18/11/18 - Stockport Good Beer Guide Ticking

Good Beer Guide Ticks - 338 to 341
Number of Pubs - 4


I leave my family of gig goers hopping into an Uber, heading off to see Johnny Marr at Manchester's Apollo. 

I mentioned in my last blog, how ticking Good Beer Guide pubs is a moving target.   I could have happily spent an evening knocking off the 10 remaining ticks I have in the City.  Instead, I navigate the railway systems of the North to get a return ticket to Stockport.   If only using Virgin Trains, £3.30.   £4.50 for a fully flexible ticket.   Who would have thought Richard Branson offers the best value?

I leave Stockport's rather posh railway station to get my bearing and determine which of the 8 available ticks I can squeeze in tonight.   It may not be the closest, but The Blossoms had to be first up.

A 20 minute walk along a busy road, offering the chance to admire Stockport Civic Pride.

Everything has gone green at the home of Britain's biggest Wurlitzer 

The Blossoms, Buxton Road, Robinson's Unicorn

So Blossoms (the band) are one of my Son's favourites and the only way I could get him vaguely interested in my night time plans was to tell him I was off to investigate if they were named after the pub.

Initially, I was a little disappointed that my brave walk has only been rewarded with a Robinson's Pub.   I've always found their output functional and rather forgettable.

Tonight's Unicorn definitely fell into that category.

The pub itself was traditional and full of things that make pubs great.   Bar hanging raconteurs, private alcoves, with a proper pub interior.   Low lighting only emphasising the rather lovely stained glass windows.

Found here, above the door.

An upstairs function room for live music pointed to a connection with the Eponymous band, as did an overheard conversation between two elderly gents.   One insisted his fellow imbiber must have heard of them, as they are played on Radio 2 all the time.

My son will be horrified.

30 minutes to get back to town before the micro pub closes at 9pm.

The 192 Bus looks the best bet.

The Petersgate Tap, St Petersgate, Hawkshead Windermere Pale

The locals are helpful.  During my 5 minute wait for the 192, I was reminded by an open windowed car hollerer that I am indeed a "Bus Wanker".

Once off the main road, there was plenty to admire in Stockport Centre - bridges running over roads (reminding me of Edinburgh), well lit casinos, ancient Market Halls and lots and lots of boozers.

The Petersgate Tap is one of the better micros encountered.   The handful of punters were all downstairs - including a booth held laptop user, a man who had drank 6 pints of barley wine and a younger man on about the same number of units declaring the Beatles as the best band that ever lived.

A friendly welcome from the barman confirmed closure was indeed at 9pm but I wouldn't have to rush my very decent Hawkshead.

Excuse the photo.  Smartphone is rubbish at night, but I think you can see the former betting shop dimensions.

Ubiquitous new town micro

The Bakers Vaults, Market Place, Butcombe Haka

Whenever one of these excursions are completed, there's always one place that stands out as the "this would be my local, if I lived here" winner.

I'm not going to argue with the Guides "Gin Palace-Style Interior".

A new Butcombe to enjoy but not before I had got my £1 for four plays money worth from a proper 60s style jukebox.   The volume was refreshing loud and clear, including the speakers piped into the loos.   I can only hope my "playing for the pub audience" selection of PJ Harvey, Iggy Pop, Kate Bush and the Rolling Stones was met in the spirit it was intended.

On reflection, Stripped Back Gin Palace

The Chesterfield sofa provided a perfect place to finish the Sunday Times. 

Remedy Bar and Brewhouse, Market Place, Velveteen by Dark Revolution

I'm always on the look out for new experiences - so how could I turn down my chance to visit my first "Steam Punk Bar".  I have no idea what this means but I wholeheartedly agree with the choice of music.   Out of the two others in the pub, one man is in charge of the laptop that's providing the tunes and he has selected the Queens of the Stone Age.

The Other Punter - far away from another Chesterfield

As the name indicates, this is both factory and shop.   Behind a glass wall is the brewing equipment, in all its pristine glory.

