I neglected to write this Good Beer Guide listed pub up when Richard and I visited in August.
The exterior is lovely. The pub seems proud of its history and notes on its website:
“The Golden Cross is the oldest pub in Coventry (One of the oldest in The Midlands). Built circa 1583, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st and established as a public house circa 1661, during the reign of Charles II (The year of his coronation). The Golden Cross boasts traditional Tudor features which include: jettied upper floors with exposed beams, the pub also features a Dragon Beam which makes it possible for the jettied floors to go around the corners.”
It was fortunate to survive the Blitz which damaged so many other nearby buildings and it was extensively refurbished in 2017.
I’m less engaged about the music, but a warm welcome is always positive.
And we did receive a warm welcome from the friendly team member, although I didn’t get a chance to take a photo at the bar. I didn’t ask for a CAMRA discount but the team member pro-actively asked if we were members of CAMRA, which I suspect tied in with the Great British Beer Festival that was about to take place in the area. I realised that I had left my CAMRA card in the hotel room, but I was kindly offered the CAMRA discount anyway. Perhaps I look like a CAMRA drinker, although I’m not sure what I think about that.
I went for a pint of Titanic Plum Porter which is always a delight, it’s smooth, fruity and luxurious. This is the period from when Richard was his new slim self and looking very healthy for it. There are usually around five real ales available and the Plum Porter tasted well kept and was at the appropriate slightly chilled temperature.
This wasn’t really a venue for me though at the time that we visited, it was quite quiet in terms of the number of customers and also very loud from the live music. It was hard to have a conversation and the lack of customers gave it a slightly odd atmosphere. However, what I didn’t realise was this:
“We have live music every Saturday downstairs from 9pm – 11pm, so those who prefer a quiet drink in Coventry’s oldest pub can enjoy a relaxing evening in comfort in the bar upstairs.”
If I had realised, I would have gone upstairs. Anyway, we decided to leave soon afterwards in the hunt for a pub where we could have a conversation and gossip about the world. Nonetheless, this is a lovely pub and I think we just visited at the wrong time as there was a friendly welcome and I enjoyed the heritage of the venue itself. They also do what appears to be a good value food offering at lunchtime and in the early evenings. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to visit again at one of those rather quieter times as I did like the building, the friendliness of the team members and the beer.
I appear to have forgotten to write about this Good Beer Guide listed pub in Coventry. It’s operated by JD Wetherspoon and is nearby to their sister pub the Flying Standard. As usual, I’ll use their history of their venue:
“This is named after Leofric, Earl of Mercia, who founded St Mary’s Priory, Coventry’s first cathedral. A larger-than-life statue of Leofric and his wife (Countess Godiva) can be seen above the main entrance to the council house, opposite this pub.”
The building on High Street opened in June 1896 as the London and Midland Bank, later becoming the Midland Bank. It was turned into a public house in the early 1990s, initially being Cassidy’s until 1994, then the Phoenix Bar until 1996 and then it became part of Lloyds which was bought out by JD Wetherspoon as their more youth focused brand. The pub was renamed its current name of the Earl and Mercia in 2001.
I haven’t taken many useful photos of the pub, but as Julian (wise) says, I’m sure we’ll all cope.
This is from my visit with Richard a few months ago, I went for the Tesseract from Black Hole Brewery which was only £1.64 for a pint after the CAMRA discount. It was better than I had expected, it was rich, smooth with lots of plums to the whole arrangement.
And this is the Key Lime Pale from Hogs Back Brewery which I had this weekend as part of the JD Wetherspoon October beer festival. This was just 98p for a half and it was certainly full of lime flavour, being light, soft and hoppy.
As usual, best I have a little look at the reviews for my own amusement. It’s rated very highly for a JD Wetherspoon venue and that fits in with my experiences here, which have been positive.
