The Old Fourpenny Shop, Warwick

Pub #2309:

We took the day off work to see a mortgage broker in Warwick.  We considered the meeting a success and did a bit of tourism then, lost, opted to consider the online maps whilst lunching on sandwiches and a bottle of wine at the Fourpenny Shop.

A Georgian house that got its name for undercutting the competing canal inns (four pennies instead of six for a cup of tea and some rum), we were hoping for a little more atmosphere.  The refurbishment was more of a modernisation than a restoration, unfortunately.

Nevertheless, incredibly friendly with a good line of taps to choose from (if wine isn’t your preference).

 

1856 Pillar Boxes, East and West Gates, Warwick

Postbox fetishists should turn their attention to Warwick which has TWO fine early examples (1856) — one each at the east and west gates of the city.

Warwick is gorgeous without these but they are definitely a treat to wander up on.

 

Wheeltapper, Rugby, Warwickshire

Pub #2191:

“Have you got a bin?” I asked the tender as she poured my cider.  She nodded and I pushed the wad of fish wrapping paper leftover from the cod snack finished a minute earlier toward her.  “They needn’t have wrapped it with so much.”

“What? Just toss it to you like you are a seal, could they?”  I nodded enthusiastically.

The Wheeltapper is a fine old bit of architecture, inside and out.  One ale on, but the crowd seems a bit more of a lager and cider bunch.  My other brief convo was with a couple of Indian guys about my age.  It consisted of one or another of us asking the speaker to repeat himself at which point — at least I did this — the topic was changed completely.  I hope they enjoyed it, because I didn’t get a sensible word out of either of them.

Extra Fish Bar, Rugby, Warwickshire

With a bit of daylight remaining on my return trip from renting a house in Birmingham, I opted to break the journey in Rugby since I have never been there before.  Pretty standard British town, it reminded me a lot of Swindon.

On the way up the hill from the Station to the Wheeltapper, I caught a whiff of the Extra Fish Bar and came to realise I hadn’t eaten all day.  The piece of cod I got was perfect, meaty, succulent, and better than I ever deserve.  Yum.