“the first thing he espied was the wine lodge door stood open invitingly to quench his thirst, he toddled inside and called out for a wine which grew to eight or nine, till his nose began to shine.” John H. Glover-Kind I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside. This was our last full day…
Author: southstarbrew
Travel: Rag and Bone Man
“contenting myself with observing that I shall not abandon the facts until there shall have been a considerable spontaneous combustion of the testimony” Krook , Rag and Bone Man in Bleakhouse , Charles Dickens My apologies for the delay in continuing the trip write up. Life got in the way upon my return to NZ….
Life: This too shall pass- the beer that changed my life.
“این هم بگذرد in npam begzard And this too shall pass.” Persian proverb. In early 2025 the partners of North End Brewing Co are diverting paths and founding brewer Kieran Haslett-Moore is leaving the company amid a restructure. A new brewer is being sought. Twelve years ago, the first commercial batch of the beer now…
Travel: Due South – Edinburgh to London
“In Scotland, there is no such thing as bad weather – only the wrong clothes.” Billy Connolly I rose early and wandered around the corner to the Scotmid Co-op supermarket around the corner. I stocked up on sandwiches and pork pies for the train and ordered coffees and Scotch Pies for breakfast. A Scotch Pie…
Travel: Full Scottish – Edinburgh
“Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,Great chieftain o the puddin’-race!Aboon them a’ ye tak your place,Painch, tripe, or thairm:Weel are ye wordy o’ a graceAs lang’s my arm.” Robert Burns I woke early and tried to book tickets to Edinburgh Castle on my phone. The webstore kept crashing, so I gave up and switched to…
Travel: The $100 Poo – Yorkshire to Scotland
“The only way of catching a train I ever discovered is to miss the train before.” G K Chesterton We rose early as we were heading to Edinburgh that day. We packed and after a good-natured chat with the jolly guesthouse host, we took an uber to the station . We breakfasted at a Pret…
Travel: The North Riding – Yorkshire Day 3
“Every day lasts a year.” James Herriot (Alf Wight) When I was growing up the TV show All Creatures Great and Small played a leading role in our family entertainment. We originally watched it on a huge wood encased black and white tv which weighed as much as a fridge and whose picture slowly retreated…
Travel: The West Riding – Yorkshire Day 2
“I’ll walk where my own nature would be leading: It vexes me to choose another guide: Where the gray flocks in ferny glens are feeding; Where the wild wind blows on the mountain side.” The Brontë Sisters At 8am I presented myself at mum’s room where scrambled eggs, toast, tea, coffee and orange juice had…
Travel: Pennines – Yorkshire Day 1
“God, the wind. It peeled the stonesfrom the skull of St Thomas’ church,left its mouth slacked to a yawn or a scream,sounding vowels through the nave, throughthe clock-eye, the altar stones, the flat-backedflat-packed dead in their wedding gowns.” Wendy Pratt – Heptonstall Graveyard Lisa had bought in a bunch of English delicacies for me to…
Travel: Atop the Wall – Cheshire Day 3
“Masclus to Cerialis his king, greeting. Please, my lord, give instructions as to what you want us to have done tomorrow. Are we to return with the standard to the shrine at the crossroads all together or every other one of us … most fortunate and be well-disposed towards me. Farewell. My fellow-soldiers have no…
Raise the Dawn 