09/04/19 - Day 2 - Inn Way to Peak District - Baslow to Youlgrave

Start - Baslow
Finish - Youlgrave
Distance - 12 Miles
Key Features - Chatsworth House, Nine Ladies Standing Stones
Geocaches - 6
Pubs - 9 Available, 5 visited, 1 declined (!)
Previous Day - Day 1


After yesterday's full review of all the Edges, we have a chance to see what else the Peak District is famous for.  The English Country House.

The first three miles of this interesting walk are through the grounds of Chatsworth House.   The Palace of the Peak.

Plenty of history in the guidebook and I'll only relay its been in the same family for over 450 years and the gardens were modeled by Capability Brown.

Its free for ramblers to enter and seemed popular with joggers, dog walkers and a massive herd of deer that ran along side me.

I have 1000s of similar photos available

Company through the grounds

A splendid gentle start and after that beauty, a chance for another thing of beauty in the little village of Beeley.   A second Devonshire Arms with Timothy Taylor Landlord.   Good news, its open at 11:05am.   Bad News, £4.85 for the privilege of breakfast beer.

Breakfast Beer at the Devonshire Arms

Fortified for the climb to Rowsley, I walk through the abandoned Burntwood quarry, where they have seemingly dumped most of their output down the wooded banks.  Huge green boulders everywhere.

At a slightly more acceptable time of midday, I arrive in Rowsley.   Two pubs and something that has never happened before on any Inn Way happens.   I walk on past a fully functional open one.

Stay with me BlogFans.   This is a one off and doesn't happen again.

Unload the Toddlers at the Grouse and Claret

The Grouse and Claret and the Peacock are right next door to each other.   The G&C has a carpark full of mummies unloading massive prams from car boots, whilst their elder children are tear arsing around the car park.

I'll go for the glamour of the Peacock, where they offer real ales, good food and fly-fishing.   All this in a building from 1652.

Peacock - Since 1652

Rather posh for a rucksack carrying Rambler but I am spotlessly clean due to the great weather and they don't bat an eyelid.

Its the sort of place that is so posh that they don't have a till behind the bar.   You pay the receptionist.  £5.40 for a pint of Peak Ales Swift Nick.   Presumably, the receptionist puts the money straight into the vault with all the other gold bullion.    A surprisingly high quality beer from a place where everyone else is on G&Ts, pretending to be able to identify the products on the menu.   I had to give up after mushroom soup.

Vert nearly pint of the week - Swift Nick

Pleasant climbing through field systems and woodland to reach pretty Stanton in Peak.   It has a pub but pre-adventure investigation showed it wasn't open on a Tuesday.  No photos, as it was a diversion from my climb to Stanton Moor.   The 4000 year old Nine ladies Stone Circle an obvious highlight in the wild, high level moorland.

Dead Centre in Stanton in Peak

Nine Ladies.  I counted.

Stanton Moor

Into silent Birchover, where a sign at the start of the villages instructs you to be quiet.   There are two pubs that could do with communicating with each other.   Both closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.  They may be an opportunity for them to open alternate days but to be fair, I didn't see (or hear) a soul.

Today is Tuesday

Druid had the prettier sign

The Limestone Way is picked up for the first time and provides very pleasant walking up to Robins Hood Stride and over some very green hills all the way into Youlgrave.

The most misspelled village in England.  It has an extra "e" on my OS Map.

Three pubs.

My home for the night is the George, which makes me feel like Bill Bryson in describing its quirky English uniqueness.   I have three rooms - which you couldn't quite class as a suite.   Behind an unlockable sliding door, I have a main bedroom with a window that won't open, a closet with the WC and a bathroom with a huge stain on the ceiling.    I loved it.   It had biscuits and a bath.

Of course, the bar is where the action is and they served beautiful Theakstons Black Bull Bitter to be enjoyed on proper pub furniture.

Home for the Night

Proper Pub Furniture

Although the menu looked good, I needed to investigate the other pubs.

The Farmyard Inn turned into a mistake through bad timing.   7pm and I enter the door, only slightly disturbed that it is a Greene King.   Inside, its bedlam.   Kids that I can only describe as free range, charging all over the place.   The desperately middle class parents do nothing to control them and one particular goon encourages the horseplay by offering piggy back rides.

When they leave, much to the relief of the other patrons, the landlady apologies to everyone.   We feel her pain, as she had to stop the wildlings from playing with the very much alight fire.

Give me a pub with dogs any day - but by the end of the week, even this belief is challenged.   The Timothy Taylor Landlord would have normally been a pleasure.

Farmyard by name.

The night is saved by the 1674 Bulls Head Hotel.   Easily pub of the week, even if the beer was limited to a couple of Marstons.

