25/05/24 - Geocaching at RAF Desborough and the Good Beer Guide Pubs of Market Harborough

Pots and (half) Pints

A 44 Mystery Cache trail on the Northamptonshire/Leicestershire borders. The plan is that you solve a puzzle to reveal the actual co-ordinates and it provides "GeoArt" on the map. I could show today's example but I made such a poor job of finding tubes taped to branches in woodland that I have more gaps than a hillbilly's smile.

Geocaching Success!

I had no idea what to expect of the terrain and it was certainly odder than I could have planned. A 7 mile circuit of the former RAF Desborough Airfield. The concrete strips are the runways. What I thought to be agricultural buildings are huge aircraft hangars. Best part of four hours in the field and above is my only photo.

Thinking of how I can improve the blog, I head to Market Harborough. I can investigate the Civil War History, look for lunch and get a couple of Good Beer Guide Ticks.

The most significant event associated with Market Harborough during the Civil War was its proximity to the Battle of Naseby, fought on June 14, 1645. This battle was a decisive victory for the Parliamentarians under Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell. Market Harborough served as a Royalist headquarters before the battle.

• King Charles I and his troops stayed in Market Harborough before marching out to meet the Parliamentarian forces. The King's decision-making and the Royalist army's preparations were based here.
• Following the Royalist defeat at Naseby, Market Harborough saw the retreat of the Royalist forces. The Parliamentarians captured several key figures and royal possessions in the aftermath, including the King's personal correspondence, which was later published to undermine Royalist support.

Onto the pubs.... and you cannot find a better "does what it says on the tin" place than The Beerhouse.

A Hive of Activity

Gaining access is slightly odd, walking through the white door below the "Optimum You, Yoga and Wellness" sign. This gives me just the right amount of quip ammunition to get the response "we offer a different type of wellness".

Boom - I pitch them up, they bat them back.

A bigger than average micro bar, with outside seating that popular I need to lift a photo from TripAdvisor. The wellness on offer is a huge collection of cask and keg. A chalkboard that requires a damn good staring. I ignore some of the more exotic Tartarus double digit stouts and settle on a Round Corner. 

Naturally, the reply is "which Round Corner?"

The sort of place you need a damn good session in to work your way through the wares.

Onwards, and lunch is needed. The Good Beer Guide Pub App - which I will not be able to re-install when I get a new phone - states that The Admiral Nelson has food available.

A classic back street boozer, I am slightly suspicious but still hope for cobs. You'd definitely get cobs in this sort of place in the West Midlands.

Back Street Boozer

Half a Bass - in such good condition I was googling Premier Inn - and mini cheddars.

A lunch fit for a (defeated) King.

Walk Details

Distance - 8.5 Miles

Geocaches - 44

First Cache