23/04/22 - Shoulder of Mutton, Holcombe

Distance - 5 Miles

Geocaches - 5 and an Adventure Lab Cache

Walk Inspiration

A weekend in Manchester, where we find ourselves babysitting the closest we will probably get to grandchildren, our daughter's Guide Dog in Training Boarder, Bee.  

I am tasked with finding a walk that is dog friendly in the Greater Manchester Area. The dog wants somewhere off lead. I want a reasonable pub. Visit Manchester has a number of leaflets available for download. My introduction to the South Pennines are the villages of Ramsbottom and Holcombe.

We start near the Peel Tower and head down a cobbled trackway called the Holcombe Old Road.  This would not be out of place in an episode of Last of the Summer Wine. It's Brooksbottom before Bee can be allowed of lead and she has a fine frolic in the stream.  

Old Holcombe Road

Running under Peel Tower

Guide Dog in training Bee testing the water at Brooksbottom

A lovely section of woodland leads to the Irlam Valley way and into Ramsbottom. Lovely little village, with a very independent feel to the shops in the high street. An Adventure Lab Cache would have been easier if we had not got distracted by the Craft Beer Micro Pub.  The locations and information contained within did prove useful for our eventual refreshment choice.

Coming into Ramsbottom along the River Irwell

Its a stiff climb out of Ramsbottom to Holcombe - onto the edge of moorland. We had noticed the sturdy looking Shoulder of Mutton on the drive in.  

Handsome.  Sturdy.

As a tourist, I would be happy enough with the history contained on their website.  A pub since 1751, with a disorderly reputation. Cockfighting continued long after the the 1859 ban and into the 1930s.  Added irony, as the Peel Tower monument overlooking the pub is in memory of the founder of the modern Police Force.

Timothy Taylor Landlord is not often turned down but I went experimental for a fine, first pint of Moorhouse Brewery Blonde Witch.

The final location for the Adventure Lab Cache is here, so a quick read up details further pub information. It was damaged in a WW1 Zeppelin bomb attack, where the customers had to shelter in the pub cellars.

I can feel a new tick list coming on. So far, two entries - this and London's Dolphin Tavern.

18/04/22 - Thames Path at Newbridge, Oxfordshire

Distance - 5 Miles

Geocaches - 1

Walk Inspiration - Walks along the Thames Path - Walk 6

Pub - The Maybush

This time last year, it was the weekend that pubs re-opened. In honour of a year without lockdowns, I am back on the Thames Path for the next leg from a lovely little guidebook, with walks from Thames Head to Greenwich.

There is some debate as to whether Newbridge hosts the oldest bridge over the Thames but in my mind, there is no doubt it is the best. Single track, 5 pedestrian escape triangles, C13th construction and importantly, a pub at either end. By virtue of not being a Greene King, the Maybush wins the Mappiman dollar over the Rose Revisited.

The Old Bridge at Newbridge

Eastern Side - Rose Revived

Western Side - The Maybush

Getting the agricultural walking over first, I head to Northmoor. A pretty little village of thatched cottages.  A little pub archaeology - the Dun Cow changed purpose to residential in the 1980s.  Research reveals that it had no bar, with beer dispensed from racked barrels in the kitchen. Sounds dreadful, but there are some lovely photos here. Other research showing that it sold recently for £1.175m.  

It a wonder we have any pubs left, when you consider the value of the real estate but little Northmoor is not a dry village. I am too early for the Red Lion, but at least the new occupants of the Dun Cow are within walking distance of a boozer.

Maybe it was bought by a publican... with deep pockets

An mid point stop off, it you time things properly.

A short distance to Northmoor lock and easy, riverside walking back to Newbridge.

A Geocaching GZ

The Maybush provided a lovely beer garden, organised ordering with an airport Wetherspoons-esque queue at an external bar and a buzzer provided system to tell you when your ciabatta is ready for collection from the chef's hatch.

I'm always left wondering whether there are any batteries in these things and I am sure there is a German word for the relief felt when it finally goes off.

16/04/22 - Centenary Way - Stage 9 - Brinklow

Distance - 7 Miles

Geocaches - 1

Pub - Bulls Head, Brinklow

Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7, Stage 8

Another leg of Warwickshire Weirdness on the Centenary Way. Brinklow is the starting point. A village that you can instantly feel its antiquity from the buildings that align Broad Street. A limited amount of research points to Roman origins and a Motte and Bailey Hillfort.

Heading South West, I find myself walking a narrow corridor between abandoned mineral working.  Grim pits, muddy tracks and a clogged up conveyor belt.  The Centenary Way throws up surprises, not all of them pleasant. 

Abandoned Mineral Workings

Industrial apocalypse but at least the footpath remains

To counteract the grimness the CW serves up Coombe Abbey - A National Trust, former monastery, now hotel and Go Ape family friendly destination. It's weird rambling amongst families doing Easter Egg hunts but it at least offering something easier on the eye.

Chateau..... 

..... Warwickshire Style

Route finding is not the easiest.  The OS Map shows the path going straight through the centre of the hotel.... before disappearing completely.  On the ground, a circuit of the pools is required before a well signposted "permissive path" leads to my exit.

Follow the (permissive) bear

Agricultural walking on the Coventry Way to return to Brinklow and refreshment.

Where there is a choice of 3.  The Raven, a Marstons, family pub.  The White Lion - unsure of its pedigree but WhatPub states it serves Greene King and Landlord.  1 out of 2 ain't bad.

Instead on choose the Bulls Head - despite all the signs indicating avoid.  A children's adventure playground to challenge Croombe Abbey's Go Ape setup. Cask Marque certification has its distractors, but I probably should have taken this as a warning.

