<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>www.stevemorgan.me.uk</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?feed=rss2" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk</link>
	<description>Steve Morgan - Personal Site from Bletchley via Manchester, UK</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Sat, 14 Apr 2012 16:53:17 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1</generator>
		<item>
		<title>PHP date function &#8211; output a friendly UK style date with ordinal date suffix and &#8216;hrs&#8217; suffix on time</title>
		<link>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=149</link>
		<comments>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=149#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 14 Apr 2012 16:53:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steve Morgan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[PHP]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=149</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This post is more to remind me in the future but perhaps someone else will find it useful? I like the UK date format &#8211; I like to fight the Americanism of not using the ordinal suffix and I also like &#8216;hrs&#8217; on 24-hour clock times. Sun 18th Mar 19:00hrs Here is the date function [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This post is more to remind me in the future but perhaps someone else will find it useful?</p>
<p>I like the UK date format &#8211; I like to fight the Americanism of not using the ordinal suffix and I also like &#8216;hrs&#8217; on 24-hour clock times.</p>
<blockquote><p><em><strong>Sun 18th Mar 19:00hrs</strong></em></p></blockquote>
<p><em><strong></strong></em>Here is the date function for it&#8230;</p>
<blockquote><p>date(&#8216;D jS M H:i\h\r\s&#8217;, $mydate);</p></blockquote>
<p>If <em><strong>$mydate</strong></em> is omitted you&#8217;ll get the time now.</p>
<p><em><strong>Warning</strong></em> &#8211; if you use double quotes you won&#8217;t get &#8216;hrs&#8217; you&#8217;ll get &#8216;h s&#8217; as the \r will be converted as return char!!</p>
<p>Note how I escape chars that aren&#8217;t even PHP date() control chars, this is future proofing a new control char being added &#8211; they only added microseconds in 5.2.2!</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?feed=rss2&#038;p=149</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Create 100 different images Containing a Number  &#8211; The Image Equivalent of Lorem Ipsum</title>
		<link>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=139</link>
		<comments>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=139#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:53:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steve Morgan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[PHP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Windows]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=139</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Often I get asked to design things which require displaying of products and I don&#8217;t yet have the images.  I&#8217;ve written a script to do just that.  If you&#8217;re not a PHP coder and just want a zip with 100 &#8211; 600 random images &#8211; here it is. I need some filler so use a static [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Often I get asked to design things which require displaying of products and I don&#8217;t yet have the images.  I&#8217;ve written a script to do just that.  If you&#8217;re not a PHP coder and just want a zip with <a title="100 - 600 random images" href="http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/100_600_random_images.zip" target="_blank">100 &#8211; 600 random images &#8211; here it is</a>.</p>
<p>I need some filler so use a static image &#8211; doesn&#8217;t help prove that I&#8217;m using the correct image for the result for the product.  What I needed was a zip with 100 (or 600!) meaningful(ish) jpgs.</p>
<p>This script produces just that with random background colours and number.</p>
<p>Here is the output &#8211; the colours please me greatly.</p>
<div id="attachment_141" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/100-images.png"><img class="size-medium wp-image-141" title="100-images" src="http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/100-images-300x195.png" alt="100 randomly coloured images with a number" width="300" height="195" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Useful for filler for beta sites.</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Remember if you&#8217;re using PHP on Windows to check  your php.ini file that <em><strong>extension=php_gd2.dll  </strong></em>is enabled.  I&#8217;ve commented about the font used but you will have to amend these lines.    The script actually outputs the last image for testing though in some other use you might just want some confirmation text &#8211; remove the header gubbins.</p>
<blockquote><p>&lt;?php<br />
// Lots of credit to http://www.php-mysql-tutorial.com/user-authentication/image-verification.php<br />
// send several headers to make sure the image is not cached<br />
// taken directly from the PHP Manual</p>
<p>// Date in the past<br />
header(&#8220;Expires: Mon, 26 Jul 1997 05:00:00 GMT&#8221;);<br />
// always modified<br />
header(&#8220;Last-Modified: &#8221; . gmdate(&#8220;D, d M Y H:i:s&#8221;) . &#8221; GMT&#8221;);<br />
// HTTP/1.1<br />
header(&#8220;Cache-Control: no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate&#8221;);<br />
header(&#8220;Cache-Control: post-check=0, pre-check=0&#8243;, false);<br />
// HTTP/1.0<br />
header(&#8220;Pragma: no-cache&#8221;);<br />
// send the content type header so the image is displayed properly<br />
header(&#8216;Content-type: image/jpeg&#8217;);<br />
define(&#8216;IMAGE_DIR&#8217;, &#8216;./output/&#8217;); // change this.<br />
define(&#8216;FONT_DIR&#8217;, &#8221;); // should be your includes folder for the site<br />
define(&#8216;IMAGE_FILENAME&#8217;, &#8216;image&#8217;);</p>
<p>// how many images do you want<br />
$noImages = 600;</p>
<p>// can change these but you might need to tweak the positioning below<br />
