I don't think Ludlow has enough options. I'm happy to go there and stick to the Ludlow Tap. Shrewsbury probably has enough but some good outlying options and some steep hills.
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I'm assuming the obvious cities have been excluded as having been done before. Of the places mentioned so far Kidderminster, Northampton and Grantham are probably my favourites - plus Norwich if that is deemed Mldlands. I'd rule out Peterborough as not enough decent central pubs.
I've been thinking of doing something like that by myself. Not sure how the travelling would pan out with a load of drunkards. Present company excepted, of course.
Leamington Spa is on the Cross Country trains network, which makes it easy to get to from Birmingham and Reading, for example. There are trains Leamington-Warwick (approx. half hourly and takes five minutes) and Leamington-Kenilworth (hourly), but not Warwick-Kenilworth, though I assume there's a bus service.
I would agree that Leamington is disappointing ,and limited in the number of good pubs so Warwick is the normal stopping place when in the area,but that too wouldn't on it's own support a PuG extravaganza.No knowledge of Kenilworth.
Has Newark been thrown into the mix ?
Not until now, no. Though I think it has been suggested before - can't remember how it lost out in the polling process. For a smallish town it's got a lot of decent pubs, if I recall correctly. No hills and not really a huge amount of walking. Train connections are also pretty good.