A North Warwickshire Narrative

Saturday 22nd September 2012 and the old stagecoach is on standby as our two intrepid highwaymen, 'Nick Turpin' and yours truly, prepared to plunder their way around Atherstone and Nuneaton...

The starting point for this merry adventure is the city of Coventry, where 'Nick Turpin' arrives fresh off his X17 carriage in time for our 10:10am rendez-vous. In my time-honoured tradition I had already been doing some investigations of my own, notably seeking out the distinctively round Coventry Market and the rather less exciting Central Library.

10:38am and we saddle up on the 48 for a swashbuckling ride into Warwickshire's northern outposts. Bedworth is negotiated without incident, and at Nuneaton we change steeds so as not to end up in Leicester. It can get a little hairy up past the quarries to Camp Hill, but Hartshill looked peaceful enough with a leafy green and hints of an old castle.

- The lesser spotted Blue Boar -

We dismount at Mancetter where the parish church and some almshouses provide rich pickings for the camera, although the less said about the breezeblock post office the better. We might have been persuaded by the Plough but any such thoughts were scotched once we encountered a boar - not just any old boar you understand, but a blue one holding a beer festival. Thirsty travellers such as we do not turn down such wonders and so some Blue Boar Special (Church End Brewery) and Head Hunter (Sperrin) were requistioned in the fine 1930s surroundings.

Our next staging post would be the hatting town of Atherstone, although it would be the pub trade that would most occupy our attention. Firstly comes lunch in the historic market square, followed by refreshment in the Market Tavern, a pub now occupied by the Warwickshire Beer Company with Piston Broke being an ale commemorating the Atherstone Heritage Motor Show.

 - Atherstone Market Square -

Nick Turpin definitely approves of Atherstone and his appreciation for the town is heightened by a short stroll along the Coventry Canal, a tantalising titbit of towpath that included the uppermost five of the Atherstone Locks. The railway is also close at hand, albeit the old station house is now a veterinary surgery, whilst back on Long Street are a multitude of tempting watering holes from the Red Lion to the Old Swan. Being a well-researched highwayman, Nick Turpin had one particular alehouse in mind though, this being the New Dolphin where we do battle with a Rampant Gryphon (Wentworth Brewery) that was so rampant we couldn't even begin to contemplate the garlic bread mountain that is said to frequent these parts on Sundays!

 

- How to handle a Rampant Gryphon -

How do you follow up on boars and gryphons we pondered? Our answer was to clamber back onboard our trusty 48 and see what might be purloined in Hartshill. The Stag and Pheasant might have sufficed by the afore-mentioned green, but we got wind of another option lurking almost undetected in a sidestreet somewhere. It did not take long for us to uncover the Malt Shovel, a Banks's house where we availed ourselves of Fields of Gold.

  

 - The Malt Shovel, Hartshill -

With the 48 once more proving a doubty companion, we manoeuvre our way back to Nuneaton where there were further riches awaiting us. A Crown is always a prized target for pub-pickers like us, and the one on Bond Street came bearing gifts of Oatmeal Stout and Cottage Breast Bitter (at £2 a pint it really was a gift). We then made the acquaintance of a gentleman by the name of Felix Holt, one of the burgeoning Wetherspoon's dynasty, before roaming into the night to track down our remaining two taverns.

The Horseshoes on Heath End Road, Chilvers Coton has established itself as the brewery tap for the Tunnel Brewery and proves itself an excellent purveyor of memorable beer. Nick Turpin has been known to go continental occasionally and so he persuaded me to try the Belgian-styled Up the Kriek with its distinct flavour of cherries, what treasure indeed. Fortified by fruit, we venture forth to Attleborough where the Royal Oak handsomely delivers our closing half, ample reward for pounding the pavements of Nuneaton in the dark.

- Nick Turpin goes Up the Kriek -

After a heady day of plunder and pillage it was time for the noble highwaymen to head home, flagging down the Stagecoach for one final 48 fling. It turned out that the ride back to Coventry took us into bandit territory, with our steed coming under attack from the hostile locals and incurring a smashed window. Nonetheless, we gained safe passage into Coventry and thence to the railway station to round off a legendary day. Here's to North Warwickshire, Your Money or Your Life!