The Gatehouse Tavern, Coventry

The Gatehouse Tavern, as the name suggests, is a former gatehouse to the Leigh Mills textile factory that operated on this site until its closure in 1963. It now appears as a simple, single room community pub focusing on good beer and sports coverage. The room is carpeted with the servery occupying the majority of the right hand wall, whilst bench and low stool seating lines the remaining perimeter of the pub. The sporting theme is evident before you even open the front door, as the windows have stained glass inserts depicting the logos of the six nations rugby teams. Several TV screens, including one particularly large one, were showing Sky Sports speedway coverage to a rapt audience and further evidence of the owner’s sporting preferences could be seen above the servery where a collection of rugby balls can be found. High shelves are lined with trophies, jugs and an impressive collection of miniature spirit bottles. A partially covered patio is accessible through a side door and this leads to a grassy slope with a number of picnic benches. There were six ales on the bar when I entered – Fullers London Pride, Bass, Cottage Lord Nelson, Purity Mad Goose, Rugby Webb Ellis (£2.90) and Springhead Roaring Meg. Whilst I was stood at the bar, a customer returned a pint of the Roaring Meg, complaining that it was off and the barman promptly exchanged his pint and removed the pump clip whilst apologising profusely. Food is available and a quick look at the menu suggests that main meals come in around the £6.00 mark, which seems very reasonable. Whilst this might be a fairly basic pub, I thought there was a nice community vibe in here and that the locals seemed to really appreciate the place. This pub is worth consideration for a good number of reasons and deserves a place on any crawl around town.