Erasure Radio!! Radio!! Tour

We’re going to see Erasure!

They were one of those 80s pop bands that Debs and I both loved back in the day, and we still listen to them pretty regularly now, so when the Radio!! Radio!! Tour was announced we couldn’t really let it pass us by.

We’re seeing them on Saturday 8 May 2027 at the first direct bank arena in Leeds, which also gives us the perfect excuse for a nice meal at Trinity Kitchen beforehand.

The timing couldn’t be much better either, as it’s Debs’ birthday the day before, so it should make for a cracking birthday weekend.

OK, I paid a little more for the tickets than the face value, but worth it for my wifes birthday.

Based on some of the other 80s bands we’ve seen over the past few years, I’ve got a feeling Erasure are going to be ruddy amazing; although Vince Clarke has said that he's retired from touring, so it will be interesting to see what Andy Bell will be like on his own on stage, Vince is still doing the music for it, so I'm sure it will just sound the same.

Once we’ve been, I’ll come back and turn this into a proper review.

Easy Duck Spice Bag Recipe

This duck spice bag recipe came about after a weekend trip to Leeds for some holiday shopping.

While we were there, we stopped at Trinity Kitchen and decided to try Dole Spice Bags. Spice bags are an Irish favourite that have thankfully made their way over here, basically a glorious mixture of crispy chips, meat or a meat alternative, sauce, vegetables and seasoning all thrown together.

I went for the vegan Irish Spice Bag, sometimes called a Dirty Bag, while Debs had the Crispy Aromatic Duck Bag. Both were absolutely delicious.

The only problem was that we knew it might be a while before we were back in Leeds.

A few days later, on the way home from work, I had the idea of trying to recreate the crispy duck spice bag for Debs. I called into Aldi, picked up what I needed and gave it a go.

Apparently it was pretty close to the real thing, which earned me some proper brownie points.

The method is really simple and works just as well with crispy duck, chicken or plant-based pieces. I used plant-based No Chicken Pieces for mine.

Easy Duck Spice Bag Recipe

Serves: 2
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Calories: approximately 800 kcal per portion using plant-based pieces

Ingredients

• 500g skin-on fries
• 240g crispy duck, chicken or plant-based No Chicken Pieces
• 150g hoisin sauce
• ½ cucumber, peeled and finely sliced
• 5–6 spring onions, finely sliced
• Sesame seeds, lightly toasted
• A little oil, for frying

You can use any chips you like, but I find skin-on fries work particularly well because they go really crispy and stand up better once everything is mixed together.

How to Make a Duck Spice Bag

1. Cook the chips according to the packet instructions until they're properly golden and crispy.
2. While the chips are cooking, heat a little oil in a frying pan and gently cook your duck, chicken or plant-based pieces. If you're using raw meat, make sure it's completely cooked through.
3. Once cooked, reduce the heat and add the hoisin sauce. Stir everything together and warm gently until the pieces are completely coated.
4. Add most of the toasted sesame seeds and give everything another quick stir.
5. Take the pan off the heat, then add the cucumber and spring onions. Toss them through the hoisin mixture. Adding them right at the end keeps a bit of freshness and crunch.
6. Add the crispy chips and gently toss everything together. You want the chips lightly coated in hoisin rather than completely soaked in it.
7. Divide between two bowls or plates and finish with the remaining toasted sesame seeds.
8. Serve straight away while the chips are still crispy.

Duck, Chicken or Plant-Based?

Although this started out as an attempt to recreate the Crispy Aromatic Duck Spice Bag we had in Leeds, the recipe is very easy to adapt.

Crispy aromatic duck is the obvious choice, especially if you can find one of the ready-to-cook packs in the supermarket. Chicken works perfectly well too, while plant-based chicken-style pieces make a really good vegetarian or vegan version. Just check that your hoisin sauce is suitable if you're keeping the whole thing vegan.

The important bit is the combination of crispy chips, sticky hoisin, spring onion, cucumber and toasted sesame. It's ridiculously simple, but it works.

A Few Notes

Don't add the cucumber and spring onions too early. They only need tossing through once the pan is off the heat, otherwise the cucumber starts to soften and you lose the contrast with the hot chips and sticky sauce.

Likewise, get the chips as crispy as you can before adding them. Once the hoisin goes on, they'll naturally soften a little, so starting with properly crisp fries makes a big difference.

The calorie figure is only a rough estimate because fries, hoisin sauce and whichever duck, chicken or plant-based pieces you use can vary quite a lot. My plant-based version comes out at roughly 800 kcal per portion. A version made with crispy aromatic duck may be a little higher.

Is it exactly the same as the one from Dole Spice Bags? Probably not. But it was close enough to bring back memories of our lunch in Leeds, it took about 25 minutes from start to finish and, most importantly, Debs loved it, and we had it two days in a row.

Crossword

I'm not really a fan of crossword puzzles, but I spotted this AI one as a widget on a Firefox tab and somehow became a little bit obsessed with it.

I think it's the simplicity of it that I like. It's quick, easy to dip into and strangely addictive. If you fancy giving it a go, you can either play it below or play it here.

Cheat Fajita Pasta Recipe

This cheat fajita pasta recipe came about after I had the Vegan Fajita Pasta at Slug & Lettuce and really enjoyed it.

The Slug & Lettuce version is described as penne pasta in a Sheese® sauce with onion, peas and mixed peppers, finished with spring onion. The one I had seemed a little different though. I don't remember any peas or any peppers, but it did have sun-dried tomatoes in it.

Either way, it gave me the idea to make my own quick fajita pasta at home.

I wasn't bothered about keeping mine vegan, so I went for a simple vegetarian version using cream cheese, Cheddar and a ready-made fajita seasoning mix. No measuring out cumin, paprika, chilli and garlic... hence the word cheat.

