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Tag: Hike Norfolk

Hike Norfolk – Dine with Des and the Blackhorse Beer Mile

Fearing nothing, I thought that it would be a marvellous idea to lead a group of Hike Norfolk members to London to take part in a ‘Dine with Des’ event which consisted of a walk hosted by the wonderful Des Garrahan and then several bars in the evening. There were 11 of us on the train and we managed to dodge rail delays, cancellations and strikes so what else could possibly go wrong? I was confident of the weather, despite the naysayers of the group.

We successfully obtained four table seats on the Greater Anglia Thunderbolt to London, so our expedition started positively with no-one missing the train either. It all made me really quite proud. Here are Bev and Steve excited about the day ahead.

Safely at London Liverpool Street, I used my Pret subscription to quickly get a delightful decaff coconut latte whilst waiting for everyone to return to the meeting point. Everyone was early other than Richard and Laurence who went on a large food shop and only just made it back in time. I didn’t say anything.

Still without any issue such as someone falling on the tracks or some other disaster, we waited for the Central Line train to Epping where our walking expedition was starting from.

I noted that some of the group had started eating their lunches, but I didn’t say anything or suggest that they were like a group of kids.

Here’s a plan for another day.

The group assembles at Epping station and we waited for Des, who swept in at 11:01, fortunately only one minute later than expected. It meant that our big trek into Walthamstow could begin, set at 11 miles although that situation was to change when I had one of my good ideas.

Our first stopping point so that Des could give us some history about Epping Forest and how it evolved. One new thing that I learned is that a forest might today mean a collection of trees, but in the medieval period it more referred to a Royal Forest which the King used for hunting. The forest was in danger of destruction in the Victorian period as developers kept pinching bits of it to build houses on, but fortunately an ecological movement formed to stop the trees being entirely swept away. Epping Forest is today managed by the City of London Corporation who appear to be looking after it well, although Des noted that they’re not that keen on putting up much signage around the area. He regretted saying that as every time anyone saw a sign they mentioned it quite loudly to Des.

Richard kept pestering Des to know when lunch was, so we found a suitable spot and I had my lunch which consisted of a Pret sandwich as I didn’t want to overdo it. There was a bit of excitement here when one of the London walkers, which I specify to show it wasn’t one of my lot, managed to get a bit lost. 45 minutes later the matter was resolved, although that gave us a timing issue that I think was in our favour in terms of the bars, but more on that later. There was another issue with regards to Steve, one which makes him a hero, but more also on that in a bit. I don’t want to put too much excitement into this post too early on.

Here’s Des posing by a tree. I should at this point mention the bravery of Bev who wasn’t going to take part in the walking element as she’s got a broken back or something, but she took part and complained only rarely. So very brave.

There was a tree that had fallen across one of the paths and Des made the immediate decision to move it. I moved a significant part of the foliage myself and then worried about getting a splinter, so I then just photographed the action.

I can’t quite recollect which part of the shrubbery I help moved, but I think it’s the little twig at the front of the photo.

No it isn’t.

Can you get much cooler than this? I mentioned earlier that Steve had been particularly brave during the lunchtime period. During the lunchtime missing person debacle, a girl came into view who was distressed and who had become separated from her family. She knew where she needed to go but wasn’t sure how to get there, with Steve working out that it was a 20 minute walk there and 20 minute walk back, meaning he’d be far behind our group. I put my live tracking on, Steve did the same, and then for the next part of the day he was playing catch-up with the rest of us. But look how suave he looks when he came back into sight. What a modern day hero.

Some ferocious bulls that we sneaked by. Richard identified them as cows but we all agreed they were dangerous bulls. Well, Laurence and I agreed that.

I didn’t feel the need to have an ice cream, but the rest of the group did. I think they were more exhausted than I was, since I forget what a natural athlete I am what with my squash, football and bar billiards action. Especially bar billiards.

I went to look at the lake whilst the others were binge eating their ice creams. I didn’t say anything. I did though announce my good plan, which was to shorten the walk, a plan I’m sure I’ve had before. We had bars to visit.

This is Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge, a sixteenth century building which was once used to watch all the animals that were about to be massacred by the Monarch. Next door is a mock Tudor building which is home to a Premier Inn, perhaps one of the most attractive one of their buildings in the chain.

It was then a quick walk to Chingford bus station where we boarded a bus towards the main focal point of the day, the Blackhorse Beer Mile. We had to switch to another bus en route, but we arrived before 17:00 and I was pleased with my excellent decision to peel off from the rest of the walk to ensure the Norfolk people got their complete experience of the bars. Unfortunately, Hackney Brewery was closed for a wedding, but everything else was in full flow and we started at Wild Card Brewery.

And then Beerblefish.

And Exale. That’s an insanely good Jazz Dragon from the brewery floating under the cloud, a double IPA with a beautiful tropical flavour and one of the best beers of the evening.

Pretty Decent Beer was a new venue to me and one of my favourites of the day, not least as they had a pizza food truck parked outside. The beer menu was extensive and the service was polite and helpful.

Food at last, the It’s Not Big Dough pizza offering.

The N’Duja sausage pizza, which was suitably delicious.

Yay! Be nice people 🙂

I had to toast my Morning Steve! beer in front of Steve, as I’m thoughtful like that.

I didn’t want to miss anyone else, so here’s the rest of the group being toasted with my decadent 5.5M2 raspberry sour. This venue was certainly surprising and delighting me.

Then off to Signature Brewing and I opted for the outside bar rather than waiting inside.

Toasting Richard and Laurence with my Summer in the City watermelon sour, another standout beer.

London beers are some of my favourites 🙂

I went up to the roof garden and my two loyal readers might want to see if they can pick out the by now heavily wrapped up Norfolk group. They don’t have my resilience to the cold.

The Studio Lager which I was gifted by someone who wasn’t entirely surprised and delighted by it, so it felt right to toast the group. Again. They were a very tolerant bunch to be fair.

Our final bar was Big Penny Social, which was one of the more popular venues with a chunk of the group.

Des had been unfortunate with his food options as pizza wasn’t available by the time he ordered at the previous two bars. A banana was found for him, but he decided to order a pizza at Big Penny Social. I have to say that I think he might the right decision.

A genuinely very lovely evening. I had been looking for someone to complete the Blackhorse Beer Mile with me so I was delighted with the job lot of people that I got. Not that I had better call Hike Norfolk a job lot….

