See the International Space Station from a Beer Garden

If you've been sat in a beer garden after sunset lately you may have been lucky enough to see a bright light crossing the sky above you. This isn't the result of any UFO activity or having one pint too many - its the International Space Station!

The warm evenings of the late Summer present a great time to view the ISS passing overhead. All you need is for it to be relatively dark and cloud free, and also know when the ISS is passing over.

The excellent Heaven's Above website will tell you exactly when to look upwards. You just need to select your viewing location and it'll do the rest for you. For the latest viewing times from Hereford click here.

What you will see is a small white dot that starts in the West part of the sky, gets steadily brighter as it passes overhead, before fading away as it moves Eastwards and back into the Earth's shadow.

So next time you're in a beer garden after sunset why not see if you can witness this amazing triumph of human achievement and raise a toast to the crew of the ISS floating above in near-Earth orbit.

Scathing review received for The Old Market, plus Cock of Tupsley update

We've recently received a very bad reader review for The Old Market which again mentions the poor quality of customer service as reported by another reader in a recent blog post.

Peter Cobrin's review rates the pub at just 33 out of a possible 100 points and his attempts to complain have apparently fallen on deaf ears. We'll be sure to check it out ourselves soon and will let you know the official HMPG verdict.

We've also updated our own official HMPG Cock of Tupsley review. Its still a great place for food and accomodating to kids aswell as those who want to avoid them! The final score was an very good 63 out of 100.

Can you find our sign?

Can you find our sign- pictured above at home on my radiator and below in it's new spot.

This magnetic sign can be found somewhere near the Asda roundabout. If you do find it then feel free to remove it and take it somewhere else. But if you do then send us in a photo of it's new location, so that the hunt can start again; all we ask is that you do not place it in such an area that it obscures any important public information signs.Happy hunting!

Could it be Magic at the Golden Lion?...Errrr...No!

As exclusively revealed on the HM Pub Guide a few weeks back there is a cockatiel at The Golden Lion in Hereford that looks suspiciously like Magic from legendary 80s kids TV programme Wacaday.

The Hereford Times have picked up on this following a claim made on the Wacaday Wikipedia page that the Golden Lion's cockatiel is the actual Wacaday Magic. The story, as printed on Page 4 of this week's Hereford Times, is shown above and its also featured on their website.

As the story says, it turns out that its not the actual Magic but just a crafty look-a-like. There's even a quote from Timmy Mallet confirming that sadly the real Magic has now passed away and is buried in his garden.

The identity of the Wikipedia prankster remains unknown and the reference to The Golden Lion being Magic's home has now been removed from the online encyclopedia. You can view the original Wikipedia entry before the Magic reference was removed by clicking here.

The HM Pub Guide Calling Card

When you're out and about in Hereford and beyond keep an eye out for the official HM Pub Guide business cards. These come in two different varieties as shown above.

We also have a larger postcard version pictured below.

If you find any of these cards in a pub its a fair bet that we've recently reviewed it so be sure to check the website for our updated opinions.

All new reviews: The Barrels, Lichfield Vaults, Wye Inn & Spread Eagle

Last week we re-assessed 4 more Hereford pubs, just click on the pub names below to read the reviews:

• The Barrels (pictured top left)- this is a popular town pub with a large, well equipped beer garden. Serves a large selection of Wye Valley Ales although parts the interior could still do with a bit of tidying up.
• The Lichfield Vaults (pictured top right)- another pleasant town pub with a surprisingly large beer garden.
• The Spread Eagle (pictured bottom right)- this pub used to be very popular with students, although they seem to be frequenting The Barrels now. The front section has been brightened up, and there's a nice big map of western Herefordshire on the wall.
• The Wye Inn (pictured bottom left)- this pub has come in for a bit of stick in recent months due to the poor service; however, I'm pleased to announce that this has now improved. There has been a change in emphasis towards food, and it now has a £2, £4, £6 & £8 menu (the same as The Old Market Inn). However, the place desperately needs some redecoration and the seats need re-upholstering- but for a cheap meal you can't go wrong.