Stepping out of the comfort zone

There are times in a person's life, when you have to push yourself to the limit. Up until now, I've never really done this, its possibly down to lack of ambition, or just plain laziness. Last week, I “geared” myself up to go on a long cycle ride, little did I know that it would end up being the longest Journey by cycle, that I have ever attempted.

My journey began in Gloucestershire, I intended to follow the same route that I had taken in October last year, but I took a slight detour to photograph The Shutter Inn in Gotherington. I have photographed this pub on quite a few occasions, even visited it a few times. There have been quite a few different owners since I first photographed it, I'm glad to say they seem to be doing well at this time. It is certainly the most picturesque that I have seen it.

The Shutter Inn, July 2021

After I had finished photographing The Shutter Inn, I cycled out of Gotherington, and along the Evesham Road. I cycled along this road until I reached the Ashton-under Hill turn off, it is at this point in the cycle ride from last October, that I decided to turn back. But I wanted to photograph The Star Inn, I didn't have too much trouble finding it, I asked someone for directions. I was relieved to find that the sun was in the right position, so I took a few photos, well more than a few, I went into machine gun mode as my partner often says. It would have been nice to stop here for a while, and visit the pub, but I was not certain if they were open at the time of photographing it.

The Star Inn, Ashton Under Hill

My objective at this point, was to cycle to Evesham, the road that I had been travelling along, was extremely busy – more so than when it was last October. I spotted some cyclists and asked them if there was a safer route to Evesham, they suggested that I took the Sedgeberrow turning and find the cycle path. I found the turning, and rode into Sedgeberrow village which is quite pretty, but I didn't find the cycle path. So I cycled to The Queen's Head to photograph it. I have passed by this pub on a number of occasions when I was using the 540 bus service, from Tewkesbury to Evesham. In fact I was trying to use this route to get to Evesham.

The Queens Head Inn, Sedgeberrow

After leaving Sedgeberrow, I found myself back on the very busy road to Evesham. I am not confident enough to cross over busy roads whilst cycling, so I tend get off the bike and walk across the road. It was a nightmare trying to cross, I must have stood there a good 10 minutes. I finally managed to cross, and continued cycling along the road, but then I passed the turning into Childswickham and Broadway. So I decided to alter my plans, and take a safer route. I spent another 8 minutes trying to cross the road again! I travelled along the road, until I reached The Childswickham Inn or The Inn & Brasserie at Childswickham, to give it it's proper title! I have been to this establishment before back in May 2019, I don't often visit pubs because of the great reviews they've received, but I broke with tradition and decided to try it. I was quite impressed. 

Up until now I had been engrossed in my long journey and had momentarily forgotten all about Covid 19, but the reality of it hit me when I was confronted by the safety precautions one has to adhere to. They were nothing extreme, just a reminder that Covid is still lurking out there. I complied with their precautions and was shown to a table in their marvellous beer garden. The trip to Childswickham is worth it for this alone! Once again, the food was excellent, I wish that I had brought my partner here, I'm sure he would have enjoyed it. Although I enjoyed the meal, and sitting in the beer garden, it didn't feel the same as my pre-Covid visit. I think people are under a great deal of stress at the moment, whether this has been eased by “freedom” day remains to be seen.  

The Inn & Brasserie at Childswickham

The pub was becoming quite busy, which is good, but it was my cue to leave. I set off along the long road to Broadway, I had abandoned my plan to travel to Evesham. I reached Broadway, found a bench and rested for a while. As everyone is aware, Broadway is a lovely village with honey coloured stone buildings – the stuff chocolate box covers were made for. I've travelled here quite a few times, firstly with my partner and his brother, more recently using the bus service from Cheltenham to Broadway. It was on this journey, that I first discovered the Childswickam Inn. The highlight of my epic cycle ride, had to be cycling along the main High Street in Broadway, passing the lovely shops and hotels. I felt like Rocky ascending the steps after he had completed his fitness regime! I rode to the top of the High Street, and photographed The Horse and Hound pub, it looks wonderful with the sun on it.

The Horse & Hound, Broadway

My final task was to photograph the legendary Crown & Trumpet pub, which meant travelling back down the High Street and turning off into Church Street. The pub was renowned amongst other things, for it's long established landlord, I'm not sure if he is still there, but we were lucky enough to meet him, when we visited several years ago. The pub usually has cars parked outside, making it difficult to get a reasonable photograph, but on this occasion there were socially distanced tables outside. I may have captured a rare moment in the pub's history!