“First of all, the staff discriminated against Chinese people. If you’re a local, the servers will bring the drinks to your table, but we had to go downstairs to get our drinks and bring them to our table on the second floor. The entire time, they watched us through the surveillance cameras. I told them I don’t drink alcohol, and they said I didn’t need to show my ID in that case. When we brought the drinks back to our table, I smelled the dark beer out of curiosity because I had never had it before. Then, a server came up and asked us to leave, claiming that I had drunk the beer. However, I’m allergic to alcohol, so I couldn’t have drunk it in the first place. The manager insisted that I drank it, not just smelled it. This is clear discrimination against Chinese people.”
Hmmm, they bring everyone their drinks but this reminds me though of a woman in one of the London pubs in their chain that was getting frustrated that no-one was serving her at her table, but she saw others getting their drinks delivered. She stomped out in the end after the team member refused to take her order himself and insisted she use the app.
“I feel violated, we ordered two pitchers exactly the same price, mango monster mash or something
This is the difference in ice/drink
The guy who served us was rude all night, insisted they were all the same even though I showed him the difference.
Don’t order here, wetherspoons please sack the only guy working here on 28/01/20″
Please sack a team member as he served cocktails in two different shaped jugs? Yeah, that sounds reasonable…
“We were just having lunch and the guy came up to us saying that we need to leave. We politely said that wr will leave after finishing our dinner but the guy was so rude and racist that he came back again and argued with us, forcing us to leave the place which is totally not accepted. He was the shift manager for the day 20/11/2023. I never expected this kind of behaviour as we have already paid for the food and atleast accept a decent service from the employees. Please have a look at your team and recruit people who are not racist.”
I wish reviewers would give a bit more information about why a team member actually came up and asked them to leave.
“Discrimination on a young adult with SEN needs. We come to this pub as young person finds atmosphere friendly and welcoming. Not today. Bully tactics by staff. 1 day we forgot passport she is 18. We have been served lots of time by staff at wetherspoons without ID. 1 staff member followed me to the table. Hassled me about her drinking alcohol beverage. Very abrupt, unfriendly and aggressive. He watched us for 5 minute’s and came over and said she had taken another sip for a drink. He snatched all the drinks from the table. They would not accept a photo on my phone, which I’ve used previously. Young person was upset and distrraught. Went to the toilet and was physically sick. We went onto have our food dropped on the table by the disgruntled staff member. Duty Manager was unsympathetic and crude. No training given how to deal with people with disabilities. All disabilities are not visible. Shame on wetherspoons we will not be going there again. Wasted £20.00. The food was cold and disgusting. Refused a refund.”
If this story is as it’s told, it’s not clear to me what the team member could have done other than been more polite and engaged better. Someone without valid ID has seemingly been drinking alcohol, the pub’s licence is at risk if they don’t check ID.
“I came here on Saturday, had one drink with my friend and decided to go outside in the seating area as it was too hot inside. There were empty glasses on our table which we just moved to the side, and while me and my friend were talking one of the staff (man with long hair) came over and asked if the glasses were finished with, I said they weren’t ours. About 5 minutes later we realised he had put 4 shot on our table, so we were confused and asked the people next to us if they were their shots, which they weren’t. So I assumed someone had bought them for us on the Wetherspoons app, and had 1 shot out of the 4, then the man came back over shouting at me for having a shot and demanding that I pay for it. I told him that he put them on our table so we assumed they have been bought for us, which he then said I said they were mine when he took them over to us (I didn’t, I didn’t even realise he bought them over as I was having a conversation with my friend). This staff member then started arguing with me and was SO rude to me over £2.50, which I did pay. I will not be coming back, as he was so rude to me and was shouting at me.”
It might have been easier not to take one of the drinks that they hadn’t ordered.
“I didn’t go there!!”
Another helpful review.
“Another wetherspoon which is more expensive than the Gosford Arms for a pint of Stella. No good for sight seeing as all you can see are bill boards of things that won’t necessarily come true in the eye of the public.”
Probably best to go to the Gosford Arms.
“I mean as most know they dont have music so that’s one sad thing.”
