13/11/25 - Ledbury to Malvern Link Rail Trail

A Great Pub Guarantee At Either End

A new rail trail that is so new, it hasn't even been published. I noticed it as an advertised Ramblers Walk, where I couldn't make the date. Little information, other than the route detailed on an OS Map. What more do I need?

And the great thing about this walk?

The Prince of Wales awaits in Ledbury, the Nag's Head at Malvern Link. Two of my favourites, that I can never tire of.

I decide to start in Herefordshire.

Herefordshire Bull, Red Earth, River Wye

The first half of the walk follows the Geopark Way, climbing Oyster Hill for the day's Trigpoint. Slippery underfoot, as we appear to be in monsoon season, but fine views to the west making up for tricky walking.

The Geopark Way is a 109-mile walking trail designed to showcase the geology and landscape of the Abberley and Malvern Hills Geopark. It starts in Bridgnorth, Shropshire and ends in Gloucester, Gloucestershire.

Herefordshire Trail slapped on

Westward Views

Oyster Hill Trig Point

The Church of St James the Great at Colwall makes a fine lunchstop. Minor investigation and route diversion to get the Multi-Geocache. “Doors Open”, so I can admire the fine ceiling woodworking, complete with a dated beam from 1675. The carpenters’ initials, “RM and RC” also carved.

Colwall Church (St James the Great) has seen several extensions and modifications over the centuries. The core of the church dates to the 13th century, but significant changes occurred in the 15th century with the addition of Perpendicular Gothic features.

Extension on Extension

Fine Ceiling Work

Dated Main Beam

Of course, the item of most interest to me is the Ale House.

Really?  Oh Go On then!

A church alehouse was a common feature in medieval England, built within or beside church grounds for the purpose of hosting “church ales”—communal feasts where ale was brewed and sold to raise funds for parish upkeep, charity, and festivities. These alehouses were important social centers, playing a key role in village life, especially before the Reformation. Over time, most were lost or repurposed as festivities declined and public houses became more common. 

This example at Colwall is one of the few remaining in Herefordshire. Alas, like more contemporary pubs, it no longer functions for its original purpose. We will have to remind ourselves of the joy through this quote.

"About mid-service, they goe in a rowe, after Priest, into the Church-ale-house to carouse"

No carousing for Mappiman today. At least not until the Nag's Head.

Pushing on with the walk, its the Worcestershire Way taking me to a previously undiscovered private railway. The Downs Light Railway running for all of 0.75 of a mile and the oldest private miniature railway in the world. A project devised for entertainment and education at a nearby school.

The usual fine views from the western flanks of Malvern, with the usual issues in finding the best paths to escape it. Much zigging and zagging adding the miles, when you could just roll downhill.

Looking West from the side of Table Hill

The walk ends, as all good walks should, at the pub. 

The Nag's Head, Malvern Link

It’s been almost three weeks since my last cask pint—ice-cold Efes making sense in the 28-degree heat of November in Turkey. The usual exceptional choice available at the Nag’s Head, where I can either nominate my favourite son or have a family reunion.

• Timothy Taylor Landlord
• Otter Bitter
• Hook Norton Old Hooky
• Holdens Golden Glow
• Teme Valley This
• Thornbridge Jaipur
• Bathams Bitter

And this is just the cask - they also have a fine collection of ciders, bottled international and craft.

In other good news – the pub is heaving. Literally no room inside, with every table in the higgledy-piggledy multi-roomer taken. Even outside is busy, but at least covered.

A fine place to while away a couple of hours.

Walk Details

Distance - 10 Miles

Geocaches - 2

Previous Cotswold Line Rail Walks - Worcester Parkway - Foregate Street, Foregate Street to Malvern, Worcester Parkway to Pershore, Pershore to Evesham, Evesham to Honeybourne, Honeybourne to Morton-in-Marsh

22/10/15 - Two CAMRA Heritage Pubs in Worcester

What did you say the Cardinal Did?

So, I found my old CAMRA Book - Heritage Pubs of the Midlands. I plotted the West Midlands and Worcestershire sections into Google Maps. Do you want to be heartbroken? I estimate 25% are permanently closed.

I need to work fast in ticking them off.

A day in Worcester - finishing the Wild About Worcester Way at 11:30am, left me 3 hours to kill before the next bus home. I admired architecture. I waited until midday for the Eagle Vaults to slide the bolt. Contrary to google maps, I could have entered any time after 9am. The apologetic bar staff explained how hard it is to get Google to update business information.

From the side

From the front

The guidebook rattles on about the fine tiling, the dates (1740; tiling added 1890), the Victorian bar, and knocked out walls. Further information is available elsewhere.  Previously known as Young's Mug House and then the Volunteer in 1815, it was the first pub in Worcester to serve women. Right on!

It's not a pub I chose to use - ordinary Marstons belying its beauty. And the Guinness is well over £5. That documentary on NetFlix is not going to pay for itself. 

Certainly worthy of a visit.

Can just make out the Victorian clock backed bar.

More to investigate down the Tudor-building-lined Friar Street. The Cardinal's Hat is my quarry—once a ahead-of-its-time German Bier Keller and now the sister pub to one of my all-time favourites, Nigel's Fleece Inn in Bretforton.

Where Court meets Street

This is a multi-roomer dating from 1760. A narrow corridor leads to a front bar, a sparsely decorated snug room and the destination rear room. Complete with a log burner and wood paneling. 

