The Black Horse, Atherstone

While photographing the pub sign here I was struck by the fact that the illustration is of a white horse on a black background. The pub building is unusual as well, with its entrance to the right leading to a small room with quarry tiled floor, with the bar counter facing; but the bar also extends into the next room, an apparently newer one-storey building with a slightly raised, modern wood floor, although the external view suggests that the extension is lower than the original pub. I received a friendly welcome from the lass behind the bar, and a rather sloppily poured half of Bass - St Austell Tribute was the other option, with two other hand pumps not in use. This is a fairly basic pub, with no frills and acceptable beer.

Plain but appealing old pub, with a single bar created from two small rooms (one in the single storey side extension) and with the resulting seating areas now forming an 'L' shape. Alehouse-style furniture, and decoration largely restricted to a selection of prints. There is also internal signage for a restaurant but it's not clear whether this is in regular use. With three of the four handpumps in operation, I found the regular Goats Milk from Church End (£3.20) plus Tribute and the Amarillo single-hop version of Robinson's Dizzy Blonde.