The Never Ending Pub Crawl: July 2016

I did my 12000th pub on Saturday in Leeds an unplanned pub crawl as i had booked the wrong time on my National Express bus ticket to Leeds from Nottingham,it was going to be Wetherby and Boston Spa,but ended up being Chapel Allerton and Headingley in the North Leeds suburbs.
This is not a pub crawl but a history of my landmark pubs from the 500th up to the 12000th,not all will be good and none were planned as a landmark pub.

500th Pub

Royal Dragoon in Canterbury 26th June 1982

A really nice looking Shepherd Neame tied house which was done in the early evening on a mammoth pub crawl with two mates,i had a photo taken of the pub with me outside with a great drink of Shepheard Master Brew by one of my mates.
This pub has now very sadly closed down.

1000th Pub

Vale Hotel in Arnold 17th November 1982

This was an Home Ales tied house when i did it with a couple of mates,the Home Ales bitter went down very well in a room packed with older drinkers,this was celebrated by a few pints while on a pub crawl and other things that we should not have done.

2000th Pub

Devonshire Arms in Notting Hill London 19th November 1983

A pretty bog standard pub that was an Ind Coope Tied house at the time i did it with a few mates.
The pub was called Mook by the time i got round to taking a photo of it.

3000th Pub

Sportsman Inn in Attercliffe Sheffield 20th March 1986

A Wards tied house in a pretty run down area of Sheffield.
This pub was done with my wife to be who decided after going to get her bus to work and missing it came home while i was just getting ready to walk to work,it was a quick change of clothes and on a bus to Nottingham and we decided to do Attercliffe.
I took great pleasure in ringing the factory up saying i was unwell while in a pub.

4000th Pub

Eagle and Child in Whitefield Greater Manchester 18th June 1988

A cracking Joseph Holts tied house with a few rooms,the Holts Bitter went down a treat.
This pub was done in the evening while on a Nottingham Camra pub crawl of the area.
My wife had a nice glass engraved with the pubs name date visited and the brewery on it,i still have it to this day.

5000th Pub

Jolly Crofter in Stockport 29 December 1990

This was a basic Wilsons tied house in the Edgeley area of Stockport,the Wilsons Bitter was a decent drink,i did not know this was my 5000th pub until later.
The photo of this pub was taken at a later date when the pub was a Vaux tied house.

6000th Pub

Railway Hotel in Royton 7th September 1996

This was a Lees tied house where i had a drink of Lees bitter which at the time seemed to be very poor in all of their pubs that i had a drink in.
The pub was done while trying to do almost every pub in Greater Manchester.

7000th Pub

Bell and Cuckoo in Walsall 14th October 2000

A Bass tied house that was decent enough,another pub that i did not know about when doing my 7000th pub.

8000th Pub

Jerusalem Tavern in Clerkenwell London 10th June 2004

A cracking pub that is a St Peters tied house,yet another pub that i did not know was my 7000th pub.
This pub was done when i was cherry picking pubs in London,those days are long gone as it is now well out of the middle to get any new pubs done.
The St Peters Bitter went down very well

9000th Pub

Sussex Arms in Paddington London 24th February 2007

A pretty bog standard pub in the Paddington area of London where i have now almost done all pubs there,i did this pub with my wife while on a long weekend break in London.
There was one real on here when we did it which was Courage Best.

10000th Pub

Cheney Arms in Gaddesby Leicestershire 20th March 2010

This was a decent looking bare brick built Everards tied house with a couple of rooms inside,the Everards bitter was a decent drink.
I did know that this was my 10000th pub but it was not planned,just did it while on a pub crawl round Leicestershire villages with my brother in car.

11000th Pub

The Red Well in Wellingborough 21st June 2014

This was another unplanned pub for my 11000th and it ended up being a Wetherspoons while trying to nearly all pubs in Wellingborough.
A typical Spoons that i have no problems with,as you always get a choice of real ales and at cheap prices,i had a drink of J.W Lees Game on which was a decent enough drink.

12000th Pub

Three Horseshoes in Headingley Leeds 16th July 2016

One of three pubs situated at the top end of Otltey Road and on the Otley road run,so it was packed with people in fancy dress,i was having a drink in the company of Marios,Luigis,Roman soldiers plus many more.
There were three real ales on here,i had a drink of Leeds Best which went down well,this was another unplanned visit to do a landmark pub,i only found out the following day.

I have now done just over 12000 pubs and the Pub crawls are getting more regular,as i now have more money to do them.

I do consider this to a good amount of pubs done while being married for just under 30 years and bringing up a Son and Daughter which we always took for a weeks holiday to a seaside town.
There were some grim years for my pub crawling in the early 90s when we had our two young children to look after,so i was often doing well below 200 new pubs a year and even dropped below the 150 mark.

