Kennet & Avon revisited – “A pub crawl by any other name!”

Tuesday May 29 2012

Following on from our highly enjoyable canal cruise in March, a reprehensible drunk came up with the idea of a walk from Freshford to Bradford On Avon on the canal towpath with the object of revisiting some of our haunts.  With the help of the National Rail website I established it was possible to leave Exeter just before 10 with a train to Freshford (changing at Westbury) and returning from Bradford On Avon at 21:23 all for the princely sum of £9.60 – thank you Senior Railcard.

A few weeks ago (at the height of the wettest period for ages) I floated the idea to Garry who was excited enough to pass on the invite to the rest of the crew.  Garry and I agreed on the 29th of May as the first convenient date in his hectic social calendar and coincidentally the day after my 63^rd birthday – a sort of celebration?  An invite was sent to all of the crew but unfortunately only Phil was able to join us – isn’t it incredibly difficult to find a mutual date for 6 retired fogies!  Paddy would love to have joined us but was concerned how his back would hold up with our speed walking !!

Incredibly for the end of May the forecast for our day was at least dry and it was certainly sunny when I made my way to Taunton station to join up with Garry and Phil already ensconced on the train from Exeter.  Strangely soon after we left Taunton the skies became overcast but we consoled ourselves with assurance the day would stay dry.

A change at Westbury entailed a 50 minute wait extended by 10 minutes by the late running connection from Brighton which arrived with a police escort in our carriage. The delay at Westbury provided Garry with the opportunity to mug me for my train fare plus a tenner conned out of me by the actions of the useless reserve West Brom keeper whose mother sadly forgot to keep her legs closed enabling the cheating chaps from North London to deprive my glory boys from a third place finish – oh thank you Mrs Fulop!

So very slightly later than planned we arrived at Freshford to start our walk from the station with our first stop to be The Hop Pole Inn at Limpley Stoke.  I had previously found directions with road names but climbing the hill from the station it soon became apparent that West Wiltshire District Council doesn’t agree with such conveniences – mind it does seem you’re stepping back in time and perhaps they still believe a German invasion is imminent.  The village of Freshford is very pretty and so it was a nice walk bearing in mind it was all road and by good fortune we found our way with ease  

Within 25 minutes our immediate destination hove into view

and we prepared ourselves for our first pint.  Now it is always a danger when retracing your steps that places you go are rarely the same with ones memory playing nasty tricks on you but on this occasion such concerns were groundless – the Bath Gem

was excellent although you may struggle to appreciate that as the lads didn’t look that cheerful! The food too was as good as we remembered and in the end we had to have 2 more pints to prove our memory not playing tricks.

So eventually leaving (the pub was closing) we passed the village library

and the station

although the last train stopping here may have been the Titfield Thunderbolt.

The landlord at the pub had suggested we vary our walk slightly by following a footpath a cross the meadows by the river towards Avoncliff instead of the canal towpath. This we decided to do and it was convenient for some

and the river was indeed attractive.

After some 20 minutes we did have to join the towpath for the final short stretch to the Viaduct which was once again convenient. 

The canal level was much higher than we cruised this stretch in March and I’m not sure Garry’s help was now needed.

Soon we were at the Viaduct

and the second right hand turn which caused the helmsman so much grief

before we moored that Tuesday evening those weeks ago.

As then we considered it was time for an immediate pint in the Cross Guns

although it was now warm enough to sit at the tables by the river –fortunately the pub had recovered these after the majority floated away in the flooding at the beginning of the month.

Again it would have been rude to only have the one pint – in truth we had to in order to find out if the second one would be better than the first –

it wasn’t!

A shame although Garry and Phil explained that the Lithuanian barmaid was clueless at pouring a pint!

Onwards to Bradford along the stretch of canal which seems to be one long line of moored boats in various states of repair

or offering produce for ones delight

- we gave this a miss.  Again the towpath hedge came in useful for some

 

whilst another party member attempted to relive his childhood.

Before you knew it we were in Bradford On Avon with a view through the bridge into the lock

and from the bridge looking back to the spot we had moored that first night.

 

Whilst there a boat came into the lock and we were given a show of working a boat single handed

Impressively he was soon on his way.

We strolled off into the town stopping to look at The Three Horseshoes

and the chippy

we planned to visit later and we took in the river bridge.

 

In deference to Phil’s planning on the actual trip we thought it would be only fair to visit one of the other pubs he had identified – The Castle Inn.  Actually the hills up to this establishment seemed a lot harder than before but the effort was indeed worthwhile

The beer was delightful and the barmaid ..........................................knew her beer!

As the time was pressing on and we needed food we made our way back down to the town passing back over the river bridge and another fine Bathstone building

to an excellent fish and chip supper and a couple more pints of Bob’s (halves for Phil and I on the last round) in the Three Horseshoes.

Our trains were on time for the return journey with only a short wait at Westbury for the connection.  I was dropped at Taunton just before 22:40, some 10 minutes too late for the last bus home – this I knew would happen so the 35 minute walk was no shock and when added to the 5 or so walked earlier it was not a strenuous day - although my body may think the 8 and a half pints was!

Just a great day –Paddy, John, Brian - a great shame you weren’t able to join us but I’d love to do it again so maybe another time!