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Peaks and Pints, Cromer (2026)

10/06/2026

Peak no.23 today. Hopefully I may see a red squirrel. Currently on a train.

07/06/2026

Walking today with my Hornet Alehouse Walking Group. Starting at Petworth we headed west-north-west along a part of the Serpent Trail that I hadn't been on before. A steep drop initially into a valley with a steep climb the other side before levelling off. In Flexham Park we swung round towards Bognor Common to Riverhill. Lots of wooded sections before heading back towards Petworth parallel to the A283. After the Welldiggers Arms we headed down into Byworth for a stop at the excellent Black Horse. Then it was back down into the valley and the steep climb back into Petworth. A lovely 5.9 miles with good views to the South Downs. A good turnout with a great mix of people as always. Thanks to all.

01/06/2026

Peak no.22 was revisiting the one peak out of all the county high points that I have ascended previously. When I parked in Ditchling the top of the Downs were shrouded in mist which wasn't what I was expecting and with nothing except my t-shirt I felt a bit under-dressed but thankfully it soon lifted and patches of blue sky appeared.

The climb up from Ditchling via Burnhouse Bostall was easier than I expected. A bostall is old Sussex dialect for a steep winding path carved up the face of the Downs. This one formed part of the Sussex Border Path and once I reached the South Downs Way the hard work was done and it was less than a mile of gentle gradient to the 248m peak of Ditchling Beacon. Two dew ponds along the ridge stood out and there were lovely sweeping views in all directions. From the high point, which can be reached by car, I continued eastward as far as Plumpton Bostall where I descended.

The walk along the foot of the Downs was frustrating initially trying to follow the paths around Plumpton Agricultural College. Without the signage added by the volunteers calling themselves the 'Monday Group', it would have been impossible. I think I saw just one solitary sign from East Sussex County Council. There were excellent views of the Downs though with one wooded area in the shape of a 'V' standing out.

Churches passed were St Michael's at Plumpton, the undedicated parish church of Streat next door to Streat Place and St Margaret's of Ditchling with a plaque for the late Ditchling resident Dame Vera Lynn.

The pub back at Ditchling, The White Horse, was disappointing selling a local Gun beer in poor condition. The Abyss beer at the peak was lush, Seeing Circles, an 8% DIPA. The total distance was 9.5 miles.

Next week I will be travelling by train and by ferry for peak no.23.

31/05/2026

It's been a week of family walks taking in Tennyson Down on the Isle of Wight, the Trundle up from Lavant and today, the Windmill Walk from Boxgrove. Three peaks, no pints.

Tomorrow I am back on the journey across England but staying local as I head across to East Sussex with a can from Abyss Brewing. The following week I will be taking a bottle from Yates Brewery up to the high point of the Isle of Wight and then I am hoping the weather up north has settled down to explore the Peak District. That's the plans for June in a nutshell.

22/05/2026

I rose with the skylarks for a 6.00.am start from Amberley station. The South Downs Way took me up Amberley Mount and over all the hills as far as Charles Goring's folly of trees at Chanctonbury Ring where I celebrated reaching the high point of the 16 mile walk with a can of Otherworld Brewing Maelstrom which was a delightful DIPA.

After continuing on the SDW for a bit further I headed due south to Cissbury Ring. After that I pretty much continued in the same direction skirting a magnificent looking golf course before crossing the A27 at the junction with the A24. In Worthing, I headed first for Beer No Evil, a swift half and purchased three cans for future peaks before a second swift half at the Selden Arms and two more cans for future consumption. Train back to Barnham to put my feet up.

Have a great bank holiday weekend everyone.

Cheers.

21/05/2026

Plan for tomorrow.
Train to Amberley.
Walk to Worthing via SDW, Chanctonbury, Cissbury.
Buy beer for future peaks.
Train home.

13/05/2026

An easier day after my long one yesterday. After a short look at the excellent Bewdley Museum and a walk along the side of the Severn it was a drive of about 40 miles to the outskirts of Cheltenham. I think of Cheltenham as a bit of an upmarket place but the outskirts are a bit grim. Certainly the bits I drove through on the way to the edge of Cleeve Hill. Perhaps I was still pining for Worcestershire, a county I fell in love with.

