The Old Bank House, Tamworth

Once home to the Tamworth Savings Bank, this is a fine old building with a very inconspicuous pub sign. Retains a multi-room layout, with lounges on each side of the central entrance hallway and a compact bar in the rear left quadrant. Pleasingly traditional furniture and restrained dark decoration. Interesting selection of five cask ales on handpump, including Valencian Orange from Wolf and Vocation's Chop & Change single-hop Pacifica (which actually had a stronger orange flavour) at £4.50 for a half of each. Notably friendly welcome too.

The Old Bank House has a central vestibule that houses a small table and a grandfather clock. To the front left is a small room with a fireplace, armchairs and sofas and opposite to the front right is a slightly larger room with another fireplace, armchairs at the front and sofas the rear. The small bar area is found in the left rear where the counter up the left faces some seating to the right. Lots of German lagers were available and the five hand pumps were drawing Mad Brewer’s Toffanilla, Salopian’s Trip Wire, Hawkshead’s Rookies Return, Shiny’s Science Makes Me Feel Like Dancing and Mallinson’s EIRA. Out the back is a small yard of the smokers. No television was spotted, but there was some low background music playing. The service was welcoming and the Trip Wire was good so I’d return for another beer and ham roll.

Easily missed,there is no significant pub signage and from the outside it looks much like a solicitors office in gothic style near the castle.Inside there are two front rooms with high ceilings,cornicing and some exposed old brickwork with sofas,chesterfields and some traditional tables by way of furniture.Beyond a vestibule is the small bar room,servery on the left,bench seating with brittania tables opposite,while a doorway leads to the beer garden. There was a friendly welcome from locals and bar staff and the chalk board showed a choice on my visit of Brew York Make it Centennial (NBSS 4),Bristol Beer Factory Out Front,Black Iris Diamond Eyes,Two by Two Amarillo Motueka Sabro and Blue Bee Park Hill Porter (strong,NBSS 4).A fine selection in good nick which does make me wonder why it's not in the GBG. A must visit on any Tamworth Crawl,along with the Tamworth Tap,Sir Robert Peel and Kings Ditch .There is a Wednesday quiz and I will most certainly visit this fine ale house again.

Multi room pub housed in a former bank associated with Sir Robert Peel, a very impressive building opposite the castle. It’s double fronted with a sitting room either side of the entrance corridor, both rooms are furnished in vaguely drawing room style with leather sofas and armchairs, a long case clock but also with Britannia tables. Towards the back is the serving bar, running lengthways down one side it has five shiny pulls with beers today from Nightjar, Pomona Island, Bristol Beer Factory, Green Duck and Brew York, each with a jamjar in front to indicate what you’re getting. In between is a ABK duo tap, ABK and Veltins ceramic founts and a cider on a tall solo. The toilets are upstairs and there’s a rear garden.