28/05/22 - The Didsbury Dozen

Distance - 2 Miles

Pubs - 11 (!), Good Beer Guide Tick #683

Walk Inspiration 

An Improvised Map - (Google Maps only allows 10 Destinations on a Route)

There's a few of these epic pub crawls knocking about. The Otley Run in Leed, the Monopoly Pub Crawl in London, for example.. Somewhere along the way I made a note of the Didsbury Dozen for a time when I was in the area.  Stage 3 of the Greater Manchester Ringway dropped me off on at 1pm on a Saturday afternoon, with nothing else in the diary apart from the evening Champions League Final.  

There's quite a few on-line resources, blogs, and historical forum posts for planning. However, nothing stays the same. The main resource I planned to use has already lost the Greenfinch. To Flats. I'll substitute the Nelson.  According to blogs, it was possible to complete with "12 traditional pubs and no poncy wine bars". Forums from the late 90's suggest "You are a puff if you only drink halves". To the unreconstructed of the last century, "I am a puff".

A rambler having an (admittedly impressive) post walk drink in 12 pubs will make a lengthy and dull blog.  I'll tell the story in photographs. Which may well be dull but at least it will be short(er).    

#1 - The Didsbury - Chef and Brewer hangout for middle class dogs.  TT Landlord.

#2 - Ye Olde Cock - Directly opposite, punters hoovered up by #1. Paulaner Weissbier

#Dead - The Famous Crown.  Famous for being closed.  Goodbye, no beer.

#3 - Royal Oak - Proper Marstons pub, with a lovely interior.  Ringwood Boondoggle.

#4 - Good Beer Guide Tick at the Hydes Fletcher Moss.  Celebrated with a pint of Lowry.

#5 - The Nelson, a substitue.  Horse Racing (TV 1).  Football (TV2).  Iron Maiden (Jukebox).  Staropramen.  

#6 - Dog and Partridge - So good, I didn't even recognise as a Greene King.  Landlord.

#7 - The Dockyard - Huge TV Screen showing the Grimsby Wrexham 5-4 Ding Dong.  A proper game of football.  Staropramen.

#8 - Still Halves.  Just 11% Straffe Hendrik.  Champions League in jeopardy for more than just Scousers

#9 - Wine and Wallop.  Poncy wine bar.  Fine club sandwich.  And Chips.  And Lowenbrau.

#10 - The Railway.  Like all pubs named The Railway, earthy.  Holt Bitter

#11 - A finale - The Metropolitan.  A monster barn of a pub.  Landlord to reflect on how I spend my leisure hours. 

That's if they let me in.  I am dressed as a 10 drink in rambler

28/05/22 - Greater Manchester Ringway - Stage 3 - Bramhall to Didsbury

Start - Bramhall Railway Station

Finish -  Didsbury

Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2

Distance - 7 Miles

Geocaches - 3 

Walk Inspiration

A change of plan for Stage 3 of the Greater Manchester Ringway. I have heard about something called the "Didsbury Dozen". With an afternoon free, I'll start at Bramhall to ensure that I finish at Didsbury.

Good use of my System One day pass.  Swinton Train Station is (wo)manned, so there is someone to ask about an elusive public transport ticket that is unavailable from automated machines and newsagents recommended on the website. Three trains and I am alighting at Bramhall - a positively leafy suburb of Stockport.

Once through the grounds of Bramhall Hall - A Tudor manor house never actually seen on route, so no photos - there's not a great deal to shout about this easy walk.

It follows a hidden trail along Ladybrook stream. A corridor through the housing estates of Cheadle Hulme and Cheadle - where we do surface for refreshment. I, of course, am saving myself for the 12 pubs of Didsbury.

Sheltered Path to Bramhall Hall

Wild meadows alongside Ladypool Stream

Cheadle Church (pubs are available)

Picking up the Mersey, south of Didsbury for the "Didsbury 12"

22/05/22 - The Thames Path from the Perch at Binsey

Distance - 5 Miles

Geocaches - 1 x Adventure Lab Cache

Pub - The Perch

Summer is here. The Thames has wild swimmers.  And I am not just talking about the Cows.

Dunking Cows at Port Meadow

With added humans

This is a wonderful walk, that you could spend all day enjoying - should you include an Oxford City Tour.... easily accessible from where the Oxford Canal meets the Thames.

Downstream from Binsey - trying to not get annoyed by students on push bikes - criss crossing the Thames, its tributaries and weirs until limbo dancing under the railway lines at Oxford Station for the Canal.

