Dear Diary... June 2026
Sunday 28th June - Islington Idyll
It was nice to have got home last night in time for the second half of the England v Panama game. By all accounts of what the pundits had said, it was not a very good first half at all and so in truth I had not missed that much. Indeed, England laboured a fair bit before Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane both scored to give them a 2-0 win. That did mean topping group L, and with Croatia beating Ghana 2-1, that was enough to put them both through with Ghana one of the best eight third placed sides, sending Scotland home in the process and leading to their manager Steve Clarke resigning.
I got up and watched the overnight highlights of the other group final matches, which meant that the path was set for England. We now face DR Congo on Wednesday, and if we win that, it is then a 1am kick off UK time against either Mexico or Ecuador in the Azteca in Mexico City, a ground that the host nation there do not lose at - if at all. So that will be notable in terms of path. The Love In My Heart and I had a coffee and some bacon on toast, and that served us well for breakfast before we got ourselves ready.
The Love looked lovely in her Oliver Bonas dress, and we headed along the shops and had a quick look in both Mini So and Zara, but nothing doing for The Love. We got to West Croydon so we could take the Overground all the way to Highbury and Islington - primarily because with it still being warm, we knew we'd get lovely aircon on the trains all the way there and not have to faff around with the Victoria line. Once there, we headed along towards Barnsbury Street and then across to where we were meeting her niece and boyfriend, at the Drapers Arms. They had even managed to book an outside table at the back, so that was lovely.
We had a good catch up and chatter, with the niece's boyfriend having started a new job and his first head chef role too. He did say it had been stressful but as the place is currently only open Tuesday to Saturday it did at least mean he'd have today off, and so we had a good natter about The Football too. They went for four starters to have between them as their main, whilst The Love and I both went for the porchetta of pork Sunday roast, which was excellent - the roast potatoes especially. Maybe less cabbage and more carrots would have been nice, but I did have the Basque cheesecake for dessert and that was gorgeous, so can't complain too much really.
We walked back to Highbury and Islington, with the two hours or so having gone way too quickly to be honest. They at least had a straight run on the Overground back to where they were based now, so we then took the Victoria Line to Euston, and that was warm. At Euston it looked a bit mad with the train, and thanks to London Platforms, I worked out the train at Platform 1 was a Manchester one, so got The Love on that and in an unreserved carriage seat (as her train was cancelled, meh.) As it transpired it proved to be a good move as the train after hers was also cancelled too...
I made my way back home and settled in for the evening, and it was Canada v South Africa in the first game of the last 32 knockout stage. To be honest, it was not a very good game and I was pleased that the side who actually wanted to play proper football got the winning goal in stoppage time. With that in mind it made sense to make something Canadian tune of the day, and the Los Angeles announcer during the hydration break did at least blast out Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams, which to be fair is still a cracking tune.
Saturday 27th June - High Society
It was nice to have The Love In My Heart coming down to visit me for the weekend, and after the last few days of intense heat, it was good that the weather was starting to cool down a little bit. I headed out earlier in the morning too as I was off to Wimbledon Park and to the barbers to get my haircut, as it needed sorting. It is always good to be there and chatter about all things football with the staff and it's always very pleasant in there too, which is a great win. I soon was back on the bus back to Wimbledon and then the tram home, where I also stopped off after getting off the tram to get some bits.
The Love's train was slightly delayed getting into London Euston, but she had soon made her way via the tube to Victoria and so I left to meet her at East Croydon station. Overall she had at least been able to get a train out of Victoria before the next one was 15 minutes down the line due to various heat related cancellations. It was still very warm overall but at least it was coming down a little in temperature, and we did have some small amount of breeze when we got back to my place, and had a little meat and cheese cold platter along with some crisps and dips for a light lunch - so no oven on thankfully.
After getting ourselves showered, changed and ready, with The Love looking lovely in her blue and white dress, we headed off to East Croydon and from there took the train over to Farringdon, where we'd booked a table at The Castle for some tea. For some reason even though we had confirmed the booking they did not reserve a table, but thankfully there were some in the upstairs lounge free. This was much nicer than downstairs and had a really nice set of sofas and tables with lovely plush chairs. The Landlord Dark was not on (or else an easy win) but the Boltmaker was, so that was me all sorted. We had some nice food too - The Love had the chicken schnitzel and me the prawn and crab linguine.
