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BRAPA is in ........ ALTERNATIVE ALCESTER (Stratford Hallowe'en Special Pt 2/2)
I'd left the aptly named village of Broom on my Three Witches inspired Hallowe'en pub trip, and was now Alcester bound. I'd rushed to make the 247 bus from a stop simply called 'Turn'. Of course it...
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BRAPA - England Saffer In Kingston Town (The Place I Long To Be) Pt 1/2
Hull City were at Fulham, but Father BRAPA and I had no intention of attending. After all, I didn't want to end my lucky unbeaten run this season, and it wasn't like we'd go to Fulham and stuff 'em,...
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BRAPA and ..... Eddie's Teddington (Pt 2/2)
Halfway through our tour of South West/West London back on 2nd Nov and Dad's old (by which I mean 'young' of course) chum, Eddie, was ready to meet us for the final three pubs of the day.I'd enjoyed...
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BRAPA and ..... The Green Devil Makes Work for Idle Tickers
BRAPA was a mere baby Brapling when I was last in Greengates, on a hot summer's May afternoon in 2014 surrounded by scary old blokes drinking Tetley's, crossing my legs in case I walked the wrong way...
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BRAPA : November Review / December Preview (2019)
Good evening, 33 new Good Beer Guide ticks completed in the month of the November is actually a BRAPA record, even though it sounds a fairly modest total. Problem is, it always feels a bit of a...
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BRAPA - Ortastic Onion Rings : West of Carlisle, Take Me Home (Pt 1/2)
If there is one thing that I have noticed in this cruel but delightful game of pub ticking, it is that fate either smiles on you or conspires against you, to shape the pub you are about to visit next....
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BRAPA - Hark Carlisle / How Darlo' Can You Go? (Pt 2/2)
When we are considering the BRAPA Year End Awards for 'Best Walk Between Pubs', the unwise 4.2 mile trek from Monkhill to Carlisle along busy roads with no pavements won't be a contender.I did it in...
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BRAPA - Big Head on the Headland : Dad Day in Hartlepool
Barmaid actually apologised for not making the head big enough!Highlighting every County Durham pub with a (superior brand) Stabilo green pen before the 2021 Good Beer Guide drops onto my doormat in...
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BRAPA .... and Bernard's Bloody Nose in Billingham
Saturday 16th November had been an eventful day so far. We'd had a shut pub, one opening an hour later than expected, some torrential downpours, and in Hartlepool Headland, one of the most incredible...
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BRAPA - NIGHTTIME IN NEWTON ARRRRGGGGHHHCLIFFE
I've been pushing the boundaries on my Friday night Brapping, to see just how far afield I can make it without getting stranded and having to sleep rough. Ripley/Alfreton was a decent effort when I...
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BRAPA is ..... PULLING THE RUG(BY) OUT FROM UNDER THE BEER GUIDE
How hard can it be? I have this book. It lists approx 4,500 pubs. The aim is to tick 'em all'. Only 1,638 of them are so far ticked as I arrive in Rugby, Warwickshire. Clean slate. SEVEN pubs to...
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BRAPA - Trolleyed, Verbal Volleyed and Nicely Jollied in Rugby (Part 2)
We were at the halfway mark of a crawl of one of the UK's most underrated pub towns, Rugby, and a mixture of fate and sheer BRAPA ineptitude meant only ONE of the FOUR pubs visited was actually in the...
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BRAPA in ...... SPENNY DREADFUL? BISHOP AWKWARD? NO NAY NEVER! : DURHAM 3.1
Back in County Durham for the third time on a Saturday in the 2019/20 season, and I'm pleased to say it is 'greening' up almost as nicely as Cumbria. If I could complete it in 2020, that'd be a proper...
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BRAPA in ...... BASH THE BISHOP (AUCKLAND) / SPENNY FOR MY THWARTS : Durham 3.2
So, here we were, Father BRAPA (achieving a club record 23 pub ticks for the month) and myself, two thirds of the way through Bishop Auckland, halfway through Spennymoor, halfway through our day, but...
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BRAPA and ..... the 'FAX MACHINE
7th April 2018, and I was careering around the Cambridgeshire countryside with this amusing chap called "Martin Taylor" and he says "Ya know what Soi?" and I say "What do I know Martin?" and he replies...
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BRAPA in ..... SCARF FEVER IN UXBRIDGE ...... ONE BRAP BEYOND!
Mirror in the Bathroom (Drayton Court Hotel, West Ealing)Standing all the way from York to London Kings Cross wasn't exactly the ideal start to a Saturday BRAPA Special, especially after a moderately...
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BRAPA is ...... PUB CATCHER IN THE RUISLIP (Pt 2)
Excitement was mounting as I left one Wetherspoons at Rayners Lane for another at Ruislip Manor. I say excited, and I'm not talking Neil Shipperley levels of excitement of course, but I was one pub...
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BRAPA is ..... BURSTING FOR A BIT OF BURSCOUGH (Part 1/2)
There aren't many times in the calendar year when BRAPA would prefer NOT to be in a pub. But 'Mad' Friday (tonight) is one of them, just the thought of busy pubs three deep at the bar, ticket only in...
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BRAPA is ..... PARBOLDLY GOING WHERE NO TICKER HAS GONE BEFORE
Of course, the title would only make sense if fellow pub-tickers Taylor & Mackay hadn't visited the two Good Beer Guide 2020 pubs at Parbold, and I'm pretty certain they have, probably back in the...
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BRAPPING PAPER : SI'S FESTIVE BITS IN WEST YORKSHIRE
If I was to beat my all-time BRAPA record for number of pubs visited in a year (447 back in 2018), I'd need to think 'out-of-the-box' and not rest on my Friday and Saturday laurels (the worst type of...
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