28/09/24 - Little Orme

Seal Spotting at Angel Bay

5 years since a still memorably wet walk on Great Orme. Might as well tick off its smaller brother at the promenade's other end, Little Orme.

Little Orme from the Free Parking Prom

Three things that appeal to the walker;

1 - Views - over Llandudno bay and Snowdonia's mountains.

The Climb Rewarded at Little Orme Trig

A second climb to Mynydd Pant for Snowdonia Views

2 - Wildlife - As we drop down through the quarry works, we can see a collection of people peering over the edge or what transpires to be Angel Bay. I'd already noticed Google Maps had the location mapped as "Seal Pupping Seasons - Sep-Oct".  Sure enough, big black ones in the water and on the shore and smaller white pups. If only they didn't blend into the rocks, which Mrs M suggested should be painted dayglo to offer some contrast.

There are seals below, uncaptured by a Google Pixel 8

3) Breakfast - Walk over and the nearby Coast Cafe offers sandwich baps. But look closer on the "Other Section" on the menu. A Full Welsh. Regardless of nationality, do hash browns have any place on a breakfast? Who knows, but the coffee was the finest tasted.

Walk Details

Distance - 4.5 Miles

Walk Inspiration - Country Walking Magazine, October 2009, Walk 18

Geocaches - 1

27/09/2024 - The Micropubs of Colwyn. And Old Colwyn

The final day of the 2024 Good Beer Guide Ticking. 2025 will be waiting on my Worcestershire doormat when we return from this mini-break. We find ourselves at the sea-side and like so often, first impressions are sketchy. Gangs of men hanging around at street corners, some literally sitting on the pavement. One bloke loudly chucking up over the railings next to the Station Inn. It's 1pm on a Friday afternoon.

Mrs M demands safety and I have four potential ticks available. The distance between Pen-Y-Bryn and the Crafty Fox likely to make this three. But other tragedies will befall us.

The Bay Hop is the pick of the pubs. A blue-print for how micros should be run. Shop conversions may lack the comfort, style and history of a classic pub, so the least they can do is stock the best drinks known to humanity.

Just and I mean just, warm enough for outdoor seating

We've a fine choice between traditional cask, Oktoberfest Keg, Belgian Surprises and all the craft cans and international bottles you can throw a stick at. Entertainment? Last nights quiz questions available on the bar. Alas, not the answers. I make a tit of myself by laughing at Mrs M's answer to what Diana Armstrong from Minnesota has grown to 42 feet. It was her fingernails. We find the pictures on google but not the most pressing answer as to how she wipes her bum.

Two drinks - an Ampersand Best Bitter and a Erdinger Oktoberfest for variety and we head off for disaster.

I've timed arrival at the Black Cloak Taproom to meet the 2pm opening hours confirmed by Google. Mrs M, always the harbinger of doom, says "we're not going in there are we? It looks locked up". True enough, a handwritten sign proclaims "Due to illness, we will not open till 4pm". Welsh cures are both miraculous and very time specific. But to be fair, no one wants to be in a micro when the plague is in town.

Not looking good at 2:05pm

Instead a long (read never ending) walk along the promenade to Old Colwyn. I can sense morale is dropping and suggest a topical ice cream stop. Until we see the one-scoop prices. On we plod.

The Crafty Fox has all the locals. A two room micro, with all tables in the front room occupied. Fortunately, they have a second room for space and its here I pay for a game of pool with a card for the first time in my drinking career.

A classic pub chariot

The beer range is far simpler than the Bay Hop. No fruity beers. Nothing too international. Some classic cask pales and IPAs. Coach House brewery seem to dominate proceedings.

Other entertainment options? Purchasing a second round, the landlord proclaimed I was missing a cabaret, as the oldest gent was on his feet and performing a little turn. And of course, there is always the record player. If you come prepared.

There'll be a Hue and Cry if you touch Gordon's Vinyl

Old School cab home, where the operator tells us it will be 10 minutes before we have even placed the order. After negotiation, we can have one in 30 minutes. It comes in 45. 

