Laurie Dooley met James Bell, Dave Taylor, Richard Earl, Jane Marston and with Chris Maher at the very last minute at Chi Bus Station. We got the N°60 bus towards Midhurst. Heather Lawn and Chris Ray joined us at Cathedral.

First stop was the Blue Bell at Cocking. (Harvey's Sussex Best NBSS Good and Harvey's Sister's; also available Harvey's Sussex Best 0% in bottles).After the Ale Trail stamping, we had some beery discussion turning into a rant about he state of Royal Mail, Police, Councils, buses and railways; Dave introduced us to the principle of 'Enshittification'; the gradual degradation of a service's functionality, as part of a cycle in which the service first offers benefits to users to attract them, then pursues more and more profits at the expense of users.

ominously the pub staff are about to take over the Harvey's pub, Royal Oak in Borough Market. so what will happen at the Blue Bell? (don't know, watch this space)

Next, back on the (late) bus for Midhurst and the Swan Inn (Harvey's Sussex Best and something new; a Harvey's house beer Swan IPA a mix of Sister's with added hops NBSS Good).

Some of us took the opportunity here to visit the Spread Eagle Hotel, which is now open to non-residents. No cask beer here, but some Real Cider, as noted by Heather

A short walk to the Midhurst Bus Station saw us pick up the N°1 bus to Halfway Bridge and a long walk to Langham Brewery Tap and the Ale Trail stamp.

Another long walk back to the bus stop and a bus back to Chi, where we stopped off at the Escapist to try the Dark Revolution tap takeover: Hypno Toad, Fever Dream and Grounds for Divorce flight (all kegs but all at a reasonable temperature; not too cold, like most keg)