A late Spring mooch!

Sophie went to the gym this morning for her Yoga class and while she was away I put a colour on my hair, as I was looking distinctly badger-like! When she returned, we had a very pleasant breakfast of pastries and coffee and sat and chatted. She was going away with Vikesh for the weekend, and staying in an Airbnb in Warwickshire, so we said goodbye to her at midday and went on our planned mooch in the stunning Northamptonshire countryside.

We decided to revisit some old haunts and headed for the village of Geddington first. I knew there was a pub there, but Keith spotted the sign as we drove past, and I couldn't be bothered to turn around, saying we'd go on the way home!

We carried along the A4300 towards Corby and saw a sign for the village of Stanion. I was pretty sure we'd been to a pub there before, so we turned off the main road and headed for the centre of the village. We came across the pub, The Lord Nelson, but it looked well and truly closed. 

From Stanion we drove to one of our favourite pubs, somewhere we used to go to frequently when it was a real ale pub, The Vane Arms at Sudborough. Sadly, this was also well and truly closed and the pub itself looked empty and forlorn. What a terrible shame. Both Keith and I have some wonderful memories of going there and having drinks and meals with friends, and Keith had his stag night there.

We were starting to feel a little worried by now... was this the end of the mooch as we knew it? We drove back towards Corby and decided to head for the village of Bulwick, and The Queen's Head. The last time we were here, we called in on a Sunday evening to find it closed, but today it was open, with people sitting in the sunny garden and enjoying drinks. 

I loved this pub as it used to be dark and cosy and felt very old, with an open fireplace and a lovely smell of woodsmoke. However, the present owners have mucked about with the lounge area and it felt cold, overly bright and formal. Keith chose a pint of March Hare at 4.2% while I had half a Guinness, and we took our drinks outside.

One of the customers had decided it was a good idea (according to him, anyway) to go shirtless, which is never an attractive look if you don't have the physique to carry it off... Hmmm! We sat at a large round table with our drinks and watched as the terrace gradually filled up with people wanting to enjoy the gorgeous sunshine.

It was lovely to sit and relax, and after we'd finished our drinks, we left to go to the village of Kings Cliffe about four miles away.

This was a delightful road, passing through the pub-less village of Blatherwycke where we saw a huge lake and signs for Apethorpe Palace... in the middle of nowhere! Apethorpe Palace was once owned by Elizabeth I who inherited it from her father. You can visit as part of a guided tour, and it looks beautiful!

We arrived in the large village of Kings Cliffe and found the pub, The Cross Keys Inn, on the main street, and parked around the corner. 

It was a lovely pub, built in 1732, with a delightful little snug, a bigger bar area and a garden. The staff were very friendly and told us there would be live music this evening. In fact, a couple came in who had booked to stay overnight and they were there to see the band! Groupies!

Mine was a half, although it looks bigger!

We spent a pleasant half hour with our drinks (Keith's beer was Summer Lightning and was 5%) and saw more and more people come in, some of whom looked as if they'd been out walking as they had backpacks and boots on. 

After our drinks, it was time to move on and the afternoon was flying by. We hoped that pubs would be open all day today as it was a Bank Holiday weekend so it was on to the next one!

From Kings Cliffe, we headed towards Fotheringhay, five miles away. Again, the road was lovely with high hedges, lots of trees and farmland stretching away to the horizon. We came to the village of Woodnewton and saw a pub! One we had never been into before!

Of course, we couldn't pass up this one and it looked beautiful. It was called The White Swan and it had a large, pretty, terraced garden and a modern, bright bar area. Keith chose a Timothy Taylor Landlord pint here and we took our drinks out to the garden where people were sitting eating, drinking and soaking up the gorgeous sunshine.

Keith intently studying the drinks menu!

I think we will definitely come back to this one as I know Sophie would love it! The two men in charge were very friendly and efficient, and it was great to find a new pub in a village we'd never visited before.

The time was about 3pm so we made the decision to go to one last pub in the historic village of Fotheringhay where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned in the castle there for committing treason. The castle no longer exists but was built around 1100. Henry VIII gave it to Catherine of Aragon as a gift and she lavished money on it and restored it to its former glory. Unfortunately, she fell out of favour and the castle was given to his successive wives but was mainly used as a prison. Mary, Queen of Scots died there in 1587.

We found The Falcon Inn easily and parked in the large car park. People were out enjoying the sunshine in the garden and the pub had an airy conservatory and cosy bar. Keith wasn't impressed with the beers here and drank a Birra Moretti rather than an ale. Again, we went to sit in the garden to soak up the rays.

We both agreed that, after a somewhat shaky start, we'd had a successful mooch with not bad beers! The countryside had been stunning and it was lovely and relaxing pootling along the lanes and finding pubs. What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon?

We left at about 4pm and trundled home the way we'd come. I saw the pub sign in Geddington but we decided to go home and relax. Keith watched the football while I went upstairs to watch an episode of the ITV drama, Maryland.

Dinner tonight was a Chinese takeaway, followed by The 1% Club. Amazingly, I deciphered the answer to the 1% question but I did pause the television while I worked it out!