I stopped in a long street of a village, nondescript till you get to the eastern edge, which contains a couple of attractive looking pubs, the church, and some well marked walks.
In the Beer Guide pub It was good to see craft lager from nearby(ish) Wrexham, but I went for a Congleton classic, a brewery with outlets in Stockport’s finest suburb, but rarely seen in the free trade these days. It was too warm (NBSS 2.5), but the enthusiasm of Peter the barman made up for it. “Enjoy your nice refreshing Bitter” he said with an odd accent that could have been Arabic. He knew his beers.
I was a bit concerned at how quiet it was at 5, but by the time I returned from my walk an hour later the place was buzzing with a mainly senior clientele typical of the area’s pubs.
Towards the station you get a handful of half-timbered buildings and a pub catering for the younger crowd (under-60s).
The walk was unplanned, I just followed a well-signposted path through fields of cows towards a point of interest, immortalised by Paddy McAloon, that just seemed to get further away as I ploughed onward. Classic England.
Back on tarmac I had to dodge lycra clad senior cyclists for a mile. I thought of following a couple down a footpath marked “The Bongs” to avoid them, but didn’t want to play gooseberry.
retiredmartin 
Somewhere near what looks like a giant satellite dish.
LikeLike
if it’s somewhere famous for prize gooseberry growing it must be Egton Bridge in North Yorkshire.
LikeLike
The answer to the question I believe to be Goostrey. The first pic is inside the Crown.
LikeLike
Well done
LikeLike
And the point(s) of interest, a telescope or two?
LikeLike
The second picture is also the Crown. According to the GBG, at least 5 rooms, including a conservatory.
LikeLike
The discerning pub goer will pop down the road to Sam Smiths’ newly-refurbished Swan in Holmes Chapel, complete with its excellent pub cat 🙂
LikeLike
Correct as well
LikeLike
Extraordinary, I lived in Goostrey ( and chaired the Parish Council!) until four years ago.
The satellite dish is of course Jodrell Bank.
The Crown was formally a Marstons managed house, run by an ex Stoke City footballer for a number of years. He then took it on a lease; unfortunately things took a turn for the worse & he ultimately dropped dead in his kitchen of a heart attack.
A Cheshire Pubco took a free of tie lease . The two guys running the company fell out ( one of them is a particularly unpleasant character) and one of them kept the Crown plus another pub.
The Red Lion was a Tetley managed house in the past, as Tetley Walker experimented with an informal food orientated offer. It was sold a number of years ago. The black and white cottages in Martin’s photo are opposite the Red Lion and are listed.
There is an enormous amount of new housing going up in the village ( although nowhere near as much as in Holmes Chapel), with the housing stock increasing by 40% over 2/3 years .
LikeLike
Thanks for the details Malcolm. The Banks’s livery still on the side of the Crown.
LikeLike