Uncategorized | Wait until next year

May 22, 2026

Pub Thoughts #11 (Bleary-eyed notes from a weekend in Nottingham)

Interior of Brew Tavern, Nottingham. White wooden-slatted walls adorned with a Bass mirror and various old metal beer adverts

A fantastic weekend in Nottingham with friends – visited lots of pubs and bars and got at least some kind of sense of the kind of Beer City that Nottingham might be. At least in terms of the city centre I would say it felt like one side was very craft-y while the other was Mega Booze Dome-esque. There were a few good traditional pubs, but it didn’t feel like there were loads of them – and even the ones that were there seemed to offer far more that the usual trad fare.

I carried around a notebook with the intention of taking some notes, making some observations and generally having something to remember the weekend by. I’m not sure how successful I was – in reality I wanted to spend more time chatting and taking everything in rather than scribbling away in a corner.

First stop was the Brew Tavern, right by the station. There was a time when station pubs were almost universally bleak, depressing places. The kind of pubs people went to out of necessity or desperation, not choice. Now, there are plenty of great places to drink either before or after a train journey. This place is a converted cabman’s hut, and I’d love to see more pubs in disused railway architecture. It really ties the whole experience together and adds some character and soul. I went for a pint of Bass, as is obligatory for any beer blogger visiting the Midlands. It was excellent. A lad came in and downed an £11 pint of very strong craft. A group of old boys gathered before the football. A bloke on his own commented on the music, “A bit repetitive!” The track was skipped, to something equally repetitive.

Kilpin Beer Café was lovely. Spacious without feeling cavernous. Clean without feeling sterile. Some good continental beer. A really relaxed atmosphere, just the sort of place you could go to with anyone, a good spot to pop into while shopping, or after work.

Interior of Six Barrels, Nottingham. Two men stood at the bar, there are two screens above highlighting beer choices

Six Barrel Drafthouse, while pretty craft-inclined, felt like a proper boozer, a bit rough around the edges in a good way – lived in, well-used and clearly well-loved. It had a really nice feel to the place – a genuine mix of people and a sense that everyone is welcome.

The Tap Room was one of those places where you pour your own beer and then settle up at the end. I love the idea in theory – you can give lots of things a try, you don’t need to commit to pints, you might try something new, there’s no need to wait to be served. In practice I found it all a little stressful. A lively pint isn’t great when the little screen is showing how much you’ve spent on a glass of froth. Even just seeing how much your beer costs as your bill goes up in real-time isn’t exactly…fun. But it was a classy space with friendly service before and after I struggled with the taps.

Interior of the Tap House, Nottingham. A wall of self-service beer taps along a wall, each with a small screen above

Angel Microbrewery had some good beer on and I think worked as a multi-room pub, although was a little unfathomable – one room was absolutely rammed, while another big space upstairs was entirely empty. The kind of place I couldn’t quite get a handle on.

Neon Raptor’s taproom was very much in keeping with a lot of modern taprooms, stripped back aesthetic, hipster-y vibes, but their beer is great, it all felt very relaxed and there was plenty of room to sit or stand outside. It looks like they are moving to a bigger venue soon and I hope they can keep the feel of the current venue.

Interior of Some Where, Beeston. There is a beer fridge, a comfy sofa and a window painted green with the window sill covers in plants.

Somewhere Beerhouse in the suburb of Beeston is a bit of a hidden gem (the town of Beeston is a bit of a hidden gem too, but that’s another story for another time). Somewhere is more a micro-craft-bar than micropub but manages to successfully juggle being funky and cosy at the same time. There was a really interesting and unusual selection of beer on draft, can and bottle and was the kind of place I would happily lose an afternoon in. Really friendly and patient service too.

Barrel Drop is a micropub tucked away on a backstreet back in the city centre and manages to feel like a proper city centre pub despite its size. I really liked the barrels behind the bar converted into draft tap holders, glass holders, somewhere to keep the bar snacks etc. A good range of craft too, including plenty of stuff I hadn’t seen elsewhere.

Interior of Barrel Drop, Nottingham. A view of the back bar, where old barrels have been converted to house various keg taps, to keep glasses and store snacks

A few doors down from Barrel Drop, 400 Rabbits is a cocktail bar and I thought the cocktails were of high quality, a good mix (excuse the pun) of classics and less familiar recipes and were incredible value for money. Any bar with lucha libre decorations works for me too. A cool bar to spend a little time.

Junkyard is next door to the Kilpin and they seem to…maybe be the same place? They certainly appeared to share a garden and staff. Junkyard is less airy and open that Kilpin, more the kind of sparsely decorated, dark and busy craft bar that seemed to be very popular with younger drinkers, but was a bit crammed and noisy for an old fart like me.

So, that’s as much sense as I can get from my notes and my memory. I think Nottingham is an underrated beer destination. There are loads of different bars, a really good selection of beer, a really good atmosphere and a notable mix of ages out and about. Oh, and there’s also the magnificence of the King Billy, but I think that warrants a whole post of its own…

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May 8, 2026

Rough and ready thoughts on the Bexley Council election

Polling Station sign in the street, a path behind it

Some incredibly rough and ready thoughts on the Bexley Council election results – somewhere I think is interesting at a national level as it was very much a target for Reform but ended up being, at least on the surface, a pretty straightforward victory for the incumbent Tories.

