02/10/25 - The Ship at Parkgate

Water and air, rather than solid ground

When reviewing the OS Map, it's hard to imagine what the English Coast Path is going to be like at Parkgate on the Wirral.

Our Path's for today - with Two Big Blue Cups of Joy

The Dee estuary opens out to an expansive sweep of saltmarsh and mud. In the distance, the Welsh mountains. Despite the warning, there are some people out in the marshes. For us, it's a case of "stay on the path, boys".

Big skies on the Dee 

Death by rifle... or mud

I'm unsure I have ever seen an area as saturated with Geocaches. Which makes it a shame that one of the dogs in our care starts barking the minute you stop walking. The numbers for a seven-mile walk could have been off the scale. Instead, I manage about 1 in 3. When the little bugger is ahead.

We turn off and head inland to Ness. Some good public footpaths but really, if the truth is told, there's nothing much to see. The Wheatsheaf forlornly boarded up with a printed sign on the door saying "Apologies, we will not be opening for the foreseeable future".

So it's a good job that Parkgate has everything we need.

Chip Shop - packed with pensioners. Rich pensioners. The chips are £4.80.

Ice Cream Shops - one famous, one offering ice-creams that are "home-made". Mrs M spends longer than you would think on Tripadvisor for someone who wants a cornet.

Pubs - An immediate choice of the Red Lion or the Ship. As I have never been in a bad pub called the Ship, that wins today's custom.

Ship Ahoy!

There's been a long history of pubs at this location, before the current building was constructed in the Victorian era. At one point, in the 1970s, it was a Trust House Forte. Remember them? They had the best loyalty scheme available for any jobbing IT professional installing Citrix MetaFrame around the UK.

The most recent review (2012) on Pubsgalore has it down as a hotel still. It's definitely a bar, and despite the sign saying Freehouse, they are having the exact same Oktoberfest as the Ring O'Bells visited yesterday. The barman knows nothing about them being part of the same group. Thank god for the Internet. Stange & Co - with 10 pubs in their stable across North Wales and the Wirral.

The Ship

A very decent Brightside Brewing Grafter bitter one of the 5 casks available. 

Walk Details

Distance - 7.5 Miles

Geocaches - 19

Walk Inspiration - Best Pub Walks in Merseyside, Walk 29

01/10/25 - West Kirby and Hilbre Island

The Tide is Low

Something a little different to kick off our week on the Wirral. A walk that I had first discounted, as it came with danger warnings. Drowning or quick sand. Take your pick.

It was only after being reassured by the owner of the two Sprockers that we are dog-sitting that this was totally safe that we headed out. As long as you go 2 hours after high tide. 

It was only when we had a post walk coffee that we were told to look at the lifeguard's Instagram page to see all the rescues conducted over the summer.

The Wirral Way - a disused railway line - looks like it will be our friend. Most of the walks encounter it at some point, leading us to the English Coast Path and around Marine Lake.

This one is Timber - showing us the English Coast Path

They are sailing

Hilbre Island can be reached on foot from the Dee Lane slipway at West Kirby, crossing the sands past Little Eye and Middle Eye to the main island, about 2 miles each way. The walk should only be attempted on a falling tide, starting no later than three hours after high water, with at least four hours allowed on the island before the return, as the causeway is covered at high tide.

Certainly an unusual walk..... as you head out to what is shown at first as the sea on the OS Map and then runs out of map on the 1:25K Explorer 266.

Things are usually OK, if there are other people there

From Little Hilbre to Big Hilbre

Of all the facilities available, the composting toilet was the most useful

First impressions of West Kirby are very good. There are two Good Beer Guide pubs available. They both open midday. In the week. This is the kind of customer service that I am now applauding. Needing food, we will save them for another day. There is plenty of cafe choice - most in a row on the road behind the front prom.

But it wouldn't be a Mappiman blog without a pint. The route home takes us through a park and over Caldy Hill, passing the Ring O'Bells en route.

You can Ring O'Bells, Ring O'Bells

A much extended, mock tudor pub dating from 1810. To be honest, it looked a bit of a gastro horror-show. But I warmed to it when they had an Oktoberfest promotion. Currywurst, bratwurst but most importantly Hofbrau Oktoberfest on draught. £7.10 a pint, but a wonderful 2 pint stein available for £14.20.

Walk Details

Distance - 8 Miles

Geocaches - 5

Walk Inspiration - Two Komoot walks combined.

