25/08/20 - King Charles II, Worcester

A high proportion of my walks stumble across the Monarchs Way.... A 615 Mile Long Distance Path that follows the escape route of King Charles II, after the 2nd battle of Worcester.

Surprisingly, its taken me this long to get around to blogging the pub that has the claim of where he started his escape from.

The King Charles II, in one of Worcester's oldest streets.

A Pub in a 1577 Building

Of course, a few external shots before I make my way in.

Other Pubs Available in same street

A living museum

Inside, its exactly as you would expect.  Wooden wall paneling, low lights, creaky floorboards and low, bowing roof beams.  A bar downstairs and more seating available upstairs.

Interior decor

  

My visit coincided with the last Tuesday of Eat Out to Help Out.  The people of Worcester know a bargain when they see one and are seemingly happy to cram into such a tight space to get half price pies.  Social distancing is not really possible in a 1577 boozer.

It's a free for all in terms of bar service and finding somewhere to sit but I wait my turn.  I have the bar to myself and ask as to where the skeleton mentioned in the good beer guide is.  Now he could have just taken the piss out of my pronunciation (I know its not Skel-ING-ton, but I was raised in Smethwick) but instead, he started re-organising the whole pub.

For it used to live in a secret dungeon, next to the fireplace at the far end of the bar.   This was covered by a table used by a couple of pie munchers.  They were also intrigued as to the barman's booming voice and temporarily left their meal to move tables and pull back covers.

Another reminder that attempting conversation only leads to unnecessary fuss.  I was interested, but not enough to organise a pub version of Mike Read's runaround.

Not even my photo - lifted from Google

Excitement over, everyone returns to their pies.

Beerwise, this is a Craddocks tied house.   They are a brewery in Stourbridge and although not reaching the Black Country heights of Bathams and Holdens, have a decent range.  If only they had some sort of description on their bar pumps so you could get a feel for the type of beer.   

A name and percentage ABV does not give too much away, unless you play it safe with a 4% Saxon Gold.