I have took photos of all pubs on this list but some i have not put on disc yet so unable to add to blog.

All photos were taken on the date visited apart from the Devonshire Arms in Nottinghill and The Jolly Crofter in Stockport.

This was a pub crawl done by car,it was a birthday treat from my brother who drove me round all of Donningtons tied houses,we also did a few more pubs along the way.
It was a fairly early start to get to Stow on the Wold for our first pub,i had already done most pubs in Stow and had already been in the Queens Head twice,but we wanted to do all of their estate in one day.

Stow on the Wold

1: Queens Head Inn

Photo taken by Alan Winfield 14th August 1988

I first went in this pub many years ago on the 14th August 1988,the pub seemed pretty much the same on my visit on this pub crawl.
The pub is a Donnington tied house with BB and SBA on the bar,i had a drink of BB which went down well after the drive down here.
The pub still has two separate rooms and it still seems like a proper pub.

It was a short drive to our next pub.

Broadwell

2: Fox Inn

The Fox Inn is in a great setting setting facing the village green.

This was another Donnington tied house and stone built like most of their tied houses are.
The pub had a decent bar room that had a stone floor and normal tables and chairs,there is a separate room which is for diners.
There were the usual two real ales on the bar BB and SBA,i had a drink of BB which went down well.
The toilets are worth a visit here to look at the postcards on the walls.

After another short drive crossing the A429 we was in the next village.

Longborough

3: Coach and Horses

Photo taken by Alan Winfield

This is another stone built Donnington tied house that is in a nice looking village.
This seemed more like a proper locals pub with a single bar that was carpeted,there were two real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Donnington SBA which was a decent drink,there was also BB on the bar.

It was now a drive up to Moreton in the Marsh,a village i have been two on a couple of occasions.

Moreton in the Marsh

4: Black Bear Inn

Photo taken by Alan Winfield 14th August 1988

This was my second visit to this pub.
Another decent looking stone built Donnington tied house that is in the centre of the village.
There is a decent single room inside which i quite liked,there were two real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Donnington BB which went down well,there was also Donnington SBA on the bar.

Having already done all pubs in Moreton in the Marsh it was another short drive to the next pub.

Little Compton

5: Red Lion

The Red Lion is a Donnington tied house that is in the small village of Little Compton,the pub is stone built.
Once inside the pub had two separate rooms,the lounge to the left looked very smart and comfortable but sadly this in now a dining room,we were happy enough having a drink in the bar which also had a pool table in it.
There was only one real ale on the bar,i had a drink of Donnington BB which was a decent drink.

It was now a decent drive back through Moreton in the Marsh to get to our next pub.

Snowshill

6: Snowshill Arms

Photo taken by Alan Winfield

The Snowshill Arms is situated at the top end of the village which has great views over the Cotswolds.
This is another stone built Donnington tied house.
There was a single room which was carpeted and very comfortable,one i could well settle in for a session.
There were two real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Donnington BB which went down well,the other beer was Donnington SBA.
This was quite busy with drinkers and a had a good friendly atmosphere.
There is a really nice garden to the rear which has a stream running through it.
This was the best pub of the day in our opinion.

It was another fairly short drive to the next pub.

Stanton

7: Mount Inn

Photo taken by Alan Winfield

This is another Donnington tied house that is in a really nice Cotswold village,the pub is situated at the end of the village which has great views over the surrounding area.
The pub has two separate rooms with a decent bar and a lounge that was full of diners on our Saturday dinnertime visit.
There were two real ales on here,i had a drink of Donnington SBA which went down very well,the other beer was Donnington BB.
The pub has an outside seating area which gives great views over the Cotswolds.
We thought this was another top notch pub.

It was a bit of a drive to the next pub and we also passed a Donnington tied house on the way,but some of the pubs did not open all day so it was a bit of a pain going round the pubs as we had to rush to do the ones that shut at 3am.

Guiting Power

8: Farmers Arms

This is a stern looking stone built pub that is a Donnington tied house that is situated in the middle of the village.
Once through the main entrance there were doors either side but the left door was locked so we went into the room to the right,this was a bar which was a fairly long and narrow room with a curtain hiding the rear area, not sure what was behind it.
There were two real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Donnington BB which was a decent drink,there was also Donnington SBA on the bar.
This seemed like a pretty basic and unaltered pub,but they were serving meals to normal tables.
This was one of the pub that closed early 2.30 am on a Saturday dinner.

After a short drive we was in our next pub.

