11/08/26 - The Thatched Tavern, Honeybourne

Comparing Ancient Worcestershire Pubs

It's a matter of days before the new edition of the Good Beer Guide is replaced. Where does time go?

My usual commitment is to ensure that my home county, Worcestershire remains "greened". There are two entries to tick.

Today, it is Honeybourne. Technically two villages - Church Honeybourne and Cow Honeybourne. Until 1958, one was in Worcestershire and one was in Gloucestershire. Its fortunes have improved with the coming of the railways - first being on the Cheltenham Line and more recently on the London-Worcester line.

The walking was always going to be agricultural. At times the paths were lost to 6ft corn crops. At others, I was walking - quite legally on the right of way - through strawberry poly-tunnels.

Lost again

Lunchtime snacks available. Bring your own sugar.

The walk was largely perfunctory - designed to work up a thirst. 

The Thatched Tavern, Honeybourne is the new 2026 tick. And I am having no problems in finding it.

One day, all pubs will be so well signposted

However, the walk takes me through Bretforton. Lovers of pubs know what this means. It would be rude not to say hello to an old friend. The Fleece Inn is described in one of my pub books as "one of the best half dozen historic pubs in England".

Both pubs appear in my 1960s guide "Historic and New Inns of Interest" and are of a similar age. A chance for me to compare and contrast.

The Fleece Inn, Bretforton

The memories of my last walk here - snow on the ground. What we would give for such days again!

The Fleece in a heatwave

The building is more than 500 years old and half timber-framed. A former longhouse farmstead - home to animals and humans - and in the same family until donated to the National Trust in 1978. 15 generations of the Byrds, the former owners, are found in the adjacent churchyard.

Rambling inside - there are low doorways, a tiny narrow bar and a rear dining room. Here you can see the famous "witch marks" at the fireplace, should you be lucky enough to get a seat.

I was lucky on snow day, 2024

I do manage to get a table inside - in front of the 300-year old pewter dining set display. Uley Brewery Pig's Ear is on, as always.

In front of the family heirlooms

The Thatched Tavern, Honeybourne

I'm not sure how much of the C13th infrastructure remains. Again, it's half timbered and unlike the 1960s guide book, the A-framing can be seen from the other end, not where a more modern extension has been added.

That's the architectural angle! Two tree trunks pegged together for support

Unlike the Fleece, once inside, you could be anywhere. A modern bar... modern furniture... I wandered around, looking to see anything to photograph. To the delight of pensioner diners and knock-off early workers, there was nothing.

The cask range a little pedestrian. An HPA and another pale ale with a not-to-be-trusted handwritten pump clip.

It does have things going for it - a wonderful beer garden, regular and early opening hours (11am daily) and in these troubled days of cost of living crisis - reasonably priced and deliciously chilled keg lagers.

Walk Details

Distance - 8.5 miles 

Geocaches - 5

Walk Inspiration - Jarrold The Malverns to the Warwickshire, Walk 19

05/08/26 - Geocaching in Inkberrow

Drinking with the Archers..... How Much!

Inkberrow, Worcestershire, is connected to the county town by an infrequent bus service. Running only sporadically, it means that once I'm there, I'm stuck for a while. Fortunately, there are two pubs in which to while away the time. The bull seems to have been an animal of particular importance to past landlords, featuring in the names of both of them.

The village is one of the oldest in Worcestershire - with plenty of history. The name derives from "Inta's Burial Mounds", suggesting ancient civilisations were there. There was a castle. There is still a moat. Charles I apparently left his battle plans for Naseby at the vicarage. Which provides an indication on how that worked out for him.

In more modern times, the Old Bull is the inspiration for the pub in Radio 4's The Archers. We'll come to that once I have calmed down. There is a plot spoiler in the blog title.

Today's walking is haphazard, as I am on a Geocache Trail - which takes in around 30, including some pirate themed Adventure Lab Caches. Don't ask. It's better that way.