29/09/25 - Kidderminster Circular Rail Trail

The Familiar with New Eyes

I know Kidderminster like the back of my hand. Its streets, churches, pubs, and jumble of buildings are everyday landmarks to me. But I’m also a completist. One of the half-dozen Circular Rail Walks passes through here, and I want to see the town through someone else’s eyes. Nobody does guides quite as thoroughly as Nikolaus Pevsner. His volumes are essentially “books of lists,” cataloguing the unusual and the unique—and who doesn’t love a list? 

The trouble is, Kiddy doesn’t quite lend itself to his method. Pevsner summed it up, with characteristic bluntness, as 

“...... a town uncommonly devoid of visual pleasure and architectural interest.”

This won't stop me exploring. The big old German Grump.

An easy walk along the canal to Wolverley. Too early for the Lock Inn. Back to town on newly discovered paths through Sion Hill and the urban regeneration that has happened over Springfield Park.

Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal before Wolverley

Urban Regeneration at Springfield Park

The only exception to Pevsner's grumblings is Church Street. But even then, the urban planners get it both barrels....

"..... Church Street, rising to the open space in front of a splendid church. This being so, the authorities have decided to absorb that very open space into the new ring road, cutting off the church. It is a crying-out crime against the town."

A nicer view of St Marys than from Church Street

He goes on to point out a rather pedestrian looking Georgian House (No. 30) and a c1600 timber-framed building.

Number 30 - Pevsner loved the doorways

Kiddy's oldest secular building?

I hoped to bring you liquid refreshment. Kidderminster has had a new bar/cafe opening - located in Church Street, housed in a repurposed Unitarian Church and imaginatively called "The Church". I wondered what clientele would be attracted to a venue that charges lunchtime sandwiches for £15.95. There is the promise of two cask hand-pulls. How much and what, I will have to come back to you on. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

My investigations need to continue - there is a page full of delights in St Mary's Church - and the occasional opportunity to climb the tower for "impressive views over all of Kidderminster". 

I'll make sure the planets align.

Or go to the Seven Stars.

Walk Details

Distance - 4.5 Miles

Walk Inspiration  

Geocaches - 3

Other Circular Rail Walks - Evesham

25/09/25 - Saltwells and Bumblehole

Lunch at Ma Pardoes

That's how the Ramblers enticed me in for a third walk with company in a week. Redditch Ramblers are on a day trip out and nothing can get in the way of their faggots and peas.

We start at Saltwells Country Park - one of 27 Geosites advertised by Dudley Council. Naturally, I have compiled a tick list for future days out.

Saltwells National Nature Reserve in Netherton covers 247 acres of former coal, clay and ironstone workings that have since developed into woodland, grassland and pools. The site includes Doulton’s Claypit, worked from the late 19th century until the 1940s to supply fireclay for the Royal Doulton company. The pit, with visible exposures of Coal Measure strata, is now a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its geological importance.

Doulton's Claypit at Saltwells

Psychogeography at its finest. I have no idea which way the walk leader will take us. Dudley Canal Number 2 for a very important bridge. A first time climbing Turner's Hill. This is often admired, with its aerial masts and surprisingly home to a golf course with some exceptional views. Bumblehole and the ruins of Cobb's Engine House.

And we've not won anything since - the period covering my lifetime

Bumblehole

Dudley Canal Number 2

Cobb's Engine House and some Ramblers

Onto the Old Swan - known better as Ma Pardoes. A landlady who ran the pub from 1931 untill her death in 1984.

Etchings

Its a brew pub, with its own onsite brewery. There's no indication to their brews on the handpulls but the names are chalked above the bar. The 6.7% Old Ale - Black Widow- unavailable today but one to surely try in the future. Today, it was the aptly named Bumblehole.

Always tricky to photograph without getting run over

A labyrinth interior, but we have tables reserved in the front parlour. 

A walk up to Netherton Church on the hill and an unsuccessful attempt to find Ma Pardoes' final resting place. Apparently on the right-hand side of the graveyard as you enter. 

Walk Details

Distance - 7.5 Miles

Geocaches - 1

Future Walk Inspiration - 27 Dudley Geosites

24/09/25 - Icknield Street - Lifford to Beoley

Roman Roaming

The walk's premise is to trace the line of Icknield Street as it drives, arrow straight, through Birmingham.