Two rooms divided by a central serving area.   The front bar is the converging point for all the village - we have both the darts team readying themselves for an away game in Stanton in Peak.  We also have every young man in town with an interest in football but not having BT Sports.   An argument about whether it should be the Liverpool or Man City/Spurs European game was not going to be helped by me asking if we could watch the Baggies on Sky Sports.

I first dined and then sat at the bar from the lovely restaurant to enjoy the carry on and seeing a British Public house operating in exactly the fashion that makes them unique and loved the world over.

Entertainment since 1674

Pub of the Week - The Bulls Head Hotel, Youlgrave

08/04/19 - Day 1 - Inn Way to Peak District - Hathersage to Baslow

Start - Hathersage
Finish - Baslow
Distance - 13 Miles
Key Features - Stanage, Froggatt and Curbar Edges
Geocaches - 5
Pubs - 5 attempted, 4 successfully.

Background
The Inn Way guides are a series of 5 books published over the last 20 years.   This is my fourth one, having previously completed the Yorkshire Dales, Lake District and North Yorkshire Moors.

I'll provide a daily blog to show any changes that may have occurred since the book was published.

The good news is that the Peak District has fewest revisions.   The vast majority of the pubs are still open.   Unlike the North Yorkshire Moors.

Day 1
The book suggests starting at Hayfield, but thinking I know better, I aim for Hathersage as a starting point.   The main reason for beginning out of step is that Hathersage has a train station.   In the end, this would have been a three change monster of a journey and more expensive than the fuel. 

There's a long stay car park in Oddfellows Road and if you use the Derbyshire Dales website, you can order a week long rover pass for just over £20.   It's a scratch the date off that you are using it card, which left me slightly disturbed as the five possible years on the card ended at 2018.   I phoned up and was told to just biro 2019 on the end. 

Logistics done, onto the walking.

Obligatory Fresh Faced Selfie

After almost making the mistake of walking Anti Clockwise - which would have left accommodation interesting - I find the correct path out of Hathersage.   Half an eye out for final night celebrations, I notice that there are more outdoor shops than pubs.   Including one that is a converted pub.

Making my way North, uphill to get to the obvious feature of Stanage Edge.   First architectural object of interest is North Lees Hall dating from 1590.

North Lees Hall

Once the edge is reached, it flat high level walking for the rest of the day.   I've walked it before, so I know that the views are amazing but today is the closest I have to bad weather all week.   A slight mist.   How lucky am I?

Stanage Edge in the Mist

Higger Tor

I've made steady progress to reach the first pub of the week - The Fox House Inn - at the perfect time.   You may say 11:30am is too early for a pint but its not if you want to get the best seat in the house before the pensioners.

I'll not forget my first draught pint of Jaipur in front of the roaring fire, wondering if at £4.70 I have brought enough money to last the week.

Twitter commented it looked cloudy.  It did settle, I was keen to get my first photo check in

Fox House Inn - Get there early to beat the Pensioners

Not too far, Geoaching through Longshaw Manor and White Edge Moor, before I am at pub 2 of the day.  Monday Lunch time and the Grouse Inn is doing a roaring trade - so busy that the only seats were outside.   No hardship, now that the mist has cleared.

Lodge on White Edge Moor

The Grouse Inn - Tuna Sandwiches and Mansfield Bitter

A perfect afternoon walking along Froggatt and Curbar Edges.   No navigational issues and I don't appear to have lost any height, so a pleasant stroll in the afternoon sunshine.

I have many, many similar photos

Eagle Stone marks the end of the Edges.

A long, steep descent along Bar Road and I am in Baslow for first nights entertainment.

The Devonshire Arms provided my accommodation for the evening and an opportunity to drink LocALE with Peak Ales Bakewell Best Bitter.   Mainly catering for dining tourists but in the evening, they did have the football on.   With the volume turned off.

Chez Mappiman

Over the road is the Wheatsheaf.  This was originally my plan for accommodation and was booked.  Two months later, I had a phone call to say it would be closed this week for a refurb.   At least they let me know.   Ask me about the Inn at Hawnby disaster from last year.

Only fail of the evening

I decide to eat out of the Devonshire tonight - so a short walk to Rowley's Bar and Restaurant provides an opportunity to explore Baslow.   Nice Church, an Italian that I think was open and Rutland Arms detailed in the book is now long gone.   I couldn't even identify which building used to host the pub.

Baslow Church at Dusk

Rowleys

A perfect first day - the walking was gentle, the pubs open and its Mad Mondays at Rowleys.

Three courses for the price of two.

So after a feast and an Abbeydale Brewery Moonshine, I retire to the Devonshire Arms.

There's two new dramas starting at 9pm on BBC1 and ITV.   I can't make my mind up whether to go for the Widow or the Victim.   In the end, there was no decision to be made.

Someone had stolen the remote control my room.

I'll be fresh for tomorrow.