I’m very good at delegation and I appointed Steve as the responsible adult to get us back to the railway station. I was unimpressed at the raucousness of the group who kept cheering when they saw themselves on the bus CCTV. I didn’t say anything, I just pretended that I wasn’t with them.

Time for a final Pret of the day.

Ready to board our train.

As she had been so delighted by the professionalism of the day, Bev gave me half her Love Bar. We all agreed I had been an excellent walk leader, or at least the one person I asked agreed with that.

The great news about all of this is that there’s another Dine with Des rolled out already given the excitement of this evening. Further details are at https://www.meetup.com/hikenorfolk/events/294858685/. Expect a lot more London adventures as I’m on a roll and they’re one of my favourite things 🙂

July 17, 2023
Saturday : Hike Norfolk Walk St. Augustine’s Way and a Night at Bills

Our longer walk for the weekend was the 17 mile expedition along the St. Augustine’s Way, although we only did the Minster to Canterbury section. Dave, Steve, Richard and I enjoyed a little pre-walk walk, along the Great Stour river.

My pre-walk meal of Avocado muffins at the West Gate Inn, one of two JD Wetherspoon outlets in Canterbury.

After some arranging of people into little groups to buy Group Saver tickets for the railway journey to Minster, we cluttered up the platform. Gordon questioned what he was doing in terms of the walk, but we were confident that he could complete the expedition, he’s a very brave man. But, despite that, he thought that he’d better have a little sit down before the main event started.

And off we go, 21 of us on the train. I should mention of course that the LDWA have a page about this walk, at https://ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?path_name=Way+of+St+Augustine.

Safely in Minster and I liked how the train guard came out to check that’s actually where we wanted to get off, as I think he had been expecting us to get off at Ramsgate. That is where the St. Augustine’s Way actually starts (or ends) but that distance would have been a bit much for the group to have got done in the time that we had. Note Steve’s awareness that a photo was being taken, whilst others were rather less prepared.

Minster Abbey which came to an end following the Dissolution of the Monasteries and after being taken over by the Crown, it became a residential property. That might have been the end of the religious connection to the site, but in 1937 a group of Benedictine nuns took it over and it has remained a nunnery since then.

The Grade I listed St. Mary’s Church in Minster where there has been a Christian building since 670. That’s certainly some hallowed ground there.

The obvious Norman features aren’t later copies or inserted by the Victorians, the nave dates to the middle of the twelfth century.

The chancel, which dates to the thirteenth century.

The church’s muniment chest and as the sign notes, it’s from the medieval period, although the oak lid is older than the elm chest itself.

The font and the cover behind it are both from the fifteenth century. If any member of the congregation from that time had somehow walked in over 500 years later, they’d find very little had changed, I’m sure that they would be most reassured.

With that we were off on the main part of the walk, led by Steve as he had completed the entire route the previous year. He pointed out the little Camino stickers we needed to look out for.

Richard got his bag stuck in a tree, but I helpfully assisted him out of his predicament. Richard blamed poor Liam for the situation who wasn’t even on the weekend, but I didn’t get involved.

A slightly rickety bridge, but it was sufficient for our group to get across.

It was too hot, so having a pub open just after 11.00 was particularly useful, this is the Dog and Duck in the beautifully named village of Plucks Gutter. Wikipedia give the etymology of the village’s name, although I have no idea whether this is true or not:

“The hamlet is named after a Dutch Drainage Engineer called Ploeg, whose grave is in All Saints Church, West Stourmouth. Ploeg, being the Dutch for a plough, the hamlet takes its origins from the Dutch Protestant tradition of draining marshland by creating a ploughed ditch”.

A quick half, this was the Master Brew from Shepherd Neame which was well kept although unexceptional, but given the heat, it was sufficiently refreshing. I haven’t seen American Express hand sanitiser before, which seemed a little odd in terms of branding. Someone from American Express pondered what they could brand in a pub and they went for the hand sanitiser….

Relaxing in the beer garden, I tried to get in the shade.

The next stage of the adventure, after walking through the beer garden, involved walking along the river which was ideal with some tree cover and breeze from the water. Although it was still too hot, but I didn’t moan about that and just got on with it of course.

Some more information about St. Augustine’s Way, or the trail as this sign refers to it. Woodland areas were a real boon during the walk, the open sweeping Kent plains were rather less delightful when there was no shade. Susan had decided to take an umbrella around with her, which was one of the most sensible decisions of the day as far as I was concerned, she was entirely in the shade all day and I was quite jealous. I suggested to Richard that he carry around one of the pub’s parasols to keep us shady, but he refused for reasons unknown.

The Red Lion in Stodmarsh, a pub which offered a very friendly welcome and which as a food based pub I had expected to be full on a Saturday afternoon. The reverse seemed to be the case and they could have served food to our entire group if we would have had time, but some decadent crisps did instead. They’re from the Taste of Game range and the options at the pub were:

Grouse and Whinberry

Smoked Pheasant and Wild Mushroom

Wild Duck and Plum Sauce

Wild Boar and Apple

The aim of the crisps is to encourage people to try game, which hasn’t worked for me as I’m not exotic enough to start ordering grouse and the like, it’s not something that Greggs specialises in. Anyway, I seem to have now got myself distracted writing about crisps. The pub has quite an exotic and adventurous menu, something a little different and they deserve to do well.

St. Mary’s Church in Stodmarsh, not a church that we went in, but it dates from the twelfth century with a major restoration having taken place at the end of the nineteenth century.

St Andrews Church in Wickhambreaux, a Saxon name for the village, from ‘wic’ which is a fortified town and ‘ham’ meaning homestead, which was its Domesday name, Wicheham. The ‘breaux’ bit is later, named after a local family and to avoid confusion with two other locations with similar names.

The interior of the Grade I listed church and it’s notable because of the glass, with the listed building record noting:

“The east window has Art stained glass of the Annunciation dated 1896 and signed Arild Rosenrrantz. The New York Times of 1896 reported that this was the first commission in Europe to be given to American glassmakers.”

The nave with its coloured roof, with much of this interior being from the late Victorian period.

Back in Canterbury and this, St Martin’s, is the oldest parish church in the English speaking world, having first been used for prayer in 597. It was relevant to our walk as it was the site where St. Augustine had his mission headquarters and King Æthelberht was baptised here.

The church’s tower and there’s bits of Roman brick that were used in the construction.