Some nice views over the Worcestershire low-lands to the Malvern Hills, showing how it runs as a ridge up to Abberley.

From the Millennium Way

Caching completed at 11:50am. The next (but one) bus home at 14:50. Can I stretch three hours over two pubs? I do have the Metro newspaper and my cryptic crossword solving skills are improving.

The Old Bull

This is an entry in my 1960s Pub Guide - Historic and New Inns of Interest.

Undeniably Handsome

It's what you would want from a country pub. Ancient flagged floors, low ceilings, oak beams, signs saying "bullshit corner", 1970s pop playing out over external speakers. Catering for the tourists, there are some Ambridge Photos and an eye watering price list.

When Butty Bach is £5.70, the game has gone. 

I stayed for two, just to make sure I hadn't bene overcharged.

Still, there is something quaint about riders parking their horses (do you park a horse?), under the village green tree and nipping in for a pint in their jodhpurs. Cost consciously frugal foal fans can go to Costcutter.   

Horses in the Shade

The Bulls Head

Told you that Bulls are important to Inkberrow. I suppose with such a famous pub over the road, they are on a hiding to nothing here. Indeed, there were just a couple of old boys and a TV tuned to one of the last music channels, with the volume far too loud.

It's a Wye Valley House - and really, I should have had another Butty for cost comparison. Instead, I gave £6.50 to Jeremy Clarkson for his Hawkstone Lager.

Bull

Walk Details

Distance - 4.5 miles

Geocaches - c30

14/04/26 - The Talbot, Chaddesley Corbett

Licenced Café Vibes

We are borrowing dogs again. The third time out with Ian and Sam (we don't name them). We are told that Sam is likely to chase deer on our planned walk on Clent, so re-arrange for Chaddesley Corbett.

Normally, the post walk refreshment would be Bathams at the Swan but the other pub, built in 1501, has re-opened. Looking at the opening hours, we are not 100% sure as what.

Good Beer Guide Pubs marked with a Star in my Google Maps!

The walk was perfect. Wide open spaces on agricultural fields. Some woodland walking along the Royal Foresters Way. And with two male labs, I am delighted to say that every potential stile has been replaced with a kissing gate. We could kiss the local Ramblers. Or Farmers. Whoever maintains them has made the walk very accessible.

Ian and Sam

Along the Royal Foresters Walk

Where the bluebells are out early

Perfect.

Back to the "pub".  Detailed in my 1960s Historic Inns of Interest Book - where it was run by Banks and catered for 60 diners in an upstairs room.

1960s proof-reader required... Chaddersely Indeed 

Only open to 1pm, it cannot be a pub in the truest sense of the word. The owners are going for a licenced café vibe, with more typical hours on the weekends and no end of social events - from book clubs to Thai Street food takeovers.

Outside - cottages from 1501 knocked together

Insider - other customers out of shot

An opportunity to test Mr Clarkson's brewing abilities or chance the cask with a Worcestershire Way. Both shunned for an Americano. 

It seemed more apt.

Walk Details

Distance - 5.5 Miles

Geocaches - 0

Walk Inspiration - 100 Walks in Hereford and Worcester, Walk 42

08/04/26 - The Slow Way to Bewdley for the Black Boy Hotel

Political Correctness gone Madri

An easy and often completed walk, which would normally not register on the blog.

But it was completed on the first day of the year when the central heating didn't need to spark up and there was a visit to an Historic Inn of Interest - a 1960s Guide Book to booze.

Plus a chance to review another Slow Way.

From Stourport bridge to Bewdley bridge on the Severn Way. Keep the water to your left and all is good.

Start at the River King

Unnecessary

The End

 Onto the pub; 

1960s Ticking

Those that know Bewdley will know two things. This is not the Black Boy that requires a team of sherpas and oxygen to reach. In some ways I am grateful, but in others sad. That Black Boy is a cracker.

And this Black Boy was renamed as the Bewdley Inn in 2021.

