30/09/19 - Stirling - City Walk and Pub Ticking

Distance - 5 Miles
Walk Inspiration - AA 1001 Walks - Walk 951
Pubs - 3 - Good Beer Guide Ticks - #421 and #422

City number 2 on our Scotland by Train tour.   A short 30 minutes from Glasgow and we are dropping cases off at the Premier Inn and heading out sightseeing.

Architectural wonder number one is the wonderfully named Cambuskenneth Abbey - the other side the River Forth and seemingly at the end of a housing estate.   We are just in time to see the final resting place of King James III.   It closes from October 1st.

Crossing the River Forth

The Wonderfully named Cambuskenneth Abbey.   Note housing estate

Riverside walking to Stirling Bridge, with super views over to Wallace monument.

Wallace Monument

Stirling Bridge

We know we need to get to Stirling Castle, but its a navigational nightmare.   I also hadn't properly looked at the walk details and missed out on the Beheading Stone on Gowanhill but you can guess its purpose from its description and Google can do the rest.    We eventually make it to the castle entrance and I'd like to say time was the reason for not visiting when the real reason was £32 worth of beer tokens.   Besides, there's plenty to see in the grounds - including some lovely views.

Stirling Castle

Views back across the graveyard

Churchyard

All this history can make you thirsty, so how nice to find a Good Beer Guide pub, practically in the Castle Grounds that offers good food, beer and service at a reasonable price.   The Cairngorm Brewery Trade Winds was easily pint of the week.   Must say something for serving LocALE.

Mrs M doing all she can to avoid being first at the bar

The rest of the walk involves winding our wind down through the ancient streets.   Plenty to look at and admire, so I end up with far too many photos to share here.   Its that sort of place.

Following a purple inspired rest at the Premier Inn, we head back out into the night with the goal of getting the other Good Beer Guide Tick.

But there's no way we are walking past a pub called the Curly Coo.   Mainly a whisky joint, but there was a single handpull, a decent Inveralmond Lia Fail.   A nice old school boozer, with a central bar and leather topped seating.

Life inside the Curly Coo

The Settle Inn is the other Good Beer Guide Tick.   In the Castle Foothills and claiming to be the oldest pub in Stirling.   It certainly looks the part.

Settle Inn

Winter is coming, as the coal burner was in full flight.   Every table taken in the small bar - so Mrs M headed to a back room and nearly got involved in Bingo.   Excuses were made that she had forgotten her big dobber and we made the cardinal sin of sitting at the bar high stools and blocking access.

Two hand pulls on - Tribute and Hobgoblin Gold.   Both very unexpected for different reasons but mainly for the sake of National pride.

29/09/19 - Glasgow City Walk - Kelvingrove Park and Three Judges

Distance - 4 miles
Geocaches - 3
Walk Inspiration - 40 Town and Country Walks in Glasgow, Walk 1

A Sunday morning walk, where we have to be careful to avoid the detritus from a big Saturday in a Party City.    Fortunately, I had a guide for when I was glued to the GPS, shouting "watch where your stepping".   Glasgow has come down with some sort of virus.

Not that navigation is an issue in the City.   Its a grid system, with steep side roads that will have you longing to re-watch Bullitt to call out the San Franciscan land marks.

The Sentiment from Last Nights Pub Blog.

Once at Charing Cross, a bridge takes you to the leafier suburbs, with fine Georgian houses.   A direct route through Kelvingrove Park and a meeting with the Distinguished Gentlemen's Motorcycle Club.  Think men with fine clothes, waxy mustaches and classic Triumphs.

Architecturally, we have the University Tower and a couple of Art Museums.

Fountain in Kelvingrove Park

University Tower

Museum

A simple walk - and as its gone 12pm, time for refreshment.

Mrs M spots the Three Judges from over the road and has a pointless question - "we're not going in there are we?"

The Distinguished Gentlemen are Riding on By.  We're going in.

This is a proper locals/blokes pub.   Mrs M asks me if its even got a ladies toilet.   I cannot confirm, but I only hope that if it has, it is bigger than the gents.

