Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Tagged.

Moo tagged me to do this about 1)turning to page 23 of the nearest book, 2) finding the fifth sentence, 3) posting the text of the next three lines, 4) not digging out an intellectual or cool book, but genuinely picking up the one closest to you, and then encouraging others to repeat the process.

Slight problem. the nearest book to me (sheer coincidence of course) is the Good Pub Guide 2006, and page 23 turns out to be an entire page of Authors' Acknowledgments. Dull, dull, dull.

So dipping into the book I bring you my favourite featured pubs -

Eagle, Cambridge
Dog and Gun, Keswick.
Anchor, Sutton Gault near Ely, Cambridgeshire.
Rising Sun, Tarporley, Cheshire
Blue Anchor, helston, Cornwall
Devonshire Arms, Beeley, near Chatsworth, Derbyshire
Masons Arms, Branscombe, Devon
The Bell, Horndon on the Hill, Essex
Saracens Head, Symonds Yat, Herefordshire
White Horse, Hertford
Wheatsheaf, Woodhouse Eves, Leicestershire
Wig and Mitre, Lincoln
The George, Stamford
The Vine Hotel, Skegness*
Malt Shovel, Northampton
Lincolnshire Poacher, Nottingham
Turf Tavern, Oxford
Falkland Arms, Great Tew, near Oxford
The Crown, Southwold, Suffolk (and The Harbour Inn)
White Horse ('Nellies'), Beverley
Olde White Harte, Hull
The Maltings, York (which I failed to find on my last visit there - sorry Reidski for the wild goose chase)
Argyll Arms, Oxford Circus, London W1
Black Friar, Blackfriars bridge, London EC4
Spaniards Inn, Hampstead
The George, Borough High Street, near London Bridge

And of course The Amersham Arms, London SE14. would have been on the list were it not for its inexplicable absence from the Good Pub Guide.


* have to declare a bias - my mum and dad used to be the tenants there.


God, it was sheer hell researching that list.

Just got struck down by lightening for some strange reason.

Anyway, sorry for not sticking strictly to the blog rules. I see I still have a few counties to suss out pub wise, not to mention countries - Scotland and Wales. Other people count Munroes (George!) - I count good pubs.

Anyway, sorry for not sticking strictly to the blog rules Moo. I tag people to recommend a good boozer.

6 comments:

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Nice to see you have got The Olde White Harte and Nelly's (Beverley)on the list. But oh my God... it all suggests that you have been in a helluva lot of pubs! Just think you could have put all that pub money into a high yielding pension fund or ISA!

Shooting Parrots said...

Couldn't resist this tag. Here goes:

"You were taughtb always to give a hand to your neighbour. You were taught tremendous pride in your country. All of these things are Victorian values. They are perennial values."

Francis Wheen quoting Margaret Thatcher in How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered the World which I'm re-reading.

Gill said...

This will sound like a shameless plug but honestly my nearest book was my own poetry collection, Internet Love Slut and I have put in the last stanza of the poem on page 23.

Spines pierce her clothes
and in the gathering dark
she runs naked up the fellside
ironing abandoned.

Lisa Rullsenberg said...

Good to see the Poacher on there. With a fine selection of whiskies could I also recommend the Vic in Beeston, Nottingham. Nice food too.

J.J said...

YP, blood , sweat and hangovers went into my extensive research.

SP- I love that book.

Gill, nice one!

Lisa, my last trip there was enhanced by the pleasure of your company.

Holly said...

You didnt stick to the rules JJ, but what the hell, I preferred your list anyway!! I might do me own!