The Bewdley Inn, the sunshine

A Royalist stronghold during the Civil War, history and pub enthusiasts will know that the name Black Boy refers to King Charles II rather than anything more controversial. While I’m on the subject, the Black Bitch in Linlithgow was named after a dog – but that didn’t stop the inevitable rebranding.

There’s little sign of its seventeenth-century origins now, though it still has separate rooms and a few inviting nooks and crannies.

First in, I was greeted with a bit of bad news: the landlord was waiting for a delivery. Given the choice of Madri or Carling, I made a quick exit and headed to the George.

There, a suntrap beer garden, table service, and a £2.35 pint of Redemption Big Chief IPA made up for it nicely — with a view of the church clock to keep an eye on the return bus time.

Walk Details

Distance - 3.75 Miles

Geocaches - 0

Walk Inspiration

12/02/26 - The Sun and Slipper, Mamble

Are you questioning your life?

These are the words emblazoned outside Neen Sollars Church and my answer - quite frankly - is yes.

I need to get out of the house and the minute I arrive at Mamble, the heavens open. Another day in the rain. It's becoming biblical now. For future records, let it be known that Ashwood Bank in Worcestershire has now experienced 42 days of continuous rain.

What would have been a fine walk is a relentless slop-fest of mud and despite owning better waterproofs, I have misjudged.

At least there were a couple of interesting "doors open" churches to explore.

Mamble St John the Baptist

St John the Baptist, Mamble

Dating from 1200 - a handy sign tells the story of all the treasures available. An effigy of a recumbent, cross legged knight. C14th stained glass windows, hidden from the destruction of idolatry in a manure pit before being refitted. C16th brass, floor mounted memorials to John Blount. A bricked off Catholic chapel with a collapsed roof.

The internet suggests there is a memento mori skeleton in the South aisle. Indeed, there are pictures of it on the Internet. I must have been following the guide too closely, as there is no mention of it and I failed to notice it.

Instruction Manual for a Church

The Cross Legged Knight

Meet the Blounts

Only a couple of sections lost

One to find next time

Neen Sollars All Saints

Church Farm - looking at All Saints Church, Neen Sollars

Quite the treasure inside - a 1624 alabaster memorial to Humfrey Coningsby. A traveller "never seene by any of his acquaintance on this side, the seas, or beyond, not any certainty knowne of his death, where, when, or how from his first journey to his last was 16 yeares & 6 months"

A man after my own heart.

Quite something to stumble upon

Worthy of a Zoom

The Walk

North East from Mamble, where I got a little lost in Wissett's Wood before finding the forest ride to Neen Sollars. Crossing the River Rea before lanes back to Mamble.

Grim.

Day 42 of 2026 rain. And there have only been 43 days in 2026

The Sun and Slipper

The real reason I am here is to get another tick from my 1960s Historic Inns of Worcestershire Guide Book.

Uniquely Named

The first thing to note is there has been major modernisation, with the timber framing either removed or plastered over. 

Which one is preferred

The entrance is from the car park at the side, where the first door along the corridor is to a bar, where the only source of light is from the log fire. There is no way I am not sitting in front of that, even if I am in the dark.  

I can hear plenty of noise from the restaurant next door, so the place is surviving from food sales rather than beer sales.

That said, the Three Tuns Charter - Untappd has it as a best bitter, the pump clip advertises it as an amber mild - is wonderful. 

The Day Saver! (and the log fire)

Walk Details

Distance - 6 Miles

Walk Inspiration - 100 Walks in Hereford and Worcester, Walk 72

Geocaches - 4

07/01/26 - The Pubs of Cleobury Mortimer. Shropshire

100% Quality, 75%  Available

It was a Slow Way that brought me to Cleobury Mortimer. 5 hours and 13 miles after setting off.

I feel that I am deserve a reward. All the rewards.

In Bayton Church, I fire up the Bar Trek App and find that 4/4 pubs are open on a Wednesday. I had my doubts as to the veracity of this, but they're all close to each other.