The Crown & Trumpet, Broadway

By now, my legs and thigh were aching significantly, I didn't feel like I could travel much further, so I headed off in the direction of Cheltenham. I took a few wrong turns, and ended up on a long and arduous journey through Winchcombe and down the Cleeve Hill Road. Later that evening, my partner calculated that I had cycled 30 miles. I hope I get the chance to go on an equally interesting journey in the near future, Lets hope my photography skills are up to the challenge.

Take me home country roads

Since April I've been on a few excursions to some of our favourite places, both with my partner and solo. A week or so ago, we travelled to Weston-super-Mare by train, I will write a separate post about this on another occasion. For now I will concentrate on my very recent bus trip to Stroud. I began my journey with the intention of travelling to Devizes via Swindon, but due to time constraints I opted to catch the connecting bus to Stroud, from Cirencester. The journey was enjoyable for two reasons, the helpful bus driver and the lovely country roads filled with wild flowers. I was unable to stop and take photos, because this particular service is infrequent. Thanks to Cotswold Green for a most pleasant journey.

I got off the bus at Bowbridge, which is a short walk from Stroud town centre. I wanted to photograph The Bowbridge Arms, which has had quite a chequered history in recent years. When I first photographed the pub back in 2016, it was known as The British Oak and had been closed for a while. There were ambitious plans to reopen the pub and link it to the restoration of the nearby canal, hence the new name The Bowbridge Lock. The reopening went ahead, at the time of our first visit to the pub, there were 8 real ales available, we predicted that it would have a bright future. However it closed not long after, within a few weeks it was open again, but with a reduced range of ales.

The pub closed again in December 2016, but within weeks it reopened under a new name The Bowbridge Arms, new signage and management. I have speculated about what happened with the change of management in a very short space of time, but I am not in possession of all of the facts, so I will stay silent on this issue. After months of uncertainty regarding the pub, they seemed to put their troubles behind them. My partner and I visited on a few occasions during this period in 2018, and enjoyed good food in pleasant surroundings. I have no idea what the current situation is, because it was closed when I was photographing it.

The British Oak 2016

The Bowbridge Lock 2016

The Bowbridge Arms July 2021

Some of the original etched windows from 

when the pub was The Bristish Oak, are still in situ.

After I had finished photographing The Bowbridge Arms, I walked into Stroud to have a look around. I was dismayed to discover that The Little George micro pub, was closed. A little while later, I walked up to The Alehouse, another pub with an excellent choice of beverages and good food. Unfortunately The Alehouse was also closed at the time that I was photographing it, so I decided to travel a little further afield to Cashes Green, to visit The Prince of Wales pub.

The Prince Of Wales Cashes Green, 2013

The Prince of Wales 2021

 

The Lounge Bar at The Prince of Wales 

The Prince of Wales is a popular community pub in Cashes Green, which is on the outskirts of Stroud. Looking at it from the outside, it is rather deceptive, it is a lot bigger on the inside – rather like a tardis! It is basically a two roomed pub, the main bar and lounge bar which proved to be a pleasant surprise. There is a charming stone fire place and wood burning stove, it must be quite cosy sitting here during the Winter months. As soon as I walked into the pub, I was greeted by a friendly bar person, I was made to feel welcome, even though I had never set foot in the pub before. I ordered a meal, and a drink, It was then that I began to realise how difficult being a bar person actually is, they have to be friendly and polite all of the time which isn't easy.

After a thoroughly enjoyable meal, I left and attempted to photograph the pub, the sun had gone in so the photos that I took were rather dull. I narrowly missed the bus back to Stroud, so I decided to walk to Ebley to photograph the Coach and Horses Inn which has been closed for quite a while. There are two pubs in Ebley, the aforementioned Coach and Horses, and The Old Crown Inn which stand almost side by side, separated by a car park. I photographed both pubs, and caught a bus back to Stroud, then headed back to Cheltenham. All in all, it was a very enjoyable day.

The Coach & Horses Inn Ebley 2015

Coach & Horses pub sign

Swings and Roundabouts

Many pubs reopened on the 12^th April, but because of the hours that I work in the care home, I was  unable to visit any pubs until my day off later in the week. My partner and I took a bus to Cirencester, but most of the pubs were still closed, opting to reopen in May. A week or so later, we decided to bicycle to The Mill Inn at Withington, which was as delightful as it was last year, though they don't have real ale at the moment. Their Covid-19 procedures were uncomplicated and easily adhered to – if only this were the case with some other venues.

