13/11/21 - Centenary Way Stage 5 - Nuneaton

Distance - 10 Miles

Geocaches - 4

Pubs - 5 (Post Walk Beer Guide Ticking - #609 to #611)

Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4

It was either a day for going for a walk or moving ticks from green to blue.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Progress needs to be made on the Centenary Way - a long distance path that keeps on giving..... exactly nothing.  5 stages in and its proving pretty dull.  Stage 6 is in Bermuda - so maybe things will improve.

As Nuneaton is on the train line, I decided to make a day of it and reward myself with some new good beer guide ticks once I get the ramble out the way.

Nothing to report - I have to work my way through the town centre, across the new build estate not marked on my OS Map and into the Countryside at Harefield Lane.   With the exception of a hidden colliery tram line, there really is nothing to say.

Countryside

Tramways

Art

So what can a place ranked 8th Crappest Town in the UK offer in way of refreshment?

The Horseshoes, Heath End Road, Everards Tiger

As it was a one bus, three train journey here, I've decided to get my money's worth.  The last 5 GBG were perused and the Horseshoe has appeared in past years.

The first pub encountered on the way back into town - its a functional pub, offering Everards beers.  Nothing wrong with my Tiger.

The Horseshoes for Proper Beer and Food

The Rose Inn, Coton Road, Sweet FA

Here it is - the first attempt from the 2022 edition of the bible and it instantly goes to the Dubious Tick Panel.  A pint was not consumed.

First off - how does a Marstons house, with only one cask - Banks Amber - get in the book that is there to promote Good Beer?  No Pedigree.  No Banks Mild.  Just the beer formerly known as Bitter?

The First Tick of GBG 2022?

Well you could write a letter to Beard Towers, Lower Fishpool Street, St Albans.  Or you could read the detail of the listing.   

"This is the pub CAMRA chose as the venue for its first AGM"

Its "cash for questions".  Or £3m for a peerage.  Sleaze has seeped into the book of ticks.

I hid my disappointment at what was on offer and stood like a lemon - next to a man in a white bear trappers hat enjoying his lager - at an unmanned bar.  For 5 minutes.  It was uncomfortable for me.  It was uncomfortable for the bear trapper.

For the first time in my life, I said to myself, "Sod this, I'm off to Wetherspoons".

The Felix Holt, Stratford Street, Oakham Inferno

Shop Conversion

Ah.... JDW on a Saturday Afternoon - the equivalent of being trapped in a real life Hogarth Painting.

Its all there....

• Filthy Tables
• Prams parked next to mobility scooters
• Pensioners on their hands and knees after the loose change dropped by someone else
• Parties doing shots at 1pm
• An airport length single file queue at a long bar

I was ahead of the game and ordered an excellent pint and steak and chips from the app.  Remarkable service but I commented to Mrs M over facebook messenger that I only had 9 chips and the steak and chips did exactly what it said on the tin.  No salad, garnish or god forbid, onion rings to go with the meat and potatoes.

Bizarrely, the next time I checked facebook - it made a suggestion of a group I might be interested in.

This is a Phenomenon 

Flicking through the group made the train journey home much quicker.  I am, of course, a Top Fan.

Lord Hop, Queens Road, Ossett Brewery White Rat

Well, a visit to a new town wouldn't be complete without a Micro, would it?

Its a Micro

All tables downstairs are occupied but unusually, this has an upstairs.  Where all tables were occupied.  I managed to get a single seat at the top of the stairs and precariously balanced my pint on the hand rail, whilst looking at photos of people counting (and measuring) their chips on my phone.

I quite liked this place and the beer was good.   Needs a rethink on its dog entry policy though.  Not that there is room for our four legged friends.

The Black Swan in Hand, Bridge Street, Wainwright

Things are getting that desperate that I am prepared to enter a flat roofed pub.

It was on the way to the station

A former GBG entry and indeed, the first thing I noticed was a CAMRA Newcomer of The Year certificate proudly displayed on top of the bar.

The second thing I noticed was that my pint was £2.24.

A bargain - but it was in a terrible, stinky state.  It felt churlish to complain at something so cheap but its not often I have to leave a pint.

But leave it I did and leaving Nuneaton followed shortly after.