At least that makes me happy 🙂
Anyway, this seemed like a a well-run and organised JD Wetherspoon venue, although it does get very busy and although it’s over two floors it’s not the largest. Keenly priced, popular with students and a decent selection of real ales.
The Anchor Tap was the first pub we visited during our weekend of bar billiards in Surrey and I was pleased to discover that it is in the Good Beer Guide, so that’s another ticked off. And that’s an impressive selection of beers there, cask and keg. I think that’s a well curated beer list, numerous different beer styles and clearly laid out. As another plus, the venue is Untappd verified so I could see the beer list online.
Excuse the blurry Oscar, Pete and Nathan in the background. This is the Stoopid White Chocolate Raspberry Cherry from Vault City and I remember the delights of when the brewery released the standard version of this beer. It pours like a smoothie and is a light, gentle, fruity and creamy.
It was a busy pub and it takes its name as it was the former tap room of the Anchor Hotel. The building itself is late Victorian and CAMRA note:
“Having been closed for 30 years, this pub was reopened in February 2016 by Dark Star Brewery, but with the sale of that brewer to Fuller’s in March 2018, the pub became free-of-tie. It continues to be popular with customers both local and from afar. Refurbished in an early-20th century style.”
Although it was busy, the service was prompt and friendly, with the venue taking cards and cash. The prices are towards the higher end of the scale, but the beer quality and range is high.
The Whole Cake from Vault City, which had flavours of raspberries and mango whilst being creamy and fruity.
My next beer was the 7 Years Sour from Vault City (there’s a theme here for the eagle eyed reader) but Nathan doesn’t like the photo of him behind the beer and so I won’t use it here. Another beautiful beer with lots of mango and passion fruit, lots of depth and really quite decadent. But, all is not lost, the beer is visible in this photo.
It’s not a huge venue, this is the front room and there’s a small back room, with the nearby toilet space also being quite limited in size. This is where the pub that the local branch of CAMRA was formed in a few decades ago.
It was a really lovely venue and quite rightly in the Good Beer Guide, a perfect on-trend venue with cask and keg options. It’s well reviewed online and it had an informal and welcoming atmosphere, but given its relative small space it gets busy quickly.
As the weekend drew to a close, I had time for one final Good Beer Guide pub visit. Regarding the history, CAMRA notes:
“First built in 1820 and rebuilt in 1879, this is a rare Victorian pub in the city centre. There is a single narrow panelled room, with the bar on one side and seating on the other. The glazed timber screens have been removed to give more room. In the entrance there is some original tiling, mostly obscured. After being run by St Austell Brewery for a while the pub reopened under West Berkshire Brewery ownership in April 2019 but the brewery went into administration.”
There was an extensive and interesting selection of real ales which covered a range of beer styles, it actually felt curated. The service was slightly sluggish, but it was friendly and efficient, with the general environment being inviting and comfortable. Everything felt clean and tidy, with power outlets available for those who might need them.
There was also an excellent range of craft beers and if I had longer then I would have started to work my way down a couple of these, I had no idea that they would have 40 keg lines.
It wasn’t very busy, although there was some drama when the 15:00 national phone emergency testing alarm went off.
I went for half a pint of the Bliss Point from Thornbridge, which I haven’t had before. It was well-kept, light and had flavours of hedgerow (this isn’t an official term), pine and citrus. The price was towards the lower end of the scale for Oxford, although some of the decadent craft beers are of course more decadently priced.
Although I didn’t eat, there was food available and the only customer I saw order a meal came over to the bar to say how much they’d enjoyed it. The menu isn’t overly extensive, it contains small plates, traditional pub classics, burgers, pizzas and the like.
Some beermat decoration on the ceiling of the pub. There are also some vinyl records near to the door which I think can be played, with sports being shown on the TV. Neither of those latter two points particularly engage me, but it all adds to a rounded pub and I’d be happy just with the beer selection. The recent online reviews are very positive and I can imagine that this venue will soon get busier as its reputation spreads as it certainly surprised and delighted me.