My choice of the two hand pulls available was not from here but it called to mind my promise to myself to drink more stout in Winter.   I couldn't have chosen a better example.  This velveteen was one of he best experienced.

I check the train times and I need to move quickly if I am going to get to meet the family back at the Lass O Gowrie.  Chosen as a bonus tick back in the City and because the Guide says its open till midnight. 

Of course, it was closed at 10:56pm.

Stockport - you have been lovely.  I don't know when I will be back for the next four ticks but I sincerely hope it won't be long.

18/11/18 - More Pub Ticking in Manchester's Northern Quarter

One of the great things about using the Good Beer Guide to plan city visits is that your work is never done.

It's only 8 months since we were last in Manchester's Northern Quarter.  In that time, Pie and Ale has closed down permanently.  A new Good Beer Guide has been released.   The 2019 edition adds 2 new pubs a stones throw from the Smithfield Market Tavern.

The Angel, 6 Angel Street, Mount Hood by Mallinson

In a area that's undergoing major redevelopment, the Angel stands proudly as a reminder to the City's lost architecture.  Although it is looking a little down at heel.

The wife and boy only half heartedly ask if we are really going in there, although deep down, they know that anywhere is safer than Piccadilly Gardens at dusk. 

Needs some TLC but it's all going to be flats soon, anyway.

As you'd expect from the outside, this is as traditional a pub as you could hope to find.   All it needs is punters.   Just three other people at 5pm on a Sunday evening.  One of those is the bar man, who's come front of house.

I can only guess that those people brave enough to leave the City and cross the ring road have headed a little further to the Marble Arch.

I counted 10 real ales on.  Yep, that's more hand pulls than people, even after we've doubled the number of people present.   None of the beers are recognised but samples of likely suspects are provided and a first Mount Hood is selected.

Perfectly acceptable.

Crown and Kettle, 2 Oldham Road, Marquis, Brewster's Brewery

The family are delighted its not a route march to tick #2.

From the outside, you wouldn't necessarily realise that this corner pub is Grade II listed.   All the beauty is high up inside and the guide recommends that "the high ornate ceiling in the main bar is well worth seeing".

I think that's because its falling down.   It does have a certain Venetian decaying beauty to it that my crappy smartphone cannot really capture.

Note the missing buttress.  You can't see the nettings that's catching the crumbling plaster

I'm a week too early for Beardless Beer Week, so once again, I take advantage of Northern Hospitality to take samples of likely English Bitters. 

This time next week.

So, there's a lovely looking Snug on the way to the toilets or some very brutalist wooden chairs to sit on in the main bar.   Unfortunately, the snug is reserved from 7.   We've got the ceiling, they've got sofas.

We spend our time wondering what the people are up to in there.  Several smug snuggers turn up with suitcases and head for comfort.   Unfortunately we have other plans before their luggage contents are ever revealed.

Mrs M and the boy are ubering to the Apollo to see Johnny Marr. 

I'm off to Stockport for more ticks.

11/11/18 - Heart of England Way - Stage 20 - Great Alne

Distance - 8.2 Miles
Geocaches - 7
Pub - Would have been the Mother Huff Cap
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, Stage 19

Surprisingly, I've not walked from Great Alne before.  It's situated half way between the much visited walking hot spots of Henley in Arden and Alcester.  Earlier this year, I walked between those two towns and managed to not use a single path encountered today.

It also meant I had the chance of a new pub tick - the intriguingly named Mother Huff Cap.   

Which is where I start stage 20 of the HOEW.   This time next year, I will be finished.

Mother Huff Cap - Saving it for later

So the walking... a figure of 8 walk on paths that are shared with the Monarchs Way and the Arden Way.  Flat, not too muddy and no dangerous live stock.  No mid point refreshment.  There's little to tell, apart from general Warwickshire loveliness.

