…Is not strictly true of course but thinking up blog titles can be a time consuming job and I know my solitary follower (Mrs BB) like a fifties movie so why not?
Any movie starring my mum’s favourite crooner, Pat Boone, as well as the versatile James Mason is always worth a shout out. It was Oscar nominated too and Journey To The center (That is the correct transatlantic spelling Russ) of the Earth follows a group travelling down an extinct Icelandic volcano to the earth’s centre.
My Sunday afternoon mission wasn’t quite like that but Meriden has long classed itself as the centre of England although Snarestone and Midway have also held claim to this title in recent years.
I’ll confess to living in a nearby village for the best part of a decade and I can honestly say I was unaware of the particular gem I uncovered.
229 – Queen’s Head CV7 7JP is situated on Old Road and due to arguably the highest signage in Britain; you can see the top of it driving out towards Eaves Green.
Therefore, it is clearly always going to be a local and it was a crackling atmosphere on a scorcher of a day.
If I use Martin’s criteria, which is always pretty much spot on, this place was destined to be excellent. Firstly, it sells Bass…
..a journey to the centre of England to discover a rare West Midlands watering hole selling Bass as the impressive plaque at the front of the boozer claims!
Secondly, despite a friendly group of bikers parking up their impressive contraptions to enjoy a pint,
a mobility scooter caught my eye as he pulled up as I was leaving and that is always a sure fire sign of success.
Inside the boozer it looked like a place that was family run and Mum (barmaid/gaffer) was giving her daughter stick for being on her phone and the wrong side of the bar with the gist of it being – get some work done.
This caused uproar amongst a good group of locals at the bar and there were calls to “disown her” and continual wind ups galore.
However, there were plenty of other pockets of people chatting away; locals, bikers and walkers quietly or animatedly and it was a big place but the atmosphere wasn’t lost inside.
(Coventry countryside)
A dart board was also there and with people drinking out the front and in the main room and and pub lunches available then this place knows what it’s doing.
The Bass…was absolute nectar and they clearly store it well in the centre of the earth…or Meriden…a pub well worth visiting with good beer and a proper pub atmosphere.
Life After Football 
“(That is the correct transatlantic spelling Russ) of the Earth ”
LOL. For the Yank-centric, yes. Some of us in Canada still use the ‘re’ spelling. Oh, and ‘center’ could be capitalised (or capitalized). 🙂
And that was a great movie. Much better than the remake.
“but Meriden has long classed itself as the centre of England although Snarestone and Midway have also held claim to this title in recent years.”
I can see where they’d all have a claim. 🙂
“I was unaware of the particular gem I uncovered.”
From the photo it looks gorgeous.
“Secondly, despite a friendly group of bikers parking up their impressive contraptions to enjoy a pint,”
Bass and bikes, great combo (oh and the scooter of course!). Like how they can leave their leather jackets on the bike without worries. Many a place where you can’t do that (just noticed they are sitting outside in the first pub photo so maybe that explains it). Oh, and why is the headlamp on in the bike in the back?
“and it was a big place but the atmosphere wasn’t lost inside.”
Bestest kind. 🙂
“a pub well worth visiting with good beer and a proper pub atmosphere.”
It looks just as gorgeous on Google Streetview as well. (thumbs up)
Cheers
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They were sitting outside but, even though there kids around in the street I can’t imagine anyone would have taken anything as a good vibe at the place…Cheers Russ
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Another one ticked off the list. I reckon only have 442 (always a good number) Bass pubs to go.
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Should be able to finish that off in July and August?
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The Bass conspiracy appears to be growing apace! I am persuaded it’s still a good beer in its high turnover heartlands but quality on my periodic trials of it across the land is highly variable. My theory is that it is less frequently chosen when it sits alongside more contemporary-favoured (and flavoured) beer styles and suffers as a result. Realise I may be condemned as an unbeliever….
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I think you’re spot on places like the swan in Milton the quality is great as high turnover but that’s not always the case…I suspect when on as a guest it suffers same variables as all cask…at its best it is still magnificent 👍🍻
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