Inevitably there have been many structural changes over the centuries, although some of the early core of the building from the pre-conquest days does still remain. The tower is much later and it’s evident how bits have been added on to the building, fortunately without the Victorians trying to unify the whole arrangement by standardising windows and the like. Along with Canterbury Cathedral and St. Augustine’s Abbey, this church is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Hike Norfolk group having a little rest at the entrance to the church. Everyone had done very well, especially given the heat that we had all endured. Gordon had been very brave, and although Richard was limping around a bit, he had also done marvellously. Indeed, he has been inspired to take part in an LDWA challenge event, so very exciting! Jonathan and Richard had got separated from the group towards the end of the walk, but with a little bit of me shouting and Jonathan using his exploration skills, we met up again soon enough.

All that’s left of the St George the Martyr church in the city, notable for being where the playwright Christopher Marlowe was baptised. Unfortunately, it was hit by a bomb on 1 June 1942 which destroyed most of the building and also the nearby house where Marlowe was born. The remains of the structure remained standing until 1955, but rather than keep them, it was decided to pull them down and only save the tower.

And the end of the walk and our little pilgrimage, we had reached the locked doors of the gateway into Canterbury Cathedral. Richard tried to get a taxi back to the B&B, but couldn’t find one, so he came back with a small group of us, where we enjoyed a couple of hours peace and quiet following our brave adventure. If you complete the pilgrimage route you can visit the cathedral for free, but since we had only done part of the route and the cathedral was shut, it was fairly evident we wouldn’t be getting in for free.

The evening meal was at Bills in Canterbury and I’m glad that they could cater for a group of 21 people with what seemed complete ease. We had to wait ten minutes after our booking time whilst they cleared down the previous table, but all else was efficient.

The beer choice wasn’t exceptional, but there were a least a few options so I can’t overly complain and it was certainly reasonable for a chain restaurant. The restaurant didn’t seem surprised and delighted with my announcement that I didn’t want put drinks putting on the tab, which is a common policy with Hike Norfolk to ensure that nothing is left over at the end as someone has forgotten it. The restaurant wanted what would likely be 50 drinks placed on a bill which we would later identify who had ordered what, but they in the end let us order from the bar as we went along. That little issue aside, the service was friendly and engaging for the rest of the evening and the staff were always personable.

The starter of spiced crab cakes and that green chilli dip was rather delicious. I was impressed that they got all 21 dishes out on time and at the appropriate temperature with no issues. We had pre-ordered, although I had managed to forget someone’s main course, although the restaurant coped admirably with adding that. I like to think they get even more demanding customers than me…..

The main course of half a roasted chicken, which was slightly unusually served with fried potatoes, instead of the usual chips, which seemed a rather good idea. The garlic aioli added some extra taste to the whole arrangement, which was more filling than the photos suggested.

I probably didn’t need a dessert, but as I had pre-ordered one, I forced myself to eat it. I’m unsure why they’re using the same plates as Wetherspoons, but that’s a different matter. This is the Eton Colada with fresh pineapple, coconut, cream, meringue and ice cream and a cherry on top, served in a 1970s type pineapple thing.

It had been a long day and it was nearing 23.00 by the time we left the restaurant, so we meandered back off to our various accommodation options. It was still slightly too warm in Canterbury and it was clear that I had managed to get a sunburnt neck, but fortunately we were distracted by all of Richard’s ailments to think of our own.

Some of the classy design arrangements at the B&B.

And it looks like I’ve done the handiwork in the bathroom, although Richard, Steve and Dave commented that they had similar grouting which looked like it had been laid out with a trowel.

Thanks to Steve for organising the walk and thanks to me for organising the trip, I thought it was a very enjoyable day and there were no fights, so that’s a win.

July 26, 2022
Friday : Off to Canterbury for Hike Norfolk Weekend

After a little milling around central London, including around St. Paul’s where it was too hot, I shuffled in the intense heat to get the Central Line to the delights of Wanstead. Richard and Dave were picking me up from Redbridge and since I wanted to get there early, I thought I’d wait in the nearby Wetherspoons, around a fifteen minute walk away.

I’m not sure what interesting things I can say about Wanstead Underground Station. Work started on it in the 1930s, but the Second World War got in the way, so it didn’t open until 1947. It was designed by Charles Holden (1875-1960) who had been heavily involved in designing War Graves Commission cemeteries after the end of the First World War.

More a photo for Untappd than for entering in any photography competitions, but this is the Tropical Crush from Portobello Brewing. I found a table with a power point nearby and got myself fully charged for the big journey, as it’s best to be prepared with Richard driving. He’ll read this, but he only reads the post that gets emailed to him when I publish it, I don’t think he’s worked out I change posts afterwards if I find that additional gossip is needed.

The Wetherspoons is the George, a rather grand former hotel and it’s relatively well reviewed, and I found everything to be in order. I quite liked this review though:

“I went to the George pub and the service was very bad as the food took so long to arrive and I did not get served until 8.45pm when I did order at 7pm, so I was very angry with the people who served me so I will not be going there ever again.”

There’s something about the very angry that intrigues me. It’s quite an early JD Wetherspoon outlet, they took it over in 1992 and dropped the Hotel from the pub’s name, although I do wonder what they’re doing with all that space. The hotel had been built in 1903, replacing an earlier pub which was called the George and the Dragon.

Anyway, with that drink enjoyed and my devices fully charged, I walked along the side of a busy road (on a pavement, but nonetheless, the walk isn’t ideal) to meet Richard and Dave at Redbridge. A quick phone call to the restaurant to confirm the evening’s meal arrangements were as I expected, and we were off. Now, Richard told us some funny stories about his trip to France, but, unfortunately, he has imposed a DSMA-Notice on this blog so I can’t post about those details. Dave or I can recount them on request though.

After checking into the B&B, which was an experience I’ll return to, we then rushed off to the pub, as Richard is pub obsessed. This is the Tribute from St Austell Brewery at the Three Tuns pub, which I choose as a quick stop despite it being Greene King. It was well kept, although it’s never going to be a beer to write home about. The pub dates from the fifteenth century and apparently there are remains of a Roman theatre underneath the building. And today, it’s a Greene King pub which isn’t quite as exciting.