We decided to stay there for another drink too, as we were all cosy on the chairs and sofa, it was lovely with the air conditioning, and we could people watch outside too. I also then had a very nice Sambrook's session ale too, so that was all good. The Kirkstall raspberry blonde that they do was not on, or else I'd have been tempted to have that, but I guess that was probably quite refreshing over the last few days to be honest. We later headed out and followed Cowcross Street and then on past Smithfield Market to Barbican, and followed the path over the roads and down towards the centre itself.
I must admit I did confuse myself a little, as the theatre is different from the concert hall and so in a different space. However, The Love did bump into someone she knew, who was with her sister, and that was lovely to see them again. We'd previously seen them at Factory International in Manchester, so clearly they like the culture and were lovely to chat to. We then got ourselves a drink and headed eventually to the right entrance, where were in the gallery right entrance at the top - and although the rail in front blocked a small part of the view, we had no one in front, and a nice high back behind the chair, so all was well.
For the next two and a half hours, with interval, we saw the stage version of High Society, a musical that had songs by Cole Porter and indeed was turned into a film starring the likes of Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. The Love had loved the film when she watched it years ago, and with a good cast for the musical, including Felicity Kendal and Helen George (Trixie off off Call the Midwife, no less) we thought it'd be well worth it. And it was. The time flew by with many Cole Porter classics being sung including Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, which made me think of the game Vegas Jackpot on the Commodore 64 (as that has a version of it) and therefore tune of the day.
The musical here follows the plot of the original well (so The Love told me) and all the actors who sang and danced their hearts out were all really good. Much kudos too to Freddie Fox who played Mike, and Carly Mercedes Dyer who played Liz, they were both very good as well. Perhaps who stole the show the most was Julian Ovenden who played Dexter, and had all the culture and class throughout, and Naomi Pacquette, who played the younger daughter Dinah, and she was really cutting and witty as the role demanded. Definitely if you get chance to see it at the Barbican, do (you have til 11th July) and after that there's a tour too.
Sunday 21st June – Final Flourish
Today was Father’s Day and the longest day of the year in terms of light, if I remember well. Obviously, the day is not for everyone, especially for those whose fathers have passed away, so I thought it would be nice to head out and escape for a while. And with the weather getting warmer during the day, I thought that although doing a walk would be sensible, I thought to get it done earlier before the heat hits massively. With that in mind, I got myself up and ready and had some breakfast and then headed off to East Croydon station. I took the train to Victoria and the tube from there to Blackfriars, as the rail station was closed due to engineering works – otherwise on a normal day it would have been a straight direct train there.
So my plan was to take on the fourth and final section of the Green Link Walk, which I had started a few months back east of Walthamstow and had gradually gone from there via Lea Valley, Haggerston, Islington and Clerkenwell down to Bankside and the Tate Modern, which is where the final section to Peckham would start, four miles in all. I had at least had air conditioned trains all the way to Blackfriars, and a small amount of wind as I crossed the bridge towards the southern entrance and to Bankside. But this was where the heat would start to get warmer, so hydration and a good pace was of the essence really.
It was a leisurely stroll through Bankside, heading under the railway bridges close by and then taking turns towards Elephant and Castle, passing London South Bank University and the Wetherspoons pub I used to go in occasionally when I worked round that area. And in the first set of contrasts at Elephant, the current tower block of London College of Communication (part of UAL) and then the new build which basically is where the old Tesco used to be as part of the shopping centre. I sincerely hope that they got rid of the rat infestation in the area which blighted that Tesco at every opportunity and generally made it not the safest place to be – it always had to close at odd times when that Tesco was there.
One thing that did happen was that the Elephant and Castle statue (with elephant and a castle tower atop its body) has been moved to Castle Square, as that statue was at the front of the old shopping centre. I walked through there and indeed Elephant Park, where there were also a number of the Elmer the Elephant statues still there too, as well as the gold and silver metal elephants that were nice to see. From there, and via all the nice new flats (one of the blocks is called Babar House, which if you know, you know) it was onwards to a couple of smaller community parks, and in between housing. It is a real contrast of architecture and housing stock too, with the old and the new all over the place. It certainly felt more urban in places and that did intrigue me as a fan of architecture generally.