07/04/19 - Coach and Horses, Harvington

Distance - 6.75 Miles
Geocaches - 1
Good Beer Guide Tick #378
Walk Inspiration - Discovery Walks in Worcestershire, Walk 28


Most of the Good Beer Guide pubs in my home county have been ticked off but there's one that always remained undiscovered but piqued my interest.

The Coach and Horses in Harvington.

Mainly because Harvington is about 7 miles from my house and I have no idea where this pub is.

Turns out Worcestershire contains two Harvingtons.

This one is in the Vale of Evesham.   If I had paid attention when hot footing it to the Cotswolds, I would have noticed the road signs.

Having met all Mrs M's criteria for a Sunday walk (Dog Friendly, Sunday Lunch, High Trip Advisor ratings) we make it our weekend destination.

To work up our appetites, I determine a reasonable looking 6 miler, starting from the Pub Car Park.

Not a model village - the nicely decorated bus stop, including our destination

Harvington is larger than expected, especially when compared to the more famous group of villages called the Lenches.   There are five of them and our walk is a circuit to Atch, Church and Sheriff's Lench.   It's mainly their background that makes them more famous, with various web sites detailing history back to the C7th.

No, I haven't missed a digit of the date.

The Vale of Evesham is not the most impressive walking country but we're pleased that today we are on good clean paths and don't have to embarrass ourselves back at the pub by turning up mud splattered.   Despite Guide Dog Joy's best attempts at finding half a burger bap and running off through muddy trenches.   Its firm footed tracks, fields edges and a drop back down through Orchards.

Keep straight on at the White Horse

Up to the black and white cottages of Atch Lench

To return through the Orchards.  The Boy also wanted a Sunday Lunch.

Table booked for 1pm and timing near perfect, although I am told to stop taking photos of the Harvington's green steepled church, in case they have given our table away.

Multiple CAMRA Award Winning

Dogs are allowed in the Bar and I was told we would be sharing space with a friendly terrier called Teddy.   He's not the pub dog but belongs to locals who must always come for Sunday Lunch.

The pub has been trading for 300 years and there's not much I'd change - although they could do with a mirror to see when there are punters waiting at either end of the long bar that spans both rooms.

Attention to detail was to the fore - nice to have a little chalkboard that contains meaningful information of the wares.  Strength, colour, brewery location all allowed me to make a choice of a never seen before Fullers "Due South".    Timothy Taylor Landlord-esque in colouring and taste.

The bloke after me at the bar went for a Tetley Smooth Pour.

What's On.

Instantly declared the pub worthy of its CAMRA awards and the Sunday Lunch was a £7.95, do your walking first because the portions are generous, delight.

Love it when a place gets the basics so right.

Branded Glasses for my Fullers Due South

06/04/19 - London Countryway Stage 13 - High Wycombe to Great Missenden

Distance - 12 Miles
Start - High Wycombe
Finish - Great Missenden
Geocaches - 5
Pubs - The Black Horse, Great Missenden
Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7, Stage 8, Stage 9, Stage 10, Stage 11, Stage 12


An unexpected free Saturday allows me to make monthly progress on the London Countryway.

Stage 13.  Unlucky for some.   If you decide to do this, you may feel it unlucky that you are forced to repeat 2.5 miles to get from High Wycombe to Downley, where we pick up the "official" route.  High Wycombe has been added to the route to aide public transport options and was always a diversion.

It transpires that this stretch is even more unlucky for me. I get bit on the aris by a dog in Hugherden Park. All this, after I had said hello to him and his owner. The little sod went unseen around the back and at first I thought he had jumped up and caught me with his claws. At home, the top of my weary thighs show a nice set of gnasher marks. 

2nd Time in Hugherden Manor Park.  Before the Attack

Once at Downley, the theme for today's walking is set. Its nearly all mature woodland, with a real rollercoaster feel.  We climb to a a chalk ridge, to find a valley requiring another climb out the other side.  At least three times - up and down Naphill, Piggotts Wood and the gloriously named Nanfan woods. 

Hence the reason for my weary thighs.

Into the Woods

Out of the Woods

To the Valley Floor

Refreshment stops are limited.  Too early for the pub at Naphill, I end up waiting until almost at the end.  The South Bucks Way takes us through the car park of the Black Horse.  I could have waited until back into Great Missenden but as it was Cask Marque accredited, I decided to take my pleasure early.

Black Horse - Mobwell, Great Missenden

Rebellion IPA - turning into the official drink of the London Countryway.   Found on last three stages.

Great Missenden is worth a diversion to investigate further.   We're on high when we first glimpse it and I vow to do a little circuit of the pretty streets before heading back to the station.   If I hadn't, I'd have missed the main high street - where the George Ale House looked the pick of the 4 pubs available.

Looking down on Great Missenden

But make sure you don't miss the old petrol station.    There's a geocache in the left hand pump.

Great Missenden's Garage