Our last 2 visits during the Staycation period were returns to a couple of contrasting English cities, but both of which are alive with really good beer scenes, and a solid local brewing footprint. I think that the latter is sometimes overlooked when most of us travel to areas away from our own little town, but when we do visit we are quickly won over by the range of pubs available. On a side note, I do wonder if some of these places only fit into certain settings?  We see these bars and the vibe they carry through eyes not used to sobriety. "If only we had....." we bemoan. The long ..read more

 As the summer started to relinquish its warmth, and give way to the first cooler breaths of the oncoming autumn months, we were again boarding a train, this time going over the border from England, and into Scotland.  Our destination was to be the beautiful and historically architectural gem of a city, Edinburgh. We were really looking forward to this visit, but, as the pandemic was still ongoing, we weren't quite sure as to how "open" Scotland's capital city would be. Whatever we may face on the restrictions front, we were determined to have a good, and boozy, time!  Be ..read more

 I've been really trying to finish a blog post I started about our last visit to foreign shores, namely Lassi on the Greek island of Kefalonia. We visited there back in September 2020! I don't know if it was the mental implications of the pandemic or the fact that Covid-19 had robbed not only this island, but many more holiday resorts across the world, of a great number of avid tourists, it just lacked the sparkle we were expecting. A taxi driver in Lassi told us that the numbers of travellers to Kefalonia was down by around 90%, a fact that was noticeable by the number of hotels, restaur ..read more

The last few months have been extremely challenging for us all. Lives have been lost across the globe, our health services have been stretched to their limits and we have had to re-educate ourselves in the art of social distancing. Jobs at risk, workers being put on "furlough". Economies have ended up left on the brink of collapse and life has changed immeasurably for the foreseeable future. All this from an invisible interloper called Covid-19, a coronavirus which is indiscriminate. It has. though, been very interesting during these strange times  to see how innovative some people have ..read more

As we enter the start of another year we all tend to look back over the previous twelve months, or so, to see what has altered, good or bad, in our little bubbles. As I reminisce I thought it correct to sing the praises of our improving beer scene in North East Lincolnshire. For all too long I have been forced to admit that this neck of the woods has been bereft of a thriving beer scene. Yes, the big brewery chains kept a foothold (M&B's Ember inns, Greene King's offerings, and the ubiquitous JDW's all have retained pubs here), serving some reasonable brews, but many a time just pretty ave ..read more

So, another British summer is in full swing. Well, it has poured it down on and off for the last six weeks, with lightning strikes aplenty, making some nighttime scenes resemble something from The Hammer Film Studios. Recently the Cornwall coast seemed to be disappearing under the constant storminess of Atlantic low pressure trends, Derbyshire came close to making a sequel of "The Dambusters" AND as we battened down to "very unseasonable" 50-60 mph gusts of wind, half the country was struck down with power cuts partly due, ironically, to the North Sea wind farms suffering generator failures! B ..read more

As you are probably aware by my previous postings on this blog, (HERE) and (also HERE) over the past few years Jane and I have been extremely fortuitous to have been able to spend a little time each summer visiting friends of ours, Geordie and Lynne, on the beautiful island of Cyprus. Last year, back in June, we would be joined by Doug and Sharon, 2 more of our hosts' friends, also from North East Lincolnshire.For the first time we would be flying from London Stansted airport, a departure point I last visited during the early part of my taxi driving days in the 1990's. Then, as I recall, it bo ..read more