Interior decor

The other day I finally got round to putting the rest of my beer mat collection on display in the back cabin. OK, it's not much of a display as only I shall see it, but it brightens the place up (solid oak can be a bit coffin-like), and almost every one has a memory of a place or an occasion attached to it. Copper Dragon - from when we stopped at their (then) new pub in Slaithewaite, nearly six years ago now, and having left the bottom paddles open as instructed, came out to find the pound empty. Enville Ales - not sure where I got the mat, but it reminds me of 2010's Black Country gathering; Enville Ales in the beer tent, but when that got too noisy, it was off to Ma Pardoe's. Harveys and Dark Star to remind me of Sussex; Titanic from the Albert Hotel in Huddersfield, a gorgeous pub when I was there, all marble and mahogany. And Hale's Ales - bought back by my sister from Seattle.

I have two new ones to add - Bath Ales, from my trip to Oxford; an enjoyable day if not the most productive one. I saw the pub, The Grapes, at lunchtime, but thought it wisest not to go in before my interview (perhaps I should have done), but headed straight for it afterwards, for a couple of expensive (but nice) pints of Golden Hare and a disappointing sandwich (putting a slice of apple in a cheese and pickle sandwich and charging £4.50 for it does not make it a 'ploughmans'. Not even a ploughman's sandwich), and made the acquaintance of three rather amusing property developers from Ohio on a kind of grand tour.