OK, here goes. As requested, I've done some trimming to the list, which as Old Boots suggested was becoming a little bit unmanageable. I've designated 10 mainstream pubs, nine wild cards and the Wetherspoons as a meeting place for those that like to do breakfast. (I've dropped Blossoms as there were already lots of Robinsons pubs on the list.)
The attached spreadsheet shows some of the criteria, but a few words of explanation might help. I've relegated the
Crown to a wild card in light of the bad experience had by Nev and his crew in July (though as it will be passed on the longish walk between the Magnet and the Olde Vic, I guess it would be rude not to pop our heads round the door). The
Nursery has also been wild carded as it adds more walking to what already looks like being a four mile route. Interestingly, the mainstream pubs average 8 points from PuG reviewers, the wild carders 7 points (and would have been lower as the Crown and the Nursery bump the average up considerably). Before anyone shouts about using the scores like this, I would like to point out that I did the mainstream/wild card process
before looking at the scores on PuG.
The attached walking route does a little bit of criss-crossing in the town centre - this is to avoid doing too many Robinsons pubs close together in sequence. The bus is involved for getting from the
Fairway to the
Hope Inn, and is an option for getting from the town centre to the Fairway, so you might want to book Plus Bus when you get your train tickets. I haven't included walking directions for the
Nursery, the
Alexandra or the
Armoury - the other wild cards are all passed along the main route, so it's easy for anyone who wants to tick them off to pop in for a swift half. (The
Nursery is a fairly easy walk from the Hope. The Alex and the Armoury are not far from the station, so easy enough for anyone - like me - who wants to tick them off to work out their own route.)
I don't know what time people are looking to get started on this crawl (no one so far has said what times their trains arrive!). With sunset being at 16:08 I thought an early start might be good, so I thought it might go something like this:
Leave 'Spoons at 11:20ish
11:25 Queens Head
11:50 Swan with Two Necks
12:15 Remedy
12:55 Railway (Portwood)
13:25 Arden Arms
14:10 Petersgate Tap
14:55 Fairway
15:40 Hope Inn
16:30 Magnet
17:25 Olde Vic
This is just a guide, I'm sure it won't be anything like this on the day, or once train tickets start to be bought. And no, I'm not going to stand around in each pub chivvying people to drink up and get moving.
If I've made any stupid mistakes or if anyone is desperately unhappy about anything to do with the route, please let me know in the gentlest and politest way you possibly can.
Cheers