Coventry
We're all getting rather used to being sent to Coventry these days, but time was when this was a novelty. When we played them in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup in January 2000, it was the first time we had visited Highfield Road in a generation. And of course, at that time, they were a long established Premier League outfit, while we were merely a second division side. Ironically, on the basis that we never knew when we might play there again, we decided to visit all the pubs then listed in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. There were ten. So to ten pubs we went: five before the game, five after. For a detailed description of that long and very full day, click here. Funny how football goes, for now of course we come back yearly, with League points instead of pride at stake. Clearly, if we'd dreamt we might have returned so, we might not have pushed ourselves so hard that day.
Coventry, I think it's fair to say, is acknowledged to be not the most attractive place on earth. I know, we come from Burnley, but even so. Apparently it was an attractive mediæval village before the Luftwaffe got stuck in. It was rebuilt as a brutalist concrete phoenix, at a time when ring roads and underpasses were quite the in thing. Is this England's greyest city? Nevertheless, while it's not the sort of place you're going to go to for a weekend, for our purposes it's important to note that there's some good drinking to be found. Also note that with roads left, right and centre, you'll struggle to find anything without a map, particularly as you're likely to find yourself walking through a huge drab shopping centre at some point. And you could cover some miles getting about. Coventry's ground is a way out of the centre, to the east, while the station is south of the ring road. It is not handy.
I think my consistent favourite pub is the Old Windmill, on Spon Street, to the left of the big pedestrianised precinct. Spon Street is a tiny, higgledy-piggledy chunk of old Coventry, and the Windmill is a semi-timbered building that leans. There are several rooms and it's a narrow, ramshackle sort of pub, cosy and friendly. Beers came from Banks's, amongst others, and they do food of substance. I found it a very likeable place. Nearby is the bizarrely named Mediæval Fish Bar.
Just around the corner is Hill Street, where you will find the Gatehouse Tavern. This is a small and newish place, a little lacking in atmosphere, but selling quality beers from small breweries (often the excellent and local Church End brewery) when I've called in. You'll have to do your best to overlook the pub's rugby union associations.
There are a couple of other pubs around the centre that I've found less appealing. The Town Wall Tavern, on Bond Street, off Hill Street (follow signs to the Belgrade Theatre from the centre) was disappointing when I stopped by for a pint in November 2001. Service was incredibly slow and the beer wasn't great in quality or range.
But this was better than the big Wetherspoon's on the other side of the precinct. We had heard that we might find it hard to get into the Flying Standard, on Trinity Street, on a matchday, so we did the usual thing of covering any colours and dividing into ones and twos. I got in with no trouble, but I quickly wished I hadn't bothered. Will we ever learn? It was standard Saturday Wetherspoon's stuff: three quarters of the advertised beers 'unavailable', and barely-existent service. Worth missing, but it was still quite busy with home fans.
From around here to the ground, simply keep going across and through the city centre, get the other side of the ring road and trek on. Follow the crowds, and if you hit Sky Blue Way, you must be doing something right.
One promising stop en route is the Whitefriars Olde Ale House, on Gosford Street, below Sky Blue Way. For once, that "Olde" isn't an affectation, as this building is another fragment of old Coventry, apparently dating from the fourteenth century. It had only recently been restored and opened as a pub when I took a look in November 2001. It was a pleasant, attractive pub, all beams and bricks. The beer range wasn't great, and Greene King had a regrettable presence on the bar, but my pint was fine. I called in again in February 2003 and the post-match crowd rather overwhelmed them, but once more the beer was good.
A further possibility, the other side of the ground from the centre, is the Rose and Woodbine, on North Street. This is probably a fifteen-minute walk from the ground. It's pretty much a bog-standard locals' pub, where plenty of Coventry supporters were drinking before the game, but our small group was tolerated. Beer choice wasn't tremendous - who needs to come to these parts for Tetley bitter? - but there was nothing wrong with the Ansell's mild.
Now we're past the ground, we may as well keep going. There are a couple of other options east of the centre for those with time to spare. The Biggin Hall, on Binley Road, which continues from Sky Blue Way, is not exactly a handy option. It's about a twenty-minute walk from the ground, and therefore further from the centre. If you're coming from the centre, you walk way past the ground to get to it. We did that in January 2000, and it wasn't really worth it. Opinion was divided, but I thought it was a dump, to be honest. The Banks's beer wasn't the best, and there were some rough sorts in there.
Still, this would be a more sensible bet than another pub we did that January day, the Cauldon, on St Austell Road. No one in their right minds would try this. Not because it's that bad, but because it's miles out. It was even a substantial taxi ride from the centre, and way beyond the ground. But we were being completist that Saturday. When we got there we found an ordinary estate type of pub, albeit one which sold a reasonable pint of Ansell's mild. It was friendly, though. In fact, in response to our hunger, they busied themselves putting together some rolls for us.
You probably won't be tempted by another thing we did, which was to go to the Herald, on Sir Henry Parkes Road in Canley. Canley has its own railway station, one stop west out of Coventry, and the pub is right by it. Our visit was all a bit unnecessary, but completism triumphed. It was a big corner pub and it frankly wasn't worth it. They only seemed to sell strong beer.
But before you come to Canley, a more plausible drinking area is on offer west of the city centre, albeit rather distant from the ground. There are many pubs in Chapelfields.
On Spon End - continue along Spon Street from the Old Windmill, down Upper Spon Street, and you're there (and what is a Spon, anyway?) - you have the Malt Shovel. This wouldn't be too far a walk from the Old Windmill. It's a likeable and eccentric pub selling beer from the Donnington brewery of Gloucester, and a very good pint it was too on our visit. This was the last pub we went to in January 2000, and it was shortly after leaving here that I mysteriously fell over.
Press on for a couple of pubs on Craven Street - the Craven Arms and the Chestnut Tree. Can't remember anything much about either of these, as it was the evening of that hectic day in January 2000, but I think the Chestnut Tree was a real boozers' pub. Nothing wrong with that, of course.
Also in the neighbourhood is the Nursery Tavern, on Lord Street, which is off Craven Street. As I recall, this pub was another with unfortunate rugby tendencies.
The pick of my pubs in this neck of the woods was the Royal Oak, on Earlsdon Street, a little south of the others. I liked it because it was a proper pub, and unlike most of the ones we went to after the match, it was absolutely heaving. It was a basic, bare floorboard sort of pub, and Ansell's mild was available, which was okay.
I tried to call in at the Royal Oak again on a subsequent visit in the morning, but it was very closed. Alas, I ended up in the adjacent City Arms, on the same street, which turned out to be a big, square Wetherspoon's pub with the by now familiar café bar interior and abject service.
You could, conceivably, make a point of getting around all the above Chapelfields and Earlsdon pubs - so long as you've got a plan to get from there to the ground. Alternatively, they make for a decent evening crawl.
Oh, but the ground is a disappointment. Once acknowledged to be a cut above the standard, it now shows its age. The away end is cramped and low, the toilets are disgusting and refreshments are theoretical. We've had some quite aggressive stewarding here, too. A friend was ejected on one recent visit. Whatever you do, do not make the observation that while sitting down in the away end is rigorously enforced, home supporters behind the goal to the right are allowed to stand for 90 minutes. This does not go down well with the stewards!
Firmo
Last visited: February 2003
Last updated: March 2004
Menu and disclaimer