Early Path

Warwickshire Views on the way back

There is something to make this walk stand out.   My most found Cache Owner, HKMHill has recognised the quality of the walking and laid a super multicache trail.   In an attempt to protect the most prized of all geocaching assets, the Ammo Can, it's required to find a smaller cache container with the co-ordinates to the booty.   Even then, its not always straightforward.  Jigsaws are successfully completed, sticks are fetched from piles of other sticks and a sudoku style number grid was abandoned due to lack of time.   I needed to fit my pint in before heading home for a 1:30pm curfew.   The in-laws are coming for lunch.

I didn't get them all, but I really enjoyed the ones I did.  Thanks again.... your place at the top of the CO pile is further protected!

Some Ammo Cans Remain unfound

8 miles in and I have about 15 minutes available to check out the Mother Huffcap.  I'd looked at their website before attending to get a feel for the place.   I didn't look closely enough.

Today's the 11th.  Four days too early

So, I have an excuse to come back for the rest of the caches.

And the in-laws were delighted with my timekeeping.

09/11/18 - Camra's Guide to Islington

New Order's only 2018 UK Show brings us to the big smoke, in need pre-gig entertainment.

Islington looks a decent area for public transport to London's least accessible venue, the Alexandra Palace.

The Good Beer Guide is consulted.   Mrs M won't do a JDW and the other two ticks are slightly out of the way so instead I reach for the Big Blue Camra book by Des De Moor.   A modern guide to the best of London's Pubs and Bars.

Craft Beer Company, White Lion Street, Loch and Key, Fyne Ales

As much as Mrs M dislikes JDW, I dislike any over the top reference to Craft in a bars name.

Still, this has the interior and exterior look and feel of a proper boozer - which is because it was - formerly the Lord Wolseley.

Crafty Lord Wolseley

Exceptionally friendly bar staff - especially as I was served after a group of 5 men, arguing about who's round it was.  We take our drinks to explore the multiple rooms.   We observe the signage before settling a bit too close to other men whose use of the C word and beards were too loud, too frequent and too long.

I had my suspicions about their company but couldn't resist the nearby classic Wing Back Chairs.

Chemistry

Mrs M using her phone to find out who sells these beauties

The pint was a dark IPA from Scotland.   Mrs M quizzed me on how an IPA could be dark. 

I didn't know.

The Three Johns, White Lion Street, Electric Mountain by Heavy Industry Brewing

A little further back towards the tube and we have a proper pub.   Much to admire - from the people on laptops pretending to work (it is 4pm) to the ornate, beaten copper ceiling.   Special shout out to the man with a baby in a papoose enjoying his pint.

I cannot wait to be a grandfather.

Ales and Stouts and three Johns

Copper Roof.  Child Minders.

The Charles Lamb, Elia Street, 4 from XT Brewing Company

A nice walk over the main road and down towards the Regents Canal.   We pass several pubs.  Mrs M asks at each one "are we going in here?".   If only we hadn't got a date with Bernard and the gang.

We play a game of "who lives in a house like this?", followed by "who drinks in a boozer like this?"

It really couldn't be any more traditional.

Tradition in the Heart of Islington

I place the order and attempt to pay with a crisp twenty.   The bar staff are holding out a chip and pin reader.  We are both confused as to where I should insert the note.  Or maybe, I just have to press it on top.

The pub was great - we sat at the high bar stools and discussed many things, including my exercise regime.

The beer was on the cusp of being unable to justify its price.

The Earl of Essex, Danbury Street, Beavertown Neck Oil

By Christ, I can say I have lived, for I have imbibed the much heralded Beavertown Neck Oil.

It's pungent floral aromas and taste meant I wished it was a Timothy Taylor Landlord.   Maybe some things just aren't for me.

This is another traditional looking pub - but one with a hidden surprise.   Around the back of the island bar, is their own brewing facility.

A pub.... 

.... And a Brewery

So four pubs in Islington, all with something to offer the beer tourist.  We are two thickies from the sticks but we have an observation and a question?

In three of the four pubs, standard tables - not at all suitable for dining - had "Reserved for xxxx at X O'clock" on them.   For example,. the re-purposed school desk in the above photo belonged to Meredith from 6:30pm.

