02/08/20 - Edgbaston - The Physician

Distance - 6 Miles
Walk Inspiration
Geocaches - 4
Good Beer Guide Tick - #481

Not too many Good Beer Guide pubs in Birmingham left to knock off, but one is The Physician.  Not every day you have the chance to lose your Brunning and Price virginity.

I've had my eye on a walk from Alltrails.com, which promotes the pub as the starting/end point.

Perfect.

It's a typical 2nd City Ramble.

• Some fine houses in Edgbaston, where I learn the 8 course tasting menu at Simpsons is £95 a head.   Save that one for a birthday.
• The Worcester and Birmingham Canal - from Edgbaston to Gas Street Basin
• Mainly dodging the runners and bell-dinging cyclists
• The Birmingham Canal from Gas Street Basin to Summerfield Park
• Mainly dodging hobos
• A first circuit of the Edgbaston Reservoir - a feeder system for the canals - of which Birmingham has more than Venice.  Damn, I nearly made it to the end of the blog without an obvious cliche.

Here are the photos from a pleasant 6 miler;

Worcester Birmingham Canal - at Edgbaston

Through the Edgbaston Tunnel

Gas Street Basin

Edgbaston Reservoir

Onto the pub.

Not sure this is going to be my cup of tea

Its an immaculate building - formerly belonging to the British Medical Institute but now with added Chesterfields.   It's the sort of place for first dates and meals out when someone else is paying.

In this post (first) Covid lockdown world, I shouldn't be moaning about any pub but lets just say that I started queuing from 11:57am, received conflicting advice on how to get a drink from four different bar staff that ranged from "sit down and someone will serve you" to "you need to scan a QR code and download an app".  "Wash your hands" was the only consistent advice.

The fifth member of staff eventually took pity on me - explaining the two ales on (a Brunning and Price Bitter and a selected Hop Kitty from Animal Brewing) and bringing my post walk reward along with the card machine to avoid app bloat on Android.

It was 12:18pm by the time I took my first sip.  It was very, very good.

Its the lacings that get you in the Good Beer Guide

24/12/18 - Birmingham 3 Parks Walk

Distance - 5.5 Miles
Geocaches - 3
Walk Inspiration

A trip to the 2nd City to see if its still Claret and Blue.   Much hilarity on Facebook, where I have an equal split of Leeds and Villa friends....  "After his move from Brentford, Villa Manager Dean Smith has finally bought a house in Birmingham.  Its a 2 Up, 3 Down".   To which I get the reply, "He cannot move in yet 'cause the Roofe is on fire".

As a Baggie, I'm not sure why I am joining in the banter.   We remain 6 points behind table topping Leeds and needed a favour.

South Birmingham has three parks that can be joined together in a Inner City Ramble that is all on tarmac but not along many roads.   Lots of joggers, a smattering of people doing martial arts and a handful of dog walkers.  This is the City, so not standard dog walkers.   My favourite looked Morpheus from the Matrix trilogy....  Wide brimmed hat, ankle length black leather coat, poorly behaved husky.

A circuit of each park is completed.

Cannon Hill - ponds, funfairs and a Tudor building relocated from Digbeth. 
Kings Heath - the smallest - home of the Horticulture Society
Highbury - The Wildest.   Didn't notice any swings.

Here are the photos;

The Leaning Tree of Cannon Hill Park

Cannon Hill Park

Kings Heath Horticulture Society

Highbury Wilderness 

10:30am and I am back at the car.   Too early for the pub but I'm not going to leave you with a Yuletide dry blog.

Less than two miles away and within 0.5 miles of each other are the two best bottle shops in the West Midlands - if not the Country.  I've read all about them in this Birmingham Mail article.

Feeling that I have not quite enough Belgian beer in the house, I head off to investigate.

Cotteridge Wines, 0.5 Miles from Stirchley Wines

Both are Aladdin's caves of beery delights- everything from a Sam Smith's Double Chocolate Stout to an unpronounceable Belgian Beauty that costs more than a decent bottle of red from Tescos.   To be fair, it's roughly the same strength.

It's going to be an interesting Xmas Day.

20/11/16 - The Tintagel Coast

Distance - 3.5 Miles
Geocaches - 5
Walk Inspiration

We couldn't leave the South West Coast Path without a final goodbye.

So its up at first light, after the worst of Storm Angus has disappeared and down to Tintagel Youth Hostel.  A fine potential place to stop for when I attempt the Coast Path in one go.

Path to the Coast

Another stretch of exciting coast line, although mercifully without yesterday's ups and downs at Boscastle.  A number of geocaches to keep us entertained between the dog walking muggles.

Tintagel Church at Dawn

The highlight of the walk is Tintagel Castle - where King Arthur may have been conceived/lived/died - delete as applicable dependent on how much you buy into the legend.  We have fond memories of bringing our youngest here when all he demanded was a sword and a shield.

We now have to stop off on the way home at his University Town, Bath, to take him to the finest Italian available in Avon.

King Arthur's Castle

We circuit Barras Nose, grab the last cache and head into town to say goodbye to the pubs we investigated on Friday night.  A distinct lack of Good Beer Guide pubs on this stretch of coastline but if you find yourself here, the King Arthur's Arms (corny, I know) is the best by a mile.  The food is good and the pool is 50p a frame.

Farewell Cache