30/10/18 - Commercial Street Good Beer Guide Ticks

Tick Numbers - 333 and 334

This was a day that I never thought would happen.   The day I turned down free beer.

The future of work is a collective office space called WeWork.  Handily located next to Liverpool Street Station, its an office rental system, aimed at the Millennials.  It's got funky phone booth style private areas, hot desks and table tennis tables.   So far, so expected.   I sign in and offered a coffee and instantly notice there's a self service beer pump. 

Surely there must be a catch, I hear both my blogfans ask?

Well the only one I could find is that it's not turned on until 2pm. 

Still, I prefer my drinking in classic locations, so I forsake this offer and head out after work into the Autumn gloom to get a couple of ticks in the East End.

The Commercial Tavern, Commercial Street, Brew York, Brew York

New Tick #333

A striking, pub shaped building, I'm initially concerned that its not open.   Excuse the smartphone photos but the two gentlemen on the right of the photo are sat in the doorway, drinking their own bottles from the supermarket and smoking something that does not smell like tobacco.   The other doors are wedged shut and the windows are offering next to no light from within.

I get closer to the action and can a) make out the outlines of some punters inside and b) see the signs on the door telling me to shut them behind me.   I head in.

It's all as pubby as you would expect.  I don't recognise any of the beers but Brew York, Brew York (so good they named it twice, yes I checked their marketing) was a decent hoppy pale ale.   I comment to the barman on the general gloom of the lighting and am met with a "that's the way we like it" response.

Higher Wattage Bulbs required.  General Pubby Ambiance.

The Dispensary, Leman Street, Started with an Oakham JHB

A short walk down Commercial Street, passing a couple of classic pubs that haven't made the bible and avoiding pavement mounted cyclists.

The Dispensary is a former hospital but you wouldn't know it from the inside.   All tiled floors and normal pub furniture.   Surprisingly, the barstaff acknowledge my entrance with a cheery hello.   This is most welcome and an encouraging start.

More bad Smart Phone Phots

There's about three hand pulls on and I go for what I think is the safety of an Oakham JHB.   A couple of sips are taken before realising that its not right.   It doesn't look good and has an awful, vinegary smell.

New Pub Conundrum time?  Do I make a fuss and ask for it to be changed.   It's not as easy a question as you would think and has been the source of many a landlord based row.   Another sip and its undrinkable.

Oakham Mank

To be fair, it was swapped without any complaint - I was that joyous, that I failed to record what with.

All I had to do was explain what I thought was wrong with it and the barman headed off to the cellar.  The pub clip was not turned around.   It remains unknown as to whether the barrel was changed.

So, two new ticks in Commercial Street and I suppose the question is, would I go out my way to come back to either of them?

Nope, I would drink Timothy Taylor Landlord in the gorgeous Golden Heart

28/10/18 - The Middle Malverns

Distance - 5 Miles
Geocaches - 3
Walk Inspiration - Julie Royle's Worcestershire Walks


Apologies, it's yet another blog from the Malverns.   When the conditions are right, there's no finer place within striking distance of home to go walking.

So I'll keep it brief.

Roughly speaking, the Malvern Hills can be split into three sections - the Northern Hills, the middle bit between Upper Wyche and British Camp and then British Camp down to the Southern end.

Today's walk was the Middle bit, allowing easy summits of Perseverance, Jubilee, Pinnacle and Black Hills.

Starting at £4.20 Upper Wyche Car Park, we have a small issue to overcome.  Mrs M has brought dog treats, walking poles, dog water and a rucksack but neglected to put Guide Dog in Training Joy's collar on.   The walk was nearly over before it began until I realised a substitute collar could be fashioned from my Craghoppers Lined Winter Walking trouser belt.

The dog can proceed in safety but there's a real chance of massive hillside embarrassment.   My trousers will stay up, provided I keep my hands in my pockets.

Guide Dog in Training Joy - and my belt

We're soon on the hills, getting our fill of the the views that are the reason we're here (again).

Looking East over Malvern

Looking back to North Hill

Quarry (disused)

British Camp is the turning back point.  We could have walked back the way we came but decide to drop down to the western foothills, following the Worcestershire Way through woodland.

Views are just as good from the foothills - Looking West

With all the Good Beer Guide Pubs in Malvern already ticked, I can't even provide blog originality for the choice of post walk refreshment.   We're back to the Nag's Head to ensure that the Bathams is still up to scratch.

