Raglan Arms, Rugby

The Raglan Arms is a really nice looking pub that is a short walk from the town centre. Once inside there was a small snug to the left,plus a larger room to the front right,the main bar room is up a few steps to the rear,this room is oblong shaped and had normal tables and chairs,there is a small raised area to the rear of this room which had a darts board,all rooms are carpeted. There were 7 real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Fullers Chiswick bitter which was well kept but a bit on the bland side,the other beers were Newby Wyke Slingshot,Gales Seafarer,Old Golden Hen,Old Hoppy Hen,Abbot and a Beer called Raglan Ale. This is a decent pub,but it was empty on my Saturday dinner visit. Pub visited 12/7/2014

A neat looking pub on the outskirts of the town centre facing Rugby school. Multi roomed with a snug and a darts room along with the bar area which is up a few steps. It's won lots of CAMRA awards which are displayed in the pub and is listed in the CAMRA GBG 2014. A somewhat pedestrian ale selection on the bar with several GK beers and London Pride. My pint of Abbeydale was in very good nick though. I thought it was a good solid pub, but if I was pushed for time when in Rugby I'd miss this one out.

Situated opposite the grand Rugby School, this is a pleasant traditional pub with an interesting multiple room layout. You enter into a long corridor from which a couple of front rooms can be accessed. To the left is a smart little lounge with carpeted floor, padded bench seating, lots of old pictures on the walls and an open fireplace with a high mantelpiece displaying a large vase. There is a nice bay window on the front wall and I noticed a dresser with a load of CAMRA magazines on top in one corner. A larger, public bar style room can be found further on to the right. This is also carpeted and has a mix of banquette, standard and low stool seating, a nice tiled fireplace and some optimistic England bunting. A TV screen was on one wall, but turned off during our stay and the walls had a few CAMRA certificates on show. The main bar can be found at the end of the corridor where it opens out into a long carpeted room with old pictures of Rugby on the walls, pump clips running along a high shelf and a couple of TV screens near the bar and on the back wall. The rear half of the bar is raised and has limited seating, a dartboard and more England flags. The ale choice was focussed on Greene King beers, with Abbot Ale, Old Golden Hen, Westgate Ale Fresco and something called ‘Raglan Ale’ available, but there was a steady guest range of St Austell Dartmoor, Fullers HSB, Portobello VPA and Newby Wyke White Squall. I hadn’t clocked that the Westgate beer was a Greene King brew, so I ended up trying the Ale Fresco, which I actually thought was pretty good. I liked the nice traditional feel of this place and thought it was one of those pubs you’d be happy enough to have as a reliable local. The ale range drops it a notch or two below Rugby’s finest, but I enjoyed the general ambiance here and would happily return.