A collection of silent men sit at the bar with newspaper.   I assume they are all called Tony or Terry as their monogrammed pint pots have a big T.

The landlady hasn't got around to putting the pump clips on but assures me the closest thing she has to a Boring Brown Bitter is a Spire Ale from Stonehenge Brewery.   Yep, after last night visits to Cheshire and Cambridgeshire, I'm now imbibing from Wiltshire. 

I really thought there would be more locALE brews to try.   Pub 5 and only one Scottish Brewery found.

For the sake of being mocked, Doom Bar Branded glasses always reversed.

Onward with the walk and we have a destination in mind.   The Still Game Matinee performance is 2:30pm.

End of an Era - The Final Still Game Show

28/09/19 - The Raven, The State and The Pot Still, Glasgow

Walking - and the Babbity Bowster - ticked off in the day.   This left darkness to explore some more of Glasgow's Good Beer Guide entries. 

The Raven, Renfield Street, 1924 Mobberley Brewhouse - Tick #417

Evening pub visits usually mean external photographs are at a premium.   I must have been feeling brave at pub #1

Glasgow - Early Evening

Look carefully, and you'll notice bouncers on the door.   Proving again, that its doesn't matter about the establishment (micros, clubs, JDW), if the beer is rated, it will get in the guide.

The bouncers were only there to hand out ear protectors.   Surely a candidate for the loudest GBG entry and I include the time someone asked for a Fosters in Covent Garden's Harp.   Catering for the casual diner, the football fan and disco queens.  Dogs are allowed in until 9pm.

Very popular but friendly people happy to share tables.

And the ale?   Surprisingly from Cheshire.   Greater distances to come - by the time I got to the GBG entries in Stirling, I was drinking Cornish.

The State, Holland Street - Oakham Ales Thrill Seeker - Tick #418

We couldn't hope to find a more traditional bar than the State, providing endless fun for Social Media checkins.   If Mappiman was in a real state, he could have had a lesson in Glaswegian geography.

Ceiling Mounted Street Map

A full circuit of the central island bar showed that the ales here are from Cambridgeshire.   Several Oakhams available.   I've heard Green Devil talked about with the same reverence as Titanic Plums but at 6%, I was in danger of being an expert on the Glaswegian road network.

Instead, a highly enjoyable Oakham Thrill Seeker.   That 1.2% reduction could make all the difference.

Especially when the next stop is a famous whisky bar.

In every way, my type of establishment

Pot Still, Hope Street, Dailuaine - Tick #418

Just as no visit to Edinburgh will be complete without a visit to the Guildford Arms, I cannot see myself coming to Glasgow without popping into the Pot Still.

Saturday night and its everything that Britain is famous for with its pubs and inns.   Packed with excitement and punters that have traveled far and wide.   Being from Worcestershire, we were almost classed as locals.


In a pub with 400 malt whiskies and a hand printed guide in 1980's stationery binding, it would be rude not to experiment.   A first try of a Speyside Dailuaine, which is now saved in my to buy list.

We sat in a corner and quickly made friends.

Mrs M making friends with a total Fuss Pot

The fuss pot's owner was just as keen to make friends, passing on a drinking toast that could only come from Scotland.

"Here's Tae Us.... Wha's Like Us.... Damn Few.... and they're all a'deid."

Sometimes a single venue can make an entire trip worthwhile.

28/9/19 - Glasgow's Necropolis Walk and Babbity Bowster

Distance - 4.5 Miles
Geocaches - 3
Walk Inspiration - 40 Town and Country Walks in Glasgow - Walk 3



The start of a 3 city mini tour of Scotland, with a promise of no Still Game Live spoilers in any of my blogs.

There will be walking, geocaching and Good Beer Guide Pub Ticks.   If we were feeling particularly brave, there could have been a visit to Glasgow's oldest pub.

Not a Good Beer Guide Tick but is the Oldest 

The first place of interest on our walk is Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis, where there appears to have been a competition for the most ornate monument.   Easy to spend a couple of hours wandering around here, not least because there are fine views over the City to the surrounding countryside.