Once through all that, it was on to Burgess Park. Most of the park was claimed back from former Industrial sites, and there’s a lake with ducks in, and following the path, a bridge which appears to be over just one of the paths – a real bridge to nowhere. However, this was because back in the day, the straight wide path under the bridge was the old Surrey Canal, and the bridge was a way of getting over the canal and between two parts of the Industrial site at the time. Now it has been renovated and is a local landmark, with the canal long since filled in and the existence of it only showing if you know where to look for old maps and so on. Nice to walk through though, and was tempted by the café at one end, but needs must and I pressed on.
After exiting the park, a right turn took me on to the Surrey Canal Walk, and this follows the former Peckham Branch of the old Surrey Canal, once again filled in. It becomes a nice green walk to take and passes under two road bridges before you then arrive in Peckham at the top of Rye Lane, with the Peckham Arch a perfect place to signal the end of the walk overall. I had done it, four sections, and a good way to see other parts of London once again. It was a short walk back to Peckham Rye station and then to take the train back to East Croydon, and the aircon on that was delightful and allowed me to cool down after having had a warm walk, so that was something. Tune of the day happens to be something in my head from the walk: the cover of Nellie The Elephant by the punk band The Toy Dolls. Ace, that.
Saturday 20th June – Birmingham Brilliance
I had planned a day out to Birmingham today, primarily to go round a number of the retro game shops that are dotted around the outskirts of the city and indeed the Black Country as well. It made sense to use Birmingham as the base and then work out from there places to go. I had also sensibly used the Avanti Superfare which meant the tickets each way on the train were a mere £9, so you can’t say fairer than that really. As it transpired when I got the tickets via email yesterday, I was on the 0713 to Birmingham and the 2021 going back, so plenty of time for being out and about.
I had got up early and got to London Euston in good time for the 0713 departure, which did thankfully leave on time. However, there had been engineering work over-running from the night before, both at Camden and Berkhamsted, which meant the train lost time and was over 20 minutes late at Milton Keynes Central. At Coventry it was decided to terminate the train at Birmingham International, which meant I had to swap platforms and wait for the next Avanti train from there to New Street. That did put a slight spanner in the works in terms of timing but I was able successfully to work around that one a little bit by jigging the order around in which I visited some of the shops.
Once at Birmingham New Street, I grabbed a coffee and a small breakfast from Tim Horton’s, and walked over to Colmore Row, where the plan would be to get the X10 but not all the way to Gornal Wood, where I wanted to go, but get off in Cradley Heath and visit Hidden Chest Gaming. From there, I’d then get the X10 that goes to Gornal Wood (as a lot of them terminate at Merry Hill, including the one I was getting on) and work back from there – a sensible move I thought. Indeed, as the bus headed through Quinton and Halesowen and made its way to Cradley Heath, it made good time and so was able to get off close to the market.
I went into Hidden Chest Gaming, and for some reason, one of their two stalls – the ones that had the computer games and so on, was boarded shut. The one selling trading cards was open and had a few people around, but odd that they did not open both parts. The only thing I could think of is maybe the owners were going to a retro gaming market and took the stock with them, but still, something on their website or even Facebook page may have been useful. Anyway, as it turned out the next X10 was the Gornal Wood one and that wasn’t too far behind, so was a sensible pit stop anyway, so made the most of it.
It was back on the X10 via Merry Hill and Russells Hall Hospital on the outskirts of Dudley before the bus took its route further out, and ended up at the small bus terminus in Gornal Wood. Get Gaming was not too far away and I must admit I did like it in there. There were some shelves of 8-bit games and although the selection was mainly ZX Spectrum, it was good to see some stock and all the consoles that were boxed looked well looked after, and a massive rack of shelves full of Playstation 1 games, so if you are after a few of those, I can recommend here highly. There were some nice accessories as well including an Atar Pro-Line joystick that’ll work on the Atari 2600 plus most 8-bit computers that support the 9-pin port, so good to see.
I knew the X10 back to Halesowen (where I could then change to get to Vintage Gamer on the 9) was not coming for some time, as it’s an hourly run from Gornal Wood. However, the small little bus run by Diamond saved the day, the 223 to Dudley. I knew I could get to Stourbridge from Dudley and go back on the 9 the other way, plus get some lunch in Stourbridge too – so plan hatched. And sure enough, that worked. I got to Dudley and switched for the 6, which took me past Russells Hall Hospital for a second time and then through Brierley Hill. I could have stopped at Old Skool Gaming but noted it was closed, and so stayed on, past the bus stop for the old Hidden Chest Gaming shop before they moved, and then on to Stourbridge.
