01/12/19 - Malmesbury Geocaching and the Whole Hog Pub

Distance - 9 Miles
Geocaches - 29
First Geocache
Good Beer Guide Tick #433

The annual target for Geocaches found remains 1000.   I'm not doing so well in 2019 - stuck in the low 700s and making little progress in the Winter months.

So, on the day when most are opening the first window on their advent calendar, I'm heading down to Malmesbury for smileys.   Incredibly, I've not been there before - despite having everything I need in a walking base.  It's packed with historical interest and has a Good Beer Guide Tick to investigate.

The walk starts in Malmesbury Lea - parking outside the rather handsome Rose and Crown.   On another day, I would have given Arkells beer a second chance - having not found a single decent pint when walking the Western end of the Ridgeway.   It looks like the 8th December will be a riot for those that appreciate comedy names.

Nice Pub, seemingly in the middle of nowhere

A bit of blue for the dads

Onto the caching.   Despite this being an elderly round (placed in 2011), I'd noticed that it was recently maintained.   With new logs in all caches, I felt like the First to Find King.   The walking was reasonable - mainly agricultural land, visiting the tiny hamlets of Little and Great Somerford.  The highlight was the River Avon and associated mill houses.  The mud didn't get past knee height.

Lovely Winters Day

River Avon

The Final Cache

Thanks for Rothallo for the continued maintenance.   Lovely to see people looking after their caches.

Onto the 2nd reason for being here.   Malmesbury's small population of around 5000 souls belies its historical importance.   The only Good Beer Guide Tick, the Whole Hog, is in the centre of it - directly between the Market Cross and the Abbey's grounds, resting place of the First king of England.

Beer Garden Feature

A wiki search will tell you all you need to know.   Onto the pub.

Get there early for the best seats in the house

I wasn't sure what to expect from the Whole Hog - advertised externally as a Restaurant and Bar.   I needn't have worried - this is no GastroPub abomination.   The formal dining is kept in one half and the other half is solely for the drinkers.   And there is much on offer - five hand-pulls, wooden partitions and the best seats in the house - in front of huge glass windows, providing the perfect vantage point to keep an eye on the parking in the Market Square.

Needing to wash the mud from my geocaching hands, I took advantage of the facilities.   Fosters, Kronenbourg and more bizarrely, Estrella, the victim of the Landlords sense of humour.

Worse offenders than Kronenbourg and Estrella in the lager world?

Lovely pubby feel on a Sunday lunchtime.   My Ramsbury Farmer's best was a perfect low strength bitter, served in the breweries branded glass - a feat I found impressive, when I hadn't heard of the brewery before.

Sunday Lunchtime, Malmesbury

Me, Dicking around with a GoPro

A successful day in Wiltshire.