Our favourite drinking establishments

• The Betsey Trotwood, Farringdon Road, London EC1. I can't remeber why this is such a good pub (that could be a clue?), but Steve who runs the place makes it worth a visit any day. Used to be full on a winter evening with people from the Environmental Investigation Agency when they were round the corner. Steve has difficulty telling the time when it gets a bit late...
• The Queen's Head, Uxbridge - has a good selection of bottled continental beers. Chimay Blue is good but expensive. Interesting variety of ales as well, but they aren't kept that well.
• The Feathers, Rickmansworth - Mother Clanger's ex-not so local. Good selection of Ales kept prety well; get a "Gallon of Ale" certificate for drinking 8 different ones without chucking or falling over!
• The Rose and Crown, Rickmansworth - ex-even less local in the sticks; good for a quiet summer evening except that they've succumbed to the nasty recent trend of putting conservatories on the back of pubs and pretending its a restaurant!
• The Black Horse, Tilshead (or is it Shrewton?), Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire. Now this would be interesting for a dark and stormy winter night!
• The Flowerpot, Derby - Mother's not-so-local. Excelent beer and good bands (Mother and the Chicken think so anyway). An ever changing list of good beers (and the occasional cider or perry) as long as your arm, all well kept. I can only think of one drawback - beer festivals can be a bit of an anticlimax.
• The Brunswick Inn, Derby - Mother's slightly-more-local. More excelent beer (it's a brewpub) but not quite as wide a selection. It's right near the station - handy if you're just dropping in...
• The Old Bear, Alderwasley - it's in the middle of nowhere, but the Chicken managed to find Mother and others there one weekend. The owner was happy to make a Hamster for us, and even got out a hammer to crush the ice! They also have a field you can camp in so when they close you can stumble to bed with the minimum of effort.
• Bédarieux Station Café, Herault, France - excellent for an early morning beer after a night on the pavement, before a 25 mile walk up a mountain with full pack.
• The Holy Cow Brewery - brewpub in Las Vegas. food's good (but probably not for the Chicken) and the beer's not bad. Amber Gambler (pale ale), a brown ale, a Heferweitzen and a stout. I tried the first and the last - a bit cold and gassy but this is the US...
• AJ Hackett Las Vegas - yes, it's true! They had some interesting bottled beers for sale at the jump site and were kind enough to point us to the Holy Cow.