retiredmartin

“From bucolic Bedworth, affluent Atherstone and naughty Nuneaton with their £2.30 Pedi, to languid Leamington Spa with its £4 Purity, and thence to the Cotswolds town where I headed now.” RM 2019

Getting to the BIG counties now. Warwickshire punches above its weight, the dreadful Stratford-upon-Avon apart, though I always imagine Rugby to be a West Midlands town at heart.

And that’s where we’ll start.

Rugby – The Victoria

This brings back a lot of happy memories from the last pub crawl with the great Richard Coldwell before his death. Pete Allen was there too, being weened off Carling. Happy/Sad memories.

I’d have picked the Half Moon from that day in May, but it’s closed, so a bit perverse to send you there. And the Vic is a Guide perennial, a gorgeous (checks notes) Victorian wedge pub, the “New Entertainer” of the Midlands.

Look, I can’t pretend the town is a must on your tourist trail, they celebrate the wrong shaped ball for a start, but Rugby has a great little art gallery and wonderful pubs.

“The Vic was a highpoint of the day.  It wasn’t only “Just Like A Pill”, or the debate about Ted Bundy on the next table, or even the opportunity to see how Richard takes those award winning photos so surreptitiously.“

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Royal Leamington Spa – New Inn

A Spa town doesn’t sound like the best place for a pub crawl, but sometimes you have to dig a little deeper, and my last visit saw me park up in the campervan for pennies during the UK bowls championship and admire the UK’s best collection of scatter cushions in a new Guide entry.

A great place to wander and admire the Spa,

but my pub pick is in the back streets over the Leam, the New Inn an unsung classic.

“It’s just an “ordinary pub”, at its most magical. A decent amount of cask, but not TOO much.”

Beer from the Isles of Man, Guernsey and Cornwall, banter from the Black Country as blokes discuss Wolves and VAR.

Magic.

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Next up a pub so new I haven’t even wrote up my visit yet.

Austrey – Bird In Hand

The Bird In Hand is North Warwicks Pub of the Year, though if there was a proper storm it could conceivably be blown into Leicestershire, Staffs or Derbyshire, being in real Four Counties territory.

Come here for the tranquillity, for those thatched animals that Dave loves,

the thatched burger (?), and a stunning range of beers.

Out of which you will pick the Pedigree.

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Time for a micropub, said no-one ever.

Nuneaton – Lord Hop

The Petersgate Tap of the Midlands, a two floor micro, in fact. My visit was a good while ago, but the beer was nectar that night, and the view to magical Nuneaton High Street remains.

Ooh, is that a cob/bap/barm ?

“Proper pub chat here, about karate and coffee chain bosses and politics, rather than about how folk weren’t “getting the cacao in the stout” (Untappd).“

Be sure to visit the Larry Grayson statue.

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And another micro to end my five, though this one is in the Cotswolds.

Shipston-on-Stour – Thirst Edition

Six pubs and two clubs in Shipston, including a Hook Norton and a Donnington, so worth a visit, but it’s Thirst Edition you should head for the most intelligent guvnor (Dave),

the best beer (Holden’s Mild),

and the best crisps in the world.

“Designed to appeal beyond the “middle-aged blokes drink microbrew” crowd, and attract lone women in for a drink without fear of hearing words like “Bass is twiggy”.

Over to you for a sixth. Atherstone would be nice.