$width = 125;<br />
$height = 130;</p>
<p>$red = 0;<br />
$green = 0;<br />
$blue = 0;</p>
<p>for ($i = 1; $i &lt;= $noImages; $i++) {<br />
// create an image object using the chosen background<br />
$image = imagecreate($width, $height);</p>
<p>// generate a rand background colour &#8211; note no protection to avoid grey backround with grey text.<br />
$red = rand(0,255);<br />
$green = rand(0,255);<br />
$blue = rand(0,255);</p>
<p>$background_color = imagecolorallocate($image, $red, $green, $blue);</p>
<p>//$textColor = imagecolorallocate($image, 0, 0, 0);</p>
<p>//replace with your own font or use a windows standard one (e.g. point it at c:\windows\fonts) &#8211; i like the capture_it font.<br />
// www.dafont.com/capture-it.font<br />
$font = FONT_DIR . &#8216;capture_it.ttf&#8217;;<br />
// $font = &#8216;C:\Windows\Fonts\arial.ttf&#8217;;</p>
<p>$x = ($width / 2)- 20;<br />
$y = ($height /2)+ 20;</p>
<p>//Create font colour<br />
$grey = imagecolorallocate($image, 128, 128, 128);</p>
<p>// Add some shadow to the text<br />
imagettftext($image, 40, 0, $x, $y, $grey, $font, $i);</p>
<p>// save the image<br />
imagejpeg($image, IMAGE_DIR . IMAGE_FILENAME . $i.&#8217;.jpg&#8217;);</p>
<p>// send the last image to the browser &#8211; now I&#8217;ve added the loop this is not a good idea<br />
if ($i == $noImages) {<br />
imagejpeg($image);<br />
}<br />
// destroy the image to free up the memory<br />
imagedestroy($image);<br />
}<br />
?&gt;</p></blockquote>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?feed=rss2&#038;p=139</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Exporting MS Project 2007 Tasks to MS Excel with Indenting</title>
		<link>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=132</link>
		<comments>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=132#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:12:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steve Morgan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=132</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Apparently MS Project 2010 fixes this issue but I&#8217;ve often wanted to copy the tasks complete with  the indenting to Excel to provide a quick and dirty report for non-project users. &#160; When you use copy and paste you look the formatting &#8211; grrr!  Here is a quick and dirty solution. Insert column into Project [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Apparently MS Project 2010 fixes this issue but I&#8217;ve often wanted to copy the tasks complete with  the indenting to Excel to provide a quick and dirty report for non-project users.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>When you use copy and paste you look the formatting &#8211; grrr!  Here is a quick and dirty solution.</p>
<ol>
<li>Insert column into Project (right click on the  grey header bar above your tasks and choose  <em><strong>Insert Column</strong></em></li>
<li>Select<em><strong> Field Name: Outline Level </strong></em></li>
<li>Now select and copy your tasks including this column to<em><strong> Excel.</strong></em></li>
<li>For my formulas Col A = ID, Col B = Outline Level, Col C = task name, adjust yours accordingly!</li>
<li>Insert in the next free column the following formula <em><strong>=CONCATENATE(REPT(&#8221;   &#8220;,B1-1),C1)</strong></em></li>
<li>There you go &#8211; quick and dirty as I said!</li>
</ol>
<div id="attachment_133" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 1034px"><a href="http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Capture.png"><img class="size-large wp-image-133" title="MS Project Tasks Formatted in Excel" src="http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Capture-1024x78.png" alt="MS Project Tasks Formatted in Excel" width="1024" height="78" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">MS Project Tasks Formatted in Excel</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?feed=rss2&#038;p=132</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Moving PHP Solutions from Windows to Linux</title>
		<link>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=126</link>
		<comments>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=126#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 17 Dec 2011 11:16:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steve Morgan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[PHP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Windows]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=126</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m currently building a ticketing / holiday booking application in my spare time in PHP / MySQL.  When I started in PHP I used Linux for my development platform because my laptop ran, the rather terrible, Windows Vista.  I&#8217;ve since upgraded to Windows 7 and find myself using this instead of my Linux share now [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p align="left">I&#8217;m currently building a ticketing / holiday booking application in my spare time in PHP / MySQL.  When I started in PHP I used Linux for my development platform because my laptop ran, the rather terrible, Windows Vista.  I&#8217;ve since upgraded to Windows 7 and find myself using this instead of my Linux share now (oh the shame!).</p>
<p align="left">I develop using the excellent <a title="WAMP Server" href="http://www.wampserver.com/en/">WAMP Server</a>  and then copy up to a cheapie Linux host I have.  What could possibly go wrong?!</p>
<p align="left">Well for a start there are obvious configuration difference issues (trying to keep the same versions of PHP and its extensions.  I have the error settings set to be as verbose as possible to try and trap issues in my coding before I set the code lose on the server (these are not exposed on the website so that you don&#8217;t expose the error out to web visitors – security risks) but aside from that I&#8217;d expect PHP that runs fine and dandy hosted on my Windows dev platform to be the same on the Linux server – <em>BIG ASSUMPTION!</em></p>
<p align="left">
<p align="left"><strong>com_create_guid &#8211; Creating GUIDS &#8211; Works on Windows, Not on Linux</strong></p>
