The Windmill Inn, Stratford Central, Stratford-Upon-Avon

The Windmill is a Greene King pub with seating to the left of the entrance and a larger seating area with inglenook fireplace to the right. Old wooden beams and columns are found throughout this historic pub, although I did have to tap a few to see if they were made of plastic. A mix of old and new I think. A list of previous publicans dating back to 1720 is found on the wall, the second pub I visited in the area with this feature. The bar area is in the rear of the pub where a bar counter on the left wall faces some high tables and there is a large inglenook in the rear wall. Televisions are located throughout, but these were all off during a recent midweek evening visit. Out the back is a small flagstone beer garden with seating. The bar supports standard and premium keg and three of the four handpumps were in operation drawing GK IPA, Abbot and TT Landlord. The GK food menu is in operation, I went for a cheeseburger that was actually very good. Whilst eating in the area to the right of the entrance a large group of gamers came in to set-up what looked like it was going to be an epic battle of good versus evil. I found the service to be polite and thought that this was a very good pub considering it is Greene King.

Attractive old pub not far from town. A few ales on including North Cotswold Shagweaver and Dhillons Fair Lady. The beer was in good nick. I liked it here and would happily call again.

Attractive old Greene King inn, which draws one's attention from some distance. The interior, although considerably refurbished in a relatively light style, doesn't disappoint either as the three main rooms (forming an overall 'T' shape) retain a fair amount of character. This is particularly the case in the rear room housing the bar which has a distinctly low ceiling. Four handpumps on the counter, dispensing IPA and Abbot plus Doom Bar and Purity Pure UBU (£3.60) as guests.

A traditional looking pub on the periphery of the town centre, this probably isn’t quite so much of a tourist trap as many in the vicinity and there seemed to be a good crowd of locals in on a recent Saturday evening visit. Internally it consists of three different rooms. The main bar is at the back of the pub and this was a bit of a mixture of traditional and contemporary in style. There was certainly some very old timberwork in evidence such as beams on the (very low) ceiling and supporting pillars, but other than that it’s clearly had some refurbishment with a modern wood strip floor, for example. A large stone fire-place was at the rear, although it was unfortunate that this had been largely obscured by a large TV screen. I assume though that as this was on a wheeled stand, it was perhaps a temporary fixture for the Six Nations. A smaller snug was at the front of the pub and this looked to be a cosy spot with carpet on the floor and a small fire blazing away, although this rather looked as though it may have been gas rather than anything more traditional. There is also another room off to the right, but this looked to be more geared up for dining. Beers on tap were predominantly from Greene King with their St Edmunds, IPA and Abbot Ale and these were joined by Purity Saddle Black. Ciders meanwhile were Strongbow and Stowford Press.