I parked on the B4632 north of town and the suburb of Prestbury. This put me on the edge of Cleeve Common and it was a short but steep climb initially. Cleeve Hill Golf Course shared the common with the masses and it looked like a lovely course. Once I was above 1000ft the terrain levelled off and I headed for the radio transmitters that mark so many high points. This particular one though was a bit beyond marked by a trig point (331m).

After consuming the delicious DIPA from Deya, one of the best craft brewers, I was hit by a sudden squall. Raincoat zipped up, hood up, gloves on. And I was walking right into it. Luckily it quickly passed so I wasn't completely drenched and blue sky returned. I headed back via the Winchcombe Way as far as the clubhouse before heading back to my car. Not a difficult walk of just 4 miles but with the weather looking uncertain it was enough and so it was farewell to Gloucestershire.

After doing this round of peaks I feel confident about tackling the Peak District next month. Six peaks in quite a small area including the famous Kinder Scout. Yikes.

13/05/2026

From sunrise to sunset this was a non-stop day culminating in the Saints winning through to a second trip to Wembley.

The weather forecast was such that I jiggled things round a bit heading first to the Malverns. From where I parked it was a straight climb of a mile to the peak, Worcestershire Beacon, at 425m, approaching it from the south. I was actually parked in Herefordshire. It is a remarkable ridge of hard rock that literally sticks out above everything else around giving stupendous views in all directions. I was joined by a class of primary school kids who were told by their teacher they were the highest class in Worcestershire. Marvellous. To the east you could look down on the town of Great Malvern. To the north lay two lesser peaks, North Hill and Table Hill. There were paths everywhere. The OS map looked like a spiders web. I took the one that circumnavigated the two lesser peaks hugging the hillside and nearly reaching the village of West Malvern. From here I headed back to the peak of Worcestershire Beacon. So good I climbed it twice. This made for a total elevation gain of 300m and a total distance of 4.9 miles. An absolutely splendid walk. So not only the highest peak so far, being the first that went over 1000 feet but the best too. The beer at the peak was Severnside Stout from Bewdley Brewery which I was hoping to visit later.

So next it was off to Shropshire. I had been thinking that my Waze satnav had been remarkably quiet with pothole warnings. Well once I entered Shropshire that all changed. It has thousands. I stopped in Cleobury Mortimer to view the Twisted Spire and visit Hobsons Brewery who have been there for over 30 years now where I picked up a selection including one appropriately called Twisted Spire. Shropshire does win the best village names competition. My favourite of the ones I went through was Hopton Wafers. Then it was on to Ditton Priors along some back lanes that were literally not fit for driving on. I arrived safely parking outside the church. I had already ascended 300m in Worcestershire and now I had another 300m to the top of Brown Clee Hill at 540m (1771 feet) so easily surpassing Worcestershire Beacon. The climb was boring up a very straight and very steep tarmac track with no views. That came after trying to find footpaths across some fields that were on the map but weren't signposted much at all. In fact the state of Shropshire's footaths was on a par with their roads. No signage, broken stiles and forced detours. Eventually though I joined the Shropshire Way and the views appeared. From the peak the radio transmitters blot the views in one direction but the walk back was lovely with great views indeed that made up for the climb up. The beer at the top had to be from Salopian. A brewery often seen at the Hornet Alehouse.

By the time I reached the car I had done 6 miles to add to my earlier 5 so I was in need of a rest. I headed for Bewdley where I was staying in a Wetherspoons Hotel (I'm on a budget!!). It's certainly great value. Bewdley itself is lovely and once I was back in Worcestershire the roads suddenly improved again. No potholes!
With the Bewdley Brewery Tap, the Real Ale Tavern and the Horn and Trumpet (which had Bathams Best and Sky Sports) I didn't need to drink at Spoons so that was another tick for Bewdley.

A top class day and with both peaks being over 1000 feet I feel like I have walked up some proper hills. In height these two are ranked numbers 14 and 16 respectively.