Next it was a stop at the Foundry Brew pub, which is Untappd listed and Good Beer Guide pub listed. Unfortunately, I was unable to secure this location for the group meal, but I did need to have a little examination of their beers as they’re the brewpub of Canterbury Brewers. I won’t drone on for too long here, the beers were all well kept and tasted of a reasonable quality, but nothing particularly stood out other than the Itzamna, their imperial porter. Decadent with tastes of vanilla and chocolate, all very lovely. I liked the care they took with noting which beer was which on the laminated sheet, that was much appreciated and rather professional.

Gordon in front of Patisserie Valerie, as it’s a location he likes telling a funny story about.

I had struggled to book a table for the Friday night, but this was the location of choice, the Millers Arms. Steve kindly gave an excellent little talk about the Camino that he’s just walked, several weeks of 22 miles a day on average, all very courageous. I think it’s fair to say that he inspired a fair few people around the table. He also gave details of the walk that we were undertaking on the following day, which was part of St. Augustine’s Way.

Onto the food, which exceeded my expectations to be honest. Tender fish, a rich batter which remained crispy and had a depth of taste, with skin on fries which had a suitable fluffy interior. Nicely garnished, well presented and with sufficient tartare sauce, although that’s hidden at the back of the photo. It complemented the Double Stout from Shepherd Neame, who operate this pub, really rather well. Although, to be fair, I think stout complements nearly anything, I’m not that fussy.

The Millers Arms was a decent pub, I liked it, and it’s a hotel as well for those who want somewhere to stay. Everything felt professionally managed, they certainly didn’t let me down.

And with that, it was time for a few of us to visit the pub. Gordon ran off, which was really not ideal, but sufficient numbers stayed out as there was a Good Beer Guide pub that I hadn’t been to still left to visit.

The Thomas Tallis Alehouse was where I took everyone, a quirky arrangement as the pub doesn’t even have a bar. I liked pubs that are different and the Good Beer Guide didn’t let me down here.

There’s a nice little beer selection there, I think young Nathan would have been happy with that.

I had thought that it would be busier on a Friday evening, but unfortunately, not, although a couple of tables were taken later on. It was rather lovely to see Sarah and Andy come along at this point, they’re hard core drinkers though, so it wasn’t an entire surprise.

As for the drinks, I went for thirds of a number of different beers, including the Bone Machine from Whiplash, the Double Juice Punch and the Wake Up Call from Brouwerij Frontaal as well as the It’s Me or the Solar Farm from Turning Point. An attractive range of beers, with the Double Juice Punch being particularly notable.

A very decorative toilet.

Richard and I were the last two standing, or, technically, sitting. He’s reliable like that is Richard. That just meant we had to get back to the B&B which was a twenty minute walk.

All very atmospheric and I’d add it’s very difficult to take a photo of the cathedral. Despite its size, it remains hidden behind these narrow streets.

It was all rather quiet, although it was nearly midnight. There was a big party going on at the venue underneath the Hilton by Hampton though, which we realised by walking in front of it, and also from Gordon who was staying there and who couldn’t sleep until 3am despite spending £220 per night. How the other half live….

And the castle, which was constructed by William the Conqueror shortly after his invasion of the country in 1066. It was used by a gas company in the nineteenth century who took the top floor down, which isn’t entirely ideal, although there were plans to entirely demolish it, so the outcome is better than it could have been. I’m pleased to report that we got back to the B&B unharmed and in good shape, with Richard really excited for the walking the following day. I was busy to complain all day that it was too hot.

July 20, 2022
Sunday : Hike Norfolk Canal Walk and Pizza at Franco Manca

The day started with breakfast at the Heathrow T5 Holiday Inn Express in what is a busy airport hotel and I think I took this photo at the quietest possible moment. This is all high volume turnover food and drink, but it’s all brand standard and what I expected from the chain. I like airport hotels for numerous reasons, and not just because it often means that I’m going away, but because there are people of different nationalities talking either about their excitement for going on a trip or talking about the one that they’ve been on. There were plenty of Americans in this hotel, not perhaps surprising given it’s an IHG property.

The bacon was odd, one side was slightly burnt and the other side was only just cooked, but it was very moreish and I think I rather overdid them and promptly got a salt overdose. That banana isn’t mine, Ross went for that. I didn’t say anything though. Given that the breakfast was included in the room rate, I thought that it was all quite reasonable, I did enjoy the bacon and sausages.

I would have usually taken this photo the previous evening, but it was a bit dark then…. The hotel is unlikely to win any design awards for its exterior, but the staff were helpful and I had no complaints about the stay.

It was a bus to Hounslow West (fortunately there’s a bus stop a short distance away from the hotel), which took longer than I had anticipated, the Bath Road certainly has a lot of stops. Ross got off at Holborn to change to the Central Line to go back home, whereas I had the Hike Norfolk walking day which meant that I stayed on the Piccadilly Line until King’s Cross.

After getting a quick free coffee, I started to walk along the Regent’s Canal from the King’s Cross area to meet the others. I didn’t rush, as the further I walked then the further I had to walk back and I had a very heavy bag after a few weeks away. Indeed, I had quite of little sit downs whilst letting the others walk towards me.

These gas holders at King’s Cross were modernised to be used as housing, this shows real innovation and respect for the local environment and its heritage. The one in Norwich was just pulled down in what I considered to be an appalling decision, but there we go. Mind you, although the properties are properly really lovely to live in, the prices start at £725,000 and there are sizeable annual service charges, so I think I’ll stay living in Norwich.

I could hear them coming (this is a video, if it doesn’t auto-play, then click on the image) as it’s fair to say that there are some loud members of the group. As I am the sole of discretion, I won’t mention any names. The walk was led by the formidable Steve along the route of the Regent’s Canal, which is 8.6 miles long and goes from Paddington in the west to the Limehouse Basin in the east. For my loyal followers, I reccied some of this walk with Steve and Bev a few weeks ago.

Dancing on graves isn’t usually acceptable behaviour, but it is here in Joseph Grimaldi Park. We diverted here because I knew of its existence, and I’ve written about it before.

The canal walk in mid-flow.

There were lots of opportunities for photos whilst walking.

A lock and I do enjoy watching boats navigate through these, always slightly relieved it’s not me that has to be in charge of that process. It looks quite complex and I’m not sure that I’d find a holiday on a boat relaxing if I had to do this more than once. I don’t think that I’m a born mariner though.

The lovely Sarah posing for photos. She was bravely walking the Rodent Wriggle the following week and was just a little nervous, but I did my best to offer helpful advice (did I mention that I’ve walked the LDWA 100?) and I’m pleased that I’m sure that I was useful as she completed it.

