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The Seven Stars, Rugby

40 Albert Square
Rugby
CV21 2SH
Phone: 01788546611

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Steve of N21 left this review about The Seven Stars

Excellent real ale pub in the back streets of Rugby and due to the recent demise of the Wheeltapper, is now the nearest pub to Rugby Train Station. As mentioned below its an interesting layout with two room sections either side of the main serving area and a separate room off one of these down a couple of steps. There is a small, enclosed courtyard area with plastic tables and chairs, accessed through a corridor festooned with framed signed international and club rugby shirts. In fact, there’s very much a rugby (the funny shaped ball game, not the place) theme throughout the pub, as the current guvnor’ is an avid Leicester Tigers fan and arranges coach trips from the pub to the Tigers home game, and there is an interesting collection of signed shirts throughout. If I could pick a fault, it would be that I could not find a signed Saracens RFC shirt on display, but I guess that is as a result of the continued animosity of the original Midland RU sides to the upstarts from North London.
However, that can easily be forgiven for the range of well-kept ales and ciders available. There are several pumps spread out on all three sections of the bar and the available beers and ciders are displayed on a chalk board in the back bar. For our visit there were eight ales and four ciders on the go on the pumps. For the ales, alongside Everard’s tiger, which is a permanent ale due to the tie up with the Leicester brewery, there was Byatts Platinum Blonde and Colonel Cocoa Dark Ale, Broadtown Line of Sight IPA and Black Llama Baltic Porter and Castle Rock Time Traveller, along with two other Everard’s brews in the form of Signal Session Pale Ale and Old Original Ruby Ale. All the ones we tried were in excellent condition.
A great way to start or end (or in our case both) any crawl of Rugby’s best real ale pubs.

On 10th December 2023 - rating: 9
[User has posted 2094 recommendations about 1985 pubs]


Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Seven Stars

Overdue revisit to this side-street establishment (now run as an Everards pub, but previously reinvigorated independently by Banks & Taylor under the 'Project William' scheme). The refurbished three-part layout features a pleasantly traditional alehouse feel, with furniture and decoration to match. Eight cask ales and four ciders available from the 14 handpumps, and I opted for one of the brewery's three beers (Signal, £4.20) with the guests being a pair each from Broadtown and Byatt's plus Castle Rock's Time Traveller. Very handily placed for a stop between the railway station and town centre.

On 10th December 2023 - rating: 8
[User has posted 8066 recommendations about 8066 pubs]


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Ian Mapp left this review about The Seven Stars

Final pub of the night in Rugby - a solid, traditional local with staff that care about their beer.

A good example of a well run pub - Castle Rock Midnight Owl in good condition.

On 11th December 2018 - rating: 9
[User has posted 1329 recommendations about 1315 pubs]


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Al Bundy left this review about The Seven Stars

A cracking pub. 3 rooms with two rooms served by a central bar. A total of 14 handpumps with 10 beers on today. An excellent selection of beers from Grain store, Gun Dog, Everards, Morgan, Oakham, Prospect, Hopback and Brunswick breweries. Very traditional inside and very pleasant. Lots of Rugby Union bumpf dotted around.

On 16th February 2017 - rating: 9
[User has posted 3487 recommendations about 3390 pubs]


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Thuck Phat left this review about The Seven Stars