Sign of cellarmanship quality

A short measured, on the cusp of ropiness, Oakham Citra providing confirmation. No sandwiches on the menu, but all was no lost. There is a chipper over the road. 

Oakham Citra in the Sunshine.  Chips to follow.

15/04/22 - Long Mynd Classic - Revisited

Distance - 8 Miles

Good Beer Guide Tick #660

Church Stretton, with it's nickname of "Little Switzerland", always has the walks.

Since I've been Good Beer Guide Ticking, it's never had the Good Beer Guide Pubs. Until the 2021 edition, when the Old Coppers Malt House appeared.

Time for our "once every 5 year walk" of what I term the Long Mynd Classic. A gorgeous injection of scenery and increased challenge for when we need a hill fix.

This year's photos;

Carding Mill Valley 

Pole Bank conquered, working around Round Hill

The view along the valley to Caer Caradoc

Onto the pub.

The Old Coppers Malt House is an imposing building at the main crossroads in town. If you use Google Maps, you may be waylaid by the entry opposite. Jaipur is the Indian Restaurant and not an outlet for one of our finest beers on cask.

The Good Beer Guide Tick for "Little Switzerland"

The photo doesn't do justice to the higgledy piggledy nature of the building. Its extension on extension from its original inception in 1587.  

Currently, it may well be the first pub I've blogged that has an Art Gallery built into the fabric of the building.  

And this is not the only unique feature. The bible described how one of the beers is delivered by a Randall device that passes the base beer through additional dry hopping.

In usual Mappiman style, I only determine this post walk. One day, I will do my research properly.  A link here for an explanation.

I did notice four real ales on but stopped counting at Timothy Taylor Landlord.

Was this the one that was Randallised?  Or was it the Carling, drink of choice for the other two patrons at 2pm on a bank holiday.

I'll never know.  Until the 2027 walk.  If I can still manage the climbs.

09/04/22 - London Spiral Walk - Stage 5

Distance - 12 Miles

Start - South Kensington 

Finish - Canada Water

Areas Walked - Chelsea, Battersea, Stockwell, Camberwell, Peckham, Bermondsey, Rotherhithe

Geocaches - 3 and 2 Adventure Lab Caches

Pubs - 3

Previous Walks - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4

The London Spiral creators have little to say about stage 5 on their website. Hell, they don't even recommend starting where the last leg ends - giving up on Battersea as 

"alarming for the solitary walker – a mix of railway embankments, light industrial units, razor wired properties and islanded council blocks"

Not to worry, later in the walk we move into Camberwell, Peckham and Millwall.

I'm a brave solo walker - so pick the route up where I finished in Feb - South Kensington dropping down through Chelsea to Albert Bridge.  On another day, in honour of Jordan, I'd have gone looking for sex.  The punk, not the model. The shop on Kings Road, not the activity.

First distraction of the day is crossing the Albert Bridge and taking a circuitous route across Battersea Park to find the 5 locations of an Adventure Lab Cache.

Albert Bridge - remembering to break stride with my fellow walkers.

No flying pigs over Battersea Power Station today

The most interesting location was the statue of a dog, dedicated to the anti-vivisectionist movement that sparked riots in the early 1900s.  Atlas Obscura has the details but it did get me thinking what would get us rioting in the 2020s.  The Sunday Times (and Martin Lewis) predict fuel poverty, but bizarrely not until it warms up in the summer.

Yes, I walk around London looking like I am about to conquer Kilimanjaro 

Until arrival at Rotherhithe, the remainder of the walking is plodding the streets of possibly the most unloved parts of London.  No carrots in Camberwell.  No three wheelers in Peckham.  Millwall at 2pm when there is a home game is frankly terrifying.  You know that Verve video where he knocks all and sundry down in the street?  I am the rambling polar opposite of Richard Ashcroft.  Stone Island imprints on my Berghaus soft-shell.

So if I'm not recommending the walking, how about the pubs?  Three Good Beer Guide Ticks are available;

The Masons Arms, 169 Battersea Park Road, London Pride

Grade II listed, refurbed in 2019

A rare 10am opener.  The bible states that its 20 keg and 3 cask lines attract a young, affluent crowd.

The two other breakfast time boozers are two gents in their 60s, sharing a table.  One with the Mirror, one with the Star. They say not a word to each other.

My beer choice was a little conservative with a Cask London Pride.  I could have spent half an hour looking at the Signature Brew Tap Take Over menu on the 20 keg lines.

When there is no ESB, take Pride

The Surprise, 16 Southville

A midday opener, for which I was 30 minutes too early as I reached Larkhall Park - just south of the New Covent Garden Market.

Included in the blog for the fine signage.

Ram's Revenge

The Hermit's Cave, 28 Camberwell Church Street, Adnams Ghost Ship

Imposing and curved

12:16pm and the door is bolted but that magical sound of scrape-age is heard whilst I am peering through the windows, looking for signs of life. No more pubs till Rotherhithe.

It's been run by the same family for 25 years and they've left Nan in charge of lunchtime opening. I sit under the TV, which she valiantly manages to turn on for the Grand National.  Which starts in 4hrs, 57 minutes time. A fine conversation ensues, where she details her life history following her emigration from Ireland as a 17 year old and I share that I just saw a fox. Bold as you like, walking down the footpath around the corner like it owned the place.

Ghost Ship on the Mary Celeste of Pubs

Lovely to see an unspoiled, traditional Victorian pub.  Get them whilst you can.  The only other punter in my 30 minute visit was a cheeky fecker asking to use the loo's without buying a drink.

Back to the walk, which is meant to finish at Canada Water tube station.  With time on my side, I firstly divert to Rotherhithe for a bit of Thames Path beauty, a 2nd Adventure Lab Cache and a revisit to the Mayflower.

Got to see the sights

Too good a pub to miss.