First visited : 24 August 2016
We're now back in Bolton. The week after the Bramhall Hall trip, Stephen and I went to Lyme Park ,probably the furthest we ever ventured on a day outing but I must have forgotten to take the notebook. It was back for the next trip to Smithills Hall although most of the journey i.e as far as Bolton had already been covered.
It wasn't the most enjoyable of trips. Patrick rejoined us and he and Stephen's seeming inability to get on when I was around ( which was strange given they lived close to each other and had been pals for two years when I was at a different school ) resurfaced once more making the atmosphere rather fraught. It also chucked it down all day which didn't help. We broke the journey in Bolton town centre and walked round the museum again. I remember Stephen lifting a little lad up so he could see the piranha, one of those little moments that stays with you.
Our ultimate objective that day added to our disappointment . Firstly the nature centre had closed down for the winter. Secondly the hall didn't open until 2pm and the only shelter where we could eat our butties was the porch of the adjacent Coaching House restaurant where we sat amid all the lovely aromas drifting by. I should pay tribute to the tolerance of the management there that day; it can't have contributed to the ambience of the place to have three bedraggled urchins loitering around their entrance for more than an hour but nobody came out to evict us. Finally the hall opened but that too was a letdown. Coming after Bramhall Hall, it seemed a threadbare experience; once you'd read about George Marsh and seen his supposed footprint, there seemed little else to it, a poor return for the effort we'd expended in getting there. It went down in our mental records as "a bad trip". I should add that these days Smithills Hall offers a much improved visiting experience but frankly that's just as well. Sadly the restaurant is no more and is in the process of conversion to living apartments.
Anyhow back to the present day . The Ainsworth Arms stands near the busy four way junction where Halliwell Road and Smithills Dean Road meet the A58 ring road. It doesn't have a car park which means parking down one of the side streets off Halliwell Road
Simon and I visited on a Wednesday tea time and were favourably impressed. It's nicely laid out on two levels, tastefully decorated and friendly. The landlord seemed like a nice family guy and chatted with us about football and the barmaid was both friendly and exceedingly tasty. The drinks weren't the cheapest but I could live with that.
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