The Seven Stars has had it's different managers and ups and downs since my original review below. It's always offered a fair selection of ales but the quality hasn't always been of the highest even if I've always found them to be well kept.
Things have now changed as B&T have decided to retreat back towards Bedford with this having been considered too far north to be practical for them. The Seven Stars is therefore no longer a Project William pub but has reverted to being an Everards establishment. It is now managed by the former landlord of the Free Trade Inn, Sileby, which has a very good reputation for decent beer, as a freehouse effectively with the only obligation to Everards being that one of his ten handpumps must be Tiger.
The new guvnor has an obvious and endearing enthusiasm for quality ale which he was quite happy to discuss in between cleaning old pipes and fitting new ones. He now has a dual dispense arrangement with each handpump having two pipes which allows either a frothy or a flat head. A new one on me but it works.
Beers on when I visited were: Gun Dog Yankee Poodle 4.7% and Booze Hound 4.2%, Oakham Green Devil IPA 6% and Mark VII 3.9%, Naylors Pacific Pale 5%, Saltaire Pride 3.9%, Grainstore 1050 5% (the original Ruddles County) and Rutland Panther 3.4%, Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild 6%, Orkney Brew Nimbo's Blonde 5% and Everards Tiger 4.2%. That's a very good selection which demonstrates a willingness to include some stronger beers. Everything I tried was in great shape. It seems that Oakham JHB, Tiger and Grainstore 1050 are to be regulars and the guvnor knows many of the brewers whose ales he stocks.
The Seven Stars is now back to it's very best and is a must visit in this well served town.

ORIGINAL REVIEW - 10th April 2013
The Seven Stars, which used to be a slightly dodgy Charles Wells pub, has been taken over by Everards and Banks and Taylor, another Bedford brewer, as a Project William pub. It has been significantly refurbished and opened just under 12 months ago, managed by Banks and Taylor. It recently won Rugby Camra Pub of the Year.
The pub is an attractive red brick building, Victorian I'd guess, which has been tidied up outside and now boasts a few benches around the front door. Inside, there's a small room to the right with a wood burning stove and the only television in the pub - switched on on request only. To the left is the main bar area behind which is another reasonable size room with a smaller serving area. To the back is a covered conservatory as well as a small courtyard with bench seats for al fresco drinking.
The whole is decorated in a Victorian style with plenty of wood - floors, panelled walls, furniture and a black and terracotta tiled floor area around the bar. The pictures are in keeping and the shelves are full of bottled beers. There are also a number of glazed cabinets containing a wide selection of spirit miniatures. Inevitably it's noticeable that much of this has been done recently but it does fit the character of the pub and makes it feel like a very comfortable place to be. This is aided by the group of regulars and ale drinkers it attracts. The landlord isn't 'hail fellow well met' especially but engage him in a beer related conversation and he becomes animated and is clearly very knowledgable.
I don't know if the pub serves food but given the lack of menus I'd guess not and it feels like decent beer pub in the best sense.
There are 14 handpumps with 9 beers on when I visited: Banks and Taylor Dragon Slayer, Shefford Bitter, Edwin Taylor's Extra Stout and Golden Fox, Titanic Lifeboat, Salopian Matrix, Everards Tiger, York First Light and Great Oakley Welland Valley Mild. That's a fine selection across styles and it's clear that B&T have decided to aim for quality breweries and beers rather than bring in those which will make their own beers appear better. In fact everything we tried was in good nick and very drinkable including those by B&T.
The Seven Stars is a fine addition to Rugby's, already healthy, real ale pubs and will, I'm sure, provide competition. A must visit on any crawl and, being easy to reach from the station, the problem here will be leaving. I could easily spend a day or two here.

On 22nd June 2016 - rating: 10
[User has posted 679 recommendations about 678 pubs]


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Aqualung . left this review about The Seven Stars

This is rather an odd shaped pub externally that seems to be in an area of redevelopment. Inside it's a more conventional layout, open plan with distinct public and saloon areas plus a snug as described below.
I'm not sure if I caught all the beers available but there were four from B&T, Everard's Tiger, two from Wickwar, Great Orme Ghost Train, Merrie City Cascadian, Flying Monk Elmers Gold, Derventio Gold and Wood Street Devil's Walking Street. I had time for two here so went for the Ghost Train from Wales and the Wickwar Witchcraft both at £3.00 and in excellent condition.
This is undoubtedly one of the better pubs in Rugby and all credit to Everard's for their innovative partnership scheme.