Its not your regular, dumped shopping trolley type of canal. A nature reserve that is subject to re-wilding.  Even the graffiti is artwork.

Oxford to Coventry Canal

Artwork

Leave the canal at Wolvercote - a charming village of three pubs. The White Hart, Jacobs Inn and perhaps more famous, Trout Inn.

The Trout - usually more idyllic but a good lesson in water based construction

The Thames Path is picked back up at Godstow. The ruined abbey - nothing more than a wall - offering little to photograph.

There's no missing the Perch - with a pub sign right on the river path

An example of who you are sharing the path with

The Perch is one of those tourist pubs that I thought would hate but in the end, could only admire.  

A magical entrance through a narrow hedge lined path running over arched ironworks, bedecked with fairy lights.  This leads to an expectedly heaving beer garden, complete with outdoor bar. You can see why its popular.

Quaint little England

We've a table booked for a PHD Student's 24th Birthday. They've put us in a gorgeous conservatory, with wide open french doors. The service is exemplary and surprisingly, they are coping fine with the volume of punters. Its the sort of place where cauliflower cheese is an extra option on a £20 roast dinner. The menu has an additional couple of pages, listing the cigars and port.  

As a working class Brummie, I make do with Hook Norton Hooky. No Sparkler.

Oh, and the bill for four. Fair enough, I suppose. The birthday boy is my son.

21/05/22 - A Wolverhampton Ring - A Summary

Distance - 27 Miles

Stages Walked - 3

Pubs Visited - 10 

Geocaches Found - 11

The Wolverhampton Ring is a 27 mile circular walk around the City.  All stages are easily accessible by public transport and with a high quantity of Good Beer Guide recommended pubs on route, I decided to take my time.  Completion was made over three stages.

Stage 1 - Coseley to Busbury - 8 Miles

Stage 2 - Busbury to Compton - 6 Miles

Stage 3 - Compton to Coseley - 11 Miles

The walking was better than expected.  Surprisingly rural and when in satellite towns, sticking to canals and hidden pathways.

The pubs were excellent.  Some real destination old school pubs, such as Sedgley's Beacon Hotel and some inner city Marston's gems that both surprised and delighted.  

And at Wolverhampton Station - the timeless Great Western, where a taste off between Bathams and Holdens must be held.

Photos at a Flickr Album.

21/05/22 - A Wolverhampton Ring - Stage 3 - Compton to Coseley

Distance - 11 Miles

Geocaches - 4

Pubs - 4 - Good Beer Guide Ticks #678-680

Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2

Third and final stage of the Wolverhampton Ring. A reminder - it's an unofficial, unmarked path that completes a 28 mile circular walk around the City. It's been a fine way to tick off less obvious Good Beer Guide Pubs and this stage is no exception. Four on route - two more close by (I'm not that greedy) and three that are new to me.

An epic, but painless 2 bus, 2 train journey to Compton. The route runs along the canal but alas, the towpath is currently barricaded for repair works. There's not even a gap in the fencing to break through. The Smestow Nature Reserve, running parallel to the canal along a disused railway, providing a suitable alternative.

Look at that lovely new towpath

Former railway line, now well signposted.

Easy walking, which leads to some urban streets until the countryside is found at Penn.  Proper countryside. With cows (out of shot, use your imagination).

Walking in Wolverhampton

Ignoring the first pub available - a Miller and Carter on the Stourbridge Road - I arrive at the Barley Mow, Penn Common - a regular in the Good Beer Guide. I needed to be on my planning toes, as it's in Staffordshire. This is a two county, Good Beer Guide Ramble.

A former farmhouse dated from 1630, where the ceilings are a health hazard for anyone above hobbit height.  

Tricky to find... shared drive access with the Golf Club.  Lucky Golfers

Proof of Age.  We can always trust dates on pub signs.

Beer choice required a test of my loyalties. Sensing the betrayal in my eyes, they poured my Three Tuns Cleric's Cure into a TT Landlord Glass. For the record, I'm also a big fan of HPA and Enville Ale.  It was a win-win-win-win visit.

With much ticking to do, I only had the one.

More countryside through Park Hill and the heights of Ettingshall Park.  If I had stuck to the road, rather than the infinitely superior countryside, I could have had ticks at the Mount Pleasant and Clifton.

Six pubs on a walk is pushing it.

A different approach to Sedgley civilisation but I am soon reminded of my bearings.

Its only the Beacon Hotel, home of Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild

A repeat visit, so blogged there with plenty of photos.  