Best seat in the House

My local is a Wye Valley house, and I can declare that the Butty Bach here is up there with the best.

I thought about announcing it and tagging them on their socials, but I couldn't stop laughing at what the Cardinal had been up to.

Does he want a prize?

22/10/25 - Wild About Worcester, Part 2

The Tallest Building in Worcester

I'm here to finish off the Wild About Worcester Way. A 12 mile walk through the green spaces that surround the City.

The bus fare demands more. I have reviewed my CAMRA Heritage Pubs book and also come up with the brainwave of investigating a single building in the City. How do you get through the week?

The walk is as expected, with woodlands left surrounding the endless Warndon housing estates. Through Nunnery Woods for even more trees. Through Red Hill and along Duck Brook to the River, where the walk gets a little more interesting.

My Day mainly chasing these green discs in Worcester

Crossing Diglis Footbridge - the Malverns in the Distance

Lunch Opposite the Cathedral

I declare the Wild About Worcester Way complete at the bridge. Well signposted in the main, although things get a little sketchy around the hospital. Lives up to the Wild in its name. I'm not sure I passed a pub. There was a dodgy-looking Chinese restaurant, where the windows looked like they were about to fall out. If I wanted to unleash my true anorak, I could have downloaded and printed out a tick-list of 75 wooden carvings on route. On review, I may well repeat the exercise. When I get a new printer.

Onto my building to investigate - St Andrews Church or the Glovers' Needle. The tallest building in the City.

After feeding the swans, I'm heading over there. St Andrew’s Church...

St Andrew’s Church in Worcester, once a modest medieval parish church on Deansway, now stands only as a solitary spired tower known locally as the Glover’s Needle. The nickname comes from Worcester’s historic glove-making industry and the spire’s remarkably slender shape and sharp taper, resembling a needle. The church itself dated back to before the Norman Conquest and originally served a small, impoverished parish. Over time, industrialisation and the clearance of nearby housing in the early 20th century led to a steep decline in local congregation numbers. By the 1940s, the church had fallen into disrepair; the city council accepted the Bishop of Worcester’s offer to demolish the dilapidated structure. In 1949, the church was pulled down, leaving only its 245‑foot tower and spire intact, preserved as a landmark and now standing within St Andrew’s Gardens as a poignant reminder of Worcester’s past.

The park hosts the original (or possibly a facsimile) spire top. The gardens make a nice space for tramps to enjoy their jazz cigarettes. I particularly admired the single hiking boot hanging from the window frame.

More deets

Spire Top

Under the Spire

Enough architecture—the pubs could be open.

Walk Details

Distance - 6 Miles

Walk Inspiration 

Geocaches - 2

Part 1

21/10/25 - West Midlands Way - Stage 10 - Rugeley to Lichfield

Borrow, Cope and Hill

This walk will not be troubling the 2026 "Best of" awards ceremony. Let me count the things that are missing: Geocaches. Pubs. Open Churches. Places of interest.

Even getting out of Rugeley station is a ball-ache. New-build estates, with no means of escape, force double-backs and rerouting. The countryside, when picked up at Chetwynd's coppice, is reasonable, as it winds its way through Upper Longford (pub opens in 6 hours), Farewell (church all locked up) and Elmhurst (no visible evidence of the manor house).

I swear, the entire route was uphill

Dark Lane, closed to traffic around 2010 and reclaimed by nature

Coming into Farewell

Farewell Church - Doors Locked

The guide book, rather foolishly, suggests ending the walk at Whittington, bypassing Lichfield completely. This is stupid. Public transport is needed to return home. And grim mysteries are hiding in plain sight.

City Shield on the Railway Bridge, showing the 3 Slain Kings, Borrow, Cope and Hill

According to local legend, Lichfield takes its name from a grisly episode in early Mercian history — the slaying of three Christian kings named Borrow, Cope, and Hill. The story tells that they were martyred near the site of the present city during the conversion of Mercia, their blood consecrating the ground that became known as Lyccidfelth — the “field of the dead.”

Ooooh... mystery and death! I use YouTube for inspiration on which sites to visit during my couple of hours. They hooked me with "haunted pub".

A walk through the Market—scene of the last burning at the stake in England—on the way to Bird Street and its ghouls.

Dodgy photo, dodging market stalls

The King's Head is the oldest coaching house in Lichfield, dating back to 1408. It is proud of its military history, having acted as a recruiting post during the English Civil War and later as the home of the Staffordshire Regiment. Military memorials and paraphernalia adorn the walls.

The Kings Head, Bird Street

 

My YouTube video discusses three ghosts - George, who lives in the cellar. A young girl killed in a fire, seen at the window, along with flickering flames and the laughing Cavalier. Hacked to bits by Roundheads outside the pub. I was too scared to go in. It is a Marstons house and only sells Hobgoblin.

Instead, I celebrated the end of another stage of the West Midlands way in the ever reliable Horse and Jockey. A Good Beer Guide Regular. I could have lost my Bathams Mild virginity, but had no complaints. The Holdens Golden Glow was in exceptional condition.

Lets not mention the Elephant on the room

Liquid Bliss

There’s a whole world left to explore in Lichfield—not least Borrowcop Hill to the south, supposedly the burial place of the slain kings: Borrow, Cope, and Hill.

I think the locals are playing us.

Walk Details

Distance - 11 Miles

Geocaches - 5

Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6 (Part 1), Stage 6 (Part 2), Stage 7, Stage 8, Stage 9