I had to travel to Gloucester this week, to receive the second part of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine – I even got a little sticker to prove it! I have had varying thoughts about the constant Covid testing at work, and the vaccine itself, but I will confine those thoughts to another place. Thankfully the care home in which I work, is slowly recovering from the devastating effects of an outbreak of Covid, I really feel for the residents and their families.

Whilst waiting to receive the vaccination, I took a little trip around central Gloucester to photograph some of the pubs. The Nelson Inn was a traditional pub in Southgate Street, with a beautifully tiled facade, it closed last year and is now being converted to flats. It is yet another pub that I never went in to. Further on up Southgate Street is the Tall Ship, which has a To Let sign at the moment. It is a former Wadworth pub. I hope someone takes it over in the near future.

The Nelson Inn, April 2021

The Tall Ship, August 2013

Snow snow, quick quick snow!

This latest lockdown is proving to be very different to the one in Spring last year, it has been much more difficult. There has been little to celebrate, with the miserable weather, no places to visit and the devastation that Covid-19 has caused. So I rejoiced when it began to snow in the early hours of Sunday morning, It was the first significant snow fall that we have in in our area for a long time. I didn't get to see much of it, because I was working at the care home, it is only today when it has more or less disappeared, that I managed to go for a cycle ride and take some photos. For some reason, the lyrics to the song “Here comes the sun” by The Beatles seem very apt at the moment.

The Hewlett Arms, Cheltenham

From the photo, it looks like a harsh frost, but I can assure you its snow!

Face to face with Covid-19

 It has been a while since my last blog entry, there has been a lot of changes behinds the scenes – it has been a bit of a roller-coaster. In November I began working in a care home, not as a carer. They had managed to avoid the Corona virus right up until December, then it arrived with a vengeance. Many of my thoughts about the pandemic, have changed because I now have personal experience of working amongst those who have suffered with the virus, and those who are fighting to keep it at bay. I have complete admiration, for those who have gone above and beyond the call of duty, for the people in their care.

So now we are in Lock down number 3, if the last two didn't have a devastating effect on the hospitality industry, this latest lock down certainly will. I dread to think how many of our pubs will have been lost forever, when this has finally been brought under control. To be honest, I have not given much thought to the pleasures of visiting a favourite pub, I don't think I will be contributing to my blog as often as I have done, but I will try. I long for the days of fine weather, and travels to our favourite places.

Best wishes everyone.

Simple Pleasures

Because of the recent resurgence of Covid-19, my partner and I have made a collective decision not to travel outside of Gloucestershire if we can help it. Instead we spent Saturday, enjoying our local surroundings and visiting a few pubs. We decided to walk to the Jolly Brewmaster, an excellent back street pub in Cheltenham. On our way, we stopped at a park and sat in the warm autumn sunshine, and chatted for a while. We spent several minutes watching the antics of a squirrel who was busy collecting nuts, gathering food for the winter no doubt.

We then continued our walk to the Jolly Brew, as we call it. When we arrived it was closed, but would be open in a couple of hours, so we walked in the direction of Bath Road to do a little shopping. On our way there we discovered an area called the Norwood Triangle, which was once a tram route. The area was improved in 2010, with the help of lottery funding. We also noticed a house with a plaque on the wall, on closer inspection we discovered that the house was once a pub called The Railway Inn. It has been converted into an HMO by the look of it, the original etched windows have been retained, which is a nice feature. The funny thing is, I have lived in and around Cheltenham for nigh on 40 odd years, and have only just discovered the existence of this former pub!

The former Railway Inn

We continued our walk to Bath Road, and stopped at The Exmouth Arms for an Arkells 3B, which was in excellent condition. After a little mooching around some charity shops, we headed towards The Jolly Brew. It was empty when we arrived, but by the time we left it was pretty busy. We sat in the beer garden which has been adapted for socially distanced drinking. The pub has won quite a few Camra local pub of the year awards over the years, and it is easy to see why. They always have an interesting selection of ales and ciders, served by friendly and knowledgeable people. It is good to see a back street pub that is still thriving in these difficult times.

The Jolly Brewmaster

Out and about in Oxfordshire

Back in September, I travelled to Oxfordshire using the recent addition to Stagecoach bus service the 835. I originally wanted to go to Swindon, but at the last minute I noticed a bus to Oxford appear on the horizon. Service 835, used to be operated by Pullhams coaches, which I used a couple of times to travel to Witney. There has been a lot of chopping and changing of bus services in my locality, over the last few years. Normally I would buy an Explorer ticket that covers the whole of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and parts of Wiltshire. The Oxford service has a different system, so I bought a Day gold, I'm glad I did because a day return would have been quite restricting. I decided to take my “proper camera” which has had little use this year. 