23/09/24 - Pershore to Evesham Rail Trail

God Damn the Ferryman

My annual reminder that two things in life don't work. Goretex and cardboard ID Cards. Despite having the "best in test" mountain raincoat, water ingress starts at about mile 4. Despite having my National Trust card in the inner sleeve of my phone case, I am completing a request for a replacement. Dog eared doesn't begin to describe its current state. The phone is still working.

I knew the weather was going to be awful, but two students required dropping off at Worcester Parkway, so its time for me to check the end of month finances. A return to Evesham a whopping £11. When I am king, rail journey costs will be based on time duration and be less than what can be earned on the equivalent minimum wage.

The 10 mile route at times follows the Wychavon Way and Shakespeare's Avon Way. Through Wyre Piddle and then Fladbury, where things get so bad weather-wise, I consider alternatives.

Mon - Fri, No Service. Sat, No Service, Sun No Service. At least the bus shelter had a roof

Red Lane, and I can just about see Evesham across the water. 

Grimness not seen since the Langdale Pikes

I've done my homework, and a couple of miles can be shaved off by the Hampton-Evesham Ferry. A service I have used in the past, although inflation has hit. A 100% increase since 2016, although still a bargain £1.

The boat is my side, but where is the man? Doors are knocked. Phone numbers are rung. Google is consulted (7 days a week until the end of September). Coins are placed over my eyes, as I lie down and simply give up.

Come on man, a face a bit of rain and you get a shiny coin!

I fancied another couple of miles on foot to find the bridge. I haven't been splashed by lorries yet.

The return trains are not too frequent, so only Tim Martin can save the day. is 24 minutes enough time to order a breakfast. Eat the breakfast. Down an Old Hooky and walk the remaining 0.3 miles to the station.

Or course he does.... 3 minutes to spare for a train that comes on time and then is held for 10 minutes.

I could have had pudding.

Walk Details

Distance - 10 Miles

Geocaches - 4

Walk Inspiration 

Previous Rail Walks - Worcester Parkway - Foregate Street, Foregate Street to Malvern, Worcester Parkway to Pershore

21/09/24 - London Spiral - Stage 16 - Penge to Woolwich

Green Corridors to Scary Woolwich

A comprehensively good walk in South East London. Fast disappearing. Most suburbs ending in Ham, as I negotiate Beckenham, Mottingham and Eltham, before finishing up at Woolwich. The Elizabeth Line the quickest and cheapest way to get back into town, leaving a river crossing for the start of the next stage.

Kent House, South Penge is the start of the walk. Waiting for a GPS signal, I am instantly met by the local wildlife.

Parakeets on a Wire

I'm soon picking up existing and official Long Distance Paths - The Capital Ring, The Green Chain Link and St John's Walk take me along green corridors and through some fine walking country. Discovering;

Beckenham Place Park - The Georgian Mansion House

A Woodland Trail

Best views over the City for a long while

Eltham Palace - A Medieval Royal Residence

Severndrrog castle - a folly on Shooters Hill

Both refreshment stops are in Eltham - a traditional gem and a micro.

Its easy to fall in love with the Park Tavern. My arrival is five minutes before opening, so I can wait with increasing expectation for the scrape of the bolt - only to find several punters already bedded in. Lots of maybes. Maybe Google have the wrong hours. Maybe they haven't gone home from last night. Maybe there is an opposite name to a Lock In?  A Crack Open?

Handsome. Proper. Free.

And look at this interior - a modern interpretation of a classic bar counter?

As if I couldnt love it more

Adnams Broadside taken into the last of the 2024 sunshine, wondering if I have enough of the Anthony Bourdain in me to lunch at the Mash and Eel cafe opposite. I don't.

A little bit of Kent is found at the Long Pond. A micro pub, that will be remembered for Kent Ales (Hop Buzz Martello), Kent Crisps and a newspaper on every table.

Micro Pubs in Eltham, Kent

All downhill to Woolwich. I've got to admit, for the first time in my London wanderings, my danger senses are tingling overtime. Groups of men, hanging around on most street corners with cans and jazz cigarettes. Shirtless men howling at the skies and trying to break into church fetes. Architecturally becoming increasingly shanty. Was I correct to be on edge, or has Elon's algorithms polluted my mind to the end of Western civilisation? Possibly, but the day after I wake to the sad news of yet another fatal daylight stabbing in the very next street to where I was plodding.