Whilst in Stourbridge, I did note the outside of one pub with a wall that had Pop Will Eat Itself art on, including the logo from the band’s Can U Dig It single, and a smaller little piece of art with the Angryman logo and style too. It looked great and as the band are from those parts, had to be seen. I did get a nice little lunch too and at the bus interchange noted the train station, seeing one of those little cute Parry People Mover trains come in, which does the shuttle train between Stourbridge Town and Stourbridge Junction. It is the cutest train ever and certainly one I need to see if Little Miss E and Little Miss O want to travel on in the future if we ever go that way. Choo choo!
It was on the 9 and off a bit after Lye and on to Vintage Gamer. I love this place. It was very warm inside, but the racks full of all sorts of games were impressive. Had I not already got a chunk of games, I could have very easily spent shed loads here. For Commodore 16 and Plus/4 owners, it’s a good selection and the ZX Spectrum range is massive. I also spotted more shelves which had other formats in, including one of only two Mastertronic releases for the Dragon 32 – the re-release of Bug Diver. And as for the boxed stuff – all sorts including the Intellivoice module for the Mattel Intellivision console, used perhaps most notably in the game B-17 Bomber. The only difficult decision was not to get anything, but plenty of temptation everywhere, including for example some nice boxed consoles, an Atari keyboard controller for use with the likes of the Sesame Street game, and the original clam shell release of Black Crystal for the ZX Spectrum, a two cassette early role playing game that was re-released by Mastertronic as part of their short lived Master Adventurer series.
I left Vintage Gamer and ensured I got a cold bottle of water (stay hydrated folks) and it was back on the 9. At this point Pop Will Eat Itself’s lyric of “in the satisfaction stakes it’s like sitting on the number 9 bus” sprang to mind from their song Eat Me Drink Me Love Me Kill Me, so that is tune of the day – and yes, that lyric does mention this specific bus route. As I travelled back along the Hagley Road towards central Birmingham, I did wonder if I could do a final game store visit, which was to the east of the city centre. I checked their website, it said open til 6pm, and as it was around 3.45pm by this time, it was more than doable as the bus got towards Five Ways and did the ring road shuffle to get to Colmore Row and where I had boarded the X10 earlier in the day.
I walked through to Corporation Street, through the Primark and on to Moor Street and then down by the side of the station is the bus I wanted, the 17. This would take me via Small Heath and Hob Moor Road to Yardley, and then towards Sheldon Heath and to The Radleys, where Entertainment World is. And they’ve had a switch around since I last visited, and looks good. Near the front are four Ikea style boxes inside a Kallax case, and two of them have plenty of 8-bit games on tape. Lots of choice, and I did see the likes of 5th Gear and Ocean Conqueror for the Commodore 64 on the Rack-It label. At the front there’s a glass case which you’ll need the staff to open for you, and inside they had plenty of Commodore 16 and Plus/4 double cassette box games, including Trailblazer, Monty on the Run, Wimbledon, Space 2, the infamous Konami Coin-Op Hits compilation, and more besides. There were also little boxes of single cassette games including some harder to find ones such as Dirty Den, Tom Thumb and Ghost Town. Basically if you have that system, you need to come here as you would be able to get shed loads. In fact, had the price of Trailblazer been a little cheaper, I’d have been sorely tempted!
Although I did not get any games, this was not for the lack of trying. The stock in some of the shops was superb and well worth checking all of them out, more so if you have early generation consoles too as there will be plenty for you to dive into, whether it be for example unboxed or boxed Atari VCS / 2600 cartridges, or mint condition Sega Master System boxed games. I can highly recommend paying them all a visit and there will be something that you will be after, or temptation you might not realise. If I had an Intellivsion and the price was right, I’d have snagged the voice module for sure. It was then back on the 17 towards the centre or Birmingham where I had one final quest left to do.
