No Cock And Bull: Hanbury’s Horrible Histories

Whilst the village of Hanbury is deep in the heart of Staffordshire farmland and, as such, is suitably underdeveloped, it has an explosive past at odds with its genteel present.

198 – The Cock Inn DE13 8TD is the only pub in the village and with sweeping views of the Dove Valley or Trent Valley, depending on which way you look it is just 600 yards away from the Fauld Explosion crater.

It was too dark for me to see when I went for a pint with my pal, but it was home to the third biggest explosion in WWII back in 1944.

3,500 tons of High Explosives ignited in a Bomb Dump at the Fauld Gypsum Mines, which reportedly killed 70 people and left a crater 200ft deep and 400yds across. Apparently the noise was heard in Coventry (30 miles away) and surrounding fields were littered with dead livestock.

The Cock Inn also bit the dust but, according to the Hanbury Village website, when the Brewery rebuilt two pubs after the war the housing plans were mistakenly swapped.

Therefore this smart looking boozer should apparently be on a housing estate in Birmingham whilst a small village pub was built in Birmingham (no doubt it’s long gone!)

Anyway, that aside, this place was more ‘pubby’ than I expected. Yes, you could get food here but the bar could have been in a housing estate in Birmingham and I mean that positively. There were dogs aplenty, hi-viz orange jackets, muddy work clothes (albeit farmers) and a lad in a Lichfield Hockey club tracksuit.

It all added up for a crackling atmosphere and bearing in mind it was a Wednesday night then I was pleasantly surprised how many people were in.  This is clearly a pub that is well kept and it also had Bass on!

But, on this occasion, I thought I’d plump for a Massey’s Original Mild (Heritage) as I see it so rarely these days and the pictures will tell you it was a gem of a pint.

The barmaid was friendly, the bar was a proper place to have a drink and if you look at their reviews then clearly their food is a winner too in the lounge and restaurant areas.

(Two pub dogs eyeing up the Mild…)

But, this still felt to me like a country pub where drinkers are welcomed and despite feeling fairly remote, it’s close enough to decent sized villages and towns to make it viable and there was a mural advertising all the nearby walks.

If you’re ever in this part of town then this boozer is definitely worth a visit just for the  historical context and a big plaque on the wall of the boozer embraces that particular part of history, which is Hanbury’s most famous landmark.

Not far from the A50 but a totally different pace of life and a pub that hits the spot.