Yes, when in Tamworth, it is obligatory to reference Julian Cope, whose views on micro pubs are eagerly anticipated.
Last time here I celebrated the joys of the parish church in an Emergency Guide to Tamworth that is still handed out to all UK visitors on arrival at Dover. This time I bring the alternate glories of the award winning TIC,
and the perfect symmetry of the row of tower blocks on the way back into town from the west.
Oh, and some castle I’ve STILL never been in (you have to pay to see old stuff).
I saved my pennies for the Tamworth Tap, which almost makes up internally for its dull outward face.
Oak beams, upstairs gin rooms, views in the garden to the castle. It’s a classy set-up and folk have clearly dressed up on a Sunday afternoon to come out and drink bottles of Peroni with a lime in them.
There’s two sorts of small pub; the one run by middle-aged blokes for middle-aged blokes sitting round the wall drinking pale beers from the barrel.
And the wave of proper bars like the Tollgate Tap in Ashby and this one, that welcome all and want you to have your birthday here with a gin tasting session. I know which one Mrs RM prefers.
If it sells its homebrew here I didn’t see it, possibly just as well when it would be competing with beers you’ve heard of.
“Stuck in the middle with you” and “Last train to Clarksville” the entertainment on a civilised Sunday with notably more folk about than in, say, Newbury or Ely.
Folk with pashminas came in, saw me taking a table for four with my pleasing half, and glowered at me.
Let me tell you, the upstairs is the place to escape folk.
But I’m afraid to say I never went on George’s whopper.
retiredmartin 
“There’s two sorts of small pub; the one run by middle-aged blokes for middle-aged blokes sitting round the wall drinking pale beers from the barrel”.
Always feel comfortable in such establishments – even better if I am the only middle-aged bloke present !
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Each to their own, I’m scared of heights. And a lack of people younger than me !
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So the Blue Boar in Leicester might pose something of a dilemma, then, Martin?
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PS. That can’t be Julian Cope. He’s never been trusted with anything sharp for some time, has he?
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Depends whether they have any comfortable seating…
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That photo of the interior shows they’ve made an effort to give the place some character; looks like a pleasant place to pass some time.
I chuckled at this: “still handed out to all UK visitors on arrival at Dover” –Pleased that I at least once arrived in England by way of Dover, back in 1986; there’s nothing quite like seeing those white cliffs in the distance as you sail across the channel. I expect comparatively few people have this experience these days.
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Bill Bryson arrived in Dover in 1973, at a similar age, I guess. Did you visit any Dover pubs ?
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No, I headed straight on to Manchester to see my friend Ian. There we went to a good many pubs over the course of several days, but sadly the only one whose name I recall these days is the (now departed) Mark Addy.
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Well you did a classic pub I never got to then, Mark.
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I read in the M.E.N. that there are plans to reopen the pub business of the Mark Addy, though it may take some time.
I’d have thought that a fair bit of civil engineering would be needed to make it insurable – flood wall etc.
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Lichfield – on your map – is an excellent venue for a pub crawl, or it was when I last visited on 12 July 1979.
Anyone know if it is still worth a visit ?
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It should be on a Long-list of 30 or so, if that’s not damning with faint praise. Some good Marstons and Joules pubs, though micro pubs/bar are booming now.
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Fred,
There’s a lot changed since 1979.
I got round nine Lichfield pubs in October and it’s neither the best nor worst of towns.
The Horse and Jockey is the best free house and George and Dragon the best proper Banks’s pub with the Earl of Lichfield also good.
Of the newer establishments ;
Bitter Suite, round the corner from City station, has table service and is quite good.
Beerholm is upmarket for a micropub and popular.
The Whippet, next door, is a basic micropub.
55 Wade Street isn’t worth bothering with.
Also a former Wetherspoons is a typical Brewhouse and Kitchen and ‘Joules’ have done what they always do to pubs to the Duke of York.
So it’s okay for a day out but nothing really to write home about.
Some would say you’d be better off in Stafford.
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…and they’d be right !
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“Upstairs gin tasting rooms”
Free gin on every table?
“I know which one Mrs RM prefers.”
The one with high octane, murky beers that come in nothing smaller than a pint glass?
“Something happening here”
Was that the third song after the other two? 😉
“Folk with pashminas came in, saw me taking a table for four with my pleasing half, and glowered at me.”
Is it rude to sit at a (longish) table in a micro or pub that’s already occupied?
“But I’m afraid to say I never went on George’s whopper.”
Thanks for that. Saves me from asking. 🙂
Cheers
And with that, I’m caught up!
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For what it’s worth, yes ;-0
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Interesting question about protocol of sitting at big table. I sat on the end of a longish table six feet away from 2 blokes in Worthing and they grumbled at me invading their personal space.
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For what it’s worth (just a personal observation) but there are four micros I’ve been to in my ‘area’* over the past couple of years that have longish tables and it was implied that you could sit wherever you wished, even if others were already occupying it.
* – (i.e. within about 100 miles from me, and one of those requires a 90 minute ferry ride)
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Exactly, a table seating anything more than a quartet must be common space, surely ?
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It must be said that some of these new-generation bars are smart, well-thought-out operations with a wide appeal across different ages and types of drinkers. And others aren’t…
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– and it’s all those done ‘on the cheap’ that aren’t.
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I am awaiting Saint Julian, bless his cotton socks, making one of his regular trips to the North East of Scotland to visit the newly discovered micro stone circle
https://www.thenational.scot/news/17306626.ancient-stone-circle-in-aberdeenshire-officially-recognised/
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Is the outside of the bar a mobility scooter servicing point?
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I’ve never had a drink in Tamworth! That place could be a good starting point though as it looks more pub than micro…the general aesthetics of the town are how I remember though…#poormansatherstone
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Ooh, controversial ! See what you mean, though. I saw Cambridge play at Tamworth when they were on their little Histon/Farsley/Alfreton five minutes of glory; The Lamb was an “interesting” ground with more people watching the game from nearby flats than paying !
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The pitch is 4G surface now so well used by the community and they are probably still peeved that Burton have kicked on to become a league club whereas they are now in the Conference North. And Burton’s beer is better!
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