29/05/17 - Wye to the Thames - Walk 11 - Charlbury to Hanborough

Distance - 9.7 Miles
Geocaches - 3
Previous Walks - Walk 1, Walk 2, Walk 3, Walk 4, Walk 5, Walk 6, Walk 7, Walk 8, Walk 9, Walk 10
Pub - The Horse and Groom, Bourton on the Hill

The logistics of this Long Distance Walk from Hereford to Oxford become increasingly complex with every leg.   The distances to the start are getting longer and the gaps between when the pubs open and the trains are still running in the afternoon are getting closer and closer.

Today, to time it right, we need to arrive at Hanborough Station at midday, drink like a student on freshers week and arrive at the station a further half a mile away bang on 12:30pm.

We'll give it a go.

We start in the charming village of Charlbury, previously explored on Stage 10.  Complex parking, where all the machines at the train station are broken and Mrs M berates my sense of fair play, insisting we don't need to phone up to pay.

At least we right the wrong from last time and find the Sidetracked Geocache.

Everything of interest on this walk is within 2 miles of the start.

One of Three Charlbury Pubs

Charlbury Church

From the town centre, we cross the railway line and head into the spectacular grounds of Cornbury House.  Come back in 5 weeks for Bryan Adams and the Kaiser Chiefs at their music festival.

I predict a riot in roughly 5 weeks

Fine walking through the grounds, leading to woodland walking through Topples Wood, where we are serenaded by bird song.

Skirting the Edge of Cornbury House

And from that point on, it all gets a little agricultural.  There's a pair of geocaches, a game of guess the crop and the occasional Cotswold view.

If you are wondering why I'm on all the photos, I forgot my camera.  Images courtesy of Mrs M

We're making good time and hope for a cafe or early doors pub for refreshment.  A hamlet called East End has the big blue cup of joy on the OS Map but on the ground, its all domesticity.  The only clue, a house called the Leather Bottle.  Little on the Internet to provide any sort of a story.

Two miles to Hanborough and we're a good 90 minutes before the expected train.  The next pub closure is even more recent.  The Swan is currently shown on Google Maps with a grand pub sign attached to the building and another notice board pronouncing morning teas and coffees.   At Ground Zero, its a B&B.  Got uniform 5 star reviews on TripAdvisor but as much use to me as an ashtray on a motorbike.

Excluding the twin Co-Ops, Hanborough offers two final places of refreshment.  The Three Horsehoes is very obviously closed and unfortunately,  I misread the opening signs at the George and Dragon.  It closes at 11pm, not opening at 11am.  No one ever accused me of not being optimistic.

60 Minutes too early

This walk is in serious danger of being dry.  We check the Internet and an earlier train at 11:30am avoids us getting arrested for loitering.  A quick cup of tea at the bus museum (yes, really) and we are whisked back to Charlbury at the bargain price of 60p per minute per person.

£4.20 for a 7 minute train ride.

And then, inspiration.  I remember that there is a Good Beer Guide Pub at Bourton on the Hill waiting for the Mappiman Tick.  Usually, its impossible to park, but the gods are taking pity on me and there is one space left.

Horse and Groom, Bourton on the Hill, Banks Amber

At least we missed the rain

Any pub that charges £6 for soup, £15 for Fish and Chips and £14 for the four cheese dessert is worthy of note.  Its a gastro pub, impeccably decorated and with an extensive menu that contains exactly zero sandwiches.

But how did it get in the 2017 Good Beer Guide?

There's three hand pulls but on closer inspection, one is a cider.  This leaves a massively uninspiring choice of Marstons EPA and Banks Amber Ale.

We're a way from Wolverhampton, but Banks win.

A pint of Banks, significantly more expensive than in Wolvo

Another tick in the bible, but for me, an odd choice for inclusion.