<p align="left">When you look at the name of the function you&#8217;ll quickly realise that this is Windows only. I&#8217;m in the (dirty?) habit of using GUIDS due to my Windows / .NET background (my current and all of my previous employers have been solely .NET) &#8211; didn&#8217;t think about this before I sprayed the use of this function across my code.</p>
<p align="left"><strong>Workaround</strong></p>
<p align="left">I&#8217;ve found this function from <a title="here" href="http://algorytmy.pl/doc/php/function.com-create-guid.php">here </a>to be the best.</p>
<p align="left">A guid function that works in all php versions:</p>
<p align="left">
<p align="left">&lt;?php</p>
<p align="left">function guid(){</p>
<p align="left">   if (function_exists(&#8216;com_create_guid&#8217;)){</p>
<p align="left">       return com_create_guid();</p>
<p align="left">   }else{</p>
<p align="left">       mt_srand((double)microtime()*10000);//optional for php 4.2.0 and up.</p>
<p align="left">       $charid = strtoupper(md5(uniqid(rand(), true)));</p>
<p align="left">       $hyphen = chr(45);// &#8220;-&#8221;</p>
<p align="left">       $uuid = chr(123)// &#8220;{&#8220;</p>
<p align="left">               .substr($charid, 0, 8).$hyphen</p>
<p align="left">               .substr($charid, 8, 4).$hyphen</p>
<p align="left">               .substr($charid,12, 4).$hyphen</p>
<p align="left">               .substr($charid,16, 4).$hyphen</p>
<p align="left">               .substr($charid,20,12)</p>
<p align="left">               .chr(125);// &#8220;}&#8221;</p>
<p align="left">       return $uuid;</p>
<p align="left">   }</p>
<p align="left">}</p>
<p align="left">echo guid();</p>
<p align="left">?&gt;</p>
<p align="left">
<p align="left"><strong>Formatting Money <a title="money_format()" href="http://php.net/manual/en/function.money-format.php">money_format()</a></strong></p>
<p align="left">Now this one staggers me&#8230; surely this is a fundament function when building PHP web applications!?  Yup &#8211; doesn&#8217;t work in Windows.  I&#8217;m guessing this is due to the localisation of this function.   <a href="http://php.net/manual/en/function.money-format.php">http://php.net/manual/en/function.money-format.php</a></p>
<p align="left"><strong>Workaround</strong></p>
<p align="left">Not found a complete work around but suggest you use <a title="number_format()" href="http://php.net/manual/en/function.number-format.php">number_format()</a> instead and prefix your currency&#8230; <img src='http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_sad.gif' alt=':(' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p align="left">
<p align="left"><strong>Decoding JSON Strings Fails json_decode</strong></p>
<p align="left">This one I suspect is more of a PHP config issue but I&#8217;ll note it here.  Magic quotes causes issues with JSON strings. Before you run the json_decode it&#8217;s worth checking and striping the &#8216;helpful&#8217; slashes!</p>
<p align="left"><strong>Workaround</strong></p>
<p align="left"> // stupid magic quotes is a pain. (moving from PHP on Windows to linux)</p>
<p align="left"> if(get_magic_quotes_gpc()){</p>
<p align="left"> $bookingBasket = stripslashes($_REQUEST['basket']);</p>
<p align="left"> } else{</p>
<p align="left"> $bookingBasket = $_REQUEST['basket'];</p>
<p align="left"> }</p>
<p align="left"> $bookingBasket = json_decode($bookingBasket,true);</p>
<p align="left">
<p align="left">I&#8217;d be very interested to hear of other solutions for the above stevemorgan [@] uk2. net</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?feed=rss2&#038;p=126</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>VII Worcester Wassail &#8211; 10th December 2011</title>
		<link>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=120</link>
		<comments>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=120#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:43:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steve Morgan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Pub Crawls]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=120</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Saturday 10th December brings the seventh annual Worcester Wassail.  Twelve pints in the loyal city &#8211; we return every year just to completely ruin ourselves. &#160; You can download our route guide here. Worcester_Wassail_Dec_2011 &#160; 1.  The Cap ‘n’ Gown  &#8211; 45 Upper Tything  01905 28914 Turn right out of Foregate Street railway station and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Saturday 10th December brings the seventh annual Worcester Wassail.  Twelve pints in the loyal city &#8211; we return every year just to completely ruin ourselves.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>You can download our route guide here.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Worcester_Wassail_Dec_2011.pdf">Worcester_Wassail_Dec_2011</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>1.  The Cap ‘n’ Gown  &#8211; 45 Upper Tything  </strong>01905 28914<strong></strong></p>
<p>Turn right out of Foregate Street railway station and walk under the bridge.  The pub is ten minutes up the road, just past the school, on the left &#8211; this walk always feels longer when it’s cold and pissing it down though.  Established in 1849 and, up until a few years ago, little had changed (except hopefully the odd barrel) now it’s full of faux wood panelling with a strange L-shaped layout and sparse feel (as there are only a few tables) luckily most of you don’t turn up until much later anyhow.  They look after their beer here which is lucky as you’ll still have the power of taste this being your first pub.</p>
<p><em>Toast – </em>To all the beers we&#8217;ve drank before, tonight we&#8217;ll drink a dozen more.<em></em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>2.  The Lamb and Flag  30 The Tything  </strong>01905 26894  <strong></strong></p>
