2019 AUTUMN PUG Crawl

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Originally Posted by Tris39

But Hereford is south of Cambridge and it's definitely in the Midlands. Hmmm...

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Never been to Hereford,how does it stack up from a pub crawl point of view ?

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Originally Posted by Pangolin

And hopefully not needed, but note there are day bus tickets available for between £4.40 and £5 for Lincoln, Northampton, Norwich and Shrewsbury (oh alright - and Peterborough, but would definitely be needed there).

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PlusBus tickets are available for between £3.20 and £3.80 for those cities.

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Originally Posted by Bucking Fastard

Seems like a regular train service between the two.

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You do need to change at Stourbridge Junction and get on a rattletrap tramcar into Stourbridge proper, although that is a fairly regular service it is a bit cramped.

Attachment 1816

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Originally Posted by AlanH

Here we go again!

Shurley Cambridge is in the South. Much further South than last years "border" town Peterborough!

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South Midlands, almost level with Northampton.

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Originally Posted by Mobyduck

South Midlands, almost level with Northampton.

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Ho, ho, the mythic South Midlands again...

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Originally Posted by oldboots

You do need to change at Stourbridge Junction and get on a rattletrap tramcar into Stourbridge proper, although that is a fairly regular service it is a bit cramped.

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A three minute journey time, runs every ten minutes.

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Originally Posted by rpadam

PlusBus tickets are available for between £3.20 and £3.80 for those cities.

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That's only if you are travelling in by rail - no use if you are already there.

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Originally Posted by Bucking Fastard

Never been to Hereford,how does it stack up from a pub crawl point of view ?

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A good place to drink, but being further South than Bedford, I propose it for the next Southern crawl! :p

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Originally Posted by Bucking Fastard

Never been to Hereford,how does it stack up from a pub crawl point of view ?

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I've been many times for shopping and to visit the cathedral, notable for the world-famous Mappa Mundi and Chained Library, but I've never been to a pub as I've always been driving.

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Originally Posted by AlanH

A good place to drink, but being further South than Bedford, I propose it for the next Southern crawl! :p

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Leaving aside questions of latitude, Hereford/Herefordshire is firmly in the West Midlands Region according to government (ducks behind sofa)

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Originally Posted by Pangolin

Leaving aside questions of latitude, Hereford/Herefordshire is firmly in the West Midlands Region according to government (ducks behind sofa)

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Yup. Certainly is. And so is the sofa if you have one in this fine county.

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Originally Posted by Bucking Fastard

Never been to Hereford,how does it stack up from a pub crawl point of view ?

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Originally Posted by AlanH

A good place to drink, but being further South than Bedford, I propose it for the next Southern crawl! :p

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And there again, its station is managed by Transport for Wales...

I probably don't post here enough to have influence on these matters but Shrewsbury is a good call. Potential for additional trips to Caersws, Welshpool and Newtown on adjacent days

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Originally Posted by Spinko

I probably don't post here enough to have influence on these matters but Shrewsbury is a good call. Potential for additional trips to Caersws, Welshpool and Newtown on adjacent days

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All input is worthy.

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Originally Posted by Spinko

I probably don't post here enough to have influence on these matters but Shrewsbury is a good call. Potential for additional trips to Caersws, Welshpool and Newtown on adjacent days

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Caersws is a brave call - only one of the pubs was open the day I stopped there!

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Originally Posted by rpadam

Caersws is a brave call - only one of the pubs was open the day I stopped there!

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Great chippy and still the smallest town to have played competitive football in Europe, I think..

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Originally Posted by Spinko

I probably don't post here enough to have influence on these matters but Shrewsbury is a good call. Potential for additional trips to Caersws, Welshpool and Newtown on adjacent days

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I think Shrewsbury has been mentioned before and I think it has enough to make it a viable option. Iy also gas a Premier Inn near the Rail Station and overlooking the Bus Station. There are other good options for the adjacent days, Ludlow, Ruabon, Nantwich or on a Saturday the Salopian Brewery Tap.

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Originally Posted by Bucking Fastard

Never been to Hereford,how does it stack up from a pub crawl point of view ?

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I don't think it has enough options. I went there to visit the Spoons and also visited the original home of Wye Valley Brewery and a micropub. I didn't feel I was missing out on much. Midlands or South? It's West but as there are just three categories I'd place it in the midlands. It's roughly on the same level as Worcester and Banbury which are surely Midland towns.

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Originally Posted by Mobyduck

South Midlands, almost level with Northampton.