The Day gold ticket enables the passenger to travel to many areas of Oxfordshire. The 835 travels to Oxford Via the A40, it passes the Burford roundabout and travels through Witney to get to Oxford. On my first journey using this service, I stayed on the bus until it reached Oxford, the only downside of this service, is that it is infrequent.

As the bus arrived in Oxford, I noticed a picturesque looking pub in dappled sunlight, so I gingerly crossed the road to photograph it. I googled some information about the pub, which I frequently do to pass the time whilst on long bus journeys, and walking around seldom visited places. The Eagle and Child has a distinguished history, apparently C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien used to visit. The pub is closed at the moment, but with such a unique history, I'm sure it won't be long before it reopens. 

The Eagle and Child, Oxford

Walking further into the centre of Oxford, it soon became apparent that they take social distancing and mask wearing quite seriously. I guess they need to, with so many buildings in close proximity to each other! After attempting to photograph a few pubs, I decided that the centre of Oxford, might not be the safest place for a photographic expedition, so I limited the amount of time I was there. Quite a few of the pubs in Oxford have tables and chairs in the street, some of the streets are closed off at the moment. One of the pubs I managed to photograph was The Plough at 38, it has recently re-opened, after being closed for 95 years. For many years, the building was occupied by Austin Reed, until they went into administration. It really is heart-warming, to have some positive news about the hospitality industry in the current climate.

The Plough at 38, Oxford

Another pub that I photographed was The Red Lion, a rather splendid curved building, with a traditional pub exterior, I really enjoy photographing this type of pub. I ventured as far as the internal entrance, to have a swift half, but I was a little deterred because of the rigmarole you had to go through, just to buy a drink, so I decided against it. On reflection, they were probably right to take all these precautions. I tried to take some more photos of the pub, but the sun did a disappearing act. Normally, I try to take photographs of pubs without people in the foreground, but the best photo I took, had a lady wearing a mask. As this is an important historical time we are living in, the photo represents an interesting record of the events of 2020

The Red Lion, Oxford

It was quite a few hours to wait for the bus back to Gloucestershire, so I caught the S1 bus service to Witney. On the journey out of Oxford, I noticed a large pub called The Seacourt Bridge, which is in Botley. I googled it and discovered that It was the last remaining pub in Botley. At this point I didn't get off the bus to photograph it. The bus continued to Eynsham, passing a roadside pub called The Talbot Inn, which looked picturesque with the sun upon it. But I stayed on the bus, until it reached Eynsham village. I immediately got off, and caught the bus on the opposite side of the road, heading back to Oxford.

The Talbot Inn, Eynsham

It was a short journey, because I got off at the Talbot Inn to photograph it. I also went inside to have a much needed drink. The Talbot is an Arkells 3 star hotel and pub, with picturesque views of the River Thames. I sat outside and gazed at the river for quite some time, it was quite relaxing. I then caught the bus back to Oxford, to photograph The Seacort Bridge. From the photos I have seen of the interior of the pub, it looks quite impressive with it's traditional bar and stained glass embellishments above it. I didn't go in, because it is not really my kind of pub – it is family orientated, so it would have been a little shall we say, noisy! The photographs I took of the pub, had every element of clutter imaginable – including an electricity pylon in the background! I did manage to cut out the bus stop in front of the pub though.

The Seacourt Bridge, Botley

After this amusing interlude, I caught the S1 to Witney, but got off at Eynsham village again, to have a look around. It is quite a pleasant place, but like Oxford they were taking social distancing quite seriously. I took a few photos of The Red Lion (which was closed at that point) and The Jolly Sportsman, which has a traditional exterior. Unfortately the photos I took were not that good, so I have omitted them from this post. I would have liked to have called in for a drink, but I wanted to make the most of the time I had left, and the light that was available.

The Red Lion, Eynsham

Time was getting on, but there was still quite a long wait for the 835, so I travelled back to Witney and caught the bus to Woodstock. This is the beauty of purchasing such a versatile bus ticket, you can cover quite a lot of ground in one day, and you can plan another journey, whilst you're travelling on the bus, driving through yet to be discovered areas. On the journey to Woodstock, I passed a few interesting looking pubs – The Masons Arms in North Leigh, and The White House in Bladon. I stayed on the bus, had a brief glimpse of Woodstock, and travelled back to Witney again. A while later, I caught the bus back to Gloucestershire, whilst planning a return trip to Oxfordshire.