February 2026. Lichfield.
Quite a rarity for me to get three new GBG pubs in quick succession these days, on a bus line as well. The number 36 rumbles between Walsall and Lichfield every half hour purely for the benefit of Beer Guide tickers,
and Lichfield Council have also provided some parking spaces for campervans that I won’t name because then they’ll stop you parking overnight like they’re doing all round the coast.
A night in a cathedral town (just closed, reverse micro hours) and just the one newbie pub, what to do ?
Well, the Horse & Jockey looked lively and had Bathams on, so I’ll give that a miss and admire the timber.
Pub recommendations for some towns write themselves; not so in Lichfield. Is there a definitive blog post on the city ? Does it include the (second) Joules ?
This is a place that has long put the great mind of the day to the test. Here we see Samuel Johnson contemplating the respective merits of Joules, Titanic, Marston and micros for inclusion in the 1747 Good Beer Guide.
Remindered copies of Samuel’s “A Dictionary of the English Language“, which would be of some use to our American readers, are available in one of the most impressively timbered charity shops in the Midlands.
My target is another new Titanic pub, to complement their bod GBG entry up the road in Streethall.
I’m not sure what put me off this place. It might have been “An-even-ing of Radiohead“.
It might have been the soundtrack,
though my notes say “too quiet“.
It may have been “too many beers“,
and goodness knows why Titanic needs anyone else’s beers as guests when everyone just picks Plum Porter,
which is pleasant but a tad thin, and Plum Porter should always be chewy.
Attractive, classy, but a dit dull. I suddely wished I was at the Tamworth Tap Vaults.
retiredmartin 
That Radiohead-esque band were terrific at Peterborough Cathedral last year, though the bar offering was unlikely to attract any of the local CAMRA’s so no pre-emptive I’m afraid. Shame, there’s plenty of space in most Cathedrals to squeeze a Micropub in the Crypt.
(The Real) Mark
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Twenty-nine pints in Lichfield last year compared to fifteen during 2024 suggests that Lichfield is still a good pub town, even for Staffordshire. I must admit though that a direct bus from a stop a three minute walk away helps, and my bus pass ensures that I’ve got sufficient beer money when I arrive.
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