Somerset pubs on the edge

27/7/19 First decision was how to get to Kilmersdon for midday. As there are buses direct from Temple Meads station to Midsomer Norton and along the A37, that was were we headed for. In the end though, we took buses to Radstock with a change in Bath. Then it was a walk to Kilmersdon. We arrived a couple of minutes before the 12 o'clock opening of the The Jolliffe Arms . Sid wasn't the only one waiting outside. Pub and church are not on a slope. We had pints of Butcombe (4%) and Thatchers Dry (4.8%) for £7.10. We then resumed walking, and the walk proper, up Jack and Jill's hill. We started with back road walking before heading down to Snail's Bottom. The paths were quite well sign posted, but still managed to confuse. We walked through one crop field that was quite overgrown, but after fighting our way through, the path through the next field was clearly visible. That came out on the old Fosse Way (the A367 here) and The White Post was not far away. We...

20/7/19 Another train to Frome and expensive bus to Woolverton. This walk was another one shaped by guessing whether pubs are still in business and I think that the pub at Farleigh Hungerford isn't. So we headed for Norton St Philip. One more factor for the route is avoiding busy roads and paths that have problems logged on https://roam.somerset.gov.uk/roam/Map . So we headed west along a back road before turning north. The footpath through Peart Farm was well marked. In the middle of Norton St Philip is the George Inn . We had pints of Horizon (4%) and Wadworth IPA (3.6%) for £8.35. The expensive beer was ok and the building did feel quite special. There was a sign saying that they have been serving beer for 700 years, the longest continuous service in England. Opposite was the Fleur de Lys pub which didn't appear to be opening that lunchtime. So we headed through the old village to a footpath that followed the Norton Brook up a valley. We came out in a campsite that...

6/7/19 A train to Frome to start the next leg. We thought we would head to Standerwick for the first pint and not via the Beefeater establishment. As we were walking the back roads to start, we could see it a couple of fields away. It wasn't the prettiest of starts with at least one burnt-out car and its contents along the country lane. We did take one off-road shortcut before getting to the busy A36 and crossing to The Bell Inn . We were the first punters of the day and had pints of Badger Best (3.7%) and Tanglefoot (4.7%) for £7.40. Others started to turn up for lunch as we finished. From here we were back on the quieter roads towards Rudge. The Full Moon had been closed there, but I'd seen an advert for an exhibition in the pub that afternoon. The exhibition was open when we arrived, but the bar wasn't open until later, so we walked on. Soon after, we joined a well marked path to Rode. The Cross Keys is in the centre of the village. It feels like an amalga...

22/6/19 Back on the train to Bruton station. We turned right out of the station as it appeared to be right direction. I don't think it is an official path yet, but before long we did hit one running between the railway line and the River Brue. When that finished, we headed cross country towards South Brewham.We did stray a little before coming out on a road near the church. Then we followed the road to North Brewham. The Old Red Lion didn't appear to be open, but the sight of us peering through the window as they were laying up for lunch was enough of a prompt. We had two pints of Butcombe (4%) for £7.20 in the old bar at the front of the building. The back had been extended for dining, accommodation and countryside views. Continuing on the road, we intended to turn off Hammer Street, but the footpath looked too overgrown. We followed the road around to Dreamers Farm where it was supposed to come out, but there was no obvious sign of it there. Opposite there was though,...