What Makes a “Best Pub”? (And why Top 10 lists maybe keep getting it wrong)
There’s a moment I keep coming back to.
Field Notes for the Curious
Walking to pubs has a habit of revealing things — odd details, half‑remembered histories, stories hiding in plain sight. They don’t always belong inside a pub entry, but they feel worth sharing. So here’s a place for the things I’ve noticed along the way. Hope you enjoy them.
Why PUBS WORTH THE WALK exists
People sometimes ask why I started Pubs Worth the Walk.
Listed Buildings: A Plain English Guide for Normal Humans
Walk around any old village — such as Sherston & Easton Grey on today's walk — and you’ll see those little plaques and guidebook notes announcing that a building is “Grade II” or “Grade II*”, as if everyone left school fluent in heritage jargon. Most of us nod politely and move on, none the wiser.
Hannah More: A Long Overdue Commemoration
I didn’t set out to write about Hannah More this week. I was walking.
The Royal Oak - why so many of them?
Walk through almost any town or village in Britain and you’ll find a pub called The Royal Oak. There are hundreds of them — more than 400 still trading — and the name isn’t random.
The Monarch's Way - England's longest escape route
Many walkers are familiar with The Monarch’s Way without perhaps really knowing what it is. This long distance footpath snakes across Worcestershire, the Cotswolds, the Mendips, the South Coast — 615 miles of twists and detours that seem almost deliberately perverse. And in a way, they are.