I went into the Custard Factory, found the Zelig building, and at the bottom of there is a pinball place, the excellent Pinball Factory. They do a flat rate of £10 for an hour or £20 for the whole day on the Saturday, and weeknights for £10 are also excellent value. Needless to say when I spotted that they had Star Trek The Next Generation pinball in there, of course I was going to go in. What a game that still is and proved yet again why it is my all time favourite pinball machine ever. I had mourned the sad loss of Tilt in the centre but this is doing a good job so far to replace it. Not sure if they will go down licencing for drinks and so on, but so much fun to be had. I did have a good play too of the likes of Indianapolis 500, Whirlwind, Mr and Ms Pacman (from 1982, suitably vintage), Kiss and Fish Tales. I could have played so many more too and going back for a whole day’s play in cooler weather may just have to be done.
After heading back towards Birmingham New Street and getting some food in a pub close to the station, and a well earned pint, it was then time to head off for the 2021 train back to London Euston. I got my seat fine and the aircon was on, so that was all good. I did also note that several had got on the train at New Street and didn’t realise this was the Euston one, so mass panic at Coventry with everyone getting off and going the other way. Oops, costly mistake there. It was quiet for a good while until Milton Keynes Central and busy thereafter, but the train back was on time, which meant all the tube and train connections home also worked. It had been a long day, but a thoroughly enjoyable one, and definitely need to do that again at some point in the next few months – maybe when the weather is a little cooler though.
Sunday 14th June - Cheshire Chilling
The Love In My Heart had a well deserved lie in as she had had a long week at work, and in addition Brian the cat had been a little naughty and hogged the pillow a lot during sleeping time. I did note that he had used the litter tray, so I cleaned that up for The Love and then settled in to BBC Two for a bit. The Scotland versus Haiti game was on at 2am this morning and I was no way going to be staying up for that, when I could watch the full game on Sunday morning and ignore the results and the news beforehand. I thought that made more sense, and could have a coffee and chill watching the game.
As it turned out, the game was a tight and tense one. Scotland had taken the lead through a deflected shot from John McGinn, which I sort of suspected might happen as he has a habit of turning up for these big games. As the game went on, Haiti started to believe more that they could get a result and it was a case of shattered nerves for Scotland the later it went, and they hung on for a 1-0 win. Crucially, the three points for the win might go a long way to help them to try and get to the next stage, but with Morocco and Brazil to come, that might be somewhat tasty!
After a nice breakfast, we got ourselves ready for heading out for the afternoon. We thought it'd be nice to head out to Wilmslow, as there is a home shop called Homebird which The Love really likes. We normally go to the Cheadle Hulme one but thought it may be sensible for a change to try one of the other places. The Love did have a gift voucher for there that she got for her birthday, and so we wanted to try and make use of that and get something nice. We headed out along the A34 and then turned off just before Wilmslow centre, and headed along Water Lane to the car park.
Once parked, we walked along Water Lane to Homebird, and there were plenty of lovely things in there as ever. The Love did get some nice ideas for the front room, and so in the end managed to get something lovely that would spruce up the front room - in fact three things. The main item she got was a coffee table lamp, with a green stalk and a nice base, and a good shade to go with it too. She also liked the A3 sized cocktail pictures which were very art deco styled, and two of those will look nice too. The excellent thing was that her voucher covered all of these purchases, so handy to get it all effectively for free!
After a nice walk around the centre of Wilmslow, we headed off to Cheadle Hulme and decided to do lunch at the John Millington, which is not far from Homebird and indeed the station. We've been in there before for a drink but thought it would be worth trying the food out. And we were so glad that we did. I had the risotto with prawns, scallops and chorizo, and that was stunning. It just was lovely and earthy and just felt filling too. The Love had the bacon steak and that was really nice, a posher version of the gammon steak but still with egg and pineapple and chips. That looked gorgeous too. Add to that an outside table and some nice drinks, and all felt rather lovely to be fair.
I did feel rather sad heading off homewards later on the train, but we had had a lovely time and it is days like this when I know I am just so lucky to have someone special - we just chattered all afternoon, and it was nice to relax with drinks too. As I was on board a packed train on the way back, I just had the iPod on with some tunes and it was good to kick back with some new headphones doing the job well, and blasting out the likes of Orbital's excellent Where Is It Going (make that tune of the day as it just sounds ace when travelling at speed too) and having a good end to the weekend.
Saturday 13th June - Cat Cat!
