In 1557, eight years before his son William was born, John Shakespeare was appointed to public office in Stratford-upon-Avon. Stratford had a long-reaching reputation for its brewing and John was one of
the two 'able persons and discreet' chosen to be ale tasters. They had to see that ale and beer were wholesome and correctly priced and that loaves were sufficiently heavy nice work if you can get it!
However, it was a serious business as offenders could be fined, whipped, stocked, pilloried, or humiliated on the ducking stool. No doubt some members
of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ales) regret the day these punishments were repealed.
Sometime between 1556 and 1558 John married Mary Arden, the daughter of the wealthy Robert Arden of Wilmcote and owner of the sixty-acre farm called Asbies. The wedding took place in the 13th Century
Norman Church (Mary Arden's parish church) at Aston Cantlow - where Robert Arden is buried. The church stands next to the pub and it is reputed that the newly weds held their wedding reception here
at the Kings Head but then they would say that wouldn't they?
What is not in doubt is that William Shakespeare and his parents would have known the Kings Head and its ale. This is the quintessential 15th Century English Country Pub & Restaurant enjoying low
beams, flagged stone floors and open crackling log fires. Set in this picturesque and historic Warwickshire village, it is just a mile away from Mary Arden's House in Wilmcote and four miles from
Stratford-upon-Avon.
The Kings Head at Aston Cantelow was Warwickshire's Dining Pub of the Year in The Good Pub Guide 2007.You can eat in the bar area or in the pleasant dining room to the rear of the inn (at no extra
cost) so it is well suited for every occasion. Real ale enthusiasts will be pleased to learn the pub stocks beers from the nearby Purity Brewery set up by
two former Bass employees, Paul Halsey and Jim Minkin, who between them have over 30 years experience in the brewery business.
Location : Grid Ref : SP138599 - What3Words : hiked.bedspread.compacts - Post Code : B95 6HY
Griff House at Griff, near Nuneaton, is where Mary Ann Evans, the future George Eliot, lived for her first 22 years. It was here local folk and events are believed to have inspired stories in her celebrated
book, 'Scenes of Clerical Life'. The original house now forms a wing of a much larger, modern Beefeater pub restaurant, which in turn is attached to a Premier Inn hotel. One part that is similar to how
it was in Mary Ann's day is the hallway with its flagstone floor. George Eliot described Griff House as being similar to Dorlcote Mill in 'The Mill on the Floss' and the attic where Maggie and Tom played is
the attic at Griff House, now part of the manager's flat.
Mary Ann's initial education was at a Dame school opposite the gates of Griff House. Her second was Miss Lathom's school at Attleborough, and her third was The Elms in Nuneaton. All these buildings have now
gone. Her fourth school was Nant Glynn at 29 Warwick Row in Coventry, which still stands and is today an estate agent's office. Her Coventry home is in what is now George Eliot Road in Foleshill. She attended
Holy Trinity Church in the city centre and visited her friends the Brays at 'Rosehill' on Radford Road (now demolished). She visited Leamington and Kenilworth Castle.
George Eliot's birthplace, South Farm (then known as Arbury Farm) is set in the heart of the estate at Arbury Hall where her father was employed by the Newdigate family. Because of its situation, it is not
possible to see the house today from the outside, except on the special tours organised by the George Eliot Fellowship. It is still the home of the agent to the estate, as it was in Robert Evans's day.
Location : Grid Ref : SP358888 - What3Words : spoken.over.dozed - Post Code : CV10 7PJ
J. K. Rowling uses the pseudonym Robert Galbraith when writing her Strike novels. One of the settings for Troubled Blood, her 5th novel in the series, is the Roebuck Inn in Smith Street, Warwick with much of
the action playing out in chapter 47.
After meeting Paul Satchwell at the Royal Pump Room in Leamington Spa, Strike and his business partner Robin head to a lunch interview in Warwick: "They reached Warwick within half an hour and, as Satchwell
had promised, found themselves in a town that could hardly have presented a great contrast to the wide, sweeping white-faced crescents of Leamington. "We'll go to the Roebuck," said Satchwell, when Robin had
parked in the market square. "It's been there forever. Oldest pub in town".
At last, they made it into the Roebuck Inn, a low-beamed pub with a sign of a deer's head hanging outside, and secured a table for two toward the rear of the pub. Robin couldn’t help but notice the
coincidence: the wall behind Satchwell was dotted with horned animal heads, including a stuffed deer and bronze-coloured models of an antelope and a ram. Even the menus had silhouettes of an antler stag head
upon them.
The food arrived: Satchwell's steak and chips looked appetizing, but Robin, who'd been too busy concentrating on her questions, hadn't read the small print on the menu. Expecting a plate of salad, she received
a wooden platter bearing various ramekins containing hot sausage slices, hummus and a sticky mess of mayonnaise coated leaves, a challenging assortment to eat while taking notes".
Location : Grid Ref : SP285650 - What3Words : silent.walks.crib - Post Code : CV34 4HU
Copyright T.W. Townsend - the opinions expressed herein are those of the author and any observations were correct at the time of the review.