Walk 2 from my 50 year old Guide Book

Before we get onto that, I have a simply perfect day, when everything aligns. Sometimes this happens with psychogeography. Unexpected finds and things tying together nicely, small and large. Let's detail the good luck;

• I made the connecting train to Kings Norton with 30 seconds to spare
• Kings Norton Church only opens on a Wednesday/Saturday at 10am. I arrived at 9:58am. On a Wednesday.
• The Coach and Horses is passed. It opens at 11:30am. I arrive at 11:27am.
• Through Geocaching, I find the tale of the only murdered policeman on active duty in Worcestershire. A change to plans, and I have found his final burial spot.

The walk is set to start at Lifford. This is the original name for Kings Norton Railway Station, so I alight there. It takes a bit of time to get through the housing estates of Walker's Heath before I pick up the trail, but there is time to explore the largest collection of Medieval buildings left in Birmingham.

The Grammar School and Kings Norton Church

Doors open to admire the Medieval Effigies

Icknield Street is a 2000 year old Roman Road that ran from Glevum (Gloucester) to Templeborough (near Rotherham).  In Birmingham, it linked Alcester and Studley, through Kings Norton and onward to Sutton Park. Previous Birmingham AZ Walks had shown me the Roman fort at Metchley

Plotting the walk proved much easier on an AZ Street Map than the OS Map. The arrow straightness becomes obvious and it's still called Icknield Street (and occasionally Ryknild Street) for the entire route. Its surprisingly car free and although completed on tarmac, a better walk than I could have really hoped for.

Street name

And it looks like this today

The Good Beer Guide perennial, the Coach and Horses is bang on route. First through the door and actually served 3 minutes before regulation opening hours. I have a named beer to compliment the walk. 

Country drinking at the Coach and Horses

Named Beer

A bit of local colour

Even the guide book states this is not necessarily a walk for the connoisseur, claiming the walker's first impression will be one of "surprise and disappointment". A geocache offers an alternative piece of local history for those interested in the macabre.

Lying on the side of the road is a simple memorial, containing initials and a date. There is no doubt I would have missed it and even if by some miracle I had spotted it, it would have meant nothing without the geocache to explain.  

JD 1885

PC George Davis holds a grim distinction – the only Worcestershire policeman ever killed on duty. In 1885, patrolling Icknield Street near Redditch at 3am, he challenged a man he suspected of poaching. The encounter turned deadly: Moses Shrimpton drew a knife and cut him down, leaving Davis bleeding in the road. Caught and tried, Shrimpton was condemned, and in 1886 he went to the gallows as the last man hanged at Worcester Gaol. Even that end was botched – the hangman misjudged the weight to drop ratio, and Shrimpton’s head was torn from his body.

Moses Shrimpton - with his head

Quite the tale. And imagine, a February night at 3am in the morning and there is a policeman actually patrolling. When was the last time you saw a policeman patrolling? At any time?

A little in-the-field research and I can slightly amend the route to find PC Davis' final resting place at Beoley Church. Located not far off route and atop a hill. Finishing the walk here avoids going through Redditch, which is something that should always be encouraged.

Beoley Church

The only murdered Worcestershire Policeman

A fitting location to complete the walk. With a nearby bus stop, I am whisked to travel connections in Redditch. Since my last visit - the Good Beer Guide Wetherspoons has closed. The Black Tap is still as bizarre as ever. 

It's best to return to Birmingham.

Walk Details

Distance - 9 Miles

Geocaches - 13

Walk Inspiration - 50 Weekend Walks Near Birmingham, Walk 2

Previous 50 Weekend Walks - Walk 1

22/09/25 - Brown Clee Hill

The Shropshire Summit

The Clee Hills Walks always come in pairs. A July summit of Titterstone, followed one month late by its Brown sister. One day, I am sure to walk the saddle between the two peaks.

This is a straightforward walk - park up on north-west flanks (SO607872)  and consider the changing seasons. Fleece on, a nip in the air, with the parked up cars bombarded with falling acorns. But it's bright and sunny and I really wish I could find a way of bottling it up for the cruelest of incoming months.

Early in the walk - looking over North West Shropshire

In terms of interest, there is little. Abandoned quarries, showing former mining activity. The highest coalfield in England. Dhustone - a hard dolerite - used in road building. Just the shells of former buildings, the old metallic posts and the dips in the landscape remain.

Mine Workings

And WWII air crashes. 23 Airman lost their lives. The wreckage of a Wellington apparently in Boyne Water (passed on this walk). A Junkers bomber, lost after a raid on Birmingham, cutting a swathe through the trees and resulting in the deaths of 4.

Near Monkey's Fold

A day to enjoy the views...