<p>Head back in the direction of the railway station and you’ll find this pub on the same side of the road (opposite St. Oswald’s Road).  A proper old man’s pub as famous for its impeccably kept Guinness as it is for its staring locals &#8211; forgive them they probably haven’t seen a new face in here in a few years.  Watch out if you’re running late as this pub is so old fashioned that the place still exercises lunch and evening openings (never mind 24-hour drinking this place refuses 12 hours!) and you won’t want to miss out on this gem.</p>
<p><em>Toast &#8211; </em></p>
<p>Drink with impunity &#8212; Or anyone who happens to invite you! [1960 Koken]</p>
<p><em> </em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>3.  The Dragon Inn   51 The Tything  </strong>01905 25845<strong></strong></p>
<p>Five minutes further up the Tything and you’ll find a 1750s, Grade II listed, CAMRA pub that you won’t need to be dragoned inn-to.  See the blackboard for today’s specials – these are not your meal specials but rather a list of banned conversation topics.  One of the banned topics is actually ‘the banned topics’ – so this guide is probably banned just by virtue of its discussion of the banned topics.  This board is the obvious result of nobody actually wanting to tell some boring bastard that they were boring everybody.  Tied to a Sheffield micro brewery there are some interesting, but occasionally very strong, brews in here.  WARNING – the website states there is no parking at the pub but if you’ve brought your car you deserve everything you get… if you are desperate for transport there is a bus stop next to the toilet though!</p>
<p><em>Toast &#8211; </em></p>
<p>For every wound, a balm.  For every sorrow, cheer.  For every storm, a calm. For every thirst, a beer.</p>
<p><em> </em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>4.  The Saracen’s Head   4 Tything     </strong>01905 24165<strong></strong></p>
<p>Our final pub on the Tything before we head into town and to some of the more famous Worcester spots.  An old coaching house, now run by a friendly South African landlord – friendly but who doesn’t like the f_____ rude language – so mind your c____ mouth!  So there we have it, we HAVE met a nice South African.  Phil and Steve hold the world record for the world’s longest and shittiest game of darts in here – much endangering Russ’s eyes in the process.</p>
<p><em>Toast -  </em><strong>A toast, to twice baked bread &#8211; without which there would be no toast. – OneFishTwoFish</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>5.  The Fire Fly     54 Lowesmoor </strong>01905 616 996<strong></strong></p>
<p>Now cometh your longest walk – but certainly not long enough to sober you up in any way.  Sadly now a walk which we are now doing for just one pub &#8211; and the fish and chip shop of course (wise heads stodge up with the special, double the food – half the price).  The Tything turns into Foregate Street, take a left at the A-Plan insurance building on Sansome Street , take a wide berth around the Toby’s Tavern, follow the curve of the road and take the second left onto Lowesmoor.  This is supposedly the ‘dodgy’ end of Worcester and in the correct proportion there is only 400ft of it…   The Fire Fly is just past the covert “Private Shop”, which if you need to do some last minute Christmas shopping for Nan’s present, do a nice line in arse plugs, rubber cocks and lube.  Despite the disabled access in the Fire Fly being somewhat lacking, this doesn’t stop Russ marching (so to speak), his way in though.  Dodgy olives are available for the poncey amongst us, Peruvian marching powder for the rest.</p>
<p><em>Toast &#8211; </em>Drinkers of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your money, your woman, your liver, your kids, your sanity, your job&#8230; &#8211;<em>Anon.</em></p>
<p><em> </em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>6.  The Swan With Two Nicks  28 New Street  </strong>01905 28190<strong></strong></p>
<p>Head back up Lowesmoor, past the Brewer&#8217;s Tap and the Private Shop (last chance to get Nan’s pressie).  Over the lights and turn left onto Queen Street.  At the bottom of the street head onto New Street, The Swan is on the left.  A nice looking pub but they do insist on blaring music through a wholly inadequate, knackered PA.  I wouldn’t bother sticking money into the video jukebox – if you do, expect to wait two hours to hear your selections and, as we’ll probably be behind schedule at this point, you won’t make yourself too popular.  Upstairs is the Lunar bar where the décor is akin to a cross between a tart’s boudoir and a scene from the third rate film Austin Powers!</p>
<p><em>Toast –</em><em>A mouth of a perfectly happy man is filled with beer. &#8211;Ancient Egyptian Wisdom, 2200 B.C. </em></p>
<p><em> </em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>7.  Eagle Vaults  2 Friar Street  </strong>01905 616 378<strong></strong></p>
<p>Continue up New Street and you’ll find Eagle Vaults on the corner of Pump Street and New Street (which further on becomes Friar Street).  Back to the old man pub of yesteryear and this one even sometimes has ace rockabilly bands on.  Clad in traditional Victorian tiles on the outside – the vomit just wipes off them – the Victorians really did think of everything (except how to catch Jack the Ripper or not die of TB).</p>
<p><em>Toast &#8211; </em><em>To women and horses&#8230;And the men that ride them.</em><em></em></p>
<p><em> </em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>8.  Farriers Arms  9 Fish Street  </strong>01905 27569<strong></strong></p>
<p>Now comes an opportunity to show off your eight-pint eight-ball skills.  Take a left turn out of the pub and head up Pump Street onto High Street.  Take a left on High Street and Fish Street is the next right (opposite JJB Sports), the pub is 100 yards from the High Street.  Resist the temptation to double up on pints here as people are beginning to struggle and it’s certainly not the best pub on the Wassail.</p>
<p><em>Toast &#8211; </em>To friends who are so amusing, to our livers that we&#8217;re abusing.<em></em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>9.  The Plough 23 Fish Street </strong></p>
<p>Continue to the end of Fish Street and on the left-hand corner you’ll find the Worcester CAMRA pub of the year 2009.  New to the Wassail 2010 due to the no-so-sad demise of the Pig &amp; Drum.  It’s a bit pokey but very friendly so you might want to quietly slope out of the Farriers when nobody is looking to secure your pint and ownership of the pub quiz trivia books!</p>