It turned out to be a lovely tea, and from start to finish it only takes about 20 minutes.

Cheat Fajita Pasta Recipe

Serves: 2
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Calories: 650kcal per portion

Ingredients

• 200g penne pasta
• ½ onion, thinly sliced
• 50–60g sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
• ½ pepper, thinly sliced – optional
• A small handful of peas – optional
• 3 teaspoons fajita seasoning mix
• 100g full-fat cream cheese
• 50g grated Cheddar - optional
• A splash of milk
• A little pasta cooking water
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• A squeeze of lime
• 1 tablespoon oil, ideally from the sun-dried tomato jar
• Black pepper

How to Make Fajita Pasta

1. Cook the penne according to the packet instructions. Before draining it, save a little of the pasta cooking water.
2. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a frying pan and gently cook the onion for a few minutes until it starts to soften.
3. If you're using pepper, add it to the pan and cook for another couple of minutes.
4. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, then stir in the fajita seasoning. I used 3 teaspoons, which gave the pasta plenty of flavour while keeping it fairly mild.
5. Turn the heat down and add the cream cheese, grated Cheddar and a splash of milk. Stir until everything has melted into a smooth, creamy sauce.
6. Add the cooked penne along with a splash of the reserved pasta water. Stir everything together until the sauce coats the pasta properly.
7. If you're adding peas, stir them through now and give them a minute or two to heat through.
8. Finish with a squeeze of lime, plenty of black pepper and the sliced spring onions on top for decoration.
9. Serve straight away.

Chicken or Quorn Fajita Pasta

This works perfectly well as it is, but you can easily turn it into a more substantial meal by adding chicken or Quorn.

If you're using chicken, slice it into small pieces and cook it thoroughly before adding the onion and continuing with the recipe. Quorn pieces can be cooked in much the same way, following the packet instructions.

Either option works really well with the creamy fajita sauce and turns this into an easy chicken fajita pasta or Quorn fajita pasta without changing much else.

A Few Notes

The peas and pepper are both optional. The Slug & Lettuce fajita pasta description mentions both, but the dish I was served didn't have either.

I did use half a pepper in my homemade version and thought it worked well, but the sun-dried tomatoes were the ingredient I definitely wanted to keep. They add a slightly sweet, savoury flavour that works brilliantly with the creamy cheese sauce and fajita seasoning.

If you are feeling adventurous, you could, of course, make your own fajita seasoning using garlic, smoked paprika, cumin and chilli powder, but that rather defeats the point of this recipe.

This is supposed to be a quick and easy fajita pasta inspired by the Slug & Lettuce Vegan Fajita Pasta, and the ready-made seasoning does the job perfectly.

Maldron Hotel Liverpool Review

Stayed: 21st-22nd Sept 2026
Room type: Executive King Room
Overall score: 9.5/10

We stayed for one night at the Maldron Hotel Liverpool while spending a couple of days in the city (a birthday trip from my wife for the both of us).

She booked an Executive King Room, which comes with the added bonus of bathrobes, slippers and our own coffee machine.

The standard rooms are already very well appointed, with air conditioning, complimentary Wi-Fi, flat-screen TV, hair dryer, complimentary toiletries, ironing facilities, in-room safe and tea and coffee making facilities.

The room itself was VERY comfortable, but that's only a fraction of the story.

Accommodation

Before we arrived, I was slightly worried about noise.

The Maldron is right on the edge of Liverpool city centre, with some pretty busy roads close by, and the Liverpool ONE coach station, so I expected the usual city hotel hustle and bustle through the night. Loud people talking in the hotel corridors, late-night revellers coming back, screaming kids, the general noise of a hotel operating 24/7... and, of course, the ruddy bins being emptied somewhere at some ungodly hour.

There was absolutely none of it.

I'm usually an early riser and the slightest noise can wake me from a deep sleep. Not here. I slept until just gone 8am.

That's almost unheard of. It probably helped that the bed was so incredibly comfy too.

We could honestly have been staying in the middle of the countryside, it was that quiet.

Staff and service

The staff were really friendly and helpful throughout our stay, and check-in was an absolute breeze.

They even left a personal Happy Birthday message for me.

As it was my birthday, we were also given a complimentary drink each in the bar, which was a lovely touch.

Bar and dining area

The bar and dining area is lovely and relaxed, with huge windows looking out onto the busy Liverpool streets outside.

It's a nice place to sit with a drink and watch the city going by, without feeling like you're sitting in the middle of it.

Location

Location is another big tick.

You're right on the edge of Liverpool city centre, so it's only a few minutes' walk to the bars, restaurants and the Cavern Quarter.

If you're driving, discounted parking is available at the John Lewis Q-Park, just a couple of minutes' walk from the hotel.

Breakfast

Breakfast was very good.

It's buffet style, which is always my preference for this sort of hotel stay, with plenty of hot and cold food plus a good selection of drinks.

My quick test as a vegetarian is always whether there's enough choice for me without breakfast becoming toast, beans and another slice of toast. The Maldron passes that test easily.

There was one small disappointment.

We were shown to a table where there had obviously been a recent spill, so the floor around us was still damp. I later noticed there was also some scrambled egg left on the floor.

Had I spotted it straight away, I'd simply have asked for another table, but I was a little surprised we'd been seated there in the first place.

That's where the missing half point went.

The Verdict

This was a genuinely excellent stay.

The Maldron Hotel Liverpool is comfortable, exceptionally quiet, brilliantly located and has some of the friendliest hotel staff we've come across.

The thing I'll remember most is probably just how peaceful the room was. For a hotel sitting so close to the centre of a busy city, the lack of outside noise or hotel noise was remarkable.