More or less directly opposite the Beacon is another Good Beer Guide Tick, the White Lion.  From its unassuming exterior, its hard to know how they can compete with such an iconic, destination pub.

Put preconceptions aside

The answer?  How about Thornbridge Jaipur on cask through a sparkler. Superb pint.

Modern Classic

Not much further to the finale at Coseley Train Station - along hidden lanes - to a final Good Beer Guide Tick.

Old Chainyard, Coseley

A cash only, community pub that has an eclectic customer base but covering most of the Black Country boozer bingo card.  

• Pensioners discussing upcoming Benidorm holiday plans.  Tick.
• Old boy coming off the puggie to check his racing winners. Tick.
• Black Country's Number 1 Stiff Little Fingers Fan. Who'd been on the Jukebox.  Unexpected.

Digging out my emergency tenner, I was able to choose one of the two Salopian real ales on offer.

Pub Life:  Black Country

Two minutes to the station and that's Wolverhampton walked.  Not a bad way to spend three Saturdays.

14/05/22 - Greater Manchester Ringway - Stage 2 - Sale Water Park to Didsbury

Start - Sale Water Park Metrolink

Finish -  The Gateway, Didsbury

Previous Stages - Stage 1

Distance - 5 Miles

Geocaches - 4 

Good Beer Guide Tick - #677

Walk Inspiration

A Quick blog to record the 2nd Stage of the Greater Manchester Ringway.

The only complexity is paying public transport to get there. It is possible to buy a combined Train/Tram ticket but Swinton is an unmanned station and the ticket machine does not sell them.  Somehow, I have a Photo ID SystemOne Card but absolutely no idea how to use it. The sooner the King of the North sorts out integrated ticketing in Mancester, the better.

Alight at Sale Water Park - where all of this walk follows the nascent River Mersey. Broken bridges stopping access to the correct side of the water for the official route but either side will do. 

Wrong side of the water at Jackson's Bridge

Today's view

A bit of woodland.  A bit of parkland, through Fletcher Moss Gardens.  Nothing to photograph, until we reach the end.  One day, the finale to all my walks will be a Good Beer Guide Pub. A Good Beer Guide Pub that you access via its own staircase.

The Gateway from above

They are very proud of their Good Beer Guide status. And why wouldn't they be?  A delightful Moorhouse Straw Dog that was even cheaper than the advertised £2.10 when included in a meal deal.

The Mappiman Spoons Love In Continues.

12/05/22 - The Good Beer Guide Pubs of Margate

Pubs - 4

Good Beer Guide Ticks - #674 and 675

A final, undiscovered Kentish town - Margate.  A place I have been keen to explore since reading that it was "up and coming". Seaside, close to London, close to the Continent. It has potential as a future Mappiman home.

If they do something with that block of flats that you see on exiting the station.

The rest of the views are lovely. We think we have been here before but it's simply faux memories from watching Only Fools and Horses repeats.

The Harbour - A good place for a pub or two.

An afternoon to kill before our scheduled 4:30pm epic train journey back to the Midlands.

Harbour Arms, Stone Pier, Darkstar Hophead

Two micro pubs at the end of the pier - an idyllic spot to sit and drink. Opening times advertised at midday but for 20 minutes past the hour, we are looking at a gap in a sliding door, hoping it opens further.  Eventually, we give in, pop our head through and are told that the bar staff haven't turned up yet but we can have a pint if we want.  

Of course we want.  Even if we are unsure who is serving us.  Even if it is a gravity pour.

Early doors at the Micropub..... The kent pub scene in a photo

A bit of aimless wandering around waiting for the Good Beer Guide places to open at 3pm leads us to Sheldons.  A pub where karaoke is taking place at 1pm.  At least we think it was karaoke.  You want to see the pubs we turned down before we got here. A dreadful pint of London Pride is probably not the best preparation for a 5 hour train journey.

Tastebuds are revived at Little Swift - a charming half deli, half micro pub. I thought the 2/3rds of Verdant Bloom and Deya Steady Rolling Man, with a £4 olive side were expensive. Then my walking partner went and spent £50 on wine, cheese and general charcuterie. At least he is returning home with gifts.

What does £4 of olives look like?  50p each.

Fez, High Street, Unremembered Cider

A former chemist

This is the future of drinking. Sat in an antique barber's chair, drinking cider because you cannot take any more gravity fed beer and being schooled on English pre-medieval kings by a 76 year old.

It was my fault. I shouldn't have mentioned King Canute.

View from a Barber's Chair.. Cider.

The bible describes it as eclectically furnished. They are not wrong.