27/05/17 - Heart of England Way - Stage 2 - Glacial Erratic

Distance - 7.25 Miles
Geocaches - 5
Pub - Littleton Arms, Penkridge
Previous Stage - Stage 1


2nd monthly circular walk on the Heart of England Way and we're back in Cannock Chase.   Odd place Cannock Chase.  The heath land provides decent tracks and good walking, but its all a little monotonous.  There's really noting to separate this walk from Stage 1 and next month, we'll be back again for more of the same.

We pick up the HOEW at Glacial Erratic Car Park and head south through Brocton Fields.  Early chance of refreshment at a tea shop that also does camping.

Cannock Chase Monotony

Tea and Camping

The Katyn monument is marked on the OS Map and proves to me a significant memorial to 14,000 Polish intellectuals and officers, murdered by the Soviets in 1940.  We take a moment to read the inscriptions but even with Internet based research, remain unsure as to why the memorial is in this little corner of Staffordshire.

Katyn Monument

Back into the moor land and we make our way to the main visitors centre for a 2nd break of the day. This is where stage 3 will start next month.

More Cannock Chase

The rest of the walk is similar to the above photo.  A handful of very decent Geocaches provide some entertainment and we avoid the twin hazards of mountain bikers and a rifle range, complete with danger area red arrows on the map.  There's also a wonderful looking campsite in the woods, where plots look very random.  I imagine its a great place to think that you are in the Canadian Rockies, under threat of bear attack, rather than being 10 miles from Wolverhampton.

One of Several Mountain Bike Trails

With the threat of a thunder storm nearly realised by some very heavy raindrops that fortunately peter out to nothing, we head back to the car, 3 hours after setting out.

Ticking off another part of Cannock Chase

All that remains is post walk refreshment and here's the quandary.  There doesn't appear to be anywhere nice to go.  On the first leg, we had no plans and unfortunately ended up in a very chainy "Eating Inn" pub.  Keen not to make the same mistake, we searched and searched for real ale pubs that did meals.  Black Country Ales Crystal Fountain nearly came out a winner but lacked food and the rest were a horror show of Hungry Horses, Punch Taverns and 2 for 1 Marstons pubs.

The best hope appeared to be Penkridge, 6 miles away.  Even on the way, we kept our eyes open for alternatives.  Bednall looked promising, somehow advertising a Beer Festival but without a pub to actually host it in.  Acton Trussell had a Moat House Hotel, described online as "Elegant".

The celebrity dotted streets of Penkridge it is then, with the 1st person seen, the former WBA and Wolves striker Don Goodman.

The Mappiman dollar could have been spent in the White Hart but we were put off by the gaggle of smokers blocking the entrance who transpired to be the staff.   No other punters inside, I had the embarrassment of turning tail and announcing "we had changed our minds".

Instead, the Littleton Arms saved the day.  Proud signs announcing it as "Staffordshire Pub of the Year" lured us in.

2016 Staffordshire Pub of the Year

A prize that seems wholly deserved.  Six real ales on, all with tasting notes in a menu and chalkboard. Fine home made fish finger sandwiches.  Only improvement I could suggest is serving the right drink in the right glass.

Three Tuns Solstice and an Old Mout

We'll be back next month.  Happy for any recommendations on where to take the next post walk refreshment.

18/05/17 - CAMRA Edinburgh Pub Walks - Walk 6 - Rose Street and New Town

Distance - Less than a Mile
Pubs - 3


Bob Steel has been my guide for many pub related adventures in London.  He knows more than one City.

More Adventures Within

It's only a question of which walk to complete.  I am limited both on time and a lack of understanding of Edinburgh Bus Routes, so a three pub jaunt in Rose Street seems just the ticket.

I've read a lot of Irvine Welsh and he described Rose Street as being for "Tourists and Walkers", so it's just perfect for my needs.  I may have mis-remembered a single letter in that summary.

The Oxford Bar, 8 Young Street, Cairngorm Trade Winds

Yep, I've read all the Ian Rankin Books and Yep, I have previously seeked out this key location for Rebus to ponder his evidence when solving crimes.