Add in a very comfortable room, good breakfast, relaxed bar area and the fact you can walk into the heart of Liverpool within minutes, and there really isn't much to criticise.

Apart from that slightly soggy breakfast table floor, we'd struggle to fault it.

A superb city-centre hotel that somehow manages to feel remarkably peaceful. We'd happily stay here again.

Bobby Ball, One of My Comedy Heroes

Bobby Ball was one of my comedy heroes. In fact, he’s on my fantasy dinner party guest list; I’d have loved nothing more than to sit down with him, have a drink and just listen to the stories. 

I was lucky enough to see Cannon and Ball perform a couple of times while on family holidays in Great Yarmouth. Back in the early 1980s, I even met Bobby on Britannia Pier and had my photo taken with him, a moment that stayed with me for years.

Debs and I saw them again at the Plowright Theatre in Scunthorpe on 24th May 2019. They were brilliant, as sharp and funny as ever, I pissed myself laughing. They had a Q&A at the end of their performance, I wanted to ask them who they’d choose to play them in a film of their lives.

I chickened out.

I still regret not asking it.

We had tickets to see them in Scunthorpe again on 23rd May 2020. Then COVID happened, the show never took place, and Bobby’s death later that year meant we’d never get another chance.

Heartbroken. A genuine legend, and so bloody sad.

Places I've Lived

I've been wanting to put this little post together for a while, and I've only just got around to it. It's simply a list of the places I've lived over the years, roughly when I lived there, and a Google Maps pin showing the actual property where possible.

Note: Where I've included a month, I'm pretty sure the date is accurate. The others should be pretty close.

22 Sept 1967 - 1969 - West Riding Villas, Ferrybridge
Honestly, I've no idea exactly how long I lived here. All I know is that this is where we lived when I was born. I remember being told a story about us getting flooded, so we must have been pretty close to the river or canal. The street isn't there any more and I can't even find any photographs of it online (although I have since found this old map). The location on the map is therefore a bit of an educated guess, but I reckon it's a damn close one.

Another educated guess is that it was a roomy two story house with kitchen, living room, cast iron coal fireplace, three bedrooms and possibly an outside toilet!

1969 - 1988 - 24 Crewe Avenue, Ferrybridge
We moved here sometime around 1969. I must still have been very young because I don't really have any memories of moving there. I'm guessing a little at the date we moved out, but it was definitely after my parents divorced.

Downstairs bathroom and toilet, three bedrooms, I had the small box room.

1988 - 1989 - 5 Oakfield Crescent, Knottingley, West Yorkshire
Moved here after my parents divorced and Mum married my stepdad, Dave. I didn't stay for long, as you can see. Again, I had the small box room!

1989 - 1993 - 20 Bransby Rise, Farsley, Leeds
My first move away from home. It was a small rented one-bedroom flat on the first floor with a tiny kitchen and no central heating!

1993 - 1994 - 35 Kingsway Court, Moortown, Leeds
Moved somewhere a little bigger, this time a top floor flat with two bedrooms and, importantly, central heating. It was another rented place, but it probably felt like a palace compared with the previous flat.

1994 - Jan 1997 - 35 Shadwell Walk, Moortown, Leeds
My first property purchase. The road name sounded good because Shadwell itself was, and still is, a very posh place to live. Shadwell Walk, however, was on the wrong side of the Ring Road! Even so, this part of Moortown was a very pleasant, leafy suburb.

Jan 1997 - Aug 2009 - 5 Laundon Way, Whetstone, Leicestershire
I moved down to Leicestershire for work when I started at Marconi, formerly GEC, in Coventry.

Aug 2009 - Nov 2009 - 5 Oakfield Crescent, Knottingley, West Yorkshire
After my divorce I moved back in with Dave for a few months.

Nov 2009 - Jun 2010 - 5 Ashdown Court, Ferrybridge, West Yorkshire
Back to renting another top floor flat again. This was an interesting one because the development had been built on the site of the old Greyhound pub, where we used to go in the 1970s and have a bottle of Coca-Cola and some XL Beef crisps.

Jun 2010 - Now - 22 Womersley Road, Knottingley, West Yorkshire
I moved in with Debs and we made this our forever home... until we move again!

My 2026 Harvest Pale Ale Recipe

So each year after I harvest my First Gold hope, I take a look at what I have and I create a one off beer with the fresh green hops, this year, I decided to brew a Pale Ale.

This recipe uses clean Pilsner malt paired with Carapils and wheat malt for body and head stability, and loads it up with 700g of fresh wet First Gold hops harvested on brew day.

Batch Size 20 Litres

Target OG 1.060

Target FG 1.011

Target ABV 6.4%

Target Parameters

• Est. Bitterness: ~28 IBU
• Est. Colour: ~9 EBC (Pale Straw / Light Gold)
• Mash Efficiency: ~75%
• Boil Time: 60 minutes

The Grain Bill

Grain / Fermentable	Weight	Percentage	Purpose
Pilsner Malt	4.50kg	90%	Crisp, clean, straw-gold malt base
Carapils / Dextrin Malt	0.25kg	5%	Enhances body, mouthfeel, and head retention
Wheat Malt	0.25kg	5%	Head stability and subtle grain smoothness

Hop Schedule (Fresh Wet Hops)

Addition	Variety	Weight	Timing / Notes
Bitterness	Magnum (or Challenger)	15g	Boil 60 min (hits target ~25 IBU base)
Wet Whirlpool	Fresh First Gold	500g	Whirlpool 20 min @ 80°C–85°C
Wet Dry Hop	Fresh First Gold	200g	Add on Day 7 (3 days contact, submerged)

Pellet Substitution Note

If you are brewing this outside harvest season or using dried hop pellets instead of wet hops, replace the wet hop additions with standard T90 pellets at a 5.5:1 ratio:

• Whirlpool: Replace 500g fresh wet hops with ~92g of First Gold pellets (steeped at 80°C–85°C for 20 mins).
• Dry Hop: Replace 200g fresh wet hops with ~38g of First Gold pellets (dry hopped for 3 days).

