So it seems I’ve agreed to run a whisky festival for Father’s Day at the railway! Entry to the festival is free with a train ticket, and spirits prices start at just £1. The festival will open on arrival of the first train of the day at 1055 and last pour will be at 1600,…
An overview of Leighton Buzzard Railway, a three-mile narrow-gauge railway in Bedfordshire with national industrial importance.
I’ve already summarised my trip on the Kyle of Lochalsch line, and on the same trip I took a ride on the other branch of the North Highland Lines – to Wick (of which more in a future post). Other than travelling along a new stretch of track, my reason for visiting the town was to…
During a recent trip to Scotland, I took the opportunity to drop in to The Fiddler’s Bar in Drumadrochit. Run by Jon Beach, a chap I’d met at the fabulous Maltstock festival (you can read my write-up on that here, here and here), it’s somewhere I’ve been meaning to visit for a while. More than…
There are those railway lines I’ve travelled on countless times, some only once and a very small number I haven’t managed to traverse. Sadly it’s quite rare for me to do a new piece of line (in fact there’s only one line left south of Birmingham). The North Highland lines had so far managed to…
To coincide with Japanese Golden Week (which ends tomorrow), I decided to instill a Japanese theme into this week’s drinking. I was first introduced to the sakes and liqueurs of Akashi-Tai when I visited their importers stand at the London Wine Fair last year, myself and a former colleague having been taken through the range by…
Something that’s been in the news for many a year, and seemingly very little done about, is the number of buses that travel along London’s, and indeed Europe’s, busiest shopping street, Oxford Street. Lord Andrew Adonis spent last week on buses in London to experience the network – his thoughts can be read here, with…
St. George’s Distillery was the brainchild of father and son team James and Andrew Nelstrop who come from a farming family with 600 years history in grain growing and processing. Norfolk-grown grain has historically been sent to Scotland for whisky production and they had the idea of keeping some (thought to be amongst the higest…
2013 is almost over. It’s been a year of massive change for me, many ups and downs, both personally and professionally. What better way for me to see it out than to satisfy my sweet tooth with some fruity liqueurs I’ve picked up over the last year or so. For anyone who knows me, to…
Given today almost exactly marks the halfway point of Movember 2013, I thought it was an apt point to post a very mini update on my progress. As you can see, the growth is sort of there, but the density really isn’t. Hopefully this will change in the next couple of weeks, so I have…
For this installment, I have chosen one of my favourite independent bottlers, Compass Box. There are a few reasons I’m more than a little bit in love with them: Firstly (these are in no particular order) the labels – I mean they’re just fantastic. In fact when we get news of a new release, the…
In these days of computerisation, it’s easy to overlook the true art of craft that takes place in many industries. I was fortunate enough to be invited to The Balvenie Masters of Craft 2013 Awards Ceremony at Somerset House last night. Now in its third year, the awards celebrate and recognise true masters of British…
I thought I’d keep with the theme of three whiskies from my former life for the second installment of the series and examine The Glenrothes. Background The distillery, for those familiar with Scottish geography, is not situated in the Fife town of the same name, but in Rothes, in Moray, which puts it in the…
The time has come! After spending the last few years in retail and being unable to take part, my new job sees me sat at a desk, so I can finally participate in Movember as a MoBro. What is Movember? Movember is a charity which raises funds through asking men (MoBros) to grow moustaches during…
I must admit to having a great deliberation about what to start with for the series. A comparative tasting across one distillery, to go simply for whisky or begin with a ‘curveball’, to finish a bottle or open a new one? So many choices! In the end I decided to go with a comparative tasting…
Rocky's Spirited (Transport) Blog 