August 2026. Newport. (The Gwent one). It had been too long. A first night in Newport’s historic IBIS Budget (it wasn’t) since The Great Year of GBG Completion when it was only £34. Well, rather pricier 4 years later, with City and Arsenal fans fighting over Cardiff hotels after The Weeknd (who ?) had priority… Continue reading UNDERPASS ! BACK TO NEWPORT (GWENT)

August 2026. Coventry. The last of our eight/nine/ten (appropriate as appropiate) Coventry pubs last Wednesday, though just because you have “Tavern” in your name doesn’t make you a pub. Things get more interesting on the approach to the station from Chapelfields, with many, many, decisions about crossing the dual carriageway or braving the underpass. Life… Continue reading SKY BLUES….SHOOTING TO WIN !

August 2026. Coventry. Nearly finished. But not quite. Oxford Nick and I found a short cut to the legendary Broomfield Tavern tucked away off Spon End, and I immediately sighed “Oh, that’s the Broomfield“. In my mind, I visited all the 14,000 odd pubs on my spreadsheet (the big one) in either 1996, 2001 or… Continue reading PIFFLE SNONKERS AT THE BROOMFIELD TAVERN, COVENTRY

August 2026. Coventry. I thought I’d picked an ambitious crawl around Coventry last Wednesday, and so it proved as we tackled the wonderful terraced pubs of Chapelfields. Never mind a “scratch ‘n’ sniff” edition of this blog; you need something on your laptop to give you a whoosh of 33 degree heat* as you approach… Continue reading IT’S A BATCH ! THE NURSERY TAVERN, COVENTRY

August 2026. Coventry. Right, let’s leave inner Coventry and head to the underpass, follow those scooters. Spon End is the heart of the light manufacturing quarter west of town, watchmaking mainly, a place few tourists tread. Of course, most tourists tick the cathedral(s) and the music museum that Lana just found, while all I had… Continue reading HEARSALL BOYS, HEARSALL BOYS

August 2026. Coventry. When I suggested a route for the Cov Crawl a month ago I’d used the Beer Guide as my starting point, but skipped the newish micropub in favour of an extra trad pub out west. Will gently chided me for this omission, and 3 years ago I’d noted of Hops D’Amour the… Continue reading AN APOLOGY TO HOPS D’AMOUR

August 2026. Coventry. Life After Football is that essential component you need on a pub crawl, the bloke who will veer you away from the GBG craft micro (ugh) in favour of the desi boozer, keg bar with pick-pockets, or Shisha bar with Jamaica tonic wine. I guess those are the sort of places that… Continue reading HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT – THE FAIRFAX CLUB, COVENTRY

August 2026. Coventry. See how many times I nick Nick’s map of the Official Proper Day Out in Cov. I didn’t really need to think about a half dozen Coventry pubs* for our half dozen Pub Men. Town Wall Tavern (temporarily closed), Gatehouse Tavern, Broomfield Tavern, Nursery Tavern (there’s a theme here), Old Windmill and… Continue reading THE OLD WINDMILL, COVENTRY. STILL THE PRIDE OF SPON STREET ?

August 2026. Coventry. Right, let’s steal Oxford Nick’s map; I did ask him if I could nick it from his excellent Prop Up The Bar blog (better photos than me) 5 minutes ago, which is plenty of notice. Last Wednesday was another Proper Day Out when the rest of the group out-pubbed me, using more… Continue reading STEAK AND STOUT OVER CHIPS. THE GATEHOUSE, COVENTRY