Yeast & Fermentation Schedule

• Yeast: 1 x 11g sachet Lallemand Nottingham Ale Yeast (direct pitched).
• Primary Fermentation: Ferment at a strict 18°C for 5 to 6 days until active bubbling subsides.
• Diacetyl Rest & Dry Hop: On Day 6–7, raise temperature controller to 20°C. Add the 200g fresh First Gold hops in a weighted, sanitised mesh bag (or 38g pellets). Maintain at 20°C for 3 days.
• Cold Crash: Drop temperature to 3°C for 48 hours to settle out hop material and yeast prior to packaging.

Step-by-Step Mash & Brew Guide

1. The Mash

Strike with approximately 15L of water at 72°C to achieve a target mash temperature of 65°C. Hold at 65°C for 60 minutes for high fermentability, giving Nottingham the headroom to attenuate fully down to ~1.011.

2. Lauter & Sparge

Sparge with water at 76°C until you collect roughly 24L to 25L of pre-boil wort in the kettle.

3. The Boil

Bring to a rolling boil for 60 minutes. Add 15g of Magnum at the 60-minute mark to build a clean 25 IBU bitterness backbone.

4. Wet Hop Whirlpool (80°C)

At the end of the 60-minute boil, turn off the heat and cool the wort down to 80°C–85°C. Stir in 500g of fresh wet First Gold hops (or 92g pellets). Cover and steep for 20 minutes. Keeping the temperature below 85°C prevents burning off the fresh floral and citrus oils.

5. Fermentation & Dry Hopping

Chill the wort to 18°C, oxygenate well, and pitch the Nottingham yeast. Follow the temperature schedule above, adding the weighted 200g fresh dry hop bag on Day 7 for a 3-day contact window before cold crashing.

VAR Needs a Challenge

I suppose the inevitable VAR post had to come eventually from em after the fiasco this weekend!

This latest trigger was Erling Haaland's winning goal for Manchester City against Manchester United on 13th September. The goal was originally ruled out for offside, VAR intervened and it was eventually awarded, despite Enzo Fernández being in an offside position and making an obvious attempt to play the ball.

To their credit, refereeing body Pro Ref, formerly the PGMOL and perhaps temporarily deserving the name Am Ref, admitted afterwards that an "error of judgement" had been made (it doesn't help, we still lost points!). VAR Matt Donohue should have sent referee Michael Oliver to the pitchside monitor to decide whether Fernández had interfered with play.

For me, this is the problem with VAR in a nutshell.

I'm not against VAR, I like it, it's a great idea, and I certainly don't want to go back to pretending referees and linesmen can see everything perfectly in real time. The technology can help us make better decisions. The problem is that, several years after introducing it, the system and the processes around it still aren't consistently doing what they were designed to do.

Some parts should be as automated as we can reasonably make them. Offside is the obvious example. The Premier League already uses semi-automated offside technology, which is a big improvement on watching somebody manually position lines on a television screen. If technology can establish whether a player is physically onside or offside faster and more accurately than a human being, let it do it.

The Haaland decision also shows the limit of that approach, though. Technology could establish that Haaland was onside and Fernández was offside. What it couldn't decide was whether Fernández was interfering with play. That's still a judgement call, and somehow the process failed to get that judgement in front of the referee standing on the pitch.

I'd also broadcast the VAR conversation live.

We hear referees explaining decisions in rugby and other sports and, even when you disagree with them, at least you understand how they've reached the decision. Football still leaves supporters staring at a referee with his finger to his ear for two or three minutes while commentators try to guess what's happening.

But the biggest change I'd make is even simpler, and again football could pinch the idea from other sports.

Give each team a VAR challenge.

Perhaps the manager or captain gets one challenge per half. If they think the officials have missed something significant, they can ask for the decision to be reviewed. You'd have to put sensible limits around what could be challenged and I'd probably let a team keep its challenge if it was successful, but the basic idea isn't complicated.

In Sunday's Manchester derby, Manchester United would surely have challenged the decision to award the goal. Michael Oliver would then have been sent to the monitor, watched Fernández attempt to head the ball while Lisandro Martínez reacted to him, and made the final decision himself.

Would it slow the game down occasionally? Yes.

But VAR already slows games down. We regularly spend several minutes waiting for decisions while nobody inside the stadium really knows what's going on. If we're going to interrupt the game anyway, I'd rather use that time to give both teams a limited opportunity to say, "You've missed something, have another look."

VAR doesn't need scrapping. It needs simplifying.

Automate the genuinely objective decisions, let us hear how the subjective ones are being discussed, and give teams a limited right to challenge an important decision when they believe the officials have got it wrong.

It still wouldn't eliminate mistakes because human judgement will always be part of football, but it might finally make VAR feel like something designed to help the game rather than something being inflicted upon it.

Rant over! 

Whitbread Trophy Bitter: Recreating My 1980s Pint

Whitbread Trophy Bitter is a beer I remember from when I first started drinking in the 1980s. Like a lot of beers from that period, my memory of it isn't made up of detailed tasting notes; I just remember it as a proper pint of bitter, fairly light in strength, mildly sweet, but with a decent bitterness to it.

I originally found a historical Whitbread Trophy recipe from 1965 and thought that would be an interesting beer to recreate. The problem was that Trophy wasn't really one single beer. Whitbread used the Trophy name across different breweries and regions, often adapting existing local bitters, so the Trophy being poured in Yorkshire during the 1980s could be quite different from a London-brewed version being poured in another pub to some kid "darn sarf".