Two Halves, Marine Drive, Bedlam Brewery Amagansett

That's all folks...  A final Micro

An hour before train departure and a final micro is a fitting end to our Kent odyssey.

Sea views through the open front.... it felt like we really were on holiday.  

Just as we are leaving.

11/05/22 - The Good Beer Guide Pubs of Whitstable and Herne Bay

Pubs - 6

Good Beer Guide Ticks - #671 to #673

Walking the Saxon Shore Way came to an abrupt end at Seasalter's Oyster Pearl. A combination of aching legs, bad blisters and a highly efficient public transport system.

An afternoon drinking in Whitstable before heading to our digs in Herne Bay to check out the micros.

First an apology to Kent CAMRA. In planning, I used the 2022 Good Beer Guide (of course) and an old CAMRA book called "Fifty More Great Pub Crawls" to create our afternoon.  It was the latter that recommended a couple of pubs that had us asking "How the hell did this get into the Good Beer Guide?"

The answer was.... they hadn't. Our instincts to quickly leave the New Inn, Prince Albert and to a lesser extent, the rather pretty but Shep's led Smack Inn were fully justified.

I also missed a Good Beer Guide Tick at the 12 Taps.  Doh!

The Ship Centurion, High Street, Goachers Silver Staru

Perfectly located. Opposite our bus stop.

And look at this beauty....

Everything you could want from an old school boozer. A delightfully friendly welcome from an enthusiastic and knowledgeable landlady. Great beer.... I will miss Goachers in my Midland home town. Horse racing on the TV. The promise of a regular meat raffle.

Pubs are just so easy to get totally right.  It's a wonder there aren't more doing it.

Pub Life

Lunch

I'd asked on a Facebook walking group for Kentish recommendations for food and pubs. There was a general agreement that Whitstable's Chippy - V.C.Jones should not be missed.  It's all about the beef dripping, apparently

Lunch

It was an old school delight - and other afternoon patrons couldn't get enough of it. The chips were good but the fish was not a patch on any Midlands chippy. Sorry Kent, our batter is better.

Full-up and getting to the next pub with a 70l Rucksack after a week on the Goachers, was a problem.

Yes, with much hilarity, I got stuck.  Children pointed.

Old Neptune, Marine Terrace, Harveys Sussex Best

Right on the Saxon Shore Way (if you don't use a bus)

I waxed lyrical about Harvey's Sussex Best on the train down to Kent and was hoping to find it so I could prove it's quality. After two pints, my walking partner agreed it's one of the best beers money can buy. 

Liquid Perfection

The pub was a hoot. A combination of three cockneys on rose wine holding court at the end of the bar, a jukebox and a frenetic turnover of customers - most better Ramblers than us - made for plenty of banter.

#1 Thing Learned..... Johnny Cash was only popular because all of his live audiences were in jail.

Parkerville, High Street, Herne Bay, Butcombe Citra

A Former Music Shop

The evening and we are fully in the land of the micros. I counted 4, we visited 3 and 2 are in the Good Beer Guide. Including this.

A very rumbustious atmosphere full of blokes who have just clocked off work and are working their way through the top shelf, to supplement their gravity poured pints.

There was a lovely looking live comedy/music stage towards the rear but not enough interest for us to hang around to find out if anyone was playing. Wednesday night... unlikely.

Bouncing Barrel, Bank Street, Saltaire DDH Citra

Limited research has failed to establish what this once was.

I've commented before about the stares you receive when entering a MicoPub. Here, the stares started before we had crossed the threshold. The door was open, I was waiting for my walking partner to get supplies and the landlady, and associated customers, were all eye-balling me. A comment that we were visiting if the they would have us, was pleasantly received.  Personal introductions made we soon fell into quite a detailed conversation about the history of Kent Micro Pubs.  It all started in a nearby town.

This is a no bar micro, with gravity fed beers served from a cold room.

We stayed for one, in the vain hope of finding a pub with the football on.

The Firkin Frog, Station Road, Cider!

We failed to find the football..... but guess what... another Micro!

A former kitchen show room.

The first Micropub opened in Herne Bay but not in the Good Beer Guide. This had beer dispensed from proper hand-pulls but the offerings were from breweries that I had never heard off. The last two gravity pulls had put in a mind to either avoid risk or risk everything.

Spurred on my a recent Beer O'Clock Podcast on Cider, I moved to the light side. For the first time since I was a teenager.

It was like there was a party in my mouth and everyone had been invited.

Mrs M is delighted I have another poison in my armoury.