05/05/2026

That was a long walk today. Split into two with a short train ride in between. The first walk was to Bushey Heath, the border between the old county of Middlesex with Hertfordshire. Starting from Stanmore, the northern end of the Jubilee Line, I headed through Stanmore Country Park to reach the high point at the junction of the A4140 with the A409. Alpine Way was nearby so it was obviously mountainous. Pale Fire, a classic 4.8% pale ale from Pressure Drop hit the spot. From there it was quite rural until it wasn't. I was 5 miles in when I hopped on a train at Headstone Road Station to South Kenton.

South Kenton was grim but I was able to join the Capital Ring which took in various parks and green spaces as far as Hendon where I then headed SE through Golders Green to a war memorial opposite Jack Straws Castle for the Greater London high point of 134m. There was obviously plenty of police around at Golders Green where I saw the Eternal Wall, a moving tribute to the Israeli victims of Hamas and the Iranian victims of the IRG.

A 7.5% damson stout was enjoyed at the high point from London's finest, The Kernel. From there it was a picturesque walk across Hampstead Heath to a renowned London pub, the Southampton Arms, home to a tremendous selection of cask and craft beers. A relaxing pint, another short walk to Belsize Park Station and a train home.

An interesting 16 miles in all. A walk I won't rush to repeat but glad I did it.

Weather permitting I will do some real peaks next week.

28/04/2026

That was a long day. I left home at 5.45.am and arrived at The Craftsman, Warwick just before 9.00.am for an excellent breakfast. I also took advantage of their impressive beer menu to pick up the beers (or so I thought) for the two peaks. I also acquired beers for future walks (Shropshire, Worcestershire, Gtr London and Gloucestershire).

Leaving Warwick well nourished and a can of Glasshouse Onsen (a 5.0% hoppy pale ale) in my bag I headed for the black country for some industrial heritage. A 4.4 mile walk was further than planned thanks mainly to Dudley Golf Club having zero signage for the public footpaths across their fairways.

The peak, Turners Hill at 271m was fenced off and the closest highest point was also fenced off in a private field. This particular fence was a doddle to squeeze through so I stood pretty much at the peak as far as I could tell. It does seem that this tour is taking in a large number of our telecommunications infrastructure though. This one is particularly ugly.

Overal, a decent walk. I was surprised to see that the Monarch's Way goes through the 1.75 mile Netherton Tunnel. King Charles' escape predates this structure by several centuries!! No way was I brave enough to include this on my walk but I was intrigued enough to peer into it. Far in the distance there was a very bright beam of light from an oncoming barge.

I then headed for Stratford upon Avon as I needed a bottle opener for beer no.2 as I had forgot to pack one. Whilst I was there I thought I would find out more about Shakespeare Brewing Company and I was annoyed to see the address on the bottle was not where it was brewed. So I had no beer! I headed to Waitrose after drawing a blank in the centre of Stratford and thankfully they had an UBU. Not ideal but Warwickshire is a bit backward when it comes to beer. The Craftsman earlier did have UBU and was, as it turned out, the only beer they had from their own county. Waitrose had a bottle opener too of course so it was all systems go and the start point for the walk was a short drive from the store.

The start point was the Gloucestershire village of Mickleton. In fact, most of the walk was inside this county. I crossed the border a few yards from the peak, Ebrington Hill at 261m.

Heading back to Mickleton I took a circuitous route to circumnavigate Meon Hill fort. The walk of 9 miles was an absolute delight with views right over to the Malvern Hills. Much of the route followed both the Monarch's Way and the Heart of England Way. Every other field was home to loads of sheep and lambs and the area definitely had more sheep than people. Very pleasant.

With the views from Turners Hill stretching as far as the Shropshire hills I probably saw both peaks that I will be heading to in two weeks time. After driving 380 miles though it will make a nice change to let the train take the strain next week, when I will travel to London for an urban stroll taking in the high points of Middlesex and Greater London.

Peaks and Pints

10/06/2026

07/06/2026

01/06/2026

31/05/2026

22/05/2026

21/05/2026

13/05/2026

13/05/2026

05/05/2026

28/04/2026

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