122. A few more halves in Stratford-upon-Avon, Friday 23rd october 2009

Avril had a day of viewing a school and then having an interview and this allowed me the opportunity to have a couple of swift halves whilst waiting for her to finish these tasks. Our first stop was Kenilworth at about 11am, just in time for the Wyandotte to open. This was a good solid pub on an estate a little way from the middle of Kenilworth, nearby a few others which I didn't have time to get to. Anyway, it was a friendly local with a good selection of ales and a pretty good array of bar snacks too, as one might find heading towards the Midlands. As it was early, I had a half of mild.

Come lunchtime and time to journey to Stratford-upon-Avon where there was another opportunity to try something new whilst Avril was in an interview. I walked across the bridge and into town to the Golden Bee which is a Wetherspoons establishment. As is customary, many of the clientele were men of advanced years buying halves and with an interest in horse racing and it was pretty busy and a little tatty. There was plenty of ale choice however and it was well kept and of course reasonably priced, so not bad at all, especially if you are on a budget.

After Avril had finished, we went to the Old Tramway just outside the city centre, where we had lunch. For a day in late October, the weather was rather good and we sat outside in the covered beer garden where we had a rather good lunch. They had a three ales on too, which were OK but nothing stunning. In the end we stayed for a while during which time we contemplated our next move. Eventually it came around to late afternoon and we got in the car for a short drive to the West End where I had been a few months before. It did not disappoint and we enjoyed the atmosphere in there very much. As per usual the ale was superb although I was only in a position to have the Timothy Taylor Landlord, and very good it was.

I was now in a position which severely restricted subsequent ale consumption so I had to stay dry whilst we had a drink in the superb wooden panelled bar of the Falcon hotel, complete with waistcoat wearing barman. This is an excellent bar, especially so in the winter months, and I was most annoyed that I couldn't sample any of the offerings but Purity which were available. Finally we ended up in the Garrick, the oldest pub in Stratford, where we spent some while in the cosy front bar, chatting to some fellow drinkers that we had befriended who were on some sort of weekend break. This pub does Greene King offerings and Avril sampled some of their St Edmunds ale and IPA, whilst I managed to have a half of Guinness for some reason.


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Dan Lovegrove
dan@doctor-lovegrove.com

Last updated 24th November 2010.