Kineton

9: Halfway House

This is a really nice looking pub in a very small rural village.
This is a Donnington tied house with a single room which ran the width of the pub,the room was divided into two areas with a bar area and a dining side which was empty on our Saturday dinnertime visit.
There were two real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Donnington SBA which was a nice drink,the other beer was Donnington BB.
The pub had lots of pictures of horses on the walls and there were two real horses in the car park.

The Donnington tied houses in this area are quite close to each other,so it was another short drive to our next pub.

Ford

10: Plough Inn

This is a really nice looking stone built pub that is situated on a sharp bend,the main entrance to the pub is to the rear.
This is a Donnington tied house,so another one done on the list,once inside this is a really nice pub with quite a few rooms,there is a small bar which seems more like a snug,then there are more rooms some of which are for diners.
There were two real ales on here,i had a drink of Donnington SBA which was a really nice drink,the other beer was Donnington BB.
We quite liked this pub.

We were now heading back South after going North to do pubs that closed early,it was a fairly short car ride and down some very narrow roads to get to the next pub.

Naunton

11: Black Horse Inn

Another Donnington tied house that is stone built in the small village of Naunton.
The pub had a decent sized main room and a smaller room to the rear,there were two real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Donnington BB which was a nice drink,the other beer was Donnington SBA.
Another Donninton tied house done and a very pleasant one to boot.

The next pub was a good car ride and Donningtons most Southerly tied house when we did this crawl.

Great Barrington

12: Fox Inn

The Fox Inn is a really nice looking Donnington tied house,the pub has a single room which was quite smart and comfortable,there were two real ales on here,i had a drink of Donnington SBA which was a very nice drink,the other real ale was Donningtin BB.
There is a nice garden to the rear with the River Windrush running by it.
This is a proper drinkers pub,we really liked this pub.

We were now heading back North and through Stow on the Wold to get to our next pub.

Lower Swell

13: Golden Ball Inn

A nice looking stone built pub in an equally nice looking village which is quite close to Stow on the Wold.
This was another Donnington tied house,so we were well pleased.
The pub catered for both drinkers and diners,there were two real ales on the bar,i had drink of Donnington BB which was a decent drink,the other beer was Donnington SBA.

It was a fairly short car ride to our next pub.

Ganborough

14: Coach and Horses

This pub is situated on a busy road and set sideways on to it.
The pub has a single split level room and was another Donnington tied house ticked off the list.
There were two real ales on here,i had a drink of Donnington BB which was a decent drink,the other beer was Donnington SBA.
The pub looked to be in a bit of a mess when we visited,but i have been informed that was a one off.

We now had one Donnington tied house to do,so we decided to pick up a few pubs while heading North to get to it.

Blockley

15: Crown Inn

This pub is situated in the middle of the village and looks like an hotel,the pub had a very strange layout inside we had to go up steps and then down steps to get to the bar.
There was one real ale on which was Hook Norton Old Hookey,this was a decent drink.

After a another short car ride we was in the really nice village of Chipping Campden,the high street looks really nice and there is a decent amount of pubs here,but we did not have time to do all of them so only did three.

Chipping Campden

16: Noel Arms

A nice looking stone built pub situated on the really nice looking high street.
The pub had quite a few rooms inside with most for diners,but there was a really nice bar room which was very comfortable.
There were three real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Purity UBU which was a very nice drink.

17: Lygon Arms Hotel

This is another high street pub that is also an hotel.
There was a very nice and comfortable public bar inside,one of those rooms you want to stay in for a while.
There were three real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Hook Norton Hookey Bitter which went down very well.

18: Eight Bells

This is a very nice looking pub and the only one in Chipping Campden that is not on the high street.
This pub seemed more like a posh restaurant than a pub,all tables in the main bar room were laid out for diners and the other room had all tables fully laid with table cloths on them.
There were four real ales on here,i had a drink of Purity Mad Goose which was a very nice drink.
We felt out of place in this pub.

It was now time to leave Chipping Campden to do our last pub of the day and our final Donnington tied house.

Willersey

19: New Inn

This is a really nice looking stone built pub.
The pub had a very nice bar room and a separate pool room.
The pub is a Donnington tied house and there were two real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Donnington BB which went down very well,the other beer was Donnington SBA.
We thought this was a really nice Donnington house to end our crawl in.

This was a great pub crawl in visiting and having a drink in every Donnington tied house,plus visiting Chipping Campden which is a really nice Cotswold town.

I have since found out via Pub Curmugeon's blog that Donnington have now taken over three more pubs since our visit.

The Never Ending Pub Crawl

Tuesday, 19 July 2016

12000 and Counting

Sunday, 10 July 2016

Donnington Crawl and Chipping Campden,plus one in Blockley 7th May 2011