That sent me looking for the Trophy I might actually have been drinking.

Whitbread Trophy, Sheffield

I always believed that the pint I enjoyed was likely brewed in Sheffield, and I've found some information in Les Howarth's The Home Brewer's Recipe Database, which lists a separate Whitbread Sheffield version of Trophy. 

The source material behind that entry includes Roger Protz's Real Ale Drinker's Almanac from around the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s, which puts it very close to the period I'm trying to recreate.

The Sheffield entry gives the beer as:

• Original Gravity: 1.036
• Bitterness: 24 IBU
• 70% pale malt
• 5% crystal malt
• 10% torrified wheat
• 15% sugar
• Bittering: 80% hop extract, 20% Target
• Dry hop: Goldings

That immediately looks like a very different beer from the older Trophy recipe I was looking at. There's less reliance on malt for the body, a substantial amount of sugar to help keep it dry and drinkable, torrified wheat for head retention, and a hopping schedule that looks wonderfully commercial and very much of its time.

Most of the bitterness came from hop extract, with Target providing the remaining contribution. Target was still a relatively modern British hop during the 1980s and its firm, assertive bitterness fits rather nicely with my memory of Trophy being a noticeably bitter pint.

The Goldings dry hop is also important. Although most of the bitterness came from extract, the finished beer wasn't necessarily devoid of traditional English hop character; the Goldings should give it a restrained floral and earthy aroma without turning it into anything resembling a modern dry-hopped beer.

My 23 Litre Recipe

This is my homebrew reconstruction based on the historical Sheffield information rather than a claim that I've somehow uncovered Whitbread's exact brewhouse sheet. Where the original information doesn't provide a figure, I've kept things simple and tried to make choices that fit the beer and the period.

Ingredient	Amount
British pale malt	2.4 kg
Medium crystal malt	170 g
Torrified wheat	345 g
White brewing sugar	520 g

Those quantities preserve the original 70/5/10/15 proportions and should put a typical homebrew system somewhere around the required gravity. 

Hops

• Target: enough to provide approximately 5 IBU, probably around 4-5 g depending on the alpha acid shown on the packet
• Isomerised hop extract: approximately 2 ml, or enough to provide around 19 IBU according to the manufacturer's dosage
• Goldings: 10-15 g dry hop
• Total bitterness: approximately 24 IBU

The 19 IBU from extract and 5 IBU from Target keeps the original 80/20 bittering split almost exactly, without making the brewday unnecessarily complicated.

Process

• Batch size: 23 litres
• Target OG: 1.036
• Mash: 66°C for 60 minutes
• Boil: 60 minutes
• Target bitterness: 24 IBU
• Expected FG: around 1.008, depending on yeast and fermentation
• Expected ABV: around 3.7%
• Yeast: SafAle S-04 or another suitable Whitbread-style English ale yeast

The 66°C mash temperature is my choice rather than something specified in the historical entry. It seems a sensible middle ground for such a low-gravity beer, particularly with 15% of the fermentables coming from sugar. I want it dry and drinkable, but not watery.

Likewise, the original source simply says that Goldings were used for dry hopping, without giving an amount. Somewhere between 10 g and 15 g in 23 litres feels restrained enough to fit the beer I'm trying to recreate.

The Pint That Thinks It's A Quart!

One of the old Trophy advertising lines described it as having "the body that satisfies", alongside the rather more memorable claim that it was "the pint that thinks it's a quart".

That becomes quite interesting when you look at the recipe. At just 1.036 original gravity this was never a strong beer, but 10% torrified wheat should help with body and head retention while the crystal malt adds a little sweetness and malt character. At the same time, the 15% sugar should keep the finish fairly lean, leaving the 24 IBUs of bitterness plenty of room to show themselves.

It sounds, on paper at least, exactly like the sort of beer I remember from my locals in the 1980s: modest strength, easy to drink, properly bitter, with enough malt and hop character to stop it disappearing into the background.

And that really is the point of this recipe. I'm not trying to create a modern interpretation of Trophy or make it somehow better by replacing the hop extract with fashionable whole hops. If hop extract, Target and a small Goldings dry hop were part of the Sheffield beer, that's what I want to brew.

I haven't actually brewed this version yet, so I can't sit here and claim that one sip transported me straight back to a Yorkshire pub in the 1980s. I simply haven't had time to get it into the fermenter yet.

But I will. Very soon.

And when I do, I'll come back and update this post with the brewday, fermentation figures and, most importantly, whether it tastes anything like the Whitbread Trophy I remember.

Sources and further reading

The recipe has been pieced together from several sources rather than copied from a single modern clone recipe. The most important is Les Howarth's The Home Brewer's Recipe Database, particularly the separate Whitbread Sheffield Trophy entry and Howarth's explanation that percentages for multiple bittering hops are best interpreted by their contribution to total IBUs.

I've also used Ron Pattinson's research into historic Whitbread beers and brewing practices, along with discussions and reconstructions from other British homebrewers, to give the recipe some context. I'll add links to the relevant original material here as I tidy up my notes.

Is Hela a 70s Footballer?

Hela, our GSD, adores playing football. She loves chasing her hard Boomer Ball around our garden and, while we’re kicking it for her, she often gets hit by the ball. It’s just smacked her right on the nose as she leapt for it.

When I called her over to check her nose, she just shrugged it off and carried on playing, like an old fashioned, hard-as-nails 70s footballer.

Discos

I'm generally a maize crisp sorta guy. If you ask me to pick a snack, nine times out of ten I’m reaching for Skips, Wotsits, or something else with that light, puffed corn crunch.

Which is why my complete and utter obsession with Discos makes absolutely no sense. There’s just something about that satisfying crunch and the flavour, which is always just enough.

I also think they’re one of those crisps I’ve never seen a cheap supermarket version of. Maybe even the supermarkets know they can’t mess with perfection.