I went to the pub as I had a heavy bag and couldn’t be bothered walking any further (we had finished the Regent’s Canal early so Steve thought of another short walk he could lead), well, and I love pubs. This is the Craft Beer Co outlet at Limehouse, which again, I’ve written about before. The music was setting up and I helped pass over a couple of wires, which I think nearly defines me as a roadie (although perhaps I’ve rather under-estimated what they actually do).

I decided to leave at 16:00 with no disrespect to the musicians, but I’m not big on live music in pubs.

After a quick ride on the DLR and then a 15 minute walk (which I rushed in case the others got food before I got there), I caught up with the rest of the group in central London as they were looking for food options and they had chosen Franco Manca, partly because nowhere else was serving food. I had heard of this chain, which has about 60 outlets in the UK, but never visited and so thought this was an interesting choice.

The pizza was reasonably priced and suitably decadent, I was surprised and delighted. Mine was served first, so I had additional reason to like this restaurant. I went for the lightly smoked beechwood spicy salami with organic tomatoes, caramelised red onions and homemade chilli oil. Indeed, I’m making myself hungry two weeks on just thinking about that. I’d come here again, with the pizzas costing under £10 which is very reasonable for central London.

A successful meal I’d say (I didn’t hear any complaints), which meant that we just had a short walk back to London Liverpool Street railway station. They also had numerous charging points, which was handy to reinvigorate my numerous devices.

Steve posing at Liverpool Street, where we had a suitable rest whilst waiting for the train. I had been away for some time, including trips to Nuremberg and Barcelona, as well as a hike up a Welsh mountain on a challenge event, so I was ready to return home.

Boarding the train home, which was suitably uneventful other than for Andy accidentally punching someone, but I’m pleased to say that as it was an accident he wasn’t arrested by British Transport Police. I didn’t mind too much arriving back on time, as usually I look forwards to claiming the Delay Repay, but there was no delay on this service. And, as I’ve moaned about before when they put the bloody Stansted Express service on, I’m pleased to report there were tables and we had an appropriate train.

With that, it was good to be home and thanks to Steve for a really rather lovely day in London.

May 24, 2022
Norwich – 2021 Hike Norfolk Christmas Party at St. Andrew’s Brew House

We didn’t get to hold the Hike Norfolk Christmas party last year due to national restrictions, even though of course Downing Street managed to do so. But anyway, we won’t get dragged into politics here. The Hike Norfolk event was being held at St. Andrew’s Brew House in Norwich, formerly Delaney’s and now operated by City Club. I won’t linger on the beer brewed here as it’s some of the more pointless that I’ve tasted in terms of flavour and taste (we’re not talking Goose Island), but it’s well kept to be fair to them.

There was a mix-up or something with rooms, but Steve was in charge of that and the venue gave us a perfectly good space so all was well. We also had a private bar which was handy, although I ended up drinking water as the service downstairs was all over the place and the beer selection was weak. I won’t linger on the service though, it’s Christmas, there was a home match for Norwich City and there are national staffing shortages, so these are difficult times and it doesn’t feel very festive to be negative. The staff were helpful throughout as well, so the ambience was all comfortable and relaxed.

Liam looking at the arrangements in the private room before the masses came up. There were crackers and I of course promptly lost the hat as I don’t like frivolities.

There was an awards ceremony for later on in the evening, which Steve and I had written in the afternoon. It’s an important event in the Hike Norfolk calendar and we couldn’t let it not happen. Here are the eight trophies carefully lined up.

Richard waiting at the bar in his Christmas jumper.

The starter of ham terrine was really rather good, I liked this.

The turkey main course was less exciting and the pub didn’t burden themselves providing the promised stuffing and pigs in blankets. It was adequate though and all hot.

The Christmas pudding in brandy sauce was also perfectly acceptable. Portion control across meals was a bit all over the place as well, but the service was efficient and seemed well managed.

And then came the awards ceremony that Steve and I presented and is evident from this photo (look at that trophy!), I’m delighted to have won the most prestigious award which is “Bravest Walker”. That was for my very brave walking the 100 that I’ve hardly mentioned this year…… I’d add that I didn’t write that award, although I too would have selected myself as the winner if I had of done. I was very pleased that Susanna didn’t get annoyed at me for her very special prize, so that was a result. It was good to look back on the year and the camping weekend in the Peak District of course gave us many happy memories.

After Steve and I had done our amateur bit of presenting the awards and taking quite a while over it, Rachel took over to be rather more professional. Rachel presented the awards for distance walked during the year on Hike Norfolk walks and to be fair, mine was a little limited since I’ve been away so much. Although I was also distracted photographing my trophy which I shall be finding a prime spot for. I think we had 29 people at the event and it all went well, so here’s to a year of walking with more gossip and stories ahead…. And thanks to Steve to organising the event.

December 12, 2021
Hike Norfolk – Social Day

Last weekend was one of the most important dates in the Hike Norfolk social calendar, the annual summer get together. Richard’s house has been replaced with a more decadent affair this year, adding extra excitement to the mix. There’s usually a walk to go along with the social element, but I couldn’t be bothered with that. We can go walking any day after all.

I decided to put myself in charge of the catering for the event, which was handled very professionally I thought. I was fortunate to have Bev come along to Morrisons to assist with the purchasing of essential supplies, which was rather useful. I let her push the trolley as it’s important to involve everyone in the project. We were going to start with purchasing bread, but noticed that the fruit and vegetables were being reduced in price. I thought getting this at a bargain price was a very good idea, I begrudge spending money (albeit not mine) on fruit and vegetables.

I got bored of the fruit and vegetables quite quickly. The kind man at Morrison’s also didn’t seem annoyed that he had to place six loaves of bread in the big cutting machine, so that was helpful and saved some cutting later on.

And a behind the scenes photo of the food preparation arrangements, with strict food hygiene procedures in place. I spent most of the time supervising arrangements, fortunate to have Richard buttering bread, Bev neatly arranging salad around sandwiches, Dave slicing things and Susanna putting the filling in to the bread. A very handy little team. It was also apparent that we had purchased too many 25p bags of salad, a reminder that it’s best to buy it when cheap to avoid expensive waste.

Crisps and fruit, what more could people possibly want?