<p><em>Toast – </em>Here&#8217;s to the women who love me terribly, May they soon improve.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>10.  Ye Olde Talbot  Friar Street / Sidbury  01905 235730</strong></p>
<p>Turn left and tumble  down Dean Street (head for the Cathedral) and go straight over the roundabout or head clockwise around to have your photo taken with old Teddy Elgar’s statue – we don’t see so much of him nowadays due to the new £20 note not featuring him.  Follow the path on the left hand side and you’ll find this boozer on the corner of Sidbury and Friar Street.  It’s a bit of a carvery style place and you’ll need to carve through the crowds to get a pint – it’s always rammed for reasons that are not entirely clear (is anything clear at this point?).  Try not to knock over a work group’s table of drinks as Bob did one year &#8211; it takes a lot of explaining from a lot of people – with “&#8230;but I’ve just drank 10 pints” apparently not a suitable excuse.</p>
<p><em>Toast –</em></p>
<p>It takes only one drink to get me drunk. The trouble is, I can&#8217;t remember if it&#8217;s the thirteenth or the fourteenth.<br />
<strong>George Burns</strong></p>
<p><em> </em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>11.  Cardinal&#8217;s Hat   31 Friar Street  </strong>01905 22066<strong></strong></p>
<p>Nearly there!! Now the purists have reason to celebrate as our British overlords have overruled our EU overlords and this Austrian themed bar no longer serves half litres!  No word yet if the those (still) with a death wish can consider the five-litre stein.  Great heated outdoor area for chatting up the laydeez should you manage to identify one in amongst all the beer guts.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Toast &#8211; </em>Wir segeln, wir sind Segeln, wieder nach Hause über das Meer. Wir segelnstürmischen Gewässern, bei Dir zu sein, frei zu sein. - Gavin Sutherland</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>12.  Heroes Friar Street</strong></p>
<p>Continue up Friar Street and on the left, keep your blurry eyes peeled for a free-standing sign for Heroes – there is a small doorway with a set of stairs you can fall down later.  Watch your head and Joe R. Maggs’ projectile vomit stains as you enter.  This place has its fair share of nooks and grannies and seems popular with the Worcestershire yoof. Trying to find a hipster under 25 who doesn’t have a tattoo is quite a difficult task.  Once you’ve drunk your giant bottle of ale it&#8217;s on to a club, or for Steve to fall over in the street clutching a Chicken Burger (or pizza if he still has the power of speech).</p>
<p><em>Toast &#8211; </em>“A happy Wassail this December &#8211; To a lot of folks I don&#8217;t remember”</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?feed=rss2&#038;p=120</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Plotting Numbers of Bugs Raised Each Day From a BugTracker in Excel</title>
		<link>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=114</link>
		<comments>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=114#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:31:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steve Morgan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SQL SERVER]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Windows]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=114</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I had a requirement to plot the number of bugs raised on each day on a graph to show how many are raised.   The bugs were stored in the very wonderful BugTracker.NET .  The problem was I had a list of bugs with a date time. ID MAX(dateUpdated) 2 11/04/2011 09:10 4 12/04/2011 16:48 14 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I had a requirement to plot the number of bugs raised on each day on a graph to show how many are raised.   The bugs were stored in the very wonderful <a title="BugTracker.NET" href="http://ifdefined.com/bugtrackernet.html" target="_blank">BugTracker.NET</a> .  The problem was I had a list of bugs with a date time.</p>
<table width="193" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap" width="64">
<p align="left">ID</p>
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap" width="129">
<p align="left">MAX(dateUpdated)</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap" width="64">
<p align="right">2</p>
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap" width="129">
<p align="right">11/04/2011 09:10</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap" width="64">
<p align="right">4</p>
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap" width="129">
<p align="right">12/04/2011 16:48</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap" width="64">
<p align="right">14</p>
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap" width="129">
<p align="right">18/04/2011 21:03</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap" width="64">
<p align="right">15</p>
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap" width="129">
<p align="right">20/04/2011 07:14</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap" width="64">
<p align="right">16</p>
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap" width="129">
<p align="right">20/04/2011 20:30</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap" width="64">
<p align="right">17</p>
</td>
<td valign="bottom" nowrap="nowrap" width="129">
<p align="right">20/04/2011 20:30</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Here is how I solved it.</p>
<ol>
<li> Open in Excel and copy just the IDs and dates to a new sheet.</li>
<li>In column three add the following formula (it make the SQL datetime a short date – if you have access to the original DB then do this as a query – NOTE:- UK Date format!!)  =DAY(B2) &amp; &#8220;/&#8221; &amp; MONTH(B2) &amp; &#8220;/&#8221; &amp; YEAR(B2)</li>
<li>I usually copy and paste as values to get rid of excel formulas into a new sheet called BugsByDate</li>
