The Old Windmill, Coventry

As a building. BF's use of the word 'gem' is more than fitting for this timber framed and now white rendered pub that is in the GBG 2010. Once detached it is now sort of an end terraced build and has been extended at the back to incorporate the former brewhouse into the pub itself - see Gill's pictures. The interior has a central corridor with snugs off to either side. Half way down, on the left is the serving bar and the room opens out into what was the brewhouse. The decor in the snugs is fine old wood panel. We sat in the first on the left which has a small tiled fireplace and a white ceiling, the one to the right had a red/black chessboard floor and also had a white and wood beam ceiling. There was another little area with a settle in it as well before the bar area. The service was fine, there was no TV that i saw and the background music was quiet. The clientele was small, which surprised me. There was some brass ephemera dotted about as well. Beer; tap stuff with Sharpe's Doombar, Timothy Taylor Landlord, Timothy Taylor Golden Best, Wychwood Hobgoblin, Spekky Hen, UBU Purity, Theakston's Old Peculiar and a decent Greene King Mild on handpull A lovely building and, as BF says, despite a lack of microbrewery offerings, i could stay in here all day assuming someone would help me find the station to get home. A delight.

This is a real gem and a must visit on any tour of Cov.Wonderful Elizabethan interior with low ceilings and several seperate rooms and alcoves.To the left of the front door is a room with a tiny bar access,real fireplace and three tables with chairs where a book share and review scheme operates.On the otherside of the corridor is an alcove space for one table and chairs and a passage way to another small room looking out over Spon Street.The bar has two sections with a total of 7 handpumps with a "lounge "area with muzak speakers(rock orientated) which are mercifully absent from the rest of the interior,making conversation possible.Towards the back as Gill describes is a former brew house with settles.The ale on my visit was Purity Gold,Hobgoblin,TT Landlord,Doom Bar,Cottage Full Steam Ahead,Old Peculiar and Old Speckled Hen,so limited microbrewery offerings and a selection dominated by nationally avaliable beers but no problem with the ale quality on my visit .Food seved lunchtime Wed to Sat but the focus here is on wet sales,popular with pub crawlers.The beautiful interior mercifully spared by the Luftwaffe is worth spending some time in.