I got up early this morning and was all changed and ready to head off, as it was back up to Manchester for the weekend and to see The Love In My Heart for the weekend. It had been a long week of work and so was ready for a relaxed and enjoyable weekend to be honest with you. I think as well that I just felt the need to take it easy before I know things will ramp up prior to one of our big events that will be happening on the next couple of weeks or so. It was nice to be able to get to Euston without any issues and be ready for the 0813 departure to Manchester Piccadilly. Bar a minor delay, all was well.
The Love In My Heart came to collect me, and it was off back to her place where we'd have a bacon sandwich for a later breakfast and have Brian the cat come to have some fussing and cuddles. He was even lay on the sofa reaching over and then looked all adorable as I felt it was time to play ball, and he bounced the ball back with his paws effortlessly, and had a great time doing that for a little while. I have to admit that was just such good fun, and always nice to please him, so that made me happy.
We headed off to see Little Miss E and Little Miss O, as their Mum had invited us over to see them, have some coffee and some light lunch, and then also spend time with them. As it transpired, Little Miss E had got this construction set of Hello Kitty, but it appeared that when we opened the bags of the mock Lego-like bricks and shapes, we did realise that there was one bag missing from the box - so not sure if it the box had been opened before and the bag went missing. We did try to build what we could, but it was soon obvious that some of the parts we needed were in that missing bag.
However, after a light lunch, there were plenty of chances to have some fun, including me reading a couple of books with Little Miss O, and she also looked out of the window, pointing towards two doors down from their house, and going "cat cat!". Little Miss E explained that there is a cat called Dexter who sometimes pops round their back garden and is quite adorable, so it was most likely him being around the front. It was nice to know, and plenty of games and play time as well as some more reading, and did feel quite sad when we set off later, as they had been lovely.
We stopped off in Manchester city centre later on, and after managing to get a parking space in Ancoats, we went over to Seven Bro7ers Beerhouse, where I had a really nice cherry sour beer, which did the job. They did have the coverage from Queens Club and the tennis there, so that was nice in the background. We then headed over to Jane Eyre, and they had a hazy ale from the Verdant brewery in Cornwall, and so that was all lovely to have and enjoy too. It definitely felt like a nice afternoon, and we had some lovely food in the evening before resting and relaxing with some telly together. Tune of the day is Cool For Cats by Squeeze, kind of apt really considering Brian the cat was hogging Mummy's pillow!
Sunday 7th June - Hello Heidi!
It was a nice relaxing lie in for myself and The Love In My Heart after a nice day yesterday. Brian the cat was of course hogging Mummy's pillow and doing what he could to wake her up, and we did have a nice day out planned today. We were meeting up with two of our friends who just so now happen to have a canine companion, which they got in the last couple of months. Now that the dog had been effectively trained enough and seems comfortable around people, we thought it would be good to go somewhere dog friendly so we could all have a good time together. And by all accounts, this one's quite placcid and not jumpy, so we shall see.
The Love and I got ourselves ready and The Love looked lovely in her dress, and we headed for the tram to head to the city centre before all the people were heading out of the Hot Wheels morning event, which would make the trams busier. It did not take us long before we headed out of Piccadilly Gardens, and over to Thomas Street where we headed into Terrace (our usual haunt there these days since Fierce Beer closed down) and got ourselves a booth table ready, with me having the Kirkstall Radler, which was super refreshing and nice, and well worth it.
Our friends arrived with their dog, Heidi, and to be fair, she was adorable. They had her in a little yellow rain jacket to keep any rain off, and being a dachshund, she was all comfortable and relaxed, and sat with us having plenty of fusses and cuddles all round as we had a drink and catch up. It is always a good vibe in Terrace anyway with some cool tunes, so that made us all feel relaxed and ready to enjoy a meal together. Before long it was over to The Social NQ (formerly Smithfield Social) where thankfully they still do Sunday roasts which are champion on a Sunday.
It was nice to be able to sit close to the back and have the big window with light. All the staff loved Heidi to bits and all wanted a fuss of her, which was nice - as they all did ask first and were all polite too. I did go for the Guinness Zero in there as I thought it'd be good to have something low and no alcohol after a few beers yeserday, and three of us went for the special of the gammon, whilst our friend went for the cauliflower steak. The roast came out and it was rather nice all round - the gammon was lovely as were the potatoes, and the Yorkshire pudding was massive. The vibe was all good and we certainly enjoyed our time in there.