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It gets Anglia television but I've always thought of it as South due to the train links to London and the fact that the Essex and Herts borders are not very far away,

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Originally Posted by oldboots

Post #2


Stripping out the geography arguments etc, the list (mainly dis'd) of suggestions is so far:

Loughborough
Newark
Lichfield
Norwich
Stourbridge
Stamford
Bridgnorth
Northampton
Kettering
Grantham
Cambridge
Peterborough
Ludlow
Kidderminster
Lincoln
Shrewsbury
Leamington, Warwick, Kenilworth as one.

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Only Ludlow and Kenilworth do not have JDWs but I've been to Ludlow twice. I couldn't even tell you exactly where Kenilworth is!

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Originally Posted by sheffield hatter

So how about whittling the list down to these seven for a poll:

Lincoln
Newark
Northampton
Norwich
Peterborough
Shrewsbury
Stourbridge

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I've been away while these discussions have been going on but has the omission of Loughborough from this list been justified?

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Originally Posted by oldboots

You do need to change at Stourbridge Junction and get on a rattletrap tramcar into Stourbridge proper, although that is a fairly regular service it is a bit cramped.

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I met a friend in Stourbridge who attempted to drink a coffee on the "bone shaker". Black Country Ales are opening a second pub which is near the Junction. Personally I think Stourbridge has enough options to make it viable alone.

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Originally Posted by Aqualung

It's roughly on the same level as Worcester and Banbury which are surely Midland towns.

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GEOGRAPHY WARNING! one needs to be careful when comparing things on a map as UK maps are not drawn with true north exactly at the top, true north is more diagonally to the left, better to check the latitude of a place.

It's much more noticeable when trying to compare relative East/West positions, try out the longitudes for Bristol, Carlisle and Edinburgh, you may be surprised by which is the most westerly.

Are we ready for a poll yet? Either the seven suggested by Will in post 32 or 14 from the list of 17 in post 31.

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Originally Posted by oldboots

Are we ready for a poll yet? Either the seven suggested by Will in post 32 or 14 from the list of 17 in post 31.

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I'd go with the maximum then nobody can feel hard done by. The least attractive options will fall away. If there's a tie for the top slot then a vote off will be needed.

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Originally Posted by oldboots

It's much more noticeable when trying to compare relative East/West positions, try out the longitudes for Bristol, Carlisle and Edinburgh, you may be surprised by which is the most westerly.

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I know it's not Bristol, it could be Edinburgh as the train travels quite a distance West along the Firth to get there.

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Originally Posted by Aqualung

It's roughly on the same level as Worcester and Banbury which are surely Midland towns.

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Half in, half out: Worcester[shire] is in the West Midlands, but Banbury is in Oxfordshire which isn't a Midlands county. I don't think...

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Originally Posted by Aqualung

I know it's not Bristol, it could be Edinburgh as the train travels quite a distance West along the Firth to get there.

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A regular pub quiz night question:- "Which is most westerly, Bristol on the West coast or Edinburgh on the East? The answer is obviously Edinburgh by the fact that they have asked!

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Originally Posted by Tris39

Half in, half out: Worcester[shire] is in the West Midlands, but Banbury is in Oxfordshire which isn't a Midlands county. I don't think...

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I used to know someone from Banbury and he always described it as the Midlands. Despite being in Oxfordshire the Northants border is on the Eastern edge of the town and the Warwickshire border is only a few miles to the North.

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Originally Posted by Aqualung

I'd go with the maximum then nobody can feel hard done by. The least attractive options will fall away. If there's a tie for the top slot then a vote off will be needed.

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I agree with voting for the maximum. More democratic. If two or three people can whittle it down to seven then they might as well as whittle it down to one and tell us where we are going.:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by AlanH

I agree with voting for the maximum. More democratic. If two or three people can whittle it down to seven then they might as well as whittle it down to one and tell us where we are going.:rolleyes:

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Fair point. I remember the poll max being extended some time ago but don't remember the details.

Here's the 17 or sixteen if we link Kidderminster and Stourbridge as suggested, so which ones are the real no-hopers and does anyone want to add anywhere else? (I'll regret saying that won't I?)

Loughborough
Newark
Lichfield
Norwich
Stourbridge
Kidderminster
Bridgnorth
Stamford
Northampton
Kettering
Grantham
Cambridge
Peterborough
Ludlow
Lincoln
Shrewsbury
Leamington, Warwick, Kenilworth as one.

My feeling would be to drop the East Anglian cities (Norwich & Cambridge) and probably Ludlow too. Bridgnorth and Kidderminster are linked by rail but it's a heritage one and fearsomely expensive for just travelling on so I would drop Bridgnorth too. Those four towns are more difficult to travel to.

