It had been some time since I had paid a visit to Brighton, but the opportunity arose on a glorious day at the end of September. Avril and I travelled down to see Richard Bradshaw. We got a taxi and picked him up on the way to East Croydon Station where we recounted the big 50p office block that appeared in the credits of Terry and June, before heading to the Porter and Sorter to spend some vouchers. Eventually the barman managed to work out that our ales were free, and we sat down in a nice gazebo type structure. For a pub near the centre of Croydon it actually wasn't that bad at all, pretty traditional and spacious inside, and the beer was moderately impressive - Marston's Pedigree, Hobgoblin, Ringwood Best. It was then time for the train and after some ales on the train, we arrived in Brighton. There were football fans around, but we managed to find a pretty quiet pub called the Pond which was done out in minty green interior for a very seaside feel. They had but one beer on too; Silhouette, which I had not seen before, and now cannot find again. Not that large a pub though, but pleasant enough.

The Foundry, formerly the much more interestingly named Pedestrian Arms, was a pretty decent traditional looking pub, with a slightly awkward interior, perhaps because the size of the furniture is just too big for the pub. We managed to get a seat on some well-appointed leather armchairs towards the back and enjoyed some Sussex Best in our cosy surroundings. The same beer, as well as Doom Bar, was also available at the Heart and Hand which was a good traditional drinkers' pub, but with a pleasing element of rock which set it aside from some of the more vanilla offerings. Lots of posters up and I am sure it would fill with students at certain times of the year. No doubt easy to stay for a very long session.

Next up was the Basketmakers' Arms which was packed with people eating and had a very impressive selection of beer - Fullers Discovery, ESB, Red Fox, HSB, Pride, Seafarers, Butcombe. Again, very traditional, but a little claustrophobic, so we were quite pleased to finish our beer and move onto the Eagle, just up the road, which was much airier and less busy. It seemed a bit more like a venue than a pub, and had less tat all over the place, so there were fears that it could be a bit trendy, but these were allayed when we espied the beer selection: Bonkers Conkers, Equinox, Darkstar, Abbot. Extra points for the ladies' toilet, because they had deep purple toilet seats 8.5. For some reason I actually preferred this place to the previous one.

Another pub that looks trendy but in fact is not that awful is the Fountain Head. The term 'not a wanky All Bar One' is perhaps accurate as it has those rather large pine tables with benches and big windows. However it does not contain tossers paying inflated prices for shit beer and indeed the beer was actually rather good, being Laines and Iron Horse. We got a nice seat in the window and looked out as people wandered by, and also at the rather odd road where the parking is in the middle, not at the sides. The Waggon and Horses is down a rather busy looking street filled with idiots shoping and on their way to the beach. The pub is noteworthy because it carries three varieties of Budvar along with real ale, Sussex and Deuchars on the occasion of our visit. Despite the danger posed by the passing trade it was a perfectly acceptable boozer, if a little small, and we sat outside to enjoy the late afternoon sun.

A trip to Brighton is apparently not complete without a stroll through the Lanes. Unfortunately many other people had the same idea, but we did manage to battle through and reach Pub du Vin, part of Hotel du Vin. As expected the prices were rather a lot above average, but on the upside, the bar was especially cosy and the beer selection was very good. They had a variety of interesting lagers as well as Darkstar, Arundel New Horizons and Arundel Best. Even better than this, they had magnificent toilet facilities for gents, with a Victorian partitioned trough gaining full toilet marks.

After some nice but rather too filling and greasy fish and chips on the promenade, we waddled up to the Regency. This is a Shepherd Neame pub and was offering Spitfire and Masterbrew on that day. It prides itself on having an extremely plush interior, with large mirrors, carpets, pianos, ornate fixtures and fittings though thankfully not that much actual tat. More of a tart's boudoir. Even the toilets displayed such opulence. Although it was a pub that one could potentially settle into, perhaps on a colder evening, we decided to press on to the Queensbury. This place was a stark contrast, being situated down some quiet mews, but probably even better, as it had a very homey feel. It is a tiny place, with two bars, well-worn seats and very well kept Greene King IPA being the only beer on.

