What did you say the Cardinal Did?
So, I found my old CAMRA Book - Heritage Pubs of the Midlands. I plotted the West Midlands and Worcestershire sections into Google Maps. Do you want to be heartbroken? I estimate 25% are permanently closed.
I need to work fast in ticking them off.
A day in Worcester - finishing the Wild About Worcester Way at 11:30am, left me 3 hours to kill before the next bus home. I admired architecture. I waited until midday for the Eagle Vaults to slide the bolt. Contrary to google maps, I could have entered any time after 9am. The apologetic bar staff explained how hard it is to get Google to update business information.
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| From the side |
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| From the front |
The guidebook rattles on about the fine tiling, the dates (1740; tiling added 1890), the Victorian bar, and knocked out walls. Further information is available elsewhere. Previously known as Young's Mug House and then the Volunteer in 1815, it was the first pub in Worcester to serve women. Right on!
It's not a pub I chose to use - ordinary Marstons belying its beauty. And the Guinness is well over £5. That documentary on NetFlix is not going to pay for itself.
Certainly worthy of a visit.
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| Can just make out the Victorian clock backed bar. |
More to investigate down the Tudor-building-lined Friar Street. The Cardinal's Hat is my quarry—once a ahead-of-its-time German Bier Keller and now the sister pub to one of my all-time favourites, Nigel's Fleece Inn in Bretforton.
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| Where Court meets Street |
This is a multi-roomer dating from 1760. A narrow corridor leads to a front bar, a sparsely decorated snug room and the destination rear room. Complete with a log burner and wood paneling.
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| Best seat in the House |
My local is a Wye Valley house, and I can declare that the Butty Bach here is up there with the best.
I thought about announcing it and tagging them on their socials, but I couldn't stop laughing at what the Cardinal had been up to.
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| Does he want a prize? |
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