It was back to Terrace later and first off we used their outdoor courtyard area, which is hidden on the inside if you know where to look. It was raining but the table we were on had an awning to keep all five of us dry (Heidi was snuggled up on the lap of one our friends!) and all was well. In fact later on I even had the London Black porter from Anspach and Hobday as a final one to end the day well. We had lots of great chatter and naturally Heidi was getting tons of attention - and to be fair, she is adorable! In fact the theme to the 1980s TV adaptation is tune of the day for that reason.
Saturday 6th June - Albert's Alright
It was an early rise for me after a long week at work, and with a fair amount of the preparation done for the two big events we've got on this month at work, especially the big one which really does mean a lot to everyone and needs maximum effort in, it was good to be able to head up and out and get to Euston in time for the 0813 train to Manchester Piccadilly to see The Love In My Heart. We had some nice plans for the weekend despite the weather not maybe being fully what we wanted it to be, but were going to make the most of them regardless. We had a brolly and coats to keep us dry if needed, so nothing was going to stop us!
I got into Manchester Piccadilly and with the Hot Wheels shows being on at Co-Op Live, I didn't want The Love to get stuck in any traffic that would be heading there to and from the city centre, so it was a much easier trip on the tram instead and over to The Loive's place. She had had a nice lie in and of course Brian the cat was wanting plenty of fussing, attention and maybe some Dreamies too. He did let me stroke him and give him cuddles, and played ball with me later on, so he was definitely in a good mood all things considered. He had even gone out in a little bit of rain earlier before realising his fur was getting wet and so made an escape back indoors!
After The Love's sister came over for a chatter and a catch up, The Love got herself changed and ready, and looked very nice in a new top, we headed off for the tram. At this time of year, and something we stumbled upon a few years back, The Albert Club in West Didsbury has their annual festival, which is also a beer festival. They get lots of local beers on, food, and also some music too whether that be DJs or performances as well. It's usually very good and last year dates clashed, but this year it all fell into place and with us being out with friends tomorrow, we thought a leisurely trip over was a sensible idea - and with Burton Road tram stop not being too far away, easier to do that and have what we liked!
We got to the Albert Club and paid the £5 each for non-members for the day, and you got a wristband - so I guess you could head out and back in later on if you wanted, or for example if you wanted food elsewhere and then came back in. As it was, the beer tent was well stocked and had lovely cask ales on and some good keg beers, there was also a Brooklyn Brewery van selling their beers, and two food stalls with the likes of Jamaican patties, loaded fries, and a pizza oven doing fresh pizzas. That was all good, as was the beer selection. On the far side of the bowling green and club house, there was also a pop up van which had gins and also aperol spritz, so The Love had that I had a very nice local cask ale, Irk Street Pale from Blackjack. That was very nice indeed.
We got a good spot close to the gin van and by the bowling green, with a table and chairs for us two only. The vibe was chilled out, as was the tunes, which had an intriguing mix of 80s and 90s all segued together really well. I have to say though that being a diehard Mancunian, obviously having anything from a local band would get due recognition and so having the likes of New Order was always going to be a winner. However. tune of the day simply had to be a song that had been in my head all day - Breakout by Swing Out Sister. Not least as Andy and Corinne officially tied the knot at the back end of last week!
We did have a couple of more drinks and despite there being a slight downpour, with The Love's brolly keeping us dry underneath, all was well. The Love had the Poretti lager which was nice enough, and I tried out two more local ales including the From Above by Track. In fact at the bar there was someone who was asking about gluten free beers and I remember From Above being one, so recommended it highly. Always nice to have a good chatter about beers but also because I know a couple of friends who need gluten free too, I do keep an eye on anything decent, and will try it myself to see what I think. And yes, it was as good as ever too.
After a few drinks The Love and I walked back to The Metropolitan in the centre of West Didsbury, and decided to have some food in there. They did also have a nice Saltaire ale in there so that was me sorted, and I had this nice pizza whilst The Love went for the fish and chips. Both were very nice and did the job of keeping us well fed before we then headed back on the tram via the city centre to The Love's place, and then relaxing with Brian the cat and watching some telly. Overall then a nice chilled out Saturday, and more of those is always appreciated let me tell you!