Atop Brown Clee Hill

Looking towards Titterstone - July's Conquest

Dropping down to Abdon 

After climbing back up, dropping down to the car

Walk Details

Distance - 9 Miles

Walk Inspiration 

Geocaches - 2

19/09/25 - Architecture and Oktoberfest in Cheltenham

Traditions and the Death of Pub Exploring

Traditions don’t arrive fully formed – they creep up on us, stitched together from small acts we stubbornly repeat. What begins as a comedy of errors gradually takes on the weight of ritual, the very mishaps becoming part of the story we tell ourselves about why we return.

In 2024, I turned up at Oktoberfest in the Sandford Park Ale House to find plenty of beer but not a hint of Bavarian food. Not on a Monday. In 2025, I try again, this time preparing with military precision: calendars consulted, reminders set, messages dispatched. Yet as I board the 7.27am bus from deepest Worcestershire, I know some minor disaster is already on the timetable. The only question is what shape it will take this year.

I want to earn my lunch - so I start the day on an architectural town tour promoted by the Council.

How to Explore Cheltenham

I concentrate hard on the Montpellier district - an area that is a showcase of Regency elegance: graceful terraces, ashlar façades, and classical detailing like Corinthian, Doric and Ionic orders everywhere you look. Perhaps the most striking are the caryatids lining Montpellier Walk — draped female figures under cornices, modelled on those from the Acropolis, lending the streets a sculptural poetry.

Here's the pictures;

This time yesterday, I didn't know what a Caryatid was

Queens Hotel

Imperial Gardens

Neptune's Fountain

There is more to investigate, as the morning gets hijacked by geocaching. I've been wanting to have another go at a Whereigo for some time. In brief, a more involved treasure hunt that involves collecting information from several places before the location of the treasure-box is revealed. The theme of this one is Penfold Post Boxes. Yes, I walked around 5 miles around town looking for half a dozen of these;

If I hadn't have started looking for Penfold Post boxes from the 1860s.....

..... I wouldn't have found the Pitville Pump Room

The church bells strike midday and I am ready to abandon amateur architecture and treasure hunting. Coordinates set for the heart of the Sandford Ale House. But where is the Deya van dropping off supplies?

Only Favourite Beers!

There's no doubt that the Good Beer Guide takes me to some wonderful places but I often wonder how much I miss. Favourite Beers is an impossibly richly laded Aladdin's cave of beery delights. It also sells keg. Great Keg. At great prices. I shall be forever grateful for being successful in today's mission. Paulaner Festbier. A bargain at £4 for half a litre.

Of course, take out was purchased. One beer made it home more or less intact

I don't know whether to be sad or grateful the shop is so far from home.

Onto my original quarry. The Sandford Park Alehouse - former CAMRA pub of the year - always hosts a fully fledged Oktoberfest. Beer! Music! Lederhosen! and Bavarian Food!. It starts today.

Little Germany

Except when they have marquee issues. The launch postponed until tonight. Not a single Oktoberfest beer available. Boring the staff with tales of my 2nd year of disappointment, I manage to get the Bavarian menu delclared open. But having had the items relayed to me verbally, rather than read on a page, I manage to make a monumental error of ordering.

Sausage sandwich with chips. With chips. With sausage on those chips.

Still, if you want to make friends, go around a pub offering free chips

It's getting to the point of my life when I don't want to go out with a chaperone to question my choices.

And does sauerkraut go with Uley Brewery Old Spot?

The only thing that can save Oktoberfest now is Lidl's suitcase of joy.

There is time for my final Good Beer Guide Tick in Cheltenham. Somehow, I manage to go from loving the Railway to hating it with a passion that has me leaving Google reviews and having a conversation with the head brewer of Nothing Bound.

An unassuming back street local

LOVING IT: £5 for Bristol Beer Factory Fortitude and wondering why more pubs don't play blues music in the afternoon sunshine. Eavesdropping on the boozy pensioners on the next table. Loving the lady who said that her husband can have a Thai bride when she passes as she knows he would be looked after. Mrs M says she is coming back to haunt me when she goes.

HATING IT: With an hour before the train that I know will be delayed, I decide to have a second pint. In the interests of experimentation, I go for (the not ironically named) Count Me Out from my local craft brewery, Nothing Bound. It's a 6% Keg. How much would you expect to be charged?

£7.80 is the answer here.

I am beyond outraged. Not only with the price but with the lack of warning from the server.

I am declaring pub exploring over and sticking to finding old post boxes in newly visited towns.