Glasgow Cathedral

One of many monument photos

Unusually for one of my walks, the refreshment stop is mid way through the walk.   There are 22 GBG ticks in the City and I am keen to make a dent.   First some wonderful street art and then a perfect first tick at the Babbity Bowster.

Splendid Street Art

Proof that I did spell it correctly

You are never sure what you can expect when you go through the doors of a new pub but a full on orchestra pausing so a gentleman can perform a solo ballad was rather unusual.   A hush descends as he starts the first verse and I have to resort to ordering a half of cloudy apple and a Fyne Ales Jarl through the power of mime.

Important to always show respect.

Over the weekend, we talked to a number of Glaswegians who all held this place in massive respect.  From the Parkhead season ticket holder called Tony who used to call in on the way back from the game to another Parkhead season ticket holder call Tony who had his first ever Guinness in there.  Bizarrely, neither of them had heard of the Pot Still, which we will come to in a future blog.

3pm on a Saturday Afternoon in the Babbity Bowster

Full on view, with the GBG Past and Previous advetrtisements

On with the walk and its a tour of Glasgow Green, preparing itself for the Great Scotland Run and a walk along the banks of the Clyde for the 2nd Cathedral.

Glasgow Green Fountain

Along the Clyde

Cathedral #2

Handily enough, the walk heads back into the City Centre - where a Virtual Geocache teaches us a Glasgow tradition that all monuments must wear traffic cones on their heads.   Even the horses.

Wellington's Horse

21/09/19- London Countryway - Stage 19 - Broxbourne to Theydon Bois

Distance - 12 Miles
Start - Broxbourne
Finish - Theydon Bois
Geocaches - 5
Pubs - The Crown - Waltham Abbey, Kings Oak - Epping Forest, The Bull - Theydon Bois
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


The London Countryway is moving towards its end.   With three legs to go, I enter Essex, the final county.

There's no better description for today's leg than "A walk of two halves".

The first half is a four mile stretch southbound on the Lea Valley County Park.  I've walked the River Lea from Source to Mouth, so know exactly what to expect.  If you haven't, imagine a relentless canal, with an arrow straight path dissecting water filled gravel pits to the opposite side.   Throw in lunatic cyclists with their painfully annoying bells and you'll be rather pleased to reach Waltham Abbey.

Lea Valley Country Park in a Picture

Waltham Abbey is a place of interest - lots of history and interesting buildings with a chance of a refreshment stop.  Arriving before the sun has passed the yard arm, I choose the first pub available, the Crown.   Would have been a risk to ignore an 11am opener.   No doubt the McMullens Country Bitter was the first pull of the day and the only thing in its favour was it was not the worst pint of the day.   After navigating the town, I learn that although from the same Brewery, the Welsh Harp looked a more interesting building - separating the church from the market square.   It dripped ancient history.  One for another day.

Marking the entry into the final county

A Rare 11am Opener

What you get for being first in

Impressive Church in the Abbey Grounds

The M25 has been added since Keith Chesterton wrote the guide.  It's kind of fun reading him use terms like "if it will be built".   I wonder if the same will happen with HS2 in the future?

Once the motorway is bridged, its a short section of countryside, before reaching Epping Forest.

Out the other side of Waltham Abbey

The forest is picked up at the Visitor Centre, where there is fine looking, rambling monster of a pub.  You can see by the skies in the pictures that it's summer's final hurrah and with plenty of time available, it would be rude not to stop.

Kings Oak

Not wanting to risk a Greene King IPA, I think I've played it safe by going reassuringly expensive.  Yet somehow, they cannot even keep Stella Artois well.   Headless, soapy, with a scummy top.   At least they kindly filled my water bottle for the last few miles.

The second half of this walk proves a delight, the mighty trees offering plenty of shade and broad rides taking me all the way to Theydon Bois.   Only one photo required, so you can get the drift.