The Pull and Pump looks like quite a studenty pub, situated down a Georgian side street by a little square. It looks like the sort of place that students might go to for a few ales, but fortunately none of this was in evidence on the occasion of our visit and we had a very pleasing time there. The beer selection is interesting – Horsham Prospect and Bombardier - but of more note is the fact that they have very many tequilas. Avril selected one of these and it was very good. A short walk away is the Prince of Wales which we went to in 2005. This was quite an odd pub in that a disco session was limbering up but there was nobody there to enjoy it. The pub itself is quite small, being narrow with a bar at one end and a large bay window at the other end that we chose to sit at. Whilst we were there, the disco was playing a bit of Haddaway which was good as we were enjoying our pints. Beer selection was Shepherd Neame, seeing as this was a Shepherd Neame house - Masterbrew, Spitfire and Bishop’s Finger. The evening was dampened though when some bloke entered claiming he had been stabbed outside. We left sharpish.

The Quadrant was an awkwardly shaped and busy pub on the way back to the station. It's actually quite nice in there, and the fixtures and fittings are of great interest, but with loads of people and many steps around the island bar on several levels, it was always going to be a bit difficult. They did have some rather interesting beer though - Truleigh, Darkstar Revolution, Original, Laines. Although it was entertaining to watch buses passing outside, it was time to press onto the next place, which was the Earth and Stars which is apparently Brighton's most environmentally friendly pub. Not that we cared too much, instead focussing on the beers and surroundings which were pretty good. You could tell it was environmentally friendly because it was just that little bit earthy in there, with stripped bare tables, wooden floor and rickety chairs. They probably did vegan snacks too. Beer selection was good, with Laines, Prospect, Darkstar Hylder Blonde, as well as several interesting ciders available. Our final pub of the night before the train was the Evening Star, which wins the accolade of having by far the best selection of beer. Unsurprisingly the pub was heaving on account of the excellent selection of ales, including Darkstar Hophead, Old Chestnut, Hylder Blonde, Brodies, Roosters Wild Mild, Bristol Mild stout, Brodies Old Street, and many, many interesting bottles. We managed to squeeze a second round in here but eventually had to get on the train home.

The following day, with Avril and I booked into the Doubletree Tower Hill, we thought we'd reconvene with Richard for a few London drinks, so we met up with him and drove him to the hotel which took an absolute age due to roadworks. Finally we arrived and immediately rewarded ourselves with a cocktail in the magnificent Skylounge which has been described previously. The City on a Sunday is never a very rich stamping ground, but we eventually found a pub open in the shape of the O'Neill's at Cannon Street. As you'd expect it was rubbish, but it was open and was serving beer and given the circumstances was quite a welcome sight. We crossed the river to see whether we could find somewhere else, and by the time that our bladders had caught up with us we had reached Clinks bar at the London City South Novotel. Again, crap, but welcome. Normal service was finally resumed a little further along the road at the Blackfriars Ring, outside Southwark tube, which was actually a very good pub, with a hint of gastro, but not bad at all in any way shape or form. They also had some proper beer which was welcome - Ringwood Best, Oxford Gold, Courage and Hancock's. We finished off the day at a couple of places that we had visited quite recently. The first was the excellent Kings Arms, which had a pleasingly good array of beer again - Worthington Red, Old Peculier, Theakstone's Infallible, Cross Bay Hurricane, Growler, Bath Barnsey, 49er, Adnam's, Maid Marian, and four ciders. The Amish Cowboy barmaid was serving again, and we had additional entertainments in the form of some husky voiced chap coming round asking punters if they wanted to spectate on the One Pound Cabaret. Alas we could not stay as we had to get the last set of ales in at the nearby White Hart, again recently visited, with a decent choice of London Pride, Doom Bar, Butcombe Rare Breed and Huna Red on this visit.