A bit late but today (21st Sept 2026), I just had the pickled onion flavour ... oh yes, a great addition to the range.

We've Paid Off Our Mortgage

A momentous day today, and we have paid off our mortgage.

Yeah, we have finally paid off our mortgage. The last payment of £566.11 went out of our bank account today, bringing a permanent end to our monthly housing debt, because that's what it is.

We’re heading out for a meal this weekend to celebrate, nothing too extravagant because that's not really us.

But I have to admit that, for me, the milestone feels surprisingly flat; Debs is over the moon, but for whatever reason I just can’t seem to get that excited about it. Maybe it’s simply an anti-climax after thinking about it for so long.

It has been a long road. Like most families, we’ve had our financial ups and downs along the way. We had to speak to our mortgage provider on several occasions over the years and, without naming names to protect the guilty, they often acted far more like a debt collection agency than the warm, supportive institution their literature paints them to be. But we survived them, kept chipping away and eventually made it through.

Adding a little extra to the monthly payment whenever we could certainly helped. At some point I might sit down and work out how much time and interest those overpayments actually shaved off the total term. I suspect it’ll be quite satisfying to see what those little extra payments added up to over the years.

I had wanted to mark the occasion by sending off a cheque for our final payment with a small rant, or perhaps a large "FUCK YOU!" written on it. I decided against it though. Well, if I’m being perfectly honest, I started asking AI what I could do, and how should I word my insults, ChatGPT suggested it probably wasn’t a particularly clever idea, and perhaps we quietly go out for a meal to celebrate instead, make it about us, not the mortgage company.

Right now, I’m still not entirely sure whether I wish I’d ignored that advice and not to send a cheque with my thoughts of them on the back!

So that’s it. A fairly major life milestone reached, one monthly payment gone forever, and yet somehow it all feels much quieter than I expected.

MG HS PHEV Real-World Range: My 76-Mile Commute Challenge

We picked up our new MG HS (1.5 T-Gdi) PHEV Trophy on 2nd September 2026, and from the 3rd I’m giving myself a slightly interesting challenge that answers the question, "what's the MG HS PHEV 2026 electric range?"

I've got my normal commute down to 19 miles each way, or 38 miles a day. Two days therefore comes to 76 miles.

The MG HS PHEV has a 24.7 kWh battery and an official WLTP electric-only range of up to 75 miles.

You can probably see where this is going.

I need 76 miles from a car officially rated for just 75.

The aim is to leave home on the first morning with a full battery, complete two full days travelling to work and back, and see how much charge is left when I arrive home on the second evening. If the petrol engine has to kick in a mile from home, I've lost. If I make it back entirely on electricity, I've won.

And then, obviously, I'll want to beat it.

Yeah, I am ever so slightly competitive.

The 76-mile challenge

My regular route should make this particularly interesting. Around 70% is on 60 mph roads, with the remainder largely through 30 mph villages and built-up areas. Much of it is winding Yorkshire country roads, with bends, junctions and regular changes of speed.

That means plenty of opportunities to lift off early, coast and use regenerative braking rather than simply sitting at 70 mph on a motorway for mile after mile.

I'm not planning to crawl around trying to manufacture a record either. The idea is to drive normally and see what the car can genuinely achieve on my everyday commute.

The league table

I'll keep my top five attempts here, ranked by how much battery I have used after completing the full day's commute.

So yes, the league table records individual 38-mile commuting days because the car will inevitably get used for other journeys between attempts. Whenever I manage two consecutive days where the MG is used for nothing except commuting, I'll also record whether it completed the full 76 miles entirely on electricity.

Position	Date	Charge used	Temp.	Weather	Heating / AC	Notes
1st	04/09/2026	42%	15-17°C	Fine	20°C / No AC	Wet roads
2nd	03/09/2026	43%	15-17°C	Fine	20°C	AC accidentally on for approx. 20 mins
3rd	12/09/2026	43%	15-24°C	Warm	AC on	Very surprised here, AC on all the way home
4th	08/09/2026	45%	18-20°C	Intermittent light rain	19°C / No AC
5th	10/09/2026	46%	12-18°C	Very light rain	19°C / No AC	Wet roads

Note: Journey takes approx. 35-40 mins.

Well initial results are very, VERY interesting, this car on my commute could probably do a tad over 85 miles on all electric which is bloody brilliant.

Temperature could make a noticeable difference, as will rain, heating and air-conditioning, traffic and probably even the exact route I take. A mild September commute could look very different from a freezing January morning when the battery and cabin both need warming up.

For example on 28th Sept 2026, the morning commute it was wet and 9°C and I had the hearing on at 20°C, on the way home was 19°C and no heating ... I used 52% battery!

Over time I should end up with a reasonably useful bit of real-world MG HS PHEV range data, rather than one isolated journey carried out in perfect conditions.

And because it's a plug-in hybrid, there's no real range anxiety involved. If I don't make the 76 miles on electricity, the petrol engine simply takes over and gets me home.

I've just lost that round.

Can the MG HS PHEV really do 75 miles on electric?

The answer is a resounding "Yes"

MG gives the HS PHEV an official WLTP electric range of up to 75 miles from its 24.7 kWh battery. Real-world range will inevitably vary with temperature, speed, weather, heating and driving style.

My commute gives me an unusually neat test: 76 miles over two working days, just one mile beyond the official figure.

So 75 miles isn't actually my target.

76 is. Like I said, I have a competitive streak when I want to, and this car can manage it ...easily.

Sky Bet Has Had Enough of Me Winning

I just opened an email from Sky Bet expecting the usual promotional noise, only to discover they’ve pretty much banned me from free bets and promotions.