It is.  The finest I've tasted anywhere.

Bathams - Hiding the Shame it's in a Thatcher Glass

Nags Head has a new sign

27/10/18 - Heart of England Way Stage 19 - Out of Henley

Distance - 7 Miles
Geocaches - 1
Pub - Good Beer Guide Tick 332 - The White Swan, Henley in Arden
Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7, Stage 8, Stage 9, Stage 10, Stage 11, Stage 12, Stage 13, Stage 14, Stage 15, Stage 16, Stage 17, Stage 18


I was full of praise for the last leg of the HOEW - really enjoying the walk that took us into Henley in Arden.

Stage 19 - taking us out of Henley - has proved the polar opposite.  Dull as ditch water and completed on a day when I had failed to bring my winter walking wardrobe.   I was froze.

Out of the now all to familiar Henley High Street and up to the railway station.   Soon in the countryside, following shared Long Distance Paths - The Millennum Way, the Arden Way and of course, the HOEW.

All the Ways

The "target" is Bannams Woods - marking the point where the HOEW is left and a return to Henley is plotted.   The path disappears in the undergrowth but there are decent Warwickshire views from the slight ridge.

Warwickshire Views

Simple country paths, running parallel to the HOEW take me back.   There's really nothing more than this to show you.   Sleet is just too damn complicated to photograph.

Clouding Over for Wintry Showers

Its the thought of a Good Beer Guide Tick that keeps me going.

White Swan, High Street, Henley in Arden - Black Sheep

Unsurprisingly, in this ancient town, a pub has stood here since 1352.   Location, location, location - opposite the church and the Market Hall.

Pub, closest to the Church

And the Indian

The current building is from the 1500s but when its been taken over by the Stone Aged Steakhouse company, its bound to have had a bit of a tarting up.

Tudor - not Stone Aged

Once in, its a very smart gastro pub - with drinkers forced to sit on high seats running along the bar.

This is annoying.   A)  there is a separate dining room - so why allow diners to commandeer the bar tables to eat their thin crust pizzas?  and B) it means I cannot get to the bar and the bar staff have no control on who is next to be served.

Eventually, a prize winner for surliest bar staff of the year asks "who's next" and I volunteer my services to sample the Black Sheep.

It's carried around the bar looking for a seat - hopefully next to an open fire - but alas, no room in the inn.

I'm forced to take it into the dining room and sit, all alone at a secondary bar.  Plenty of time to contemplate just how this place gets in a Good Beer Guide.

Then I take a sip.

Perfect Pint

Top class beer.   Dreadful Experience.

See you next Month for Stage 20.

21/10/18 - The Good Beer Guide Pubs of Tewkesbury

Good Beer Guide Pubs - #327-330
Number of Pubs Visited - 4

Surprisingly, Tewkesbury has five entries in the Good Beer Guide.   One of them is the British Legion and not fancying carrying the Bible along with me as my magic entrance ticket, I may have room to add a couple of bonus non-entry pub visits.

The first potential bonus was the oldest pub in Gloucestershire - Ye Olde Black Bear.  700 year old boozer, now closed down and looking quite sad.   Might have had something to do with the final 1 star trip advisor review.

Here's more photos than are strictly necessary.

Unusual Spelling of Gloucester

Ye Olde

Old Dead Pub.

Worry not, the White Bear is just down the way.   But what do you call a road between the bears?

Nice Sign

The White Swan, Bredon Road, Salopian Oracle

CAMRA Winner - The White Bear

Every town has a pub like this... you know the type, the one that's maybe a bit too rambunctious for the time of day.   It's 5pm on a Sunday and there are some very drunk people in here.   Not least the woman who sounded and dressed like Kerry from This Country and demanded to know if I was reading a novel on my phone.

I'd only just sat down to peruse the wares.

We cannot blame the beer for this level of drunkenness - the really drunk ones are on the Cider - hand written bar clips showing the dry or medium varieties.

Judging by my Salopian Oracle, I can see why the locals were on the Cider.

Its not meant to look like that.

As a stranger, I tried to gently ask if it was OK.  The barmaid consulted Ron.  Ron said it was fine.  Ron did not sound like the type of man to argue with.

A two man band start up and as good as they were, it was not really suitable for reading the Sunday Times.   Or novels on phones.

I move on.

The Tudor House Hotel, High Street, Hooky

A veteran of previous Good Beer Guides but lost its place in 2019.   There's a reason for this.  The beer was dreadful and if possible, even more murky than the White Bear.