And the sandwiches all neatly compiled, collated and ready for service. I have to say, I’m really very good at this food organising I think. I mentioned that to numerous people. We had a whole Smörgåsbord of sandwich options, including cheese & pickle, cheese & onion, ham & mustard and beetroot salad. Despite Bev’s best efforts to make the beetroot salad sandwiches look tempting, they were the least popular which is no real surprise.

We were lucky to have some members bring their own cakes, including a Victoria sponge, a meringue and numerous other delights. And they were all excellent, much appreciated by everyone in attendance.

And the party in full swing. Well, the photo that I can safely upload anyway, it’s fair to say that some members of the group are quite rowdy and so photos later on wouldn’t be appropriate to post. There was plenty of gossip and I thought that it went really well and we received some lovely feedback after the event. Which means that there seems to be more than enough demand to do all of this again. Anyone interested in attending just needs to join Hike Norfolk 🙂

August 18, 2021
Hike Norfolk Camping Trip 2021 – Day 4

This is the little story of the Hike Norfolk camping trip, but since it’s a private trip and I’ll get into trouble if I try to give all of the behind the scenes gossip away, I’ll only give a taster of the event. Thirteen of us went on the trip and it was a three night stay in Edale which is in the Peak District in Derbyshire and where I started a walk from last year. Here’s day one, here’s day two and here’s day three...

Just as we were about the leave the campsite the weather decided that it would present itself with beautiful sun. Although it didn’t much matter, as it poured with rain later that day anyway. The group were all leaving the campsite, with some staying on in different locations and others going back home. For me, it was going back home.

That meant it was now time to take down the tents. Richard is in the background started to take down his palace, whilst my little tent didn’t take much disassembling. It fell down a little too easily, but since there were only two poles and two bits of material, I wasn’t overly-challenged with its deconstruction. I shoved it in its bag and job done.

Richard had a rather larger challenge on his hands. His tent was also rather moist, which required him to have to repitch it at home in the evening.

And then there was no trace of where I stayed for three days…..

So, perhaps it’s now time to write about camping. I have to say that I’m definitely a hotel person, there’s something really rather lovely about a bed, a door and an en suite bathroom. I don’t even crave decadent treats in a hotel room (well, I do, but there’s a limit to what Ibis can offer), just the knowledge that the ceiling won’t fall down.

But, there were twelve of us camping and it’s all about the group spirit. I was rather more tired in the evenings than anticipated, not least because I should have taken a better sleeping bag, but I’ll fix that problem next time (and I hadn’t expected it to rain nearly every night). It was though an adventure and I like taking part in adventures of any description, even if I mutter about them….. I’ve also got a couple of camping trips booked on my own for later this year (and more with others) so I’d better grow to like the arrangement, although I think I’ll ensure that there is a lovely hotel before and after the camping, as a little reward. Also, full credit to Liam for helping me get a tent that was very suitable for my needs and which didn’t leak.

We headed back towards Norfolk, with a plan to stop at Ripley in Derbyshire en route. Whilst on the way, we stopped for a while to look at the scenery and to wait for Richard to catch up, but we then realised he’d stormed off in another direction.

Ripley has the most ridiculous number of pubs, I can’t recall a town with so many. There were also a Craft Union pub, a JD Wetherspoon pub and more independents, but I liked that there were two micropubs. I shall be back to Ripley, most definitely, it felt like a really intriguing place.

That signage at Greggs isn’t ideal…..

We stopped for lunch at a little cafe, Cafe Rossa, which was rather lovely. I’ll write about that separately, as I don’t want my ‘important’ food reviews muddled up with camping discussion.

The church in Ripley, which slightly disappointed me as I was hoping to see a medieval church and this was clearly nineteenth century. The gravestones had also been uprooted and shoved around the outside of the churchyard, which made me tut inwardly. And outwardly actually. But, the history here is intriguing, as the church was built as part of the legacy of the armed uprising in 1817 that was the Pentrich Revolution. This is a complex piece of history that I hadn’t heard about until seeing an information board, but it’s made me want to return to the town to find out more. Although unfortunately, despite Ripley having a railway heritage, it doesn’t actually have a railway…..

And so, that is the end of that little adventure. Not very gossipy I’m afraid, as I think some of the participants might not have been best pleased with me if I had gone into to much detail. But there are several trips coming up where I’m allowed to be gossipy, so that will mean a different style of blog for those adventures. It was an exciting trip that was organised by Steve, which I think everyone enjoyed and I know he’s planning future trips, so that’s all rather lovely.

May 28, 2021
Hike Norfolk Camping Trip 2021 – Day 3

This is the little story of the Hike Norfolk camping trip, but since it’s a private trip and I’ll get into trouble if I try to give all of the behind the scenes gossip away, I’ll only give a taster of the event. Thirteen of us went on the trip and it was a three night stay in Edale which is in the Peak District in Derbyshire and where I started a walk from last year. Here’s day one and here’s day two.

There was no Richard on the walk (he had gone shopping) so 12 of us took on the walk which went from Edale following a path by the side of the graveyard of Edale church.

The footpath sign taking us towards the direction of Castleton.

I think this is the same stream that runs at the base of the campsite that we’re staying at.

The weather was moderate as we started off, but dark clouds were often on the horizon. I never read the weather forecast as it annoys me, but there was apparently (as others in the group are more assiduous than I am in their following climate issues) very conflicting information from the weather forecasters with some sources predicting rain and some predicting, well, no rain. It transpired there was quite a lot of rain later on in the day.

This landscape might look beautiful, but look closely and there’s an enormous bull in the middle of the field.

At this point I removed myself from being at the front of the group to being right in the middle of it. The bull made lots of noise and started to walk quickly towards the group. Ian, who is ridiculously brave (and frankly perhaps too brave), walked towards it and the bull then rushed off. That’s the sort of person that you need in an emergency…..

We reached the summit of the mountain (technically a hill) that we were climbing and I was delighted to see that they’d paved the section to Mam Tor. I approved of this. The rain picked up quite heavily at this point, a situation that wasn’t entirely ideal.

And the top of Mam Tor, which Wikipedia tells me means “mother hill”. It also tells me that the Mam Tor is alternatively known as Shivering Mountain, which I prefer since it has the word mountain in it and so makes the walk sound more difficult. Incidentally, I’ve only just discovered there’s an abandoned road (the A625) here which dates from the 1800s and was repaired until 1979 when a replacement was built. I want to see this next time I’m visiting the area…..

Not a shop in sight…. BTW, good news about Richard’s shopping, he acquired an expensive bed for his giant tent.

