Mappiman's Real Ale Walks: 22/10/22 - Centenary Way - Stage 13 - Kenilworth for the Good Beer Guide Pubs

Distance - 9 Miles

Geocaches - 4 and an Adventure Lab Cache

Pubs - The Gauntlet, The Ales Rooms, The Old Bakery and the Virgins and Castle

Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7, Stage 8, Stage 9, Stage 10, Stage 11, Stage 12

The Centenary Way leaves from a major town. Might as well complete some advanced Public Transporting. 1xBus and 4xTrains goes better than expected, for a day when Avanti Staff are on strike.

Stage 13 is easily the best walk of the Centenary Way (so far). An exact replica of one the better stages of the Millennium Way.

A Warwickshire countyside ramble, with Kenilworth Castle the obvious highlight.

A Circuit of the Castle Wall - Looking for ALC clues

Kenilworth Castle from the main entrance

Through Gospel Oak Alpaca Farm

Where the same happy signs exist at Goodrest Cottages

Exercise completed - three Good Beer Guide Pubs to aim for.

The Gauntlet has a description in the bible as offering Good Home Made food... an obvious candidate for lunch. Micro-pubs only have crisps.

A shiver of fear/excitement, on arrival at the first flat roof tick of 2022. Points lost for lack of roof-mounted, patrol dogs.

1960's estate pub - the book has got them all.

My spider senses tell me that it's devoid of life. The weeds at the front door look a bit too high. The signage suggests lunch time opening but the doors looked bolted. A quick check with the next door newsagents and it closed down last week.

For good? He seemed to think so. I get the honour of informing the pubsgalore website, even if my stomach is rumbling.

Revised opening...... shut

The Ale Rooms and Gin Bar is a neat enough micro. Unsure if it is affiliated with the bar of the same name in Knowle. Nothing unsual stocked (maybe in the Gin Section) and a choice of 5 hand-pulls. Which seems overkill when the other patrons (lads, lads, lads) are all on Euro-lager. Will anyone, ever, choose the Bombardier?

Ale Room Micro

Purity Mad Goose - always a handsome pint

The Old Bakery adds to the trio of Good Beer Guide Ticks. This is the guide in a nutshell, three venues all quite different.

I'm not really sure what MO the Old Bakery are going for. It's a hotel. You would think it did food, but alas, the charcuterie board that the one other punter said used to be available is now discontinued. The barman did offer crisps.

Not your classic looking "pub"

Four handpulls on - and all unusual. I was the 6th person in the world to check in Buckeye Brown from Derby Brewing Company. Looking at check-in number 5, it was in the same venue, in the same Wye Valley glass on the night before.

An rather odd experience, not helped by the lack of punters on a Saturday afternoon.