retiredmartin

21st December 2022.

Back on the train from Marple to Manchester, only a couple of stops till GBG23 tick No. 2 at Whitehough via Chinley.

It’s quite possible that James has been in more GBG entries than all but six people in the world, you know, given how many pubs I took him in as a toddler to annoy curmudgeons.

I wouldn’t have needed to come back to Chinley if I’d done my research in 2021, when I actually revisited the Paper Mill‘s upmarket sister pub (virtually next door) without realising I was walking past a cast-iron pre-emptive.

Never mind, we get artisan pizza here (nduja topping – mmm),

and the only downside is having to sit at high tables.

To be fair, we could have gone upstairs and sat on our own*, but there’s no fun in that. How many times have you gone in the Piccadilly Tap, found it too busy for comfort, and then found the upstairs empty ?

James hasn’t yet acquired the discernment of his mother and learnt to say “the strongest one” when I ask what he wants so he ends up with a pint of Marble Pint which is certainly NBSS 3.5 judging by the dregs.

I have to drink the dregs to claim my GBG tick, having been seduced by the Almasty Apricot Sour,

Almasty being (still) my favourite brewery that isn’t in Waterbeach.

Mrs RM would like the Paper Mill; it’s slightly upmarket (table service by App, and you get a buzzer which buzzes when your pizza is ready to collect); but she wouldn’t have enjoyed the walk up Eccles Pike.

It’s not a long hike to the top to get your view across the Peak and to the Etihad,

but it IS a steep climb, even for fit folk like us.

We barely see a soul; they’re all in micro pubs in Whaley and Chapel, I guess, though clearly someone has been here, defacing ancient tree trunks.

Either that or we’d just come across a new species of tree lizard, who can tell ?

*Though we did do exactly that when we found our train delayed and nipped in for a half of Buxton Mild an hour later.