Two down, Nil Points for Tewkesbury.

C16th, Ghosts, All that kind of stuff

More suitable for reading the ST

The Nottingham Arms, High Street, Butty Bach

More Tradition - C14th

Thankfully, in life, there are some things you can rely on.  Wye Valley is one of those things.   A perfect pint of Butty Bach taken in this tardis like pub that has more length than height.   I avoid head banging on the beams but when a Wagbo lookalike with an electric guitar starts playing over the backing tracks to Toto's Africa, I probably should have started.

You can hear the entertainment all the way down the High Street.

Berkeley Arms, Church Street

Pub Tickers Curse.  The guide says its open 10-11 every day.  Google says its open now.

It's in darkness.

To Tick or Not To Tick?

I was rather looking forward to my Wadworths too.

The bent in windows of the British Legion are peered through.   Two punters stare back.  I decide to try the Bell, superbly located opposite the abbey along a street of black and white buildings.

BL Left - Bell Ahead

The Bell, Church Street, North Cotswold Brewery Mild

Handsome

Not in the guide, but I noticed it immediately as I drove into town from my walk.   It looked well worth checking out.  What did I find?  Apart from the Green King IPA, there was an unusual mild.

Trusting the brewery, I gave it a try, whilst listening to a couple playing the highest scoring game of crib of all time.

I pined to join in the cries of 15-2, 15-4.

The Hop Pole Hotel, High Street, Hook Norton Flagship

A Wetherspoons Under Scaffolding

Well it's not been the greatest of ticking nights.   I may as well end it in a JDW.

In recent months, I have visited Burton, Derby and Coventry on similar adventures and found something joyful in each.  Tewkesbury has been a mixture of permanently closed, unexpectedly closed, two bad pints and pub experiences that don't really match this beautiful, ancient town.

JDW did what JDW does.   Cheap beer (£2.18).  Good quality.  More one armed bandits than customers.

In an unexpected twist, the high tables were spotlessly clean.

A long walk back to the Premier Inn.

21/10/18 - Tewkesbury to Apperley

Distance - 7.5 Miles
Walk Inspiration
Geocaches - 2



I didn't get too far into today's walk before I was met by a police cordon of cones, banning access to Lode Lane.

I've had walks that require re-routing for many reasons but never before because an angler has fished a WW2 bomb out of the river.  What sort of fishing uses magnets anyway?

Bomb squad have been called and an exclusion zone is in place on the edge of Tewkesbury. https://t.co/WZwhNQY6Gg

— GlosLiveOnline (@GlosLiveOnline) October 21, 2018

Hasty re-planning required, which leads me to Bloody Meadow - scene of a War of the Roses battle in 1471.   Lots of history in Tewkesbury and they proudly re-enact the battle every July.

This is a simple up stream walk along the river to Apperley and back across inland farmland.   Gentle walking on good paths, under a glorious autumn clear sky.

Battlefield Walk

River Severn

12:10pm on a Sunday and a handy pub stop off point - once you can get through the stile blocking cows.  I am unsure whether to stop or not, but pop in to have a look.  Door open but no sign of life.  Not really convinced I wanted the first poured Tribute of the day anyway.

I head outside to take this photo, whilst a man breaks a fence, rolls on the floor and gets attacked by a frisky miniature pony.

Entered, but no goods consumed

Transpires he is the landlord and asks if I have taken a photo.   I reply that I have and would have taken a pint, if he had not gone all David Attenborough on me.

Time to leave the Severn behind and head inland, first through Apperley and then Deerhurst.  Unfortunately, I don't get close enough to explore the priory ruins, but I do see the impressive church.

Views over the Severn Vale

Deerhurst

12:30pm, there is a bang and a twitter update from Tewkesbury Police.   The bomb has been dealt with and Lode Lane is open to complete the walk as planned.

More 1471 Celebrations before heading off to my Premier Inn to prepare for an evening of Good Beer Guide Ticking in Tewkesbury.

1471 and All that.

A decent walk from a newly discovered web resource at www.hikideas.co.uk.   As if I need anymore ideas!

16/10/18 - Wild Crete Ramblers Holiday

A break from the norm on this blog.   Walking, but not in the UK.   Plenty of beer, but none of it real ale.

We signed up for our first Ramblers Holiday.  Nobody we knew had previously been on one and the review of the exact holiday we had booked appeared in the Times Travel supplement three months after we had paid for it.

