Another Day, Another LE67 Classic In Newbold

I really like the fact Sky Sports promotes minority sports and teams and it has given access to fixtures many punters wouldn’t normally watch.

Chuck BT Sports into the mix and you have a smorgasbord of opportunities for punters like me who can happily watch background offerings in a boozer.

311 – The Cross Keys LE67 8PJ, which is in Newbold, a small village in the best postcode for boozers in Britain (LE67) certainly likes its sport.

Not only did I have the best pint of Landlord (Timothy Taylor’s) I’d had in a long time – cool, crisp and quaffable, but it was the sort of place that would have pleased a beer sommelier like Rich.

With a big locale range I had a pint of Landlord in a TT glass and on a TT beermat just to complete the feel of a pub that really cares.

One of the staff was cleaning tables and the whole place looked clean, organised and welcoming and they obviously look after their beer well. They also offer two rooms B&B so are covering all bases in this village boozer

(a front door with beer written all over it – perfect)

The barmaid was chatty and joked that there was me and just three youngsters drinking by the pool table and it added to my hip credentials as it was the first time I’ve been the oldest person in a pub for years.

There was a dartboard too but I gravitated towards the TV where I watched Tranmere rack up a 2-0 lead against Oxford City in an FA Cup replay.

(Bench seating, good beer and FA Cup Football)

I liked the fact the sound was muted and there was music in the background so it wasn’t overpowering and meant I could look to my right as well…where..on the TV ten yards away Sky were showing a real minority interest fixture based at Hampden Park (not sure if Duncan has been there yet as it’s fairly remote).

Apparently Scotland were beating Israel although most people’s attention was drawn towards the FA Cup clash, which may have had a bigger crowd.

It was nice to see Alex McLeish after managing giants such as Birmingham City in the past, happy to put something back into the game at grass roots level…

LE67 keeps on delivering gems and, aside from city/town centres; I am still making the claim that this possesses the best pubs in Britain.

Although all the road signs suggest this is Newbold there is evidence to suggest (i.e. their website) that its full title is Newbold Coleorton.    However, that name sounds rather tame compared to its nineteenth century version which was Newbold Saucey or Newbold Juxta Worthington (not Creamflow for all you craft beer fans out there).

(Not quite Beer garden weather…)

Like all good boozers in this postcode it is in a village that had a colliery in the past and I wonder if that is what shapes the pubs in this region?

Always sociable, always welcoming and even on a quiet, cold Tuesday evening, this boozer oozed character.   It probably won’t trouble the GBG any time soon with just the three handpumps but the quality of the Landlord was absolutely terrific…one for Leicester or Loughborough CAMRA to revisit I reckon.