On 11th November 2015 - rating: 8
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]


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ROB Camra left this review about The Seven Stars

This is a "Project William" pub and is a joint venture between Everards and B & T brewery who between them spent 200K on refubishing the pub. A fine job they have made of it as well. This multi roomed pub has a lounge, a snug and a more traditional bar area, there's also a conservatory. No electronic games of any kind give this pub a more "olde worlde" atmosphere. There is however a TV for sports. Main meals aren't served but there is a selection of pies & sausage rolls. A friendly and efficient barmaid added to the attractions. 14 handpumps serving Everards Tiger, three beers from B & T, two real ciders and 8 changing guests. I tried two of them and both were in excellent condition. It's quite rightly listed in the CAMRA GBG 2014. It's a must visit pub for me if you come to Rugby.

On 26th August 2014 - rating: 9
[User has posted 3216 recommendations about 3127 pubs]


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Pub SignMan left this review about The Seven Stars

The back streets of Rugby are a source of some cracking pubs and perhaps none more so than this excellent ale house, recently refitted by the B&T brewery. Despite the makeover, the pub retains a traditional layout centred around an angular main bar set in a bare boarded front room with modern B&T frosted windows. There are some comfortable seating options to the left, with overspill into a small snug at the front of the pub, which is nicely carpeted and has a TV screen in one corner. The entire pub has a fine display of spirit miniatures, which can be found neatly presented in each room and complimented by high shelves lines with all sorts of vintage beer bottles. To the rear, behind the servery, there is another carpeted room with bench and standard seating, some modern panelling and a fireplace with a small stove inside. There is also a small conservatory out the back which in turn leads out to a decent sized courtyard.
The beer is the undoubted star of this place and a helpful board lists the extensive options, split across both halves of the servery. Options on our visit comprised B&T Dragon Slayer, Sherford Bitter and Golden Fox, Everards Tiger, RCH Steamed Flames, Ilkley Summer, Adnams Fat Sprat, Thwaites Magic Sponge, Triple fff Pressed Rat and Warthog, Wickwar Cotswold Way, Green Jack Rising Sun and Three Castles Summer Daze - a fine selection from which I enjoyed an excellent drop of the Golden Fox as well as a pint of the Rising Sun on a return visit before heading back to the station.
This was a great place to kick off a crawl around town and is another success story for Everards excellent Project William programme. One of the highlights from a day of good drinking and one that I wouldn't hesitate to revisit the next time I'm in town.

On 16th July 2014 - rating: 8
[User has posted 3102 recommendations about 3102 pubs]


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Alan Winfield left this review about The Seven Stars

The Seven Stars is a bare brick built back street pub.
Once inside there was a decent sized bar to the front right which was oblong shaped,the floor was part tiled and bare boarded,there were some comfy bench seating to the front and rear right,there is a seperate lounge to the rear left which was carpeted and had bench seating.
There was a very good choice of real ales on the bar,i failed to note all beers,i had a drink of Banks & Taylor Shefford Bitter,this was a very nice well kept beer,the other beers i noted were Banks & Taylor Dragon Slayer,Everards Tiger Bitter and a beer i think was called Cotedale Rail Ale.
This is a really nice pub to sit and while a way some time over a decent drink.

Pub Visited 12/7/2014

On 12th July 2014 - rating: 8
[User has posted 6113 recommendations about 6113 pubs]


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Quinno _ left this review about The Seven Stars

Recently renovated in a very nice and sympathetic manner as part of the Project William initiative. Appealing internal layout, two rooms in a semi hexagonal shape with a small lounge and TV room down a couple of stairs to the right. A conservatory area is to the rear. Wood varnished third-length panelling and a mix of chequerboard tiled flooring and carpet. The frosted Banks and Taylor signs on the windows are a nice touch. A restrained collection of ephemera including a collection of beer bottles, cased miniatures and cigarette cards. Plenty of CAMRA certificates adorn the walls. Nine (I think) ales and a cider available and all tried were good-to-superb. The brusque barmaid could have cracked a smile though. Returned here after the main crawl for a couple more ales and when I come back to Rugby I’d happily stay here for half the day. Lovely pub and a must-visit in my book.

On 29th June 2014 - rating: 10
[User has posted 5050 recommendations about 5033 pubs]

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