Footpaths Are For Wimps - Leeds Meet - 14/03/23

Today the walking group met up in Leeds city centre to catch up and and have a few bevvies. Any walking we did was between pubs lol.

8:53 am I boarded a bus to Accrington. It was there that I’d missed the first train by few minutes but that was ok I went for a brew at the Tesco cafe.

As I came out of Tesco, snow was falling from the sky. Lol that's where it usually falls from. I got onto platform 1 and there was a guy there wearing a walking coat and had a rucksack. I struck up a conversation with him about walking and told him that I was going meeting my mates from our walking group but we weren't walking up in the mountains this time just between pubs in Leeds 🤣

He told me that their walking group goes out every Wednesday. However this week because of train strikes - on the Wednesday - they were going today. I sat with them on the train and we had a right good chat before they alighted at Hebden Bridge. They were mostly of the older generation hence why they could go walking every Wednesday.

Arrived at Leeds Station at 11:30 ish. Followed the sign for the exit. Bought an overly expensive sausage roll, and ended up leaving through what looks like the back exit at Granary wharf. As I’d already gone through the barrier I could not go back into the station to see my way to the main entrance. I ended up walking around the building under the arches past a lot of very large buildings and hotels, eventually coming to the main entrance, where I was to meet my friends outside Boots. Just as I got there Dave and Zach turned up where I proceeded to to tell them about my jaunt around Leeds to find the main entrance ☺️

Another 10-minutes later Iain arrived on his delayed train lol.

On the train station concourse was JD Wetherspoons, so that was our first port of call.

Dave bought the first round and Iain snuk off in secret to buy us each a shot of fireball whisky. Whisky shots are usually saved for the summit when we are out walking, but here we are, at just gone midday, having our first whisky lol.

We stayed for another round of drinks and a good chat.

We discussed playing Laser Quest but found out that we needed to book. So that was a no go. We found a place that did escape rooms, however that looked closed. So we crossed the road and went to the next pub.

We each ordered our individual drinks but it was my round to pay for lol. I got the bill and was quite aghast 🤣😂 certainly wasn't cheap for 4 drinks lol.

Safe to say we only stayed there for one round. Although it was a nice place.

Getting a bit peckish we decided go to another Wetherspoons where we could order food. We ordered drinks at the bar and then once we got to the table we ordered food on the app. The food was lovely, and the offer to have a another alcoholic drink with the food for an extra pound meant that we had two drinks each. I got chatting to a couple of ladies on the next table and had a right good natter.

Dave then said we should visit the oldest pub in Leeds. Which was down a ginnel. nice place. Got some locals telling us about it's history, which has totally left my head.

As we had trains to catch we decided to go back to our first pub so that we could watch the train times. So back to Wetherspoons we went ☺️🍻

Dave's train was first, mine was next. Iain and Zach stayed in the pub until theirs was due to leave.

My journey home was eventful as I've just moved and I don't do public transport that often. The train journey was brilliant and didn't seem to take that long at all.

I got off the train at Accrington and exited the train station in the wrong direction again. When I was walking down a dark path when I realised something wasn't right lol. I turned around and found my way to the bus station. Next issue is the bus that I needed to get back to where I live was not running until 5 am the next day lol. I jumped on the bus that was there and explained my predicament. Anyway, all worked out well as this bus went to Rawtenstall Bus Station. And it was only a couple of quid in an Uber to get home. So I alighted, and thanked the driver. It was still just before 10 pm and there was a pub nearby so I popped in for a few in there 🤣 Why not? It was a great end to a great day out.

Luck had it that I didn't need to order an Uber, there was a taxi rank next door, so at least I finally got home in one piece.