This was the best pub that I visited in Oxford and I’m very grateful to the Good Beer Guide for pointing me towards it. The venue has won numerous CAMRA awards recently and shows what can happen when a large corporate doesn’t make it formulaic and drab. There are a few offers floating about, not least the current £3.50 for any pint of real ale on Mondays.
This was an unexpected treat, being able to tick off two things at once, another Titanic pub and a Good Beer Guide pub. In terms of its history, it’s a Victorian pub which takes its name from one of the stagecoach services which used to serve Oxford.
What a lovely sight and the pub has won numerous CAMRA awards in recent years.
The keg section.
For the many and not the few.
The bar and there was a friendly welcome from the staff member. It’s always a delight to visit a Titanic pub and she was knowledgeable and engaging.
Clean and comfortable seating. The pub doesn’t serve food any more, instead focusing on its drinks trade and it clearly does that very well.
This is half a pint of the Idaho Pale, a Titanic beer that I haven’t had before. It’s 4.3% and was really rather lovely, hoppy, fluffy and rich in flavour.
My second half pint was also a first for me, the True Stout nitro, which the staff member told me is a long-standing Titanic beer, although I’ve not knowingly noticed it before. It was smooth, dark, creamy and again there was a depth of flavour. Titanic really are good at this brewing thing.
Well, indeed.
The online reviews are broadly very positive and this was one of the very few negative ones:
“Pretty unfriendly if you have kids. Great pub otherwise, but the unfriendly treatment spoiled it for me. I understand why the management might prefer to have a kids-free pub, but there are nicer ways to communicate it, even conceding this might be a tenable position to have in 2023.”
I don’t know how they communicated it, but I find it hard to believe they randomly turned on some kids that entered without them having caused a disturbance.
“There was live rugby on, but in the area we were sitting no one was watching and the sound was intrusive and distorted. Two customers, including the person I was with, asked if the sound could be turned off. The pub employee replied that it could not be turned off, and if people did not like it they should go elsewhere.”
This feels sub-optimal if true…..
Anyway, this was a pub that I thought absolutely deserved to be in the Good Beer Guide, a wide selection of real ales and keg beers, a friendly welcome, a quirky feel and something that didn’t feel formulaic. All really rather lovely.
The next Good Beer Guide listed venue on our little pub crawl was St Aldate’s Tavern, a Young’s pub which makes an attempt to have a couple of local beers. The history of the venue is complex and Young’s have shown no interest in the pub’s heritage, but it’s not the original St Aldate’s Tavern which was located further down the same road. CAMRA notes that there has been an inn here since 1397, although rebuilt on numerous occasions and in 1716 it was known as the New Inn. It was then renamed as the Bulldog in 1965 before being rebranded back to St. Aldate’s Tavern in 2005.
The beer selection was dreary, although there was an attempt at having a local beer which was the Prospect from Oxford Brewery. The service was friendly and engaging, although the prices were to the higher end of the scale.
The seating was odd, a sofa that really isn’t that suitable to sit at for those wanting to drink or eat, it all felt formulaic. The online reviews here are a little poor, although I like this one:
“I went to this pub and was enjoying My self with friends when we were told to be quite? I won’t be going back as we had to be quiet”
The pub replied:
“Good evening, we are sorry you are feeling this way about your visit today. Your group were raising your voices and cursing, including raising your voice towards one of our team. You were politely asked to keep the noise level down. To give an opportunity to all of our guests so they can equally enjoy their time in our venue.”
I’m with the pub, I like them a bit more now.
“After a show in Oxford we went in the pub and Callum said to us that they were showing the World Cup Final. Great we thought! Lets stay eat drink and enjoy the match. After the match, extra time, two meals and several drinks later it was time for a penalty shootout. Lots of people in the pub in a good mood. Took to France missing second penalty and calum decided to switch all the TVs off in a huff. Plus the upstairs projector.”
I quite like Callum 🙂
The DEYA is decent, there’s a slight effort to offer some craft beer options here.