Once at the the Waterfront, its very handsome.

Walk Information

Distance - 12 Miles

Start - Kent House

Finish - Woolwich

Areas Walked - Beckenham, Mottingham, Eltham, Shooters Hill, Woolwich

Geocaches - 7 and two Adventure Lab Caches

Pubs - 2

Previous Walks - 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

20/09/24 - Tewkesbury, The Oldest and the Newest Pubs

Trapped by a Tornado

As excuses for being late for a Worcester Pick up - trapped in a pub by a tornado is right up on the edge of the believability stakes.

Caught a little down spout in Tewkesbury, looks better in 4k. pic.twitter.com/LwnP5gWx7X

— Rich$ingularity🇬🇧 (@richdeanmartin) September 20, 2024

Quite mental, as there was only sunshine at Worcestershire Parkway Station. That, and no trains south caused by all the flooding.

Tewkesbury was a stop off - Two Adventure Lab Caches opening my eyes to this rather unspoiled town. The Abbey, medieval buildings all flag bedecked as though the armies from Games of Thrones are visiting, cat art and many, many alleys.

How great to see the Black Bear open for the first time in my beer blogging career. And haven't they done a fine renovation job. If I told you it had a sympathetic make over, with a fine terrace overlooking the River Avon, you'd probably expect Gastro.

Glosters Oldest Inn

Lots of claims - as you would expect. Dating from 1308 and etched onto the pint glasses. Shakespeare performed there. A tunnel runs to the Abbey - now glass covered, with a monk hiding below. Used as a field hospital after the 1481 Battle of Tewkesbury. More ghosts than you can rattle a chain at.

I was impressed that they had Uley Brewery house beer and the prices kept to an affordable £4.  Excellent stuff.

And since my last visit in 2018, a new Good Beer Guide Tick in town - The Cross House Inn. Architecturally, you would be hard pushed to tell which pub was the newest.

Someone's Pub of the Year - 2023

It's a cracking two roomed micro. Ales, counter top mounted and gravity fed. Ciders and perries in bags in pull out draws.

Carton were exported to Worcestershire. 

Frequent checks at the door to see if the storm had passed. Time to determine that Travelodges are available in December for £30 a night. I'll see if any fellow casketeers are interested in a festive crawl in an impressive beer town.

Not yet

 

17/09/24 - Wythall to Yardley Wood for the Shaking Hand in Shirley

Proper Retirement Feels

Sat in (possibly) the last of the 2024 sun, sipping a 2:30 pm on a Tuesday Siren Craft Brewery Memento, I probably felt that I had made it in life. But how did I get here?

Don't worry, this won't be a blog on "Just In Time" manual reading before client meetings. Just how did I get here today.

A morning out with the South Birmingham Ramblers. All I know is where (Wythall Train Station) and when (10:03) to meet. Where we go is in the hands of the Gods. Well a God. Called Chris. Who has completed a reckie walk, has a register (first one I have been one, before you ask) and completes a health and safety talk before we head off.

A lovely green corridor of 4 miles, mainly on the North Worcestershire Path and a short stretch along the River Cole.

Heading off on the North Worcestershire Path

Nearing the end at Trittiford Mill Park

Lovely. 1pm and off for a first visit to nearby Shirley for a couple of Adventure Lab Caches (ALC) and a Good Beer Guide tick.

The first ALC tells the history of Shirley. Making it sound like a South of Thames hinterland of criminal activity. Most of it centered on the still standing Plume of Feathers.

After reading that bio, it would have been rude not to visit. Even if I had low expectations from a Stonehouse Carvery.

However impressive it still looks

The only crimes that I can report today are the complete lack of cask and whatever the hell happened to Stella Artois. Today's advertising campaign would have to read simply "expensive". 

I was that upset I couldn't bring myself to enter the second stage for a Sizzling Saracens Head. An equally ancient and handsome coaching house now gentrified for the family dining experience.

