Blog ≫ 2026 ≫ Day of Extreme Robots
The day of Robot Wars (not Robot Wars, we have to call it Extreme Robots now) is here! Skipping parkrun yet again to get a 9am train to Maidstone. And then the 9am train is delayed, and then cancelled! And we dont have a lot of options that will get us there on time. So quick sprint to the station to get a half eight train that should do it.
We've been trying to get to Maidstone West, and online was not having it, would only let us buy tickets for Maidstone East, which is the other side of town. Even at the train station we couldn't buy a ticket direct, even though the overal journey is faster than the other Maidstone stations if you look up the parts individually. Turns out it's because we have to go via Paddock Wood which is further away and not allowed, so we bought singles and paid extra, and the system has beaten us. Could have driven, but then I couldn't go to Maidstone pubs. Anyway all done and we're on the train.
It's not our normal train, it's the older service, and it's ultimately going to London Victoria today. If it gets there, it is shaking like a bastard! I don't like sitting in the front carriage, and it's for things like this, what if it shakes itself off the rails?? It did not, we got safely to Paddock Wood, leg it across the bridge to another platform and we're all back on track.
On the train, making plans for what to do after Extreme Robots. I found a good looking pub, but it's not in quite the right location. So using the google maps, to find "What's a pub like this but between mote park and Maidstone centre?", but without wanting to use the AI. And you can, here is a route, that takes in a good looking pub, and that is our plan for the day.
I said I'd booked Avengers: Doomsday tickets, you can get excited with me by watching the Doomsday clock on youtube. Doomsday is coming! It's just counting down until the film opens. I'm going to watch it all like a true fan.
We walked through Maidstone, looking for coffee before heading to the leisure centre where the event would be. We were obviousy earlier now that we planned to be, and I'd had to leave in a hurry before getting my coffee at home. Maidstone looked nice at first:
... but mostly is not that nice. We settled on a Starbucks, as wife had a yearning for some egg bites.
Mote Park where the leisure centre is is good, good facilities there. There had been some kind of ultra marathon going on, to further shame me for my lack of recent exercise.
Into the leisure centre with drinks and popcorn, and too our cheap seats. So many chances to upgrade at one of these events. Last time I went VIP, best seats, paid the highest price. This time I wasn't sure anyone would be bothered so just went for the cheap option. And it was fine. Strangely bumped into an old friend from Holiday Extras there but it was so out of context, and dark, and we'd not seen each other since pre-covid times, that I didn't recognise him at first. He was there with his son who wasn't born last time I'd seen him.
There's more talking than actual robot battling at these events, but it was good. There are four teams in a championship of some sorts, and each team has various robots. We picked a team each among the four of us and joined in the with the cheers, and loved it.
You can see the whole lot on youtube I think, https://www.youtube.com/@ExtremeRobotsTV and I will try and add in our event here:
Two youtube mentions in one post, that's quite enough for the year. I never normally use it. This will be messing with T2's algorithms, he mostly watches Pokemon and chess videos.
After we found our pub, The Thirsty Pig, and it was good. Real old crooked building, did not look promising at first, but we found the back room, comfortable, and we played Trivial Pursuits. Real ale was good, I had a green hopped beer, and there was a fizzy Floc for the wife.
For dinner we tried Wildwood, thought this would be fine turning up early. They said they could not seat us, even though the place was half empty. Supposedly they had lots of people turning up soon. Then we went to Herbalist, where we could get a table in the bar. It sounded promising, but the food was not very tasty. They had vegan options, T1 did the best with vegan loaded fries and cauliflower wings. My burger was a bit dry, so were the others. We're probably not rushing back to Maidstone.
Train home was fine, I caught up on Celebrity Traitors that I had fallen asleep in front of, and we watched X-Men: First Class when we got in.
This morning a walk to fetch the car that we'd left at the station, a coffee from my machine that I'd missed out on yesterday, and now watching Portsmouth vs Southampton on my phone. It's on ITV but T2 is playing Fortnite and my laptop is now too old to play protected content like this. Play Up Pompey!
Sunny intervals and a gentle breeze, 11 - 15℃.
Estimated 3508 cups of the actual coffee from my espresso machine 1 probably comes to 76.9p a cup (including 4+ years supply of actual coffee and now servicing 1 but not the electricity).
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