retiredmartin

August 2026. Lutterworth.

The Great British Bank Holiday never disappoints; our trip home from visiting Dad wrecked by bumps at Grantham and, after a switch from A1 to M1, Leicester.

We paused at Lutterworth, not as exciting as Shepshed or Rothwell I grant you, but it’s only 5 minutes off the motorway, and has a good collection of “lil’ ol’ England“.

Perhaps I expect too much of a south Leicestershire town of 10,833 souls, but the A426 through the middle of town does nothing to preserve the lustre of the old buildings,

with the little lane down to the church, as always, the highlight.

Befitting an old stagecoach stop on the route from Leicester to London, there’s a bargain Travelodge (£27.99 next Sunday night) and almost reasonably priced rooms (£63 last night) at the Greyhound.

But what is there to do, when the jewellers is shut*.

Well, there’s pubs.

And although it’s never been targeted by the Proper Pub crew, there’s always been a couple of GBG entries and a balance of Bass and Pedi.

But really, Lutterworth means the Unicorn.

I’m just glad to see it re-opened and back in the Beer Guide, so I can admire the mirrors,

and put my back up on a long bench near a chap who’s reminiscing about German Prisoners of War in the town. Hang on, that must make him older than my Dad. Nonagenarians rule !

I enter to “You Really Got Me“, sup up to “Just Like Heaven** “, and leave to “Kids In America“, which a local is whistling in the Public.

The Bass ?

Cool and chewy, if not quite selling like the hotcakes of memory. Does Vault City make a hotcake sour ?

*_{Total time spent by Retired Martin in jewellers – 18 minutes. 3 minutes buying Mrs RM’s engagement ring, 15 minutes getting my own wedding ring removed before my finger fell off.}

** _{You can’t avoid The Cure’s pop hits these days. I blame Olivia Rodrigo, of whom more soon.}