<li>Find your min and max dates by sorting the data)</li>
<li>In a new data sheet enter “Date” in column A and “Bugs” in B.  In A2 enter the lowest date and then drag the cell handle down until you get the desired date range.</li>
<li>In B2 enter the formula =COUNTIF(BugsByDate!$A$2:$G$999,A2)  - <em>replace 999 with the number of bugs you have!</em></li>
<li>Drag the handle down to sum up the bugs for each date.</li>
<li>Highlight your data and insert a Scatter with Straight Lines and Markers</li>
<li>Enjoy</li>
</ol>
<div>Optionally you can also get the cumulative number of bugs &#8211; just use a formula in the next column which is =SUM($B$2:B2) &#8211; drag this down and the second B2 will increment &#8211; easy peasy!</div>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?feed=rss2&#038;p=114</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Didsbury Dozen 19th November 2011</title>
		<link>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=108</link>
		<comments>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=108#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:08:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steve Morgan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=108</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is a departure from our standard route &#8211; we&#8217;re going classic.  With the reopening of Ye Olde Cock it&#8217;s *almost* possible to do a proper pub crawl in just East Didsbury again.  This is going to be controversial as a lot of people love The Metropolitan (not me!). As we&#8217;re going back to basics I thought [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is a departure from our standard route &#8211; we&#8217;re going classic.  With the reopening of Ye Olde Cock it&#8217;s *almost* possible to do a proper pub crawl in just East Didsbury again.  This is going to be controversial as a lot of people love The Metropolitan (not me!).</p>
<p>As we&#8217;re going back to basics I thought it would be nice to have a classic route guide too &#8211; so I found the oldest one I could and have kept the text largely the same.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/The-Didsbury-Dozen-Nov-2011.pdf">The Didsbury Dozen Nov 2011 Route Guide</a></p>
<p>We&#8217;re starting at 1300hrs in the Woodstock &#8211; see you there!</p>
<p>The route is:</p>
<ol>
<li>The Woodstock (Barlow Moor Road)</li>
<li>The Nelson (Barlow Moor Road)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;"> </span></li>
<li>The (Famous) Crown (Wilmslow Road)</li>
<li>The Didsbury (Wilmslow Road)</li>
<li>Ye Olde Cock Inn (Wilmslow Road)</li>
<li>The Royal Oak (Wilmslow Road)</li>
<li>Fletcher Moss (aka The Albert) (William Street)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;"> </span></li>
<li>The (John) Milson Rhodes (School Lane)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;"> </span></li>
<li>The Dog &amp; Partridge (Wilmslow Road)</li>
<li>The Slug &amp; Lettuce (Wilmslow Road)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;"> </span></li>
<li>The Station (Wilmslow Road)</li>
<li>O&#8217;Neills (Wilmslow Road)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;"> </span></li>
</ol>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?feed=rss2&#038;p=108</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Really Pleasant Day on the East Lancs Railway</title>
		<link>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=97</link>
		<comments>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=97#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:30:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steve Morgan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Pub Crawls]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=97</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you&#8217;ve seen any other page on this site you&#8217;ll be aware I like nothing better that a pubcrawl.  The never-grown-up-kid in me quite likes trains too.  Add the two together and you have a Rail Ale Trail! Now &#8211; throw in a steam train and you have something really special!  So here is my [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you&#8217;ve seen any other page on this site you&#8217;ll be aware I like nothing better that a pubcrawl.  The never-grown-up-kid in me quite likes trains too.  Add the two together and you have a Rail Ale Trail!</p>
<p>Now &#8211; throw in a steam train and you have something really special!  So here is my (unofficial) version of the ELR Rail Ale Trail.  The ELR folk do actually <a href="http://www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk/things-to-see-do/rail-ale-trail/">run guided tours</a> &#8211; this route is based around their leaflet with some tweaks with a number of stops on the Metro with some varying degrees of pub quality!   We took the trip on a blue weekend &#8211; if you want to follow my timings ensure you check on their very <a href="http://www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk/visit-us/timetables/">well designed calendar</a> - if you&#8217;re doing this in the summer there are more services so it might not have to be such an early start!!!</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">STOP 1 &#8211; Manchester to Bury Bolton Street (get off the tram at Bury Interchange and walk 5 mins to the ELR) 2 Bury Bolton Street</span></strong></p>
<p><em> DEPART (we started at East Didsbury but Manchester times below):  </em></p>
<ul>
<li><em>EDY at 0855hrs</em></li>
<li><em>Leave MAN at 0933hrs</em></li>
<li><em>Leave VIC at 0941hrs</em></li>
</ul>
<p><em>ARRIVE: 1017hrs </em></p>
<p><em>TRAM TICKET: £6.30 East Didsbury buy a system one Train and Tram One Day</em></p>
<p><em>ELR TICKET:  If you&#8217;re not going to Heywood buy a Rawtenstall return £8.90 </em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>STOP2  - Rawtenstall</strong></span></p>
<p><em>ARRIVE: 1114hrs</em></p>
<p><em>DEPART: 1310hrs</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>PUB</strong></p>
<p>Riverside Inn &#8211; 5 mins walk</p>
<p>51 Bury Road</p>
<p>Rawtenstall, Rossendale BB4 6DD</p>
<p>01706 225 111</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>STOP3  - Ramsbottom  (no pub at Irwell Vale)</strong></span></p>
