So where are we off to in the summer?
So where are we off to in the summer?
Well done for raising this so quickly as it seems to take ages for decisions to be made. I believe it's the turn of the Midlands to have this inflicted upon them. I'm going to make two suggestions from left field, Loughborough and Newcastle Under Lyme, A bus goes from Stoke Rail Station to Newcastle but is the only one required.
The SVR is another left field suggestion already aired. I've never been on the line and would love to give it a go but for me there would be just too much waking to include pubs in Kidderminster, Bridgnorth and Bewdley. However, I've not been to either of the pubs at each of the line and for me "two pubs is a crawl". I would have thought that Bridgnorth is worthy of a full day.
Bridgnorth is well worth a day out but is a right pain in the backside to get to , the nearest main stations are Telford about 12 miles away and Wolverhampton about 14 miles away , the buses stop running around 5/530 ish to Telford/Wolvo , its better to do Bridgnorth as an overnighter .
Theres a Man with a Mullet going Mad with a Mallet in Millets !
More than Newcastle-u-Lyme or Lichfield, on a rough count. I last did Lichfield in 2013 - eight pubs in just over two hours with my Luton mates before attending what I hope will turn out to be our last ever game at Tamworth (we held on for a 4-3 win after going 4-1 up with half an hour to play - I did wonder if the team had done their own pre-match pub crawl too). Too many Marstons pubs, though mostly very nice pubs. Now two micros and a "we're not really a micro", so a bit of variety and competition. Could be interesting. (Trains from Tamworth to Lichfield are frequent and it's a quick journey; Tamworth is fairly easy to get to from all parts of the country because of the lines crossing over. Hint: it can be cheaper to buy a ticket to Tamworth and then a separate day return from Tam to Lich City.)
Loughborough has over 40 pubs in the centre (Lichfield only 49 in the entire postal district). Downside: lots of student pubs.
I've only ever been to one pub in Newcastle-u-Lyme, so wouldn't mind seeing what else there is. Anyone want to make a case for it? Or Stamford?
Is Lincoln in the Midlands? And how about Norwich - fantastic city for pubs but almost as far east as Moscow.
How about a poll? (With closing date, say the end of next week so that people can get their train tickets sorted before they become too pricey.)
Come On You Hatters!
Newcastle has 2 GBG listed micropubs, the Lymestone Vaults (also GBG), a good Joules pub with a couple of decent guests, a Titanic pub with a GBG listed Free House on the way back to town, a biker's GBG listed Free House that doesn't open until 17:00 on Fridays and a Weal Ales outlet called Wellers. The Spoons is average and there may well be more to add to that list.
I can't make a case for Stamford at all, having visited the JDW I doubt that I would go back.