I went for the Prospect as it was the local option and it’s named after the story of when the unfortunate prospective Balliol scholars were set upon by the College Fellows and carried to College Hall where they were forced to tell stories to entertain them. The beer is 3.7% and was hoppy, a slight taste of toffee and was well-kept. It was slightly challenging to battle off all the flies in the venue, a slightly sub-optimal situation.
It was dark when we left…. Although it’s an interesting venue historically, I thought it was all just a little soulless, corporate and formulaic, perhaps fortunate to be listed in the Good Beer Guide.
It was the Norfolk & Suffolk LDWA weekend in Oxford and although there were some walking elements, I thought I’d come to tick off some more Good Beer Guide pubs. Located down a small side street, the venue refers to themselves as being the oldest pub in Oxford, but this isn’t really the complete story. There was a Bear Inn which was in existence from 1241, but they knocked that building down in 1801. The building which was once the residential property of the Bear Inn’s ostler had been trading as the Jolly Trooper since 1774 and so, in 1801, they renamed that to the Bear.
This is a small venue, with only 24 seats inside and so it’s not the easiest to take photos in. Here’s an AI of what the interior looks like….. There is more space in the garden area, but more on that in a moment.
The truly eccentric detail of the whole arrangement is the collection of over 4,500 tie ends which are mounted behind glass. Its origins lie with a 1952 tradition started by the then landlord Alan Course which is that guests clipped the end of their ties in return for half a pint of beer. Now the walls and even ceiling are covered in bits of tie which represent clubs, schools, colleges and just about anything else which is tie related. It’s wonderfully odd.
The pub is operated by Fuller’s, so the beer selection is pretty much limited to their own beers. In many ways, it does feel a shame that this isn’t an independent venue, that would perhaps fit much better with its independent and quirky feel, an example is that the website makes no effort to engage about the venue’s history. There was a friendly welcome and the staff worked around a completely oblivious and rude group getting in the way of everyone to ensure that I was served promptly. This is quite an achievement, there’s not much space to work around anything in this small two room venue.
The venue is only really viable as there’s a large beer garden out of the back and an external facing kitchen area.
The garden area. The land on which the pub was built was once the churchyard of St. Edward’s Church (in situ between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries) and perhaps rather sub-optimally, they have found skeletons relating to that period of medieval usage. The archaeological report relating to three bodies were found recently is online and shows where the skeletons were found in the sump of the cellar and I’m not entirely sure that anyone could have predicted that when the bodies were buried.
Bike storage in the middle of the beer garden. There’s quite an extensive food menu which is priced towards the higher end of the scale, but customers are inevitably paying a little extra for being in such a well known pub. We were fortunate to get a table, thanks to Helen for getting there a little early and securing that.
I went for half a pint of the HSB which was well-kept, clean tasting, malty and fruity.
It’s an interesting and fascinating pub, quite rightly in the Good Beer Guide because of the historical interest, the range of beers and how well they’re kept. The Good Beer Guide is really just about beer quality, but, realistically, it seems to have become a little more wide reaching depending on the local group. The online reviews are generally positive, although some of the food reviews are quite scathing. Perhaps better suited for tie spotters and history lovers rather than groups and craft beer drinkers, it did feel clean and organised. As I mentioned, I would rather like that this was an independent arrangement offering something a little less corporate, but it was all functional and interesting.
This is the only Good Beer Guide pub in Reading that I haven’t been to, as I had a rather comprehensive stay in the town a few years ago. There’s plenty of history in this Grade-II listed building, which was constructed to be the main entrance and booking hall to what was then known as Reading General Station. It was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel between 1865 and 1867, but the station was reconfigured in 1989 with a new entrance and this building was turned into the Three Guineas.
The real ale selection was extensive although it’s all quite mainstream and it didn’t seem entirely well curated as they’re missing some beer styles here with some heavy duplication. The welcome was immediate and friendly, with the venue being relatively busy with mostly mainly weary looking commuters just arriving back from London.
