Leicester to Birmingham

You might like to stop near the Church End brewery tap. Only open Thu-Sun it usually has 8 of it beers on plus Belgian in bottles and cider. Could only find this review of it:

It's handy as you can go up the A5 to the M69 andup te A5 to te M42 to take you into Birmingham. Accommoation at: Manor Farm, Ratcliffe Culey, Atherstone, Warks, CV9 3NY. 01827 712269

Also about 4 miles from there is the Tunnel Brewery tap:

If you fancy another brewery tap, then try Atherstone and the Market Tavern:

These are the ones I'd recommend, but I'm sure others will have their preferences.

Chris de Cordova wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@ukgateway.net:

If visiting Leicester, you must visit "Out of the Vaults" on King Street near the bottom of New Walk - no accommodation but usually 12 beers from micros - more if they have a beer festival on at the time.

I think you'll be hard pressed to find a higher ratio of excellent beers and choice to size than Halesowen/Lye/Stourbridge:

Thanks both but I am actually wanting accommodation in a good pub.

Anyone?

Would Loughborough be any use to you? You could try the Swan in the Rushes, a Tynemill pub, at 21 The Rushes. More details at .

Only 3 rooms but reasonable prices, particularly if there are two of you sharing a room. Fine range of ales too.

The Good Pub Guide is quite good for the more upmarket pubs with rooms. Try

E.

You'll be struggling to find much with their search engine, which I suspect is designed to entice and frustrate at the same time - so that you will click on a link to buy the guide. (Which IMHO would be an excellent idea.)

I've had a trawl through the guide to see what I could find in the way of pubs with rooms:

Leics: Nothing near or in Leicester. The nearest recommended (main entry) pub with rooms is the Stilton Cheese at Somerby. Rooms £30 single, £40 double - astonishingly cheap. (Travelodge eat your heart out.) The pub also has a "good value food award", and has 5 real ales - some of which might even be tickers (Grainstore, Belvoir and Brewsters, but not the Tetleys or Pedigree I guess). I've had a long association with the Good Pub Guide, and this sounds like a real gem. That also dispels the myth that the GPG is only concerned with "more upmarket" pubs [1]. 01664 454394. Web site

There's also a clutch of pubs on the eastern edge of the county: Stretton (Jackson Stops - although the map indicates rooms, the description doesn't mention any), Clipsham (Olive Branch - all sorts of awards - rooms £75 single and £85 double), Exton (Fox and hounds - food award - rooms £45 single, £60 double; went there many years ago, nice place then). Also Long Clawson (Crown and Plough - double rooms at £80 - good value food award and wine award - the beer is "especially well kept").

Birmingham: Big fat zero I'm afraid.

Then sadly you will be limiting where you end up. At the end of the day a decent guest house near a pub with great beer is surely a better bet than a mediocre pub with accommodation? There are plenty of guest houses around that are close to some super pubs.

A couple of years ago, we wanted to stay in your part of the world at the Watermill, Ings. We couldn't get in but we did stay at a great B&B no more than 50 yds down the lane!

Well yes, I know this, but how many times do you hear of somewhere that is superb for both but too late to use it! I was just asking. ....!!

What started this was someone telling me they had, by chance, found a great real ale pub with accommodation in Uttoxeter - because they called in at a Travel Inn which was full, and the receptionist knew someone....

We are quite used to finding somewhere, anywhere, and the beer nearby to go with it! But you tend to miss these special, one-off places!

Yes, see what you mean. The guide is quite good, surprisingly. I recall that Which? tried to buy it up once but the owner went his own way and itsseems to have paid off.

E.

God was that 20 years ago now?! Which? wanted ownership of the copyright, but Alisdair Aird had other ideas. Which? responded with publications like the Which? guide to country pubs, but these never really took off.

Don't know anyting about this place but it appears to fit the bill:

HTH

Regards

What a pain - it must be damn near half way between the Anchor and the Bartons. How are you supposed to decide which way to go?

Yes. A relation of mine was a senior exec at CA and I recall he was not best pleased.

E.

Many thanks to all for suggestions. Some ideas for when we actually make the visit!