Mark Bravery

I didn't know that Matt Kerbey had gone to Carshalton. I think he only played a couple of first team games for Sutton.
For me, the main attraction in Carshalton has long been the Hope pub!

⚽️ Sutton Utd 3 Wealdstone 0: our biggest league win of the season, three second-half goals earning the three points in a game we largely controlled. Defensive midfielder Hayden Muller headed our first, his first goal for the club. Up to the dizzy heights of 19th. 😀

I still can't say with certainty that I've seen a Goshawk anywhere in Surrey. I've had brief glimpses of large raptors that may well have been Gos, but each time the bird disappeared behind trees before I could get it in focus. I've had better luck over the border in W Sussex.

Highly recommended!

⚽️ Sutton Utd 2 Woking 1: our 7th league win this season achieved after our 7th red card, our 2nd-choice keeper walking before half-time having earlier gifted them a goal with yet another short pass. The ten men not only defended the lead but came close to scoring more. Back out of the drop zone. 🙂

I recall a long wait between buses when I ticked that one. Nice village though.

🍺 Stumble Inn, Northallerton: the third of three diverse Beer Guide pubs in town, this one a micropub offering tasting 'flights' (three third-pints). I didn't mess about, going straight for a pint of Jem's Stout from Great Newsome, which was nicely robust, maintaining the standard set earlier.

🍺 Oddfellows Arms, Northallerton: tucked away behind the parish church, this bustling, sport-friendly pub has some canine customers. The Wensleydale Gamekeeper (not a name I favour), a fairly typical best bitter, is in fine form.

🍺 Origin, Northallerton, N Yorks: smart bar (restaurant upstairs) with an intriguing 'small plates' menu. My Snake Eyes Pale from Newcastle's Two By Two brewery is cloudy and fruity. Northallerton is a bonus stop on my southward return because the football in Hartlepool got bogged off.

For those tired of winter and ☔️ weather, there’s growing evidence into following week of more consistent high pressure influence from Azores High.

There also looks to be an attempt next weekend in the S. I think this all points to eventual very mild conditions in final week of Feb, say mid teens.

🐦‍⬛ Hartlepool: 14 Red-breasted Mergansers and a Black-throated Diver on the marina were cheering sights from outside my hotel this morning. Later, out on the headland, Eider, Shag and Turnstone also went on my year list (now 106).
Who needs football? ☺️

🍺 Marine Hotel, Seaton Carew: contrast to the last place, an extensive and sparsely occupied bar in a Grade II listed, seafront edifice. Two Pennine beers were on handpump, and the Hair of the Dog was a contender for best beer of the evening. Some interesting folk gathered at the bus stop outside.

🍺 9 Anchors, Seaton Carew, Co. Durham: sandstone and timber almost overwhelm the interior of this cosy little pub, the name acknowledging the local rescue of nine sailors in the 1930s. My two beers, a pale ale and a pancake stout from Stockton's Three Brothers brewery, were a little underwhelming.

🍺 Billingham Catholic Club: CAMRA's newly crowned national Club of the Year threw me by not opening until 7pm, but once inside I received a warm welcome from the bar manager whom I forgive for thinking me a Chelsea fan. The Pennine Black Forest (geography?) was a bit sweet for me but in good nick.

🍺 Crafty Cock, Billingham, Co. Durham: despite tomorrow's football at Hartlepool falling victim to the wet weather, I'm up in the North-East. This cosy bar was busy at 6pm (fully booked for dining 🙁). The only cask offering was Alnwick Gold, but my very quaffable pint of it went down in 15 minutes.

🍺 Queens Arms, Battersea: Victorian pub rescued from closure by North London's Bohem Brewery who produce authentic lagers in the Czech tradition. One British cask ale is always available.

⚽️ Sutton Utd 1 Braintree Town 1: crucial point against the club keeping us out of the bottom four, salvaged by a 94th minute equaliser. The situation looked bleak early in the 2nd half when we got our 6th red card of the season then went 1-0 down. Forced to go more direct, we then threatened more.

🍺 I was privileged to have met Des, once joining his fascinating walking tour of historic London brewing sites. His unassuming demeanour belied a great depth of knowledge and fearsome appetite for research.

There has been 79 Februaries at #London Heathrow weather station. And 5 of the top 7 wettest have occurred within last 20 years.

Late winter is not what it used to be, until 1991-2020 averages Feb was the driest month of year on average #climate

🐦‍⬛ Lee Valley Country Park (Herts/Essex) today: my U3A birding group were treated to the sight of a dozen White-fronted Geese amongst the other wildfowl (plus a Black Swan!) on Seventy Acres Lake. We also enjoyed seeing a Peregrine on a pylon and a mobile flock of Siskins with accompanying Redpoll.

Terribly sad to hear of passing of Des de Moor, an absolute gentleman, kind & generous. Talented writer of award-winning books inc. his comprehensive Cask, London's Best Beer & Pubs. Des conducted historic pub tours of London sharing his passion & knowledge. You will be missed RIP

Remember folks, it just keeps getting worse until we stop burning fossil fuels.

##ClimateEmergency

Stay away from Tik Tok!
I hope to drop in to the YT next Saturday when changing trains on the way back from Hartlepool. No St Valentine's Day roses for me!

I get what you mean. Next four weeks are crucial.

I noticed that too. There was a similar Swift anomaly in Joanna Hogg's (otherwise excellent) film Archipelago, set in the Scillies during autumn.

"We find that the principal drive for global warming acceleration began in about 2015, which implies that 2°C global warming is likely to be reached in the 2030s, not at midcentury" - James Hansen et al.

mailchi.mp/caa/another-...

Hats off! I'm binning Boston this time.

🐦‍⬛ There was a hint of spring in Wandle Park today, with a Chiffchaff and (more surprisingly) a Redwing among the songsters. The regular female Kingfisher and Little Egret posed for photos, while in the reedbed crept a wintering Water Rail (seen briefly) and the resident Cetti's Warbler (heard only).

Assessment of adverse effects attributed to statin therapy in product labels: a meta-analysis of double-blind randomised controlled trials Adverse event data from blinded randomised trials do not support causal relationships between statin therapy and most of the conditions (including cognitive impairment, depression, sleep disturbance, ...

This is a very cool study and, as far as I can tell from a quick read, robust.

Statins probably don't cause most of the side-effects that people think they do.

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

🐦‍⬛ Joint 5th is likely to be my high-water mark this year. #birding