Following a "review", I’m still perfectly welcome to place regular bets with my own money, they just don’t want to give me anything free anymore.

I barely bet, but I do have a habit of turning up for their free bets, Sky Vegas Prize Machine, Super Spins and whatever else they’re giving away. Reading between the lines, I can only assume I’ve been taking rather more value from their promotions than I’ve been giving back in actual gambling.

The best bit? I currently have just over £23 sitting in my account, all of it effectively won from freebies.

So there we have it. Sky Betting & Gaming has finally taken decisive action against my £23 gambling empire.

I'm just waiting for Paddy Power and Midnite to do the same. I've got another £57 tied up with those two, again from winning on freebies!

I’m taking it as a badge of honour.

DDoS attack on my little site!

This has happened on business websites I’ve managed over the years, but never on a personal website like this.

Yesterday, Monday 17th August 2026, my little site had just over 1.61k visitors. I know I’m not that popular, so I knew something was probably up.

According to Umami, 99% of that traffic came from Singapore, and at around 2pm, those 1.61k hits were all aimed at my site search function.

So yes, that feels less like sudden global fame and more like something automated having a little poke around.

Still, it does leave one important question...

Who the hell have I upset in Singapore?

Interestingly, our site at work as a DDoS attack today, but those came from the UK ... how very strange!

When the Sun Disappeared

So, we’ve just had a partial solar eclipse here in the UK. 

The last time we had one like this, my girls were only three weeks old (August 1999) which is a slightly alarming way of measuring the passing of time! 

The whole thing got me thinking about what our ancestors must have thought during a solar eclipse (yeah I often think weird things like this).

It’s easy for us today. We understand what’s happening, we can predict an eclipse years in advance, and we know that the Sun is going to reappear. But imagine living 1,000 years ago and watching the Sun slowly disappear over the course of an hour.

People understood just how predictable the rising and setting of the Sun was, and more importantly, how essential it was to their lives. Then, one day, in the middle of its normal journey across the sky, something starts taking a bite out of it.

Without knowing why it was happening, or whether the Sun was actually going to come back, that must have been terrifying.

One of my photos from the evening.

Are We Getting An Electric Car?

So, my wife has started to become interested in electric vehicles and, to be honest, I might be too.

We have a Ford Kuga, and we still have a car loan that runs until next year (£284 a month). I also spend approximately £280–£300 a month on petrol, so the car effectively costs me around £590 a month. Potentially, I could pay less than that for an EV instead; no more buying expensive petrol, much less maintenance, slightly higher insurance perhaps, but lower car tax.

I drive almost 60 miles a day commuting currently, and our longest regular journey is probably a round trip of around 200 miles to see our grandson, which is very doable in a modern electric car. So yeah, let’s look at it and see where it takes us.

After looking at salary sacrifice, we started leaning towards a personal lease instead. Octopus seem to have some good deals on EVs, and my wife particularly liked the Omoda E5 Noble. My only concern was the headroom, as I'm 6'2" and need the clearance!

Anyway, after a week of research, I had a ranked list of potential cars based on the specs.

Rank	Vehicle	Rating
1st	CUPRA Born V1 58 kWh + heat pump	9.2 / 10
2nd	Leapmotor B05 67.1 kWh	8.8 / 10
3rd	Renault Megane E-Tech EV60	8.6 / 10
4th	Leapmotor B10 67.1 kWh	8.3 / 10
5th	Omoda E5 Noble MY25/26	7.8 / 10
6th	Kia EV4 Air Standard Range	7.4 / 10
7th	BYD Dolphin Comfort / Design	7.3 / 10
8th	Hyundai Kona Electric 65 kWh Advance	6.9 / 10
9th	JAECOO E5 Luxury	6.4 / 10
10th	MG S5 EV Long Range	5.9 / 10

OK, so not everything this weekend went quite as expected. We went to the dealership mainly to see whether I could actually fit comfortably in an Omoda E5 Noble at 6'2" (I could, by the way). As it happens, though, my wife decided she didn't like the front grille. While we were there, the salesman mentioned plug-in hybrids.

On the same site was a Chery dealership, so we had a look there too. We didn't really like the look of the cars, so I asked ChatGPT whether a plug-in hybrid might actually suit the way we use a car. With a roughly 60-mile round-trip commute each day, the MG HS PHEV Trophy came up as a particularly interesting option.

Luckily, we were parked right next to an MG dealership.

Long story short, that morning we'd been absolutely certain we wanted an EV. A few hours later, we walked out of the dealership having bought an MG HS PHEV Trophy.

Since then I've looked at my route to work, the 60-mile round trip is based on a motorway route from Knottingley to Doncaster, using mainly A roads, there is a 38-mile a day route, I sense a little competitive driving against the MG HS PHEV 75-mile WLTP, lets see how I do.

FPL Team Reveal 2026/27: My Starting 3-5-2 Draft

My Fantasy Premier League team planner for Gameweek 1, including formation, squad structure and the thinking behind the picks.

With the new Fantasy Premier League season approaching, this is my current FPL team reveal for 2026/27.

It isn’t supposed to be the definitive “best Fantasy Premier League team”, mainly because I don't think there is one, especially before a ball has been kicked (and you can't really go on pre-season games). Instead, this is the structure I’m currently working with and the reasoning behind it.

I’ve played FPL since 2009/10 and generally do reasonably well in my mini-leagues. My last two overall finishes have been in the top 4% and top 3%, and eight of my last ten seasons have ended inside the top 10%.

So my squad building, transfers and Captain decisions generally goes alright.

Playing my chips at the right time? Less impressive.

And my FPL Cup history is probably best left unexamined.

My FPL team for Gameweek 1

 

This is the current draft rather than a locked team. Pre-season injuries, transfers and starting roles could still change a few names before the Gameweek 1 deadline.