This is obviously a huge generalisation, but Bexley, as a borough is inherently small-c conservative (as well as capital-C Conservative). There is an inherent suspicion of anything radical, to the left or right. People like a good moan about The State of Things Today but they also don’t really want anything to change. I think this absolutely played into people choosing not to vote Reform. It would be risky to have them in power, and while in some parts of the country people may feel they have nothing to lose taking that risk, many voters in Bexley are far too cautious and far too comfortable to roll the dice.
Tories and Labour focused solely on the threat of Reform, unlike the national campaign. We’ve seen a week or so of a concerted effort to discredit the Greens at a national level. This simply wasn’t relevant in Bexley – the Greens were no threat. And so both the Tories and Labour focused their attention on attacking Reform and positioning themselves as the safe and stable options. This was a smart move considering point one above.
Traditionally there hasn’t been a whole load of marginal wards in Bexley. However, with the rise of Reform, several safe seats became anything but. And so many people who were against Reform gaining power held their noses and voted for whoever would keep them out. In many ways it was a simple election – do you want Reform or not? And that kind of simplicity meant tactical voting stood a good chance of working, and the Tories stood to benefit disproportionately.
Policies were interchangeable between parties. Every leaflet went on about potholes, open spaces and HMOs, but not a lot else. There didn’t seem to be a whole lot of ideological difference between the Tories, Labour or Reform on local issues. And so the vote became more about who you didn’t want, rather than who you did.
The Tories had a much better ground game – local MP Louie French was a very public presence, Laura Trott came up from Sevenoaks, Kemi Badenoch made a visit to the Borough. It felt like as the campaign went on the Tories realised they were still in the fight, and responded accordingly.
Meanwhile, Reform’s campaigning was lazy – a brief trip to Welling from Farage, uninspiring leafleting, lack of door-to-door campaigning. It didn’t feel like a particularly “local” campaign.
The Labour vote held up in the north – I think the strong work of local councillors over the last few years helped – people voted for the councillors ahead of the party perhaps. But also in those wards people simply aren’t going to vote Reform or Conservative in any kind of numbers.
In terms of vote share Reform were close to the Tories, but got edged out in multiple wards. With a more focused effort they could have done significantly better. An extra 100 votes here and there and they might have had a significantly more successful time of it in Bexley.
Bexley has always been a divided borough, between the Labour North and Tory South. The middle of the borough has often been what has swung elections, but this time Reform took some of those wards. In the next national and local elections that middle of the borough will need to be the battleground – that’s where things can change.

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December 14, 2022

13th December

The snow is still here from yesterday.

It is enough snow to close some schools, but not others. The kind of snow a seasoned winter-ist would scoff at – just a dusting!

The kind of snow that gives a phone-in radio host the excuse to exclaim “Why can’t we cope with a bit of snow, the rest of the world can?” The kind of peculiar, contradictory exceptionalism where he sees his country as simultaneously both The Greatest Country In The World and The Worst Country In The World.

The pavements aren’t too slippery, but the snow still slows everything down. Careful, careful. It slows everything down at a time when we’re all trying to get stuff done, before the holidays, before the real slow time.

There is a wonderful uncanny light, as the whiteness of the snow bounces back into the sky. Everything looks a little off, in an intriguing, enticing way. Blues, greys, whites, play off one another. There is a stillness, quietness too.

Woodland on snowy day, blue-grey sky above

Some trees hold the snow, others sag from it. They are all immeasurably beautiful.

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December 8, 2022

7th December

After-work drinks, and I think the first of those in about three years. I had foolishly expected the bar to be quieter, and the busyness made me feel like I was stepping into my past. I feel a bit old for all this. I now prefer places quieter, less frantic.

The barman is a whirlwind, serving three people at once, glasses criss-crossing, taps pulled down and up in intricate sequences, card machines presented and withdrawn in one movement.

There’s a customer at the bar who is the fall guy for his group. He calls out his order to the barman. And as the barman presents the first drink the customer has one of his party in his ear, and he adds to his order. The next drink comes. The customer has been prompted to add again. Drink placed down. And again. Drink down. And again. He pays up. A word in his ear Then he asks for more. Pays up again. Can I now have a receipt? The barman takes a deep breath.

I’m next and I try to make my request as succinct and clear as possible. The barman looks pleased. “Finally, someone know how to order their drinks!” It’s a proud moment – I haven’t lost it!

I walk through London, make my way home. It is dark, but it is not late. I make my way past the old buildings where great writers and thinkers once lived. Now these buildings are offices, or university space. The strip-lighting that illuminates their windows gives them away.

I have also struggled with the idea that people actually live in Central London. It is unfathomable to me. It has always been a place to go to, to shop or work, not to live. But obviously many people do. I see that people live above the tube station. That seems particularly surreal. Settling at a place of movement.

There’s nowhere to buy a newspaper anymore. The train takes me home.

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December 6, 2022

6th December

On the usual walk I notice that the wild kniphofia are flowering.

I’m not sure if “wild” is the right word, but they pop up each winter in the corner of a patch of grass outside the bakery. Each year I wonder about their history. How did they get there? Was there once a bigger display of plants, with bedding punctuating the grass? As it is in a far, shady corner did someone working at the bakery quietly decide to plant them one day to brighten up their workplace? Did a passerby abandon them? Whatever their story, they persevere each year, and are thankfully left by whoever mows the lawn they sit within.

The oranges and yellows feel exceptionally exotic, especially in a dark corner, on a busy road, on a very cold day. And in their way these beacons have a far deeper, profound effect than a more classic gardening display. They bring life to somewhere that lacks it, and at a time of year when we need that most. A small wonder of nature.

Kniphofia from a distance, grass in front, buildings behind

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