March 2024. Cannock.
One new GBG pub in Cannock ticked, the Arcade didn’t open till 5, a very uncivilised time. That meant 90 minutes finding something interesting to say about a town notably coy about its treasures.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with Cannock; a lively town with a bowling green in the centre and the UK’s oldest micropub;
But a search of Trip Advisor told me that 3 of the top 4 tourist attractions were cemeteries;
and a theatre where tonight you can see a Tribute to The Shadows.
Actually that German cemetery was looking rather appealing. But hunger was my pressing concern, and I would have pre-emptively ticked Stonegate’s second pub, the more boisterous Royal Oak,
but both Speckled Hen and Goffs (!) were “next on”.
So I did the Spoons again, mainly on the basis I’d had three flat whites there 5 years ago and I know how much Discourse likes me bigging up JDW. And because I wanted to use up some of the 2023 batch of CAMRA vouchers. 37 unused this year, folks.
Not that they generally need bigging up, though on this Tuesday it was remarkably quiet, perhaps 20 in at most. Former mining towns are rarely prosperous,
though an hour in the new McArthur Glen (no relation to Richard Harris) shopping centre would have been instructive.
The Linford Arms is a handsome, rambling, timbered Spoons,
and the obligatory Plum Porter was a smooth 3.5. Look at this head;
A few blokes in their 30s, a gaggle of “cheeky glass of wine” women in their 40s, a noticeable lack of gentlefolk. I think they were in the Merchant. Or in the cafe next to the Denby Outlet store.
So my 10 chicken nuggets in sticky sauce was just about the only meal I saw leave the kitchen.
Which is never good news.
retiredmartin 
we have 25 left which isn’t bad seeing as we don’t actually visit the pub much more than once a week. Next year’s have arrived – my lad keeps forgetting to cancel his direct debit & can’t be bothered to use them himself. Us old folk are into saving 50p whenever possible !
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How many do you get each year, Pauline ?
The Maidstone Spoons I went is was very good.
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A full quota- we have 2 Spoons -the Society Rooms is our preferred spot. The other is a bit dodgy even though it’s just had a refurb.Quite a few of our vouchers are shared around when we have London trips with Northern chums
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Over fifty years ago my brother was in the Royal Oak and told to drink faster or get out.
“The Linford Arms is a handsome, rambling, timbered Spoons” but there’s little left internally from when it was Linford’s hardware shop, a remarkable former farmhouse with balconies that fascinated me as a young child.
The Linford family were mainly a large building firm responsible for the Crystal Fountain and the house I grew up in. A descendant is Simon Linford who restored Digbeth’s Woodman a few years ago.
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