The structure, though, is becoming fairly settled.

Why I'm starting with 3-5-2

My preferred FPL formation for the opening Gameweeks is 3-5-2, I've used this for years now and it works for me.

The main reason is to give me a solid midfield.

Midfielders receive five points for scoring compared with four for forwards, while also collecting a point for a clean sheet. More importantly, several of this season's most interesting midfield options effectively play as attackers anyway.

I'd therefore rather start five strong midfielders than spend heavily on a 3rd forward.

It also means I can keep defence fairly inexpensive, another tactic I've used in the last couple of seasons.

My basic FPL team planner looks like this:

2 budget goalkeepers
3 starting defenders + 2 cheap bench defenders
5 starting midfielders
Haaland + one value forward
One cheap 3rd forward

The money is going into the players I expect to produce most of the goals and assists.

Building the team around midfield

The midfield is currently the part of the squad I like most:

Bruno Fernandes
Bryan Mbeumo
Antoine Semenyo
Florian Wirtz
Bruno Guimarães

It's an expensive five, but if I'm gunning for another top 4% finish, it needs to be.

Bruno Fernandes gives me a premium midfielder, penalties, set pieces and an alternative captain to Haaland.

Mbeumo interests me because of how advanced his role could be. If he's regularly operating around the striker rather than playing as a conventional midfielder, his £8m price becomes very attractive. I think for the majority of the season these two will be a great pair in my team as they hopefully will be on the field.

Semenyo is another player I'm increasingly keen on after his pre-season performances. Manchester City inevitably bring rotation risk, but I'm willing to accept some uncertainty for a midfielder with genuine explosive potential.

Wirtz might be my favourite gamble of the group. If he settles into Liverpool's attack and continues playing centrally behind the evolving strikers, £7.5m could prove to be a very useful starting price.

Then there's Bruno Guimarães.

His move to Arsenal makes him particularly interesting at £7m, but his position will be important. If he's playing as an attacking No.8 and regularly getting towards the penalty area, I like him a lot.

If Arsenal use him primarily as a deeper midfielder, I'll probably look elsewhere.

Haaland is still the captaincy anchor

Spending £43m in midfield obviously means compromises elsewhere, but Haaland remains in the squad.

At £15.5m he's a huge chunk of the FPL budget, but he also removes a lot of captaincy decisions (with Fernandes)

Most Gameweeks I can simply captain Haaland and move on.

Bruno Fernandes then gives me another strong option when Manchester United have the better fixture.

I'd rather have those two premium anchors than spread the money across several expensive players I'm less confident captaining.

Keeping defence cheap

I'm deliberately avoiding a premium defence, this is the first season I've done this.

There will undoubtedly be defenders capable of scoring 150-200 points, but I really wanted an incredibly strong midfield this season.

My plan is to find three defenders who are reasonably secure starters with some attacking, clean-sheet or defensive-contribution potential.

The final two defensive positions can then be filled with £4m players who might actually get some minutes.

But mostly they just need to sit on my bench without consuming too much of my budget.

My starting defence has cost me £22n this season, usually I would spend alot more, I was tempted by Gabriel and van Dijk, I do like them as Fantasy defenders, but I prefer the savings even more!

Goalkeeper - fairly easy choice

I've gone for Kinsky here, at £4.5m, I think he's a solid pick, I've also gone for Verbruggen and anther £4.5m pick, I've probably saved myself £1m on players I would usually go for, which with my defensive savings, helped my get the Midfield in that I wanted.

Planning for transfers

One thing I want from my FPL starting squad is an easy route out of bad decisions.

It's August. Some of these picks will be wrong.

That's inevitable.

What I don't want is to discover the £8m midfielder everyone suddenly wants and realise that reaching him requires three transfers.

My midfield deliberately contains several useful price points.

Bruno occupies the premium bracket. Semenyo and Mbeumo sit around £8m. Wirtz and Bruno Guimarães occupy the £7m area.

If an obvious player emerges during the opening Gameweeks, there should usually be a simple route towards him.

I'd much rather bank early transfers and make one or two deliberate changes than start rebuilding the squad after Gameweek 2.

What I'm watching before Gameweek 1

There are still a few things that could change this FPL team before the deadline.

The biggest ones are the roles of Bruno Guimarães, Mbeumo and Wirtz, along with Manchester City's attacking rotation.

I'll also be watching for genuine £4m defenders and whether a better cheap forward emerges.

The temptation will be to react to every pre-season goal, assist and clean sheet.

I'm trying not to.

This squad isn't about predicting exactly who scores in Gameweek 1. It's about putting together a team with good players, favourable early fixtures and enough flexibility to react once we've seen some competitive football.

The plan

So, for now:

Formation: 3-5-2

Premiums: Haaland + Bruno Fernandes

Strategy: spend heavily in midfield, minimise defensive spend and maintain useful transfer price points.

Then comes the difficult bit, not ruining a perfectly decent FPL season by firing using my Chips at the wrong time again!

I'll keep updating this page as the squad changes through pre-season and the opening Gameweeks.

Why Raleigh Lost Its Appeal

I was sad to hear about the problems facing bicycle brand Raleigh, but the news got me thinking about why the company might have struggled over the kast decade or so.

When I was a kid, we dreamed about owning particular bikes. I wanted a Raleigh Chopper, and God, I loved that bike when I finally got one. Other friends of mine wanted a Grifter or a Chipper. These weren’t just bikes; they were bikes you knew by name and desperately wanted to own.

Do children feel the same way now? Those who do want a bike often seem to want a fairly non-descript racing or mountain bike, rather than a particular make and model.

I wonder whether that loss of aspiration and brand attachment is part of what has hurt Raleigh. It once made bikes that children dreamed of owning, but somewhere along the way, that connection seems to have been lost.