I went for the Lavender Hill from Sambrook’s Brewery which I hadn’t realised I’d had before a few years ago, but it was well-kept, clean tasting with a floral and sweet flavour to it. The pricing was towards the higher end of the scale, but not unreasonable.
I wasn’t looking to eat here, but there’s a relatively extensive food menu and there’s an open kitchen which always gives me a feeling of some confidence.
This is the main room of the station’s former ticket office, but it’s not that spacious although there are plenty of external seats available. The pub wasn’t that clean, the team members were ignoring the fine array of empty glasses on tables, surfaces were sticky and it didn’t feel that loved. The venue was reconfigured and redesigned in 2017, although it feels just a little tired now.
The history of the pub name.
I rather suspect that this venue is clinging onto its place in the Good Beer Guide given the choice that there is in the town, but the beer was well-kept and the surroundings were comfortable. I like the heritage of the building, although that’s perhaps a little understated and I’m pleased to have visited, I’m fairly confident that they were doing some construction work when I last came to Reading and that’s why I didn’t visit.
The Garibaldi is a Good Beer Guide listed community pub located on Mill Street in Redhill, with a bit of a walk up a hill required to get there.
What’s on at the pub and a few copies of the Good Beer Guides. This is a small Victorian pub and it was nearly demolished a few years ago, but the community took it on and have been running it on a not-for-profit basis. They have a large garden area which has views over the local area, which also gives them something of a boost in terms of the seating numbers given that they don’t have a vast number inside. The pub likely takes its name from Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian revolutionary who came to the UK on a few occasions and seems to have inspired quite a few people to name pubs after him.
There were four real ales available, mainly local options. The service was warm and friendly, with the pub being moderately busy when I visited albeit with one quite raucous group in.
There were also a few craft keg beer options.
I stuck with the real ale and my first half was the Surrey session bitter from Pilgrim Brewery, a well-kept, light, clean and rounded beer with a slight biscuit taste.
My second half was the Shere Drop from Surrey Hills Brewery, which was clean, light and had a slight fruit edge.
This is a well-reviewed pub online and it does have a rather welcoming community feel to it, something perhaps evident by their meat raffle. Since 2017, it has been run as a community project on a lease from the amenable owner, but they’re now trying to buy the freehold to ensure the venue’s long-term viability and the MP, Rebecca Paul, mentioned the purchase of the pub in the House of Commons. It might not be the most central of pubs in the town, but it’s worth a walk up the hill to visit.
I’m a big fan of Vocation brewery and I was pleased to see that their flagship new taproom has opened in Halifax since I last visited the town. I also noticed that one of the two JD Wetherspoon outlets has gone, but this more than made up for that as this venue is listed in the Good Beer Guide so that’s another one ticked off.
It’s a decent space and they have additional floors and space, along with a rooftop terrace. It’s all very on-trend and seems to be attracting a younger demographic. And me. They serve pizzas, which are a little punchy in terms of the price, but it all looks of a high quality.
I very much like the darker beers that Vocation brew, although there was nothing new available to me in that regard, so I went for some different beer styles. This is an excellent range of beers though and covers numerous beer styles. I didn’t have any cask options, as I tried them before, but they have keg and cask available to choose from. The beer list is also on Untappd which is handy, along with their wide range of cans which they have available.
This is the Spring Zing from the brewery, a balanced sour which wasn’t overly sour but had lots of rhubarb and was suitably agreeable.
And my second beer, both of which were just thirds, was the Afterglow from the brewery which was punchy and zesty. Coming in at 8% ABV it had a heap of stone fruit, lots of hops and a feeling of complexity around it.
I liked this venue, it was clean, comfortable and felt welcoming. The prices were towards the higher end of the scale, but there’s clearly been some considerable money invested here and I’ve a lot of time for what they’re trying to achieve. I’m not sure when I’ll next be back in Halifax, but I’ll likely quickly pop in here when I am as it feels like the equivalent of a friend who always has biscuits in the cupboard, somewhere worth dropping in whilst passing.
