The Rose Inn, Nuneaton

My first visit to Nuneaton since Luton Town escaped non-league football in 2014, so I was looking forward to seeing this iconic pub again. Then someone told me that it had been changed - a lot - since the Covid lockdowns. As I approached, my first thought was that the pub had not yet opened, as the front door was shut. But then I saw some lights on inside, and a side door open in the extension at the back of the pub. As I made my way in, I recognised the position of the bar counter from previous visits, but everything else was much more open and a lot smarter. Also the clocks had gone. The quality of the beer is just the same, though. My half of Bank's Amber was superb, reviving my jaded taste buds in my eighth pub of the day.

This pubs claim to fame is that it hosted the first CAMRA AGM.A Marston's tied house,it still has a seperate public bar to the front,with a darts board but not even lit on my Wednesday evening visit.All the regulars head to the back lounge,L shaped with a pool table,sports flat screens,a banquette infront of a gas fire and a classic pop hits soundtrack.Now I realise that the Anker Valley has a reputation for poor health,but all the regulars and the barmaid were super sized and shuffling about.I was an obvious stranger in this environment. Just the one handpump of three operational with a well kept Banks's Amber (NBSS 3.5,the highest rating I could award this rather dull brew) but with most of the regulars drinking lager I doubt if the real ale range will increase.Is this enough to justify it's GBG 2022 inclusion ? I'm not sure.

The GBG 2022 dropped on my doormat the day before I visited Nuneaton and this was a new entry, having not been in the previous five editions. For the life of me, I cannot think why a single beer Marstons House would get in the GBG. There may be a clue in the previous review. I am nothing if not determined, so I queued at the bar for 5 minutes to get my Banks Amber. No one was behind the bar. No one came. I felt like a lemon and left.

Unmodernised Marston's pub located a short walk south of the town centre. Retaining a two-bar layout, with a pool table in the front and an extended opened-out lounge at the back with several seating areas. Traditional furniture and decor throughout. Burton Bitter and Pedigree (£3.10) from two of three handpumps on each counter. You wouldn't know it now unless you spot the small display, but this establishment holds its place in history as the four founders of Camra and a few of their friends held the organisation's first AGM here in 1972.

A Marstons pub, as loudly proclaimed on the end walls, and I have been in so many ordinary and unexciting pubs of theirs that I didn't expect anything special when I walked into the Rose. Just goes to show how wrong you can be, because if I lived in Nuneaton (which heaven forfend) I would be quite happy to make this my local. The building stands alone on the edge of a modern housing estate. Inside the original multiroomed layout has been maintained, and I passed along a corridor between two closed doors to reach the bar in the room at the rear. There were several locals clustered around the bar, but I eventually got a clear view of the three hand pumps. These were serving Pedigree, Burton Bitter and Hansons Mild. I only had time for one, so I had the mild which was in very good condition. This is a genuine locals pub, with a friendly atmosphere so that I soon felt at home. The back room has been rearranged and enlarged somewhat, and there is an RSJ just above the bar which features a collection of clocks, which apparently started as a sort of joke but has reached the point of being a bit of an obsession. Pride of place goes to a former colliery clock, a giant of about one metre diameter, which is above the mantelpiece. If I find myself in Nuneaton again I will certainly return to the Rose.