<p><em>ARRIVE: 1326hrs</em></p>
<p><em>DEPART: 1421hrs</em></p>
<p>1040 Full Line Adult Return: £12.50 3 Rawtenstall 1114 1310 Riverside Inn &#8211; 5 mins walk</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>PUB</strong></p>
<pre>Royal Oak - 39 Bridge Street

Ramsbottom, Bury BL0 9AD

0871 261 1516</pre>
<pre></pre>
<p><strong>PUB</strong></p>
<p>The Railway Inn is another option but Royal Oak (now called The Oaks?) is a better option by all accounts but was closed due to a fire the night before when we visited!</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>STOP4  - Sumerseat</strong></span></p>
<p><em>ARRIVE: 1426hrs</em></p>
<p><em>DEPART: 1606</em><em>hrs</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>PUB</strong></p>
<p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Consolas, Monaco, monospace; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre;">Footballers Inn </span></p>
<pre>28 Higher Summerseat

Ramsbottom, Bury BL0 9UG

0120488 3363</pre>
<pre></pre>
<p><strong>PUB</strong></p>
<p>Hamers Arms opp Footballers Inn</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>STOP5  - Bury Bolton Street</strong></span></p>
<p><em>ARRIVE: 1615hrs</em></p>
<p><em>DEPART: trams every 15 mins or so &#8211; so whenever you like!</em></p>
<p>1040 Full Line Adult Return: £12.50 3 Rawtenstall 1114 1310 Riverside Inn &#8211; 5 mins walk</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>PUB</strong></p>
<p>The Trackside</p>
<p>Bolton Street Station</p>
<p>Bolton Street</p>
<p>Bury</p>
<p>BL9 0EY</p>
<p>0161 764 6461</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>PUB</strong></p>
<p>The Two Tubs</p>
<p>19, The Wylde</p>
<p>Bury</p>
<p>Lancashire</p>
<p>BL9 0LA</p>
<p>0161 7644773</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>STOP6  - Whitefield</strong></span></p>
<p>Cross Keys Pub</p>
<p>24 Lily Hill Street</p>
<p>Whitefield, Manchester M45 7JB</p>
<p>0161 280 9229</p>
<p><em><br />
</em></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>STOP7  - Besses o&#8217; th&#8217; Barn</strong></span></p>
<p>The Coach and Horses</p>
<p>71, Bury Old Road, Whitefield, Manchester, M45 6TB&#8221;    &#8220;The Beehive Inn</p>
<p>98 Bury New Road</p>
<p>Besses O Th Barn</p>
<p>Whitefield</p>
<p>M45 6AW</p>
<p><em>t: 0161 7668410<br />
</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>STOP8  - Prestwich</strong></span></p>
<p>Forresters Arms</p>
<p><em>444 Bury New Rd</em></p>
<p><em>Prestwich</em></p>
<p><em>Manchester<br />
</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>STOP9  - Heaton Park (unfortunately we skipped this one due to time)</strong></span></p>
<p>Royal Oak</p>
<p>23 Whittaker Lane</p>
<p>Heaton Park</p>
<p>Manchester</p>
<p>Manchester</p>
<p>M25 1FX</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>STOP10  - Bowker Vale</strong></span></p>
<p>Cheers Bar</p>
<p>281 Middleton Road</p>
<p>Manchester</p>
<p>M8 4LY</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?feed=rss2&#038;p=97</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Can&#8217;t Get Out of Bed and USB cables Up or Down?</title>
		<link>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=93</link>
		<comments>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=93#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Mar 2011 15:31:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steve Morgan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Humour]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=93</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Steve’s Time Saving and Swearing Saving Guide. My two top tips. 1. USB Cables – ever find when you’re plugging these buggers in – particularly when you’re trying to plug them in behind the back of a PC you try it three different ways up (despite the fact there are a only two) AND IT [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Steve’s Time Saving and Swearing Saving Guide.</strong></p>
<p><strong>My two top tips.</strong><br />
1.	 USB Cables – ever find when you’re plugging these buggers in – particularly when you’re trying to plug them in behind the back of a PC you try it three different ways up (despite the fact there are a only two) AND IT WAS RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.</p>
<p>Simple solution – to get it right every time.  Every single USB cable(*) has a USB logo on it – this <strong>*always*</strong> goes face up.<br />
There you go – have probably 15 minutes of your life back.</p>
<p>* &#8211; on every single USB cable I own it does</p>
<p>2.	 Tip to get up in the morning.  This is a bit more like self flagellation.  Struggle to get up in the morning??  Take on my simple reward / fine solution.</p>
<p>It works like this – everytime your alarm goes off and you fail to get <strong>*straight*</strong> out of bed you <em>fine yourself 3 minutes</em>.  This means you set your alarm the next day 3 minutes earlier.  If you’re lazy a whole week that’s the alarm going off a full 15 minutes earlier – hell!   You only <em>gain a minute back a day</em> (a reward for getting up as soon as the alarm goes off) and you only get to move the alarm as far forward as you can still humanly get to work on time still having cleaned your teeth.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?feed=rss2&#038;p=93</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Stockport Suds Stroll &#8211; a Stockport Pub Crawl</title>
		<link>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=83</link>
		<comments>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=83#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Feb 2011 15:32:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steve Morgan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Pub Crawls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?p=83</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s my birthday but we recently had a Didsbury Dozen and a Rail Ale Trail. So what to do? Design a new pub crawl. Here is my original 10 pub, pub crawl around Stockport! You can download the guide from the link below. Stockport Suds Stroll &#8211; in Word DOCX format Stockport-Suds-Stroll &#8211; in PDF [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It&#8217;s my birthday but we recently had a Didsbury Dozen and a Rail Ale Trail.  So what to do?  Design a new pub crawl.</p>