When did it become a thing that you could reserve a drinking table in pubs?   

In our local, if you leave your chair for a moment, you fall prey to the 5 Second Rule.

Odd.   And we hope this is something that London isn't thinking of exporting.

03/11/18 - The Hole in the Wall, Waterloo

There's been a new entry for Waterloo in the Good Beer Guide since my last visit, just before the latest 2019 release.

It's fair to say that I would not have entered the Hole in the Wall unless I had been "guided".

It's not a looker

Never judge a book by its cover, they say, so I man up an enter the least attractive of my many ticks.

What's inside?   Well, more than you would expect is the answer.   There is a smaller bar to one side but that's packed, so I head the larger room.

Its near windowless and exactly what you'd expect from a railway arch.   The rugby watching punters are happy enough.

Saturday Afternoon, 3pm.

I managed to find a high stool to block people at the bar.   Not totally my fault - I find a large gap but am told my the mo'vembered, hirsute  bar man to keep that bit free for service area.   I am forced to cuddle up close to an older couple and learn their experienced ways.   Pick your glass up when a train rumbles overhead, as everything rattles. 

It reminded me of the dinner party scene when Morgan Freeman visits Brad Pitt at the start of Seven.

Only thing left to describe is the beer quality.   It may have been the ceremonial glass but the Hogsback T.E.A. was better than I've ever previously experienced.

Another result for the GBG.

Afternoon T.E.A.

03/11/18 - London Countryway Stage 9 - West Byfleet to Sunningdale

Distance - 10 Miles
Start - West Byfleet
Finish - Sunningdale
Geocaches - 7
Pub - The Broomhall Hutt, Sunningdale
Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7, Stage 8


No one would have believed you could walk in England's South East and experience such wilderness.

In Stage 9 of the London Countryway, we cross from Surrey to Berkshire via two distinct landscapes - the urban oasis of the Basingstoke Canal and two commons, Horsell and Chobham.

Its a short distance from West Byfleet station to the Basingstoke Canal.  I've walked it before, last time turning right and heading for Weybridge.  Today, its left and towards Woking.   Pleasant walking seeing how many of the houses have accommodated the canals into the back gardens.  Private boat mooring inlets and extravagant decking with tree houses were admired for their owner's vision.

The canal was derelict when KC wrote the guide to the Countrway.   Nice to see that sometimes things do get better.

Easy Walking along the canal

A short length of road walking delivers me to the heavily wooded Horsell Common.  If the name sounds familiar, you've probably read the opening line of the blog in Richard Burton's voice. 
Location for the first martian attacks in War of the Worlds.

Yes, I was singing "the chances of anything coming from Mars...."

The link to the next common is via equestrian fields and skirting the edge of an airfield.  If I had been quicker on the camera draw, I could have provided an impressive take off photograph.  The footpaths run right at the end of the runway.

Instead, you can make do with a sign to live your life by.

Sound Sentiment 

Onto the most surprisingly of all the commons encountered today and on previous legs.  I've never heard of Chobham common before today and you don't expect such vast swathes of wild heath land to be present so close to London.   574 hectares, apparently.   It takes me a good 90 minutes to walk across it, encountering more birds than people.

Surrey Wilderness

The common butts right up against Sunningdale - the end station of today's walk.   Not really heard of Sunningdale either and the locals don't seem to refer to it by this name.  Both the pub and the OS Map are marked Broomhall.

I'd checked on Google Maps before heading off to see what post walk entertainment was available.  Nothing really came up, so I vowed to just see what was there when I arrived.

An Event

An unexpected pub

The Broomhall Hutt is geared up for diners.  Initially, I thought post walk thirst was to be sated by Doom Bar but closer inspection showed a Rebellion Brewery IPA.

Never sure of the quality of ale in establishments like this, I asked for a sample and was provided with a rather large 1/4 pint measure.   It was perfect.   And the sample helped top up and under poured pint.

Holiday's are coming!

The London Countryway keeps delivering... today was a beautiful and varied walk.