These flagstones fascinated me and I know that means that I really should get out more. But they are reused from cotton mills and many of them have holes in them from where things were attached to them. It really does feel like walking on history and the current property owners are pleased that they’re being reused, as previously they were a nightmare to get rid of. Apparently the stones are placed with care by hand, although goodness knows those big heavy lumps are moved into position. They have also been surfaced to avoid being slippery and I can confirm that I didn’t slip or slide once during the day.

Some more landscape photos from the walk. We descended back down into Edale via a slightly different route to Jacob’s Ladder. We also saw a very brave cyclist pedalling his bike up the hill on a stony and rocky surface. I admired his fortitude.

As we made good time a number of us decided to visit the Swiss Tap in Castleton. I went there last year and I’ll write about it separately again. I think we slightly annoyed the staff member by paying separately, but one person in the group kept ordering the most decadent gin he could afford and we couldn’t incorporate that into rounds.

We then decided to go over the road to the Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Inn. Since I’ve already written about that, I won’t add much more, but I will note that I was able to charge my phone up in both pubs. Having power in my devices is essential to me, and this gave me confidence that I had enough to get me through the entire camping trip, which was a burden lifted from my mind.

Then it was back into Edale to enjoy another pub, which was the Nag’s Head, and I’ll again write that up separately. The beer was though acceptable, and indeed better than I had expected, and so all was well with the world. I have to confess to being quite tired by this stage of the day. Two nights of broken sleep whilst camping and lots of hill walking had rather taken it out of me. I then remembered that I’m not as young as I once was, although I’m still unsure that I always act my age. But there we go, maybe one day.

It was then back to the campsite and it decided at that point to pour down with rain. Fortunately, we had nearly finished the five minute walk to the campsite before it really started to rain hard, so I was firmly ensconced in my tent by the time of the almost Biblical deluge. There’s something rather pleasant and primeval being inside a warm tent (well, a sort of warm tent) though whilst the rain hits the side. I’m also pleased to report that the tent remained intact and undamaged, although another member of our group did spring a leak overnight…..

May 27, 2021
Hike Norfolk Camping Trip 2021 – Day 2

This is the little story of the Hike Norfolk camping trip, but since it’s a private trip and I’ll get into trouble if I try to give all of the behind the scenes gossip away, I’ll only give a taster of the event. Thirteen of us went on the trip and it was a three night stay in Edale which is in the Peak District in Derbyshire and where I started a walk from last year. Here’s day one.

I was pleased that the tent was still there when I woke up. Admittedly, it had to still be there since I was lying in it and the tent was so small that it couldn’t easily blow away. I hadn’t packed with great care (as usual) so wasn’t exactly snug overnight, but I hadn’t experienced any great difficulties. I had though pitched my tent over at least two pine cones (and a big twig) and that was a reminder to myself to carefully check the ground in future. To be honest, when erecting the tent I was more focused on ensuring there were no snakes in the nearby shrubbery that I overlooked the pine cone situation. I’ll put my thoughts about camping into the final post in this little series, that topic won’t be neglected.

The start of the Pennine Way and also the beginning of our walk for the day. I decided that as the walk was only eight miles that I wouldn’t bother carrying a bag and I’d just eat my lunch before setting off to save carrying it. This is a new tactic of mine and I like it, just me and my water bottle.

The start of the walk, a gentle slope in the footlands of the mountain range that we were tackling that day.

I struggle to eat lamb as I find them so adorable. This one looked so sweet, adorable and lovely that I called it Mia and she liked that (I mean the actual sheep, not Liam’s baby Mia). I’d add that I don’t technically know that the sheep was a she, but it made the naming process easier if I assumed that.

I’m a big fan of paving on hills if I’m being honest. I expect mountain purists would be horrified at that, but I’d have a set of steps up every mountain if it was up to me. With regular flat bits with Greggs or another cafe or pub on. I’d add that this isn’t the official policy of the Ramblers or the LDWA.

The walk towards Jacob’s Ladder, in an area where I still didn’t have phone signal.

This is Jacob’s Ladder, which I know as being the location where I get phone signal back after being in the Valley of Mobile Signal Death. Wikipedia notes that “in the 18th century Jacob Marshall farmed the land at Edale Head, at the top of what became known as Jacob’s Ladder. He cut steps into this steep section of the route up to the Kinder plateau”. I have no idea whether this is true or not.

I took a similar photo of this sign last year that I made the main photo image of the LDWA’s long distance path Facebook group. Do join if you use Facebook!

The good weather started to dissipate as we summited the mountain and entered the clouds. Dave Morgan will probably want to correct that to “walked up the slope of a small hill”, but I’m sticking to my words. I estimated the height of this to be around 3,000 metres, but it appears that it’s actually around 500 metres and that Ben Nevis is only 1,500 metres, so I clearly got muddled up somewhere with how far I thought I had climbed up.

The views from one of the mountain peaks over Derbyshire, and indeed probably beyond.

We decided to take a slightly different route to our walk of the previous year, which this time involved walking along a riverbank. In places the riverbank seemed to have collapsed which meant some traversing over gushing rivers that I considered to be as wide as the River Ganges in full flow. Following the path proved to be quite difficult, but I enjoyed this orienteering type challenge.

Another water crossing we had to deal with and there were quite a few. Some of the group were quite nimble over these, but I won’t go into details.

Some of the terrain we walked on.

OK, I’ll admit that we had a little problem here as we were slightly lost. Technically we knew where we were, but we didn’t know where the path was and it’s fair to say that this isn’t an ideal situation. Fortunately, we had professionals on the team to get us sorted. Thanks Ian! I was glad that someone had a map and real compass, although there wasn’t much point in me having those as I get confused if there isn’t a blue dot on a screen telling me where I am. To be fair though, it’s hard to get lost on the top of a hill in Norfolk, so my navigational skills are slightly different (and mostly involves finding the nearest pub that serves decent beer).

We didn’t see anyone for over an hour. Primarily as we weren’t on a path.

After Ian got us back on track and onto an actual path we then descended and I thought that the views were really beautiful. My bravery was noted by several people on multiple occasions (well, two people twice).

Back down the steps to the campsite. The eight mile walk had turned into around twelve miles, but I’m a hardened walker (on the flat anyway) so I decided this was fine.

I kept waiting by my tent (well, not for hours, I wasn’t that bothered) for a train to go by and here it is.

