Maid of the Mill, Atherstone

My visit coincided with the end of the working day for some people, and there was a bit of a crowd in here, and a large truck parked outside spoiling my photo opportunity. Never mind, the service was friendly and efficient and the beer was good. There were Abbot and Old Speckled Hen as well as the Bass that I went for, which was very good. These seem to be the regular beers, though most of the people here at the same time as me were on lager. But someone must be drinking them, as the same beers were on when WhatPub surveyed here in January, and Abbot was also on when Soup Dragon was here 10 years ago!

This is an end-terrace pub in an area that has several early Victorian looking factories that are boarded-up adjacent to the canal. The pub has two buildings; the house, with a slightly lower-level pub next door. The buildings are mainly in undressed brick with green and white paintwork. The house has nice rusticated window lintels and sills, while the pub section has a protruding frontage. The beer garden at the back seems more like a garden for the house. The interior has been knocked through into one large L-shaped room. The decor is mainly green and white walls, with a white cieling. The floor by the bar area and the dart board is red tile, though elsewhere there is a patterned carpet. The bar area is at the front and has green perimeter seating. The brick faced bar is in one corner and an area selling books and old videos in another. The area at the back is the games area with both darts and a pool table. It also has a fireplace. A few mirrors and pictures are on the walls, but in general it is plain. There were a few TVs which were not on and the background music was general stuff at a decent level. The service was functional and there were a few others in, but it was quite quiet - it was an afternoon visit. Beer; usual tap stuff with no MILD and Greene King IPA. On handpull there was Abbott Ale. I had half of GK IPA. It wasn't kept badly, it was just so dull. A nice enough place, sadly, with a lack of beer choice for my personal taste. I should have had the Abbott. Still, i didn't regret visiting and would go back if i knew the choice had changed.