Perfect Place to walk in an Indian Summer

Theydon Bois, the penultimate stop on the Eastbound Central Line, offers a couple of choices for refreshment.   The Bull, a Charles Wells Pub, proved the correct choice and the one closest to the Station.   Low ceilings inside, lovely garden outside and a good pint of Youngs Bitter saved the beer day out.

Charming Theydon Bois

I'm back on the trail in October for another unvisited town.   Brentwood.  Who knows what I'll find.

15/09/19 - Heart of England Way 30 - The Bell at Moreton in Marsh

Distance - 7 Miles
Geocaches - 1
Pubs - Coach and Horses, Longborough and The Bell, Moreton in Marsh
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, Stage 20, Stage 21, Stage 22, Stage 23, Stage 24, Stage 25, Stage 26, Stage 27, Stage 28, Stage 29


Out with the old and in with the new, as September sees the release of the 2020 Edition of the Good Beer Guide, known only in this blog as "the bible".   Ticks have been moved over between editions and and London appears to need completely restarting again.

Let the Ticking Re-Commence

Moreton-in-Marsh is easier.  It had one entry last year.   It has one entry this year.   The Bell remains a valid post walk destination.

From the heart of this bustling tourist trap of a town, we head west towards Batsford.   Decent paths shared with puppy walkers upsetting Mrs M with their tiny charges, who bizarrely appears to be canine broody.  Our destination, Bourton-on-the-Hill, where the truly thirsty could imbibe at the Horse and Groom.

Heading out on the Monarchs Way

Horse and Groom at the top of the Hill

It's at the church where we pick up the Heart of England Way and this little stretch is as fine as the walking gets on this LDP.   We are slightly elevated, with an endless vista of patchwork fields to the left and Sezincote Hall delivering a taste of architectural India on the right.   Even the sun comes out.  Bliss.

The finest walking on the HOEW

Sezincote Hall, peeking through the trees

For a Mr and Mrs Mappiman Selfie

At the end of this stretch?  Longborough - a quintessentially charming Cotswold Village.   I've walked through it a couple of times, always before the Coach and Horses has scrapped back the bolt to allow in thirsty ramblers.   Not today.... it's 12:03pm and as Mrs M didn't have the requisite change to use the space age loos in Moreton, facilities are required.

Its a Donnington Tied house, so we can expect a wonderful building and beer that's a slight improvement on Arkells.

Lovely Beer Garden

Beautiful Building.  Scrumpy drinking American consulting the Map.  Stone dog keeps watch

The walk back to Moreton is 2 miles of gentle countryside on the Monarch's Way,  delivering us to the Duck Pond.   A well walked area means there's little chance of unfound Geocaches but there is a new Church Micro, should you be able to get a car driver to pause to let you cross the road.

Walking Back to Moreton

For a Church Micro Geocache in a lovely location

Onto the first tick from the 2020 bible.   I've booked a table for 13:30 and its 13:28 when we breech the threshold, having looked at the tenuous signs proclaiming Tolkein significance.   Mrs M mutters under her breath about it being like Tintagel and King Arthur all over again.

Ding Dong, its a gorgeous Cotswold Pub

Prancing Pony, Frodo Baggins local.

Its much quieter than you would expect.   The bar staff are nearly equal to punters - of which there are four elderly diners and yours truly.

Its therefore rather disappointing to be told there's a 45 minute wait for food.   What on earth is the Chef up to?   He can't be cooking for anyone else. 

At least there's a good choice of Ales to keep me entertained.   Prescott Hill Climb and North Cotswold Shagweaver would have been more loyal to the area, but as I failed to find Timothy Taylor Landlord anywhere on our recent holiday in Austria, there could only be one winner.

14:15 and the elderly's food comes out.   A parsnip is dropped into a drink.   There are complaints about burned Yorkshire Puddings.   Al Dente Vegetables need to be rigorously defended by a harassed manager.

We are glad we don't work in Public Service Jobs. 

Although I did need to ask where the head on my Landlord had disappeared to.

The Map offered no clues