I'm not going to sugar coat it.  It's a tough experience to walk in as a stranger, although for a minute, I do wonder if its been gentrified.

Maybe selling more than Corn Beef and Beetroot Sarnies?

The makeover only extends as far as the outside.

External Makeover

Misconceptions of gentrification are dismissed on entry.  To the left, is the narrow bar, presided over by a picture of Ken Stott and Ian Rankin.   There's no music to mask your approach and you are forced to budge through the locals gathered, eyeing up anyone they don't know.

There is a hush as you order your drink.  It's prison yard rules and survival is dependent of someone being weaker than you - so I let the American in front of me try and order a Malt.  The landlady (slighter than the landlord I remember, but still as fearsome) refuses to serve him until he pronounces Glenmorangie correctly.

It takes three goes in an atmosphere you could cut a knife with.... with me thinking "get it right, Brad or for god's sake have a Highland Park" as he goes through the pantomime.

My order for a Cairngorms Trade Winds is easier and appears to be met with approval.  Bar conversation resumes and I take my drink to the sparsely furnished side room, set aside specifically for tourists and Rebus fans.

Uncompromising, rough around the (interior) edges and I wouldn't change a thing about it.

The Kenilworth, Rose Street, Timothy Taylor Mild

Rose Street is packed with pubs / bars / restaurants and middle aged men being sick, whilst comforted by their drinking partners.

I'm sure I've been to the Kenilworth before, but you need a Guide to point out its beauty.  For it is beautiful, inside and out.

The Kenilworth

Captures the Ceiling, The Island Bar and the Beer

I have the place more or less to myself and get to photo all the things pointed out in the book.  Beer wise, I usually go LocALE but this was a chance to sample the lesser spotted Timothy Taylor Mild.

They kindly put it in a Deuchars glass so I wouldn't stand out.

The Abottsford, Rose Street, Strathaven Ales Old Mortality

A similar experience to the Kenilworth.   Without someone to point out the features, it would be just another pub in a long street of pubs.  A nondescript sandstone exterior does however lead to a pub that it is on CAMRA National Inventory of Pub Interiors.

Abbotsford - Outside

Abbotsford - Inside

Another fine example of a beautifully ceiling-ed, Island bar boozer and a guide who has shown me the best of the area.

15/05/17 - The Inn Way to Lake District Summary

Distance of the Inn Way to the Lake District - 90 (82.5 Completed) Miles
Days completed in - 7
Pubs Visited - 35 (44 Available if you get the opening hours right)
Geocaches - 19
Timeframe - 09/05/17 to 15/05/17


The Inn Way to the Lake District is an out of print guide book to a walking route that takes in the best that the area can offer.

Fine walking routes stops at various sized villages for lunch and evening meals/accommodation.  The only criteria for the stops are there has to be at least one pub.

And the pubs, hotels, food and beer were universally excellent.

As with all undertakings - there needs to be a roll of honour.

Best Walk - Coledale and Crummock Water on Day 3
Best Pub - Kirkstile Inn also on Day 3
Best Pint - Coniston Bluebird on Day 6
Most Interesting Character - Landlord at the Sun Inn, Coniston on Day 6
Bucket List Items - Black Sail YHA and Wasdale Head Inn on Day 4

The walk provided a perfect opportunity to get away from it all and immerse myself in a week where the only thing to worry about was what time was lunch (usually liquid) and what sort of pie to order for tea.

Each leg of the walk has been detailed on a separate blog, available at the link;

Day 1 - Ambleside to Rosthwaite
Day 2 - Rosthwaite to Braithwaite
Day 3 - Braithwaite to Buttermere
Day 4 - Buttermere to Boot
Day 5 - Boot to Broughton In Furness
Day 6 - Broughton In Furness to Coniston
Day 7 - Coniston to the Old Dungeon Ghyll

The Photo Album on Flickr