<p>Here is my original 10 pub, pub crawl around Stockport!  You can download the guide from the link below.  </p>
<p><a href='http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Stockport-Suds-Stroll.docx'>Stockport Suds Stroll &#8211; in Word DOCX format</a><br />
<a href='http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Stockport-Suds-Stroll.pdf'>Stockport-Suds-Stroll &#8211; in PDF format</a></p>
<hr/>
<p>This pub crawl starts in Heaton Mersey – get either the Magic Bus #42 bus to Parrswood or the more expensive Stage coach which heads up Didsbury Road and drops you outside the Griff.  </p>
<p>1.	The Griffin – 552 Didsbury Road<br />
One internet review reads “I wasn&#8217;t born in the Griffin Hotel, but I wish I was. I would have my wedding reception here, if I believed in marriage!  We worked out that the beer is so cheap it&#8217;s more economical to spend your evenings here than heat your own house.”  I know that because I wrote it.  It’s dangerous beginning a pub crawl in your favourite pub because it sets a high bar&#8230;   She’s had a hard life – being threatened with demolition on a few occasions despite protection orders on its wonderfully panelled bar and the breweries recent failed attempts to turn it into a gastro pub.  She’s got lovely staff and management now and is back on the up.  Viva La Griff!</p>
<p>2.	 The Crown – 6 Vale Close<br />
Head left out of La Griff up the hill for five minutes and just set back off the road on the right we find another Heaton Mersey institution.  This four-hundred year old Robinson’s boozer (our first of many but don’t worry &#8211; not the Robinson’s of Barley Water fame type) is set on the corner of a conservation area with thatched terrace houses facing it it’s not hard to believe that some think it’s the oldest pub in Stockport.  </p>
<p>3.	The Four Heatons – 63 Didsbury Road<br />
We now have a longish walk (unless you want a cram a dodgy Frog and Railway pint in?) for what could make or break the crawl – it’s time to play pub roulette – continue down Didsbury Road, right down the hill and the pub is on the right!  This breaks one of the Steve’s “Should You Go Into This Pub” rules – never go into a pub with a flat roof.  However – appearances can be deceiving and reports suggest inside is a friendly and welcoming pub with a comfy lounge and plenty of bitters on offer – we shall see! </p>
<p>4.	The Crown Inn – 154 Heaton Lane<br />
We continue down Didsbury Road, taking the first left on the roundabout, but heading straight at the fork (with the Ambulance station on the right).  You’ll come to another roundabout with another Crown pub nestled on the left – this is a little gem hosting 16 different ales!  Tucked under the railway viaduct which is one of Europe’s largest brick structures and a feat of Victorian engineering –only built after an 1840 Act of Parliament was passed decreeing that every train HAS to stop at Stockport as a condition of construction – so if you’ve ever wondered why your express Pendolino does a ‘drop off’ stop at Stockport – now you know!  The pub was refurbished about five years ago – take particular note of the ornate decor on the exterior – I watched a guy paint that detail over a couple of weeks!  If we’re lucky and have a nice day there is a cool little beer garden outside.  </p>
<p>5.	Pineapple Inn – 159 Heaton Lane<br />
Left out of the Crown and across the road is the Pineapple.  I used to work five minutes from here and walk past every day but never ventured in.  It looks like a classic oldey-worldy boozer and to get to sample it is one of the reasons for the crawl!</p>
<p>6.	The Swan with Two Necks – 36 Princes Street<br />
Come out of the Pineapple, head right up Heaton Lane and cross over the main road to head down Princess Street (with Debenhams on your left).  The pub is five minutes down the road.  I think there is a shocking misspelling of ‘nick’ here – which I think is a baby swan (and the pub’s sign shows a swan with two cygnets) but my interweb searchings have struggled to prove this.   A very popular boozer and apparently they have Old Tom on tap.  Take note of the picture of ‘Old Tom’ before ordering as it may have the same effect on you.   </p>
<p>7.	Tiviot &#8211; 8 Tiviot Dale<br />
Come out of the Swan and continue down the road, keeping straight.  When the road bends to the right you’ll see the blue Tiviot pub on Tiviot Dale.  A pub where the walls are adorned with old pictures of steam engines and the local area – apparently you have to ask the landlord (who’s been there over 30 years!) about the ghost in the cellar. </p>
<p>8.	Boar’s Head &#8211; 2 Vernon Street<br />
Turn left out of the Tiviot and head down Bridge Street.   A Samuel Smiths pub so if you’re tight make it your round!!  Pub roulette again time as this has some mixed reviews online&#8230; </p>
<p>9.	Arden Arms &#8211; 23 Millgate<br />
Head left out of the Boar’s Head and left down Millgate for chandeliers and a grandfather clock – listed on the CAMRA Inventory for historic and unique pub interiors.  Apparently there is a ‘hidden snug’ – I’ll leave you to find it.  This is a much loved pub and its website has some great history about the pub.  </p>
<p>10.	  Queens Head &#8211; 12 Little Underbank<br />
Head back down Millgate and we’re looking for a pub hidden under the Underbank.  Another Samuel Smith’s pub finishes our crawl.  Dating from the 1790’s this pub oozes character – have we won you over about Stockport yet?</p>
<p>Steve’s “Should you go into this Pub” Rules</p>
<p>Just say no to any of the following::<br />
•	Flat roofs<br />
•	Pictures / photos of the food they serve on the exterior<br />
•	Broken windows<br />
•	Too many Sky Sports banners</p>
<p>This route guide owes a lot to the CAMRA Stockport Pub Guide – Viaducts and Vaults 4 &#038; Mark Mynett for his advice.<br />
www.stevemorgan.me.uk</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.stevemorgan.me.uk/?feed=rss2&#038;p=83</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>

