Hare & Hounds (8)

It is hard to imagine that any Hare & Hounds I ever visit could possibly have a more glorious approach walk than this one.

Last Friday I did not go to work. Instead I took the day off and went for a walk. And what a beautiful day it was - immaculate, crisp, bright autumn weather. I started at Edale and followed the Pennine Way up Jacob's Ladder.


(photo by hoshisato)

On to Edale Cross, then across Kinderlow, down through Coldwell Clough to Hayfield, and then finally along the Sett Valley Trail, through the woods, to New Mills - to this, my eighth Hare & Hounds:


(photo from Google Streetview)

It was closed. Ten fucking miles, over hill and dale, I walked to get here and the bloody place wasn't even open. Friday, 4pm - you'd expect every pub in the country to be open, wouldn't you?

So instead of the pint I should've rewarded myself with, I sat in the tent, drank the last of my water and had a cigarette.

I have not been applying a rating system to the Hare & Hounds I've visited, but if I had this one would've scored a few points for the smoking tent, and also for the dog kennel by the front door. It's those little touches that help make a pub, even if it hasn't got the decency to be open.

Hare & Hounds (7)

This is where I went yesterday.



As usual, the photo has come from Google Streetview. At some point on this project I might just remember to take my own camera with me. Nine months into the year and the only time I've taken my camera with me the battery went flat before I'd snapped any Hare & Houndses, then I slipped crossing a stream, landed on my arse on a pointy rock and ended up with soggy undies and a massive bruise.

But I digress. This is the Hare & Hounds in Mill Brow. And everything about it was lovely! I visited it at about the halfway point on another walk starting at Middlewood, this time via the Macclesfield Canal. Yesterday was hot and sticky, so I sat on a bench at the front, sipping my pint and watching the horses mooching about on the hill opposite. Idyllic.

A day earlier, we were knocked out of the FA Cup, early and in an unflattering manner. Sometimes you need a beer.