I’m a huge advocate for the pub industry and write negative things about them very sparingly, primarily as I rarely have any cause to do so. The welcome at the Rambler Inn was though hostile (actually the most hostile I’ve experienced at any British pub), although fortunately our group of six (the rest of the group were at the campsite as they wanted to sit outside in the cold for reasons known only to them) were spared the brunt of what I heard being offered to others. We asked for a table inside and were told no and that he wouldn’t be breaking the law by allowing us in as we were clearly from more two households. Firstly, we weren’t clearly from more than two households, but it’s irrelevant anyway, the law says “six people or two households”. But, none of us were going to mention this or argue, we just sat outside which was fine as there was a heated area. A welcome of “hi there, table for six but we’ve only got outdoors, is that OK?” would have been my personal ideal here. To be extra fair to the pub, perhaps the staff member on the front door had faced some troublesome groups over the day and was worn down by it, so I’ll be forgiving (but still feel obliged to recount my experience as it was the most extreme I’ve ever faced in the hospitality industry).

As an aside, on Monday morning I was walking by the pub and a staff member ran out to confront a guest to tell them they were leaving without paying. The customer seemed bemused and mentioned that his wife was still inside and they weren’t leaving yet. I’m not sure I’ve ever witnessed this sort of thing either, the staff member seemed apologetic and said something about the booking company not making it clear that they didn’t take payment and the pub couldn’t access the card details. To be honest, this sounds a great pub that I’d like to stay in, I suspect I’d get very many stories. Equally, I can hardly stay there now I’ve written this, so we’ll let that lie there.

The ordering process at the pub was via app, which worked perfectly for me. But there’s a flaw in the app, which the poor staff member had to explain to at least two tables, where you can’t use the saved card feature and have to retype the card numbers in again, otherwise it just rejects the order. Easily fixed though and I do appreciate that the pub had made the effort to have an app going, and technical difficulties with these aren’t rare at the moment. I tried the Farmers Blonde from Bradfield Brewery and the Wainwright from Marston’s Brewery, both perhaps unexceptional, but acceptable and well-kept.

The fish and chips was served as a generous portion, although the batter was tasteless. The fish was though well cooked and tasted of a good quality, with the addition of a charred lemon being a nice touch. The batter wasn’t though greasy which is a positive, with the chips being fluffy inside. The mushy peas were bland, but it was all perfectly edible and served at the appropriate hot temperature. Staff despatched customers to go and get their own condiments from the front of the inn, but these were plentiful. Most of our group (but not me, I had more bloody sausage rolls* to eat at the campsite) also ordered the dessert of sticky toffee pudding, which was excellent and keenly priced at £5, so I’d say that the food was overall fine and the prices weren’t excessive.

Two of us tried to get a table inside for drinks, but they were still full, so as it was getting cold we walked back to the camp-site.

*when I say bloody sausage rolls, I meant I really got over-excited and over-bought them at Morrison’s, they didn’t literally have blood on them.

Back in the party tent, this was surprisingly nice. It felt like a guilty pleasure, in the same way that I consider occasionally drinking Hooch to be. I shouldn’t admit that, but there we go….. Decadent craft beer from world class breweries is still my favourite tipple, I don’t want anyone think that my standards are plummeting.

And that was the end of the second day of the trip, all really rather lovely.

May 24, 2021
Hike Norfolk Camping Trip 2021 – Day 1

This is the little story of the Hike Norfolk camping trip, but since it’s a private trip and I’ll get into trouble if I try to give all of the behind the scenes gossip away, I’ll only give a taster of the event. Thirteen of us went on the trip and it was a three night stay in Edale which is in the Peak District in Derbyshire and where I started a walk from last year.

The drive up to Derbyshire was a bit sluggish as the volume of the traffic seemed high. We weren’t sure where to stop or whether we should try and get food in Edale, so we opted to find a Tesco Express. Then we spotted a Morrisons, so our little convoy of cars went there. I managed to get a couple of beers, a foot long sausage rolls, another bag of sausage rolls and some food for the next day’s walking. Certainly convenient.

I discovered that about 100 metres from our campsite there was a railway station, so if I ever need to get back to Edale I could easily. It also only takes one connection from Norwich (change at Sheffield) and fares can be from as low as £20. I doubt I will be going back to Edale though as there was no phone signal (well, there is for EE, but I’m Vodafone). I know some people say that it’s good to get away from social media and e-mails, but I consider that to be piffle, as I need to upload photos to Facebook….

The process of erecting the tents begins, although some had arrived earlier on in the day and had completed their arrangements. Fortunately, the rain held off for a while, which was useful as apparently it had rained for most of the day. Nearly all of this field was Hike Norfolk, with just a couple of other people from Yorkshire I think they said.

My little tent is the one on the right, which Liam choose for me in Go Outdoors (I’m completely clueless with things like this). Liam and Leon also kindly made me a video of how to put the thing up, which proved to be most useful. I did get some help from Steve with the construction efforts of my tent, but I think I can erect the tent on my own next time. And there is a next time, as I got a cheap YHA camping deal when I’m going on my own for a few days, so I’ll have to deal with this alone….. I was pleased that there were just two poles and two bits of material, so that limited the number of mistakes I could make (although I still made about eight mistakes).

This is the view from my tent (well, I was standing up here, as technically the view from my tent was the bottom of that hedge). That flat bit in the middle of the photo is the railway line, which was much busier than I expected. I liked the relatively regular sound of trains going along it, including freight trains at night. I used to think I like tranquility and quiet, but I like hustle and bustle which means I’m destined to live in cities forever.

Observant readers of the blog will note that my tent is not very large, so this clearly isn’t a photo taken in my tent. I won’t name whose tent it is, but he owns the most decadent tent that I know. So that should be a clue.

The campsite is relatively small, but it’s located across a few fields, with a lower section. At the base of the campsite is a river, which I could hear from my tent over the three night stay. Well, I could hear it when the rain and gales didn’t drown the sound out.

I took some Guinness with me, but I also acquired a couple of cans at Morrisons. This was pretty decent and I consumed it with my sausage roll supper. That’s as decadent as I need in life.

All told, I decided that the first day was a success as although the drive wasn’t the smoothest with the traffic, we got the tents up and everything seemed comfortable enough. I’d add now that I’m really not into camping, I consider comfort to either be inside a pub or inside a hotel, I’m not fussy which. But, the things I do for a little adventure in my life…..

May 24, 2021