2002

Back to Latest News	Latest News for 2002
31 December 2002	Another year over and we move to our own dedicated servers. More details in the new year.
23 December 2002	Fat Badgers Buttle & Kilo have been out & about again and popped into the Crown Country Inn in Shropshire for a spot of Sunday Lunch. The food and ales were superb although the inn no longer brews its' own ales - the brewing part of the inn is being turned into a wine cellar.
18 December 2002	The problems we've been encountering with our server are still with us, but hopefully all will be well in the new year and we'll be updating on a more regular basis.
24 September 2002	It appears that the Fat Badgers are the centre of the universe ! Whilst we were uploading the latest changes yesterday, our computers started to shake, then the desks and then the whole building. We weren't aware of any earth shattering news that we were updating and later found out that we were sitting right on top of the epicentre of Britain's biggest earthquake for 70 years !
23 September 2002	Fat Badgers Buttle & Kilo travelled up to Cresswell in Staffordshire to take another look at the Izzak Walton Inn. Both were impressed with not only the well kept ales but also the superb food. The most impressive aspect to this delightful inn is however, the service. We would put the Izaak Walton on a par with ANY other inn located in the UK for a friendly and efficient service - top marks.
11 September 2002	The Awesome Foursome (Fat Badgers Roy, Kilo, Andy & Ade ) were due to pay their respects to those lost in the appalling tragedy of 2001 by paying a visit to New York where they would have been spotted climbing the Empire State building in Gorilla outfits. Fat Badger Ade was unfortunately not cleared to pass through quarantine so an impromptu trip to Old York was made instead. The local constabulary were very pleased to see them but not as pleased as the 5 Geordie girls who chose to press their bare breasts up against the window of the Indian restaurant at which the gorillas were enjoying a late night munch on some leaves. Needless to say, this is a trend which the Awesome Foursome are concerned should happen on a regular basis !
31 August 2002	Some of the Fat Badgers who paid a visit to Devon at the end of July started a new tradition by creating the 'Salcombe Fringe'. A visit to the Baggeridge Folk festival in Staffordshire where there were some long haired people who looked like their dogs, a few stalls selling pebbles on a string, a beer tent selling some very good ales and a marquee where some quite entertaining singers were singing, telling jokes and making noises on items of kitchen equipment. A good time was had by all and so say all that had a good time..
26 July 2002	Six of the Fat Badgers paid a visit to Devon to try a number of inns - some tried before and some new to our guide. Sadly, it is our intention to remove one of the inns as both the menu and staff have grown very tired in the last twelve months and didn't really inspire us to recommend them any more. Salcombe appears to be trying to move more up market with new designer shops opening although the pubs haven't yet followed the trend. This doesn't mean that we wouldn't recommend them as both the Ferry Boat and Fortesque serve good ales and wholesome food.
14 July 2002	Fat Badger Kilo paid a solitary trip to Kent and found a few excellent establishments. These will be added in the very near future when our service provider has pulled their finger out and upgraded their computers !
23 June 2002	Fat Badgers Roy, & Andy donned the Gorilla outfits once more to watch England play Cricket against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford, Manchester whilst Fat Badgers Kilo, & Ade spent a few days sailing around the Isle of Wight. The Anchor Inn at Cowes proved to be an excellent inn with some good quality ales from Goddards Brewery
03 June 2002	We've been having all sorts of problems with our service provider who now that they sell to the general public - seem to have lost the ability to be able to keep a computer working for more than 20 minutes. Hopefully we will no longer experience any problems. Humble apologies to those that missed us while we were away...
24 May 2002	Following the press interest after appearing on the slopes of Europe Fat Badgers Roy, Kilo, Andy & Ade were invited to do a lap of honour around Bradford City's 'Valley Parade' during half time at the Bradford Bulls v. Wigan Warriors rugby league match in which Bradford won with the last kick of the game.
12 May 2002	Fat Badger Kilo paid his first visit to the millennium stadium in Cardiff to watch Stoke City Football Club win promotion to the first division by beating Brentford in the play off final. The opportunity was used to check out a few of the inns we list in Glamorgan. One in particular the Plough & Harrow at Monknash was recommended by Dave Jones and this was the first chance we'd had to pay a visit. After initially being unsure, as we feel that their own website doesn't 'sell' themselves particularly well - We'd certainly recommend it to others, especially those that appreciate good ales.
23 February 2002	Fat Badgers Kilo, Buttle, DJ, & Steve have been visiting a few 'City' pubs in recent weeks. Unfortunately not many were good enough for us to recommend. Fat Badgers Kilo & Buttle had a very frustrating evening in Dudley Town centre and ended up watching live premiership football in a pub that had 9 handpulls and not one was actually being used - the only drinks on offer were cider and lager as even the Guinness was 'off'. Fat Badgers Kilo, Buttle, DJ, & Steve were much luckier when they visited the Black Eagle in Hockley, Birmingham. Not listing many city pubs the Black Eagle (found on the Worcestershire page) was however very much worth a visit, with excellent ales & good food.
19 February 2002	A few inn details have been amended, 2 inns have been removed and a few added in recent weeks. After the amazing response to Fat Badgers Roy, Kilo, Andy & Ade skiing in Gorilla suits last month, they are to be featured in the Ski Club of Great Britain's next magazine and are due to appear on their website in a caption competition ! Their public demanded another appearance so the four spent an evening testing all the inns and one working man's club in Otley, West Yorkshire by way of a celebration of England's victory over the Irish in the Six Nations Rugby Union competition although Fat Badger Ade went to Harrogate by mistake and had to get a Ł22 taxi only to find he'd then forgotten his suit. Quickly switching to his back up Rod Stewart wig he still managed to impress our taxi driver with his sleeping abilities.
25 January 2002	Not a lot has happened over the Christmas period due to the festivities and four of the Fat Badgers bringing forward their ski trip to early Jan. Fat Badgers Roy, Kilo, Andy & Ade decided that it wasn't safe being exposed Badgers on the wide open spaces in Tignes, France so went in disguise as Gorillas. The following weeks have been spent doing interviews with the press and the Ski Club of Great Britain after being photographed in excess of 600 times during the course of the week. We'd love to hear from anyone who thinks they may have spotted them and we're even prepared to give out a prize to anyone who guesses what they're intending to be disguised as next year ! The Four Fat Badgers turned the visit into a business trip by inspecting many of the establishments in the area - on a daily basis but didn't stay long in the 'Yeti Bar' as they were overheating. Hopefully, if Fat Badger Kilo gets any spare time he'll be doing a full write up of the trip on www.Rotaski.co.uk in the near future.
1 January 2002	We've been monitoring the site for the last few weeks following the exciting news that British Telecom was adding The Fat Badgers Site as the one and only pub / inn guide to feature on the new Internet & email Multiphone. These Multiphones are popping up all over the country and enable you to surf the net, check email and find the nearest good pub ! For further information take a look at our BT page.