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Originally Posted by oldboots

Here's the 17 or sixteen if we link Kidderminster and Stourbridge as suggested

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Originally Posted by Aqualung

Personally I think Stourbridge has enough options to make it viable alone.

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I'm with Aqualung on this.

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Originally Posted by Aqualung

I used to know someone from Banbury and he always described it as the Midlands. Despite being in Oxfordshire the Northants border is on the Eastern edge of the town and the Warwickshire border is only a few miles to the North.

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I used to know someone from Long Eaton who described it as the North, even though Nottingham, five miles to the north-east, is called The Queen of the Midlands.

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Originally Posted by oldboots

Here's the 17 or sixteen if we link Kidderminster and Stourbridge as suggested, so which ones are the real no-hopers and does anyone want to add anywhere else? (I'll regret saying that won't I?)

My feeling would be to drop the East Anglian cities (Norwich & Cambridge) and probably Ludlow too. Bridgnorth and Kidderminster are linked by rail but it's a heritage one and fearsomely expensive for just travelling on so I would drop Bridgnorth too. Those four towns are more difficult to travel to.

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On reflection, Ludlow is probably not a good idea. According to CAMRA, about a third don't open until at least 4.00pm which would mean a lot of doubling back to fit in enough pubs in a town with not that many. It's also very hilly too.

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Originally Posted by rpadam

I'm with Aqualung on this.

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If nobody objects I'll offer my opinion as I know Stourbridge pretty well:

Barbridge, The Duke William, The Chequers Inn (JD Wetherspoon),Red House Boutique, The Old Bank, The Waggon & Horses, Plough & Harrow, The Queens Head, The Royal Exchange,

These are the pick of the pubs beer wise that are in the Stourbridge Central area - there are a few others which are OK as well.

If you do go to Stourbridge the number 9 bus would get you to Lye in 12 minutes (they run every 10 minutes or so) where you could take in :

Wheelie Thirsty, Sadler's Brewhouse & Bar, Windsor Castle, The Shovel Inn and possibly the new Beat Ales Tap House

You can get the train back to Brum from Lye as well.

I am not trying to persuade anyone, just thought I would offer my opinion!!

Wherever you go you will have a good day.

Del.

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Originally Posted by oldboots

Here's the 17 or sixteen if we link Kidderminster and Stourbridge as suggested, so which ones are the real no-hopers and does anyone want to add anywhere else? (I'll regret saying that won't I?)

Loughborough
Stourbridge
Stamford
Kettering

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All of those appeal to me.

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Originally Posted by oldboots

Here's the 17 or sixteen if we link Kidderminster and Stourbridge as suggested, so which ones are the real no-hopers and does anyone want to add anywhere else? (I'll regret saying that won't I?)

My feeling would be to drop the East Anglian cities (Norwich & Cambridge) and probably Ludlow too. Bridgnorth and Kidderminster are linked by rail but it's a heritage one and fearsomely expensive for just travelling on so I would drop Bridgnorth too. Those four towns are more difficult to travel to.

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I agree with dropping Cambridge (suburb of London) and Norwich (suburb of Warsaw). If Stourbridge is that good, Kidderminster could be a wildcard to make it better still. Ludlow easy to get to but perhaps better on my own on a Saturday. East Coast main line all no hopers for me.

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Originally Posted by AlanH

I agree with dropping Cambridge (suburb of London) and Norwich (suburb of Warsaw). If Stourbridge is that good, Kidderminster could be a wildcard to make it better still. Ludlow easy to get to but perhaps better on my own on a Saturday. East Coast main line all no hopers for me.

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I think Cambridge should be dropped simply because it appeared on the last South poll. Bridgnorth has been deemed (probably correctly) as being too remote for a day out and Ludlow seems to have too few options. I've no objection to Stourbridge & Kidderminster being an option but it doesn't get my support.

I think Cambridge should be included because it's not in the South.

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Originally Posted by Mobyduck

I think Cambridge should be included because it's not in the South.

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Seeing as we're never all going to agree on this one, how about adding a fourth group of 'Other' to the existing South/Midlands/North rotation, to include places such as East Anglia, Wales, West Country which don't easily fall into any of them? Assuming we continue with 3 per year, this would have the added benefit of moving the season back one each year, so we wouldn't always end up in the North in winter etc.

Just a thought, as it seems a shame to omit places like Cambridge and Norwich which would undoubtedly provide a good crawl just because we can't decide where to put them!