Hat & Beaver, Atherstone

Looks from the road as if it has been modernised, but this pub remains unashamedly traditional inside. Retaining a two-bar layout, separated by a couple of steps, with the rear room having a small extension. Bass and two Cotleigh beers - Hawk brown ale (£2.40) and Honey Buzzard - plus Old Rosie cider available from the three handpumps on each counter.

The Hat and Beaver is a basic looking town pub that looked like an old John Smiths tied house from years ago with its colour scheme. Once inside the pub still has two seperate rooms,i had a drink in the front room which is the bar,this room was quite basic with a tiled floor,the seating was bench type,there were two TVs on,one was showing Horse racing,the other showing the West Ham v Man City game. There is a smarter lounge to the rear which is oblong shaped,the room was carpeted and had comfy bench seating. There were two real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Bass which was a decent drink,the other beer was Cottage Ghost Train. I quite like drinking in basic pubs like this. Pub visited 25/10/2014

Not a vast amount to add to the comments below, especially Mr Dragons for detail. The welcome here was friendly but on a chilly Tuesday lunchtime there was only one other punter in and this combined with a distinctly musty smell, slightly tired furniture and the artex mentioned by Mr Fastard made the Hat and Beaver feel less than warm and cosy. The beer here though is good with Bass and Brew XI on as regulars and Cottage Norman Conquest MM as a guest when we visited. Everything we tried was in good condition and it's easy to see how, at a busier time, a good session could be had here. Given the lack of decent beer generally in Atherstone, the Hat and Beaver would be my first choice in the town.

Little to add to Soupy detailed description,I thought the liberal use of artex gave a rather tired look to the interior.The bar had some humerous press cutting pinned to the wall,but also a national newspaper league table of childhood obesity showing a crisis in The Anker Valley with Tamworth,Atherstone and Nuneaton all featuring in the top 10. However the ale was well kept and the Cottage Brewing guest very good value at £2.50.With a rotating guest ale policy ,the sad demise if real ale in The White Horse and the erratic opening hours of the GBG listed New Dolphin,The Hat and Beaver would now be my pub of choice in Atherstone for decent ale.

An end terraced Georgian styled three storey building in cream render, with dark green lintels and sills and olive green door and plinth. This may well have originally been two buildings knocked into one. One side having six window, the other three. The second doorways now being blocked-up. The front windows has decorative glass portraying a hat and beaver. There is a small patio area at the back. The interior is an open-plan room L-shaped but has two area, a bar and lounge served by one long bar. You enter an open corridor which you into the lounge area, just where there is a step down into the bar area. The bar is in cream and beam walls, with some chocolate wood panel, with a white and beam ceiling and a red tile floor. There is a TV, which had a footy game on and there was no music. There were a few prints and photos on the walls. The lounge is in cream wallpaper with chocolate wood panel with a red patterned carpet and a white ceiling. The TV here wasn't on and there were a few prints on the walls. The service was very friendly and there were just a couple of people in, but they were friendly and welcoming. Beer; usual tap stuff with Brew XI, Bass and a decent Cottage Brewery's Hornet on handpull This is a decent pub. It has three real ales on and although quiet at my visit, the staff and locals were friendly. Indeed, one chap supplied me with all the local pub knowledge used to update this site! One i would definitely return to.