Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Warwickshire

  • Warwick – The Wild Boar

    Warwick – The Wild Boar

    This is another of those pubs that I probably wouldn’t think to visit if it wasn’t listed in the Good Beer Guide, even though it’s only about a two minute walk from Warwick railway station.

    There’s a large blackboard near the entrance (not the one in the above photo as that’s their bar snacks and wi-fi board) which has the cask and keg options listed on it. I hadn’t realised at the time, but this pub is also the home of the Slaughterhouse Brewery and they had a few beers on that they’d produced. The descriptions on the board for the keg options were minimal, which gave me a slight problem in knowing what to order as I was going to resort to the tactic that my friend Liam has of picking the one with the most interesting name. I mentioned to the staff member that I’d have half a pint of the Wet Leg, even though I wasn’t sure what it was. She was polite, but she didn’t tell me anything more about it, but I like the jeopardy element sometimes so all was well.

    It transpired that the beer wasn’t listed on Untappd, although it is now since I listed it (apologies to the brewery if they now need to edit what I have typed in). It was a perfectly good hazy session IPA, quite citrusy and very drinkable. The member of staff mentioned that I had been the only customer in so far, and since it was nearly 14:00 and I had only ordered half a pint, I’m sure that they didn’t find this ideal. It’s hard to judge the atmosphere of a pub when I’m the only customer, but I liked it at the staff members were friendly and engaging, it felt a warm and inviting place. My often talked about measure of “would someone new to the area feel welcome here and meet people?” would be met here I think, it’s a very decent pub.

    The reviews of the pub are positive, which isn’t really surprising, there was an air of competence about the venue. One happy soul complained that “Got 1 beer and 1 wine £13. Will never go again” but that really needs a little more, such as what beer and wine had they ordered? Yes, that’s a rip off if they got half a pint of IPA and a Blue Nun (not that I’m suggesting that they sell Blue Nun here), but if it’s a pint of decadent beer then they’d have got themselves a bargain.

    Anyway, another pub that I was very pleased with and absolutely rightly in the Good Beer Guide. Very nice.

     

  • Warwick – The Chip Shed

    Warwick – The Chip Shed

    Today is Thursday and I have a new little saying, “when in Warwick on a Thursday, get fish and chips for lunch”. The Chip Shed has what I consider to be an inspirational name (there’s a market I think for a restaurant called the Chicken Strips Shed), so I opted to try them. The reviews are broadly positive, although they seem to have annoyed some locals with the quality of their takeaways recently.

    I was the only customer dining in when I arrived, and indeed, the only customer they had in the restaurant for the entire time that I was there. The front section is the takeaway area (visible at the rear of the above photo, through the door) and that was a little busier, but a Thursday afternoon in January is not really going to be their busiest time of the year. The interior feels modern and clean, with plenty of inside tables available. When I was seated I asked if it was OK to sit anywhere and the staff member looked slightly puzzled, I suspect knowing I’d likely be the only customer that they got.

    The fish and chips was priced at about the same level as a pub, but the quality was high. The whole thing came to £14 which includes the fish, chips, a side (mushy peas in this instance) and a drink, which isn’t as cheap as some places, but the dining environment was comfortable and the table service was efficient. Indeed, all of the staff members were friendly and helpful, although they had the luxury of being able to lavish their time on their only customer. They had run out of the San Pellegrino flavours that were listed on the menu, but the Fanta option was just as sufficient for my needs.

    The cod was light and seemed fresh, whilst the batter was thin and rich, with a decent taste to it. It was only slightly greasy on the underside, but not to the point that it was a problem. The chips are cooked in beef dripping and were cooked appropriately with a pleasant flavour to them. The mushy peas tasted of peas, which is hardly a complaint, although for my own personal taste I’d rather had them a little lighter and had mint riven through them. The vinegar is branded as their own and I liked the tomato ketchup dispensers, I haven’t seen them like that for a while.

    Portion size, that was as much as I could have eaten, it was a large piece of fish and there are rather more chips on the plate than the wide angle photo I took suggests. Absolutely no issues here for me, a very decadent lunch.

  • Warwick – The Old Post Office

    Warwick – The Old Post Office

    There are four pubs in Warwick that are listed in the current Good Beer Guide and this former Post Office (there’s a clue in the pub’s name about that) is one of them. CAMRA refer to this as an ale house, but I’m going to call it a micropub as I think that’s more appropriate in terms of defining its concept as well as its size.

    What a rather lovely little bar arrangement. Service was personable and very friendly, this is one of those pubs that I talk about which I am confident would warmly greet someone new to the area so they felt welcome and part of the community. More than anything, that’s what I think a pub should try and have at its heart, and the atmosphere here seemed to be just right. The pub accepts cards and cash, but mentions that they they prefer cash.

    I took a seat near to the bar, looking towards the front of the pub.

    There’s another room at the rear of the pub, all homely and nicely decorated.

