situated, I don't think I'll have to work too hard to get GMR greened once more.

Colin at the Crown. Heaton Mersey

10.North Yorkshire (2 ticks, 18 left, 87.41%)

Filey and Boroughbridge done, well it is a start! My home county never seems to be easy. Paging Daddy BRAPA! But some I'll be able to manage on my own on #ThirstyThursdays #BraveBoy. Guisborough hours are a right pain. But at least Ingleton has been dropped, there's nothing that impossible this time around. Should make some progress in November here.

Tap on the Tutt, Boroughbridge - great interior

So into November we cautiously tread, darker nights, crueller opening hours, but I'm looking for 50+ ticks again cos December is always tricky. 83 pubs Nov-Dec would give me a record breaking year.

BRAPA holiday incoming in a county I've too often neglected. And before that, join me tomorrow in a place we haven't mentioned in this blog.

Been a good start to the ticking year, I'd have taken this back on 26th Sept.

Happy pubbing, Si