The Four Counties, 14 days, watery pub crawl.

[Crossste]

Right folks. At the end of the month we will be embarking on a 14 day holiday on what is known in the narrow boating world as the Four Counties Ring, plus the Caldon canal. This comprises of Staffs, Cheshire, Salop and West Mids. Our itinerary in no particular order as we are not sure if we will be going clock or anti-clockwise yet, it depends which way the boat is facing when we get there, is as follows :-

Barleston-The Plume of Feathers. I know nothing about this place or the pub but in Nicholsons waterways guide it says it does real ale so I will give it a try.

Denford-The Holly Bush. We used this pub the last time we did the Four Counties + Caldon and it did 3-4 good real ales iirc.

Consall Forge-The Black Lion. Not used this pub before but it is well spoken of in the boating world for its beer and food.

Hardingswood, Kidsgrove- The Blue Bell. GBG listed and more CAMRA awards than you can shake a sausage at.

Wheelock-?????????. Not sure which pub to use here. Nicholsons lists 3 pubs doing real ale so will probably try all 3. Advice welcome.

Middlewich-????????. A few pubs in town but none really to my liking. We usually end up in British Legion which has Hydes and a guest on.

Barbridge-The Jolly Tar. It looks to do a few real ales according to its website and as the alternative is the Barbridge Inn which is a pub chain outlet the Jolly Tar looks favourite.

Audlem. Three pubs in the village all do real ale iirc.

Market Drayton-The Talbot or JDW. Talbot does 3-4 ales and good grub and JDWs are JDWs. So we will make our mind up when we get there.

High Offley-The Anchor. More than likely our only lunchtime drink due to timings but it would be rude to pass this apparently “unspoilt hostelry miles from anywhere”.

Brewood. Again several pubs in the village so a mooch about will be called for.

Penkridge. Looking for advice here.

Great Heywood. Same as Penkridge.

Stone-The Swan Inn, The Star Inn & JDWs plus whatever anyone can recommend.

These overnight stops are pretty much where we want to be each night but there is one spare night to allow for hold ups or if the occasion arises somewhere to stay 2 nights, we like the look of somewhere not listed or God forbid a night without the beer if the kidneys are yelping.

I know some of these areas are a bit off the beaten track but please feel free to recommend any pubs which are worth a visit if you are familiar with the places we will be travelling too.

[ROBCamra]

Right folks. At the end of the month we will be embarking on a 14 day holiday on what is known in the narrow boating world as the Four Counties Ring, plus the Caldon canal. This comprises of Staffs, Cheshire, Salop and West Mids. Our itinerary in no particular order as we are not sure if we will be going clock or anti-clockwise yet, it depends which way the boat is facing when we get there, is as follows :-

Barleston-The Plume of Feathers. I know nothing about this place or the pub but in Nicholsons waterways guide it says it does real ale so I will give it a try.

Denford-The Holly Bush. We used this pub the last time we did the Four Counties + Caldon and it did 3-4 good real ales iirc.

Consall Forge-The Black Lion. Not used this pub before but it is well spoken of in the boating world for its beer and food.

Hardingswood, Kidsgrove- The Blue Bell. GBG listed and more CAMRA awards than you can shake a sausage at.

Wheelock-?????????. Not sure which pub to use here. Nicholsons lists 3 pubs doing real ale so will probably try all 3. Advice welcome.

Middlewich-????????. A few pubs in town but none really to my liking. We usually end up in British Legion which has Hydes and a guest on.

Barbridge-The Jolly Tar. It looks to do a few real ales according to its website and as the alternative is the Barbridge Inn which is a pub chain outlet the Jolly Tar looks favourite.

Audlem. Three pubs in the village all do real ale iirc.

Market Drayton-The Talbot or JDW. Talbot does 3-4 ales and good grub and JDWs are JDWs. So we will make our mind up when we get there.

High Offley-The Anchor. More than likely our only lunchtime drink due to timings but it would be rude to pass this apparently “unspoilt hostelry miles from anywhere”.

Brewood. Again several pubs in the village so a mooch about will be called for.

Penkridge. Looking for advice here.

Great Heywood. Same as Penkridge.

Stone-The Swan Inn, The Star Inn & JDWs plus whatever anyone can recommend.

These overnight stops are pretty much where we want to be each night but there is one spare night to allow for hold ups or if the occasion arises somewhere to stay 2 nights, we like the look of somewhere not listed or God forbid a night without the beer if the kidneys are yelping.

I know some of these areas are a bit off the beaten track but please feel free to recommend any pubs which are worth a visit if you are familiar with the places we will be travelling too.

I've done the 4 counties ring twice including the detour up to Llangollen so I'll get my thinking hat on and get back to you. Don't miss The Anchor though, it's a classic.

[Crossste]

I've done the 4 counties ring twice including the detour up to Llangollen so I'll get my thinking hat on and get back to you. Don't miss The Anchor though, it's a classic.

Cheers Rob. Funnily enough the last time we did the Four Counties we set off from Ellsemere half way up the Llangollen.

[Oggwyn Trench]

In Market Drayton try the Red Lion , its the Joules Brewery HQ , around the square are around 12 pubs all about 2 mins from each other , better still jump in a taxi (or moor up nearer, Goldstone Wharf maybe?) and go 5 mins down the road to Cheswardine , 2 pubs , the Fox and Hounds is Joules brewery , recently restored and highly rated , the other is the Red Lion home of Lions Tail Brewery a real gem of a pub . A bit further out is the 3 Horseshoes at Sambrook another hidden gem .

[RogerB]

I know little of the pubs en route but it sounds like it will be a fantastic fortnight.

[trainman]

At Audlem, you'll be 5 miles from my current national number one unvisited random mission pub - The Bhurtpore Inn (Aston), closer still if you stop anywhere North of there...

And, if you ended up there with a bit of slack in the schedule, a 25min train to Yorton's Railway sounds like it would be rewarding too. (nb request stops...)