Instead, I head off past the new build 'spoons to find the 2pm opening Micro Pub, The Shaking Hand. Unsure whether this is a reference to Delirium Tremens or an act of friendship. Certainly the latter I find from my be-bracered barman, who responds to any query with "Not a Problem". A good choice of Cask, Keg and "Tinnies". I first settle on a cask Best Bitter and an Irish delicacy.

Perfect Lunch

As the solo customer, I fail to lure any other punters in, although I do hear a few refusals. From the wives of shoppers who respond to pint requests with "if you really have to". We all know the correct answer to that.

Time to reflect on whether I have made the recent correct career choice.

A locALE New Intervention Brewery (Walsall) Cosmic Coast confirms that this life is much better than endless Microsoft Teams calls. Although I do miss the terror of putting the wrong message in the wrong chat window.

And as if the day couldn't get any better, a seamless public transport connection gets me home bang on time.

Walk Details

Distance - 4 Miles

Geocaches - 2 x ALC

Good Beer Guide Tick - #985

16/09/24 - Droitwich to Bromsgrove for the Hop Pole Inn

Worcestershire Greened

A walk that's long me on my "to do" list. Using Public Transport to go from Droitwich to Bromsgrove. Since when did Public Transport get so expensive? An 11 minute rail journey from Kidderminster to Droitwich costing as much per minute as first class on a 747. Probably.

The walk was a navigational breeze. You sacrifice any interest by near total canal walking. If I had left later in the day, it could have been a fine pub crawl, with the Railway Inn, Eagle and Sun, Boat and Railway and the Queens Head all on route.

Canal Views

The canal is left behind at the foot of the Tardebigge Flight, for fields with fine views over Worcestershire. Malvern to the South and Bromsgrove to the North.

Hop Pole is somewhere down there

My post walk target is the final Good Beer Guide 2024 Tick in Worcestershire. Just in time for the new release in a week or so's time.

Monday lunchtime an odd time to try an get a drink in the UK. I'm not sure even I can endorse pubs keeping open. 45 Minutes as the only punter in the Hop Pole, with a bored looking barman and a soundtrack that grated. They cannot have generated enough profit to have even covered the juke-box being on.

No complaints on the beer front. An impressively good Woodcote Hop Till You Drop. Especially when you consider when the last purchase was made.

Traditional Battleship Grey

The Loneliness of a Short Distance Pub Ticker

Walk Details

Distance - 8.25 Miles

Walk Inspiration 

Geocaches - 4

13/09/24 - Fontmell Down and Melbury Hill, Dorset

Route Confusion

It was the broken down lorry that caused mayhem. Commandeering the Spread Eagle Hill National Trust car park whilst it waited for recovery. The driver appealing to walkers to leave him space to transfer cargo.

I had two walks planned from here - Fontmell Down and Melbury Hill. In reality, I managed to dissect the two and develop my own route. I believe that it took in the highlights of this Area of Outstanding Beauty.

It simply means that rather than visiting Fontmell Magna (we were too early for the pub) we went to the equally wonderfully named but sadly dry Compton Abbas.

Top draw walking, as we completed a circuit of the hills.

A week of dog sitting completed. Olive will have to get used to one walk a day, instead of the three she has been enjoying at the hands of professionals.

Best weather of the week - Spread Eagle Car Park

Chalk Down tracks on Melbury Hill

Looking down the valley

Olive. With Mrs M.

Walk Details

Distance - 3 Miles

Geocaches - 3

Walk Inspiration - 40 Town and Country Walks in Devon.

12/09/24 - Benetts Arms, Semley

More Beery Bad Luck

Our week on the Dorset/Wiltshire border has not been without its beer bad luck. We've had a suspiciously non-golden pint of Exmoor Gold. We've had pubs advertised as being open all day tragically close at 4pm. We leave it to the last Good Beer Guide pub of the week to get things back on track. But you can probably tell where this is going.

First, our circular walk from Semley. Map reveals clues to its history, with the Castle Ring Hill Fort labelled at the midway stage. A geocache tells the story of plague and the village in lock down, Eyam style. A little digging into the pub history tells that the nearby railway station was built explicitly to whisk milk down into that there London.

And then there's the church. Its as if they couldn't decide whether to have a turret or a spire. So went for both.