The Royal Fountain sits opposite the church with the twisted spire. A terraced free house dating from the 17th Century.

Pub 1 - The Royal Fountain

Enter into a main bar - where two men hang at the bar and one man guards all four of the comfy seats that a man who set off walking from a different county surely deserves. A cheery hello from the bar staff and my glasses instantly steam up. Which means the heating is on! Through the mist, I spot 5 cask hand pulls (a lot for three men, two on Madri) and as I am in Hobsons County, I plum for a Best Bitter.

Only 3.8% but very tasty and in very good condition.

1C or 10

Sadly, despite two sources of information saying open at midday, it looks like The Kings Arms opens at 3pm. There are only so many sources of the truth a man can review. Photos outside, much to the bemusement of the two workies who are also trying to gain access.

Kings Arms - Dubious Tick

The Talbot and The Stables share the same building infrastructure but are two independent premises. The Stables proudly celebrating their 10 year anniversary. It's a long way to go before they can match the Talbot - a 16th Century Coaching house, that looks handsome today as it did then.

All coaching houses need stables

Front of house - the Talbot

As the original and oldest pub in town, it becomes the first tick in my Shopshire Inn of Interest booklet. Love how the 1960s get excited at Chicken in a Basket. To be fair, the prospect got me buzzing.

There must be a pensioners offer on in the stables. Nearly every table is full of the grey pound. I manage to find the last place to sit and enjoy high quality Wye Valley Butty Bach.

Banished to the back of house

The talbot is the opposite extreme - just two men, one playing the puggie, the other playing cards with the bar man. One cask on - Hobsons Pale - but running high on success, I decide to give it a go. 

A bucket pulled through as the barrel is freshly on. 

Perfect.

Life is all about timing.

Gorgeous

Which extends to transport home. The nearest bus stop is called "The Talbot" and the 292 is bang on time.

A journey to Kidderminster to ponder on why no Cleobury pub is in the 2026 Good Beer Guide.

 

10/10/25 - The White Hart, Hartlebury

The Bad Pint Blues

Leafing through the local history section of the Library, I stumble upon my favourite type of resource. An ancient walking book. 

Mr Schatz writes a book

A local walk and the chance to tick off an Historic Inns of Interest Pub on familiar paths. To the River Severn, downstream to Lincomb, determine how to get through a caravan park and then lanes to Hartlebury.

Heaving lifting at the boatyard

Lincomb Weir

A first chance to explore Hartlebury St James church, distinctively made from red sandstone, with the real beauty inside.

St James’ Church, Hartlebury was largely rebuilt in 1836-37 by Thomas Rickman, replacing earlier medieval structures, though fragments from around 1300 remain. It’s built of deep red sandstone with a tile aisles, carried on narrow sandstone columns and adorned with decorative cinquefoil-headed panels. roof, while its tower dates back to 1587. In the churchyard lie the graves of five Bishops of Worcester—Perowne, Carr, Pepys, and Hurd among them. Inside, galleries run along the north and south

St James

Forward Facing Font at the entrance

The White Hart pub is over the road. One of those pubs that rapidly goes through owners, often with short periods of being closed down.

1960s Guide Book

Largely unchanged

A small front drinking room, which I have to myself on a Friday lunchtime. Two beers on, with a lesser spotted Bath Gem on offer with no pump clip but a small board pronouncing it a special. Looked more interesting than the near ubiquitous Wye Valley HPA but I should have trusted my instincts. When I asked if the special was on, I was met with a "I think there is some left".

God knows how long it had been on but it was beyond palatable. That off diacetyl taste and smell that creeps up on the drinker. I have a sip, think is it off. Try again. Before I know it, I have sipped about a third and I have limited my chances of taking it back.

I just hate making a fuss in new, quiet places.

I should have. It bother me all the way home along the Leapgate Country Park.

Stomping home in a mood.

Walk Details

Distance - 8 Miles 

Walk Inspiration - Midland Walks 

Geocaches - 0