22/06/19 - Joy's Last Hurrah at the Great Malvern Hotel

Distance - 4 Miles
Good Beer Guide Tick #392


This is our last weekend as Custodians of Guide Dog in Training, Joy.   On Monday, she heads off to big school - extensive training in Harbourne.   From there, if successful, she will be matched with a visually impaired person and become a life changer.

This weekend's challenge was to find somewhere beauitful to walk that offered the chance of a Good Beer Guide Tick.

It's as if I have been saving the Great Malvern Hotel for this very event.   All other pubs, Good Beer or otherwise, have been visited over the years.

The walk - an easy four miles.   We started in town, climbed the 99 Steps to St Anne's Well and then just bimbled to our hearts content until we picniced at Worcestershire Beacon.

No apologies for the dog heavy photo blog this week.

1st Breather of the day - St Anne's Well

Joy with her main handler

Ubiquitous Views

Hot day in Malvern

The Highest dog in Worcestershire

Spring water at St Anne's Well can only go so far, so we stop in town - first for ice creams (its that sort of day) and then the Great Malvern Hotel, where jolification is the order of the day.

Top Signage

Yes its a hotel, but they have done a decent job of creating a pubby vibe in the bar.   They've gone as far as employing bar hangers on stools to block access and errant bar staff, so there is no one to serve you.

By the time we left, there were staff and bar hangers had gone

They'd also done some decent advertising - both of the fact that the nearest Indian must be unlicenced and the Good Beer Guide.

Top Class Reading Material and Wine for a tenner.

So why are they in the GBG?   Well, several real ales were on.   Wye Valley HPA, a Malvern Brewery Bitter that I would have had if it wasn't being changed and in deference to the weather, the selected Hopback Summer Lightening.

Summer Time

Joy enjoyed the under table shade and the breeze coming in from the full length windows.

The final blog with Joy.  We'll miss evening cuddles, her enthusiasm on walks and the poking of heads around pub doors to ask if its OK to bring in a dog.

Good Luck Joy!