Semley Church

Geocaching GZ

No pictures of interest from the walk - a mixture of lanes, arable land and dense woodland. 

We arrive at the Benetts Arms just after midday opening. A farmhouse style pub that's been in operation since 1867. Sits on the biggest village green in Wiltshire. Inside, its a two room affair, a tiny bar and another area for dining.

We went bar and watched the locals on lunchtime G&Ts

Three hand pulls on and after much deliberation and some well intentioned questioning, I went for Salcombe Life Saver. I was sold on the description of a copper colour, strong bitter. What we've found this week in Wiltshire is that the the beers in this part of the world are either from Salcombe or Exmoor Ales. There cannot be any hope for Arkells. 

The bar-staff failed to mention the slight tang of vinegar and the distinctly non see-through haze in the glass.

Suspicions confirmed when the minute that the I moved away from the bar, out came the screw driver to remove the clip and ten minutes of pulling through the the next barrel.  

Whilst she was looking directly at me, you might have expected a replacement pint to be offered. 

I should have complained. 

But the chips were nice. 

Note to future self. Next time in Wiltshire, sod the Good Beer Guide and concentrate on the chips.

Walk Details

Distance - 5 Miles

Walk Inspiration - Mike Power Pub Walks in Wiltshire and Avon

Geocaches - 1 

10/09/24 - The Wardour Castles, Wiltshire

Two for the Price of One

Can't think of a previous walk that has incorporated two castles. Old Wardour and New Wardour, the former managed by English Heritage, the latter a private home/conference centre. Public footpaths running right up to the doors of both. 

Old

New

Old Wardour Castle, near Tisbury in Wiltshire, England, was built in the late 14th century by John, 5th Lord Lovell. Designed as a luxurious residence with a unique hexagonal shape, it combined the comfort of a home with elements of defense. The castle passed to the Arundell family, a prominent Catholic family, in 1547. During the English Civil War in 1643, Lady Blanche Arundell defended the castle against a siege by Parliamentary forces, but it was heavily damaged and became uninhabitable.

Following this, the Arundell family built New Wardour Castle in the 1770s. Designed in the Palladian style by James Paine, it became the family’s new home and included a private Catholic chapel. After World War II, the property was sold and eventually converted into private apartments. Today, Old Wardour Castle is a romantic ruin managed by English Heritage, while New Wardour Castle remains a private residence.

The walk is short but perfectly formed. A circle of the lake and out on the Wessex Ridgeway to take in farmland and woodland. There is a chance to visit the Forester at Donhead St Andrew. A pub that itself is rumoured to be built from the stone of the old castle. Too early for us today but we did have Sunday lunch. Good beer guide recommended. Steak £29.99, to provide financial perspective. We give way to the Salcome delivery van to provide beery perspective.

Walk Details

Distance - 3.5 Miles

Walk Inspiration - AA 1001 Family Walks, #135

Geocaches - 0

09/09/24 - Ashmore, the highest village in Dorset

Finding the Wessex Ridgeway... and little else

The walk looked ok on the map.... and if its only a walk you are after then it was fine.  A woodland trail from Washers Pit through Ashmore Woods. Stubhampton Bottom leading to the Wessex Ridgeway.

The Wessex Ridgeway is a long-distance walking trail in southern England, part of the greater Ridgeway National Trail network. Stretching approximately 137 miles (220 km), the trail starts in Marlborough, Wiltshire, and ends in Lyme Regis on the Dorset coast. The Wessex Ridgeway follows ancient routes and tracks through picturesque landscapes, including rolling chalk downs, wooded valleys, and farmland, offering views of historic sites, ancient monuments, and charming villages.

Can't see the woods for the trees

Halfpenny Lane brings us the potential of 6 Geocaches and Ashmore. Mrs M on google looking for a tea room and teasing with just one hospitality venue of interest. We'll never know if the Gritchie Brewery has a tap room. The still maintained website simply states "Closed..... For Now".

A shame, as Dorset's Highest Village needed to be celebrated with something more than a half filled duck pond.

Walk Details

Distance - 6 Miles

Walk Inspiration - AA 1001 Family Walks, #103

Geocaches - 5 Found