Wild Crete was chosen due to an interest in the country and the fact it was at the upper end of their grading scale - Level 6 out of a 1-9 rating. 

Many questions we had before booking will be answered by this blog.

What's included in the price?

Everything apart from your evening drinks, lunch time snacks and entrance to the Samaria Gorge.

What's the food and accommodation like?

As with many places in Greece, the accommodation is basic but clean.  Air Conditioning was only available in a couple of places.   Evening meals are usually shared starters and main courses but all home cooked, traditional and filling.   Post dining raki is obligatory everywhere.

Who will you be walking with?

A small group of 18 like minded people - all of them probably veterans of previous Ramblers Holidays.  I thought the person with the most experience was on their 44th trip but she was top trumped by a gentleman of leisure who seemingly, is permanently on holiday.

The average age was easily post retirement and we were the youngest there by 10 years.   This was a surprise to us, as the walking was challenging and in this era of increased interest in the great outdoors and travel, we expected a broader age demographic. 

We took a lot of inspiration from the group for future UK and International destinations.

The Walk Leader

A volunteer and according to our more experienced friends, the person who can make or break the holiday.

Tony was superb and looked after the group perfectly both during the walks and after.   I went with the expectation that this was something that I would be interested in doing in the future - but within five minutes, I realised I would never have the patience.   Without a hint of a loss of his smile, he dealt with such queries as use of cafe toilets without purchasing goods, harsh lighting in restaurants and how to deal with potential leeches found in rooms.   He was that knowledgeable that he even identified the offending insect as a millipede. 

Of course, safe passage of the group and organising the unexpected are the Leader's main responsibility.   He came into his own when the Samaria gorge was closed due to bad weather and safely got 18 people from the mountains to the coast, which involved private coach hire and commandeering Captain Yannis's water taxi.

The Locations

We move around to five different locations over seven days.  A perfect opportunity to explore the South Western part of Crete - where the isolated villages are tricky to get to by car but a doddle on foot/water taxi.   All very pretty villages, with Loutro and Agia Roumeli standing out for their beauty. 

Chania, on the final day, has a lot to offer any tourist.

The Walks (Click the day hyperlink for full details)

Day 1 - 10 Miles - A ferry from Paleohora to Sougia and walk back along the E4 coastal path, after climbing a short gorge.   A chance for a mid ramble swim was an unexpected first.

We walked that headland to be rewarded with an ocean dip

Day 2 - An 8 mile ascent to the top of Mount Gigolos.  Start high and get higher to 6500ft.  Superb scenery but a head for exposure and heights is required.

Mrs M - before realising she doesn't have a head for heights

Day 3 - was meant to be the Samaria Gorge but it was closed due to bad weather.   Our leader not only resolved the issue of how to get to our next accommodation destination but also provided an afternoon walk to the foot of the gorge and Turkish Fort at Agia Roumeli.

Day 4 - the Gorge was part open, so four of us completed a 5 mile there and back walk to the famous Iron Gates, before the scheduled 10 mile walk from Agia Roumeli to Loutro.   Caught up with the main group at Marmara Beech, where a strategically placed water taxi can be used to avoid the last couple of miles.

More on the E4

Day 5 - The highlight of the week.  The Aradena gorge is less commercial and wilder than the Samaria gorge and in many respects, even better for it.   We leave beautiful Loutro to climb to the half way point of the gorge, before descending to Marmara Beech.   I will never forget my part in the three man team that helped 75 year old Dorothy over the boulders.

Another day, another gorge.

Day 6 - Shortest walk of the week, 4 miles from Loutro - plenty of time at one of the Times top 20 European Beaches at Sweetwater Bay before an included lunch at Hora Skafion.

Most of the Gang on the E4

Day 7 - is our own in Chania - loads of history and a stunning Venetian harbour.   Transfer back to the airport.

Think you can guess that we loved it - and two simple questions remain....

Did it offer Value for Money?

In summary, yes.   You could organise it yourself cheaper, maybe saving 25% of the overall cost.  Getting your luggage delivered to the next day's destination would be tricky if not impossible, as a solo walker.   You cannot put a price on the company or the skills of a the group leader, especially when things need to be adapted.

Would we do another Ramblers Holiday?

The day after we arrived home, the Ramblers catalogue dropped on our doormat.   Mrs M was reading it in bed that night.

Looks like Austria and the Alps next year.