About Me
Why Pubs Worth The Walk exists
I'm Rich. I'm a walker, pub enthusiast, volunteer footpath maintainer and, more recently, the person behind Pubs Worth The Walk.
After nearly 40 years of 60-hour weeks and a career I loved enough to give myself to, I had a heart attack. Retirement had already been on my mind, but the experience made me stop and think seriously about what came next. I decided to turn those thoughts into action, and finished work in July 2025.
Walking had always been my escape. A chance to clear my head, reset at the weekend and get out into the countryside. In 2018 and 2019, I completed Country Walking magazine's 1,000 Miles in a Year challenge, often squeezing longer walks into the weekend to make up for the limited time I could spare during the working week.
Once I retired, I volunteered with Somerset Council to help maintain footpaths across the Mendips and Quantocks, landscapes I've always loved walking. And somewhere along the way, another idea took shape.
What if I combined two things I love: a good walk and a great pub at the end of it?
On the way to Cribyn, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park
Don't walk past. Walk in.
Like most people, I'm gutted to see pubs close. They're more than places to buy a pint. They can be the beating heart of a village, keepers of local history, places where strangers become friends and where a community comes together.
But I realised something uncomfortable. I was part of the problem.
I'd discovered some wonderful pubs and walks over the years, but I wasn't sharing those discoveries. And when I talked to other people, I found plenty who loved the idea of a pub walk but didn't always know where to go. Some weren't even sure whether they'd feel comfortable walking through the door of an unfamiliar pub.
So they walked past.
I wanted to change that.
Most walking guides start with the route and mention a pub under refreshments, as though it's an optional extra. I wanted to turn that idea on its head. At Pubs Worth The Walk, the pub is the reason for the walk, not just the reward at the end.
I want you to discover what makes a pub special before you arrive. What it looks like inside, what sort of welcome you might find, the stories behind its walls and the people and history that have shaped it. The walk gets you there, taking in the landscape, villages and places that make the journey worthwhile.
It's about making that first step through the door a little easier, giving you a reason to be curious, and helping you find places you might otherwise never visit.
If just one extra person visits a pub I've featured, I'll be delighted.
From an idea to a growing collection
I launched the first version of this website in April 2026, with ten entries organised by county. In the months that followed, I added another 50 pubs and walks, exploring the places, people, history and landscapes that make each combination worth your time.
The website is evolving as I go. I've worked on making the walking directions clearer, adding the sort of insights that help bring a journey to life, improving the maps and offering different ways to use the walking guides. I'm also developing new ways to browse, so you can search not just by county but by the landscapes you want to explore, the kind of walk you fancy and the sort of pub that feels like your kind of place.
And it's no longer just me talking to myself!
Readers have started getting in touch to tell me how they've used the site. One walk leader took a U3A group along my route up the Skirrid. Pub owners have contacted me with suggestions for walks that could bring visitors to their door. Those conversations are particularly encouraging because they show that the idea is beginning to work in practice.
This isn't a commercial pub guide or a race to feature as many places as possible. It's a personal project, built one pub and one walk at a time, with the aim of helping good pubs find new customers and giving walkers a day out to remember.
I'll keep exploring, researching and improving things as I go. There are plenty more pubs to discover, footpaths to follow and stories to tell.
Sgwd yr Eira Falls, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park
Perhaps it was always about me
There's been not one quiet day since I retired.
I loved the work I did, and I loved giving myself to it. In a sense, that's what I'm still doing, just in a different way. I'm putting my time into something I care about, learning new skills, getting out into the countryside and hopefully making a small difference to places that (I think) deserve to thrive.
Perhaps this was always going to be about me after all.
I hope you enjoy exploring Pubs Worth The Walk as much as I've enjoyed creating it. If you discover somewhere new, enjoy a memorable walk or find a pub you might otherwise have passed by, then it's doing its job.
And next time you're out walking and come across a pub that looks interesting, remember:
Don't walk past. Walk in.
Latest Entries to Pubs Worth The Walk
Some of the most recent entries: give them a try, but no matter where you're walking.....go in, don't walk past.
Pembrokeshire has a habit of drawing people back. It may be the spectacular coastline, the wild Preseli Hills, the sheltered estuaries or the warmth of its villages, but once you've spent time here you'll probably find yourself planning the next visit before you've even driven home.
The Jack Russell Inn sits deep in the Hampshire downs in Faccombe, hidden among rolling chalk hills, deer parks, estate cottages and winding lanes that seem determined not to hurry anywhere.
The Royal was the centre piece of a grand plan to create a Victorian resort in Portishead. It has a view that never gets old, and a front‑row seat on the latest chapter of the town’s long conversation with the sea.