    Next to a stack of Good Beer Guide books, this is the Light Bulb from Verdant Brewing. Clean tasting with a citrus edge, this was a nice keg beer, a suitable starter for my visit.

    For the main course, I opted for a cask option, the Ghost of Dwarfmas Yet to Come from Fownes Brewing Company. I had noticed on-line that the pub had only just put this on, it hadn’t been lingering about since Christmas. Although on that note, the staff succumbed to Covid over the new year period, so unfortunately had to close, not really the start of 2022 they wanted. This was a better beer than I had expected, rich with roasty flavours, a nice coffee edge to it. It was also well kept and at the appropriate temperature, so all was well there.

    As a pub, this was a charming venue and it seems entirely right to me that this has been listed in the Good Beer Guide. The pub is well reviewed other than for the spiteful “awful place. No seating and limited drinks” which is a ridiculous thing to say about a micropub in my view, but there we go. Friendly and welcoming, with an interesting selection of beers, and its location relatively near to Warwick Castle must make it a popular option for visitors to the town. Incidentally, I didn’t press the bell to get beer…..

  • Chiltern Railways : London Marylebone to Warwick

    Chiltern Railways : London Marylebone to Warwick

    Back in London Marylebone, this time for a trip up to Warwick.

    I’ve written about Marylebone numerous times before, but I hadn’t noticed how much housing was demolished to construct it at the beginning of the twentieth century. The concourse of the railway station is where Harewood Square is on this map which is from just before the station was constructed.

    I was as early as ever arriving at the railway station, mine was the 12:34 to Birmingham Snow Hill.

    The platform number wasn’t announced until ten minutes before departure, which I didn’t think was ideal. It’s quite a pleasant little railway station to wait in and I meandered across to Pret to use my coffee subscription. There are numerous other coffee providers, free toilets, plenty of seating and a small selection of shops.

    There’s the Marylebone Thunderbolt on the left (my name for the service, it’s not the official name). Apparently this train is a British Rail Class 168 DMU train, but I had to look that up as I know nearly nothing about these matters. The trains though date from after privatisation, they were built from 1998 to service this route.

    The train was never really that busy and there were plenty of seats available. I got a table and access to a power supply which was handy. My ticket was checked by two different train guards, slightly unusual as I’ve recently rarely been asked to show my ticket at all. It’s a comfortable train, with spacious seats and it was clean throughout.

    And having safely arrived after a journey of just under 1 hour and 30 minutes. The railway station is located a ten-minute walk from the town centre, although there are buses for those who can’t be faffing about.

    And off the train goes to Birmingham.

    I was surprised that Warwick railway station wasn’t a little grander, it’s quite a minimal affair with limited facilities for customers.

    As for the service, it was on time, the train was clean, the staff were polite and the seats were comfortable. The fare cost £10, so I have no cause to be anything other than happy with the arrangement.

  • Warwick – The Roebuck

    Warwick – The Roebuck

    The Roebuck is apparently the oldest pub in Warwick, although there are usually numerous other competing venues that contest claims like this. Anyway, the pub has apparently been there since 1470 which is quite some history if it’s true.

    It received some publicity a couple of years when the council ordered that a repaint of the frontage needed to be reversed. Apparently it was the owners Heineken who made the mistake, but I preferred the grey that the pub chain painted it, it doesn’t feel historically wrong and it’s perhaps more in keeping with the rest of the street. But it’s back to black and white now, with photos of the temporary repaint visible at https://www.warwickshireworld.com/news/penalised-for-changing-colour-of-warwick-pub-255023.

    There is one main bar in the venue, although there are a few areas which are located off from that. I was welcomed by a friendly member of staff immediately on entering the pub and it felt an inviting place to visit. It’s a slightly puzzling mix of old and historic, along with modern and contemporary in its design. That does actually seem to work and it’s a comfortable enough environment. I suspect this is usually packed with tourists during the summer, but it was quiet on the Wednesday afternoon in January when I visited.

    In an area which I assume was once outdoors, there are some different seating styles in this area at the rear of the pub.

    The sole real ale option was the Proper Job from St. Austell Brewery, which was acceptable enough, but it didn’t particularly excite me. The pub isn’t listed in the Good Beer Guide, and probably never will be unless the number of beers is widened. There are though a few hand pumps available, so maybe the pub usually has more choice. Pricing for drinks in the pub is also slightly aggressive.

    The pub serves traditional meals such as burgers and fish & chips, but there are also some options such as pan fried seabass fillet to add a little decadence to the proceedings.

    The reviews for the pub are positive, although there’s one quite clearly for the wrong pub, to which the pub management replied:

    “What Town was your Roebuck in?”

    Google should definitely do more to remove negative reviews like this, it doesn’t seem fair for the venue. Anyway, I digress.

    The pub seemed competently managed, but there was nothing to draw me back in. There was no craft beer, a highly limited real ale option of one beer and nothing out of the ordinary. However, the food is well reviewed and I’m sure it’s a reliable option for those wanting a relaxing evening meal or the like.