BITE user comments - Gladius
Comments by Gladius
This is a strange place because it looked 30 years old when it opened a few years ago. Very lively in the evenings and weekends!
24 Aug 2009 14:31
This pub has changed hands so many times over the last few years. A couple of years ago an extention was built which offers more dining space.
It's always been a very pleasant pub and a favourite of mine and the family.
It's a short walk from Whittington castle which is nice.
24 Aug 2009 12:42
This pub's claim to fame is that Daniel Craig (AKA James Bond) went in there once!
24 Aug 2009 12:01
This was the families local (along with the Tanat) when I was growing up. Always loved the place.
24 Aug 2009 11:51
You can't go wrong with a good Spoons!!! Be warned that hard drinkers can be seen drinking hard in there from about 9am onwards!
24 Aug 2009 11:49
This pub will always be known as the Butchers! This is one of the pubs on the pub crawl curcuit so is usually filled with louts and floozies!
24 Aug 2009 11:47
This is a very dodgy, very violent pub! Good for a laugh though!
24 Aug 2009 11:45
Great food, great atmosphere. Sadly very difficult to get to because it's in the middle of nowhere with no footpath along the road to get to it from St Martins.
Still if you like your pubs friendly and traditional it's a must (very strangely pleasant considering what St Martins is like)
24 Aug 2009 11:42
This is a fairly pleasant pub, sadly let down by some dodgy estate types who frequent the place.
Food is very nice and very reasonably priced. Steaks are served on a charming hot plate which it has just been cooked on, so don't touch!
If on the canal it is possible to visit The Wildwood but unfortunately involves walking either through or around the estate. Louts tend to gather at certain times on the canal bridge by Stafford Boat Club, so it's probably worth avoiding and going a little bit further to the Radford Bank which is right next to the canal.
I'm rating this pub at 5, simply because of the dodgy location. If it were in a nicer area and with nicer clientele it would score 7.
24 Aug 2009 11:36
This is a large traditional pub and quite friendly. It's very easy to access from the canal if you moor up having turned right out of the Staffs & Worcs junction (coming from Stafford direction) However I tend to turn left and walk into town from the opposite direction, as it is possible to wind by the entrance of the marina a little further up.
Unfortunately on both occasions that I have visited it was out of food serving hours so I was unable to sample the cuisine.
Drinks are reasonable with a decent selection of lagers, real ales, ciders, wines and spirits etc.
This is one of two pubs in the village, the other being The Fox which is just up the road past the Spar store. The Fox is more of a local pub, but is extremely friendly and serves very nice cheap food.
If you're stopping off in Great Haywood overnight, visits to both pubs are a must!
24 Aug 2009 11:26
The frontage was returned to it's original Tudor look in the late 19th century. The lounge has a perfect warm friendly traditional pub feel. In comparison the bar is slightly disappointing in that the theme doesn't really carry over and it's more focused around the sport on the telly.
The menu is limited with only roasts being served on a Sunday, but still very pleasant and reasonably priced.
Drinks wise this used to be one of the cheaper pubs in the village but the prices have crept up over the last year or so making it much more expensive than similar pubs in Stafford.
Bar staff and clientele are pleasant.
24 Aug 2009 11:15
This is the louts pub so is best avoided if you just want a quiet drink. At least it keeps them out of the other nicer pubs though!
24 Aug 2009 11:04
Nice and more traditional than the Brasenose but very expensive with limited drinks to choose from.
Suffers from the same afflication as the Brasenose as it's clearly catering for the Londoners who've moved into the area rather than the locals and the canal like it did originally!
24 Aug 2009 10:59
I am originally from the village and my great great grandfather actually ran the Brasenose in the 19th Century. Another fact is my parents helped run the bar during the very first fairport convention.
Unfortunately, a recent owner butchered the interior of the bar and lounge (now dining area) giving it that appalling gastro-pub feel rather than sticking to it's traditional roots.
I last visited in September last year and stayed in the old barn which has been converted to rooms which was very pleasant, although the walls are very thin.
Food is OK but service was poor and we waited for over and hour to be served. I think they'd run out of ingrediants and had to pop to Tesco in Banbury to restock.
Drinks are expensive and limited. This pub seems to be catering for all the Londoners who've moved into the area and they've forgotten that this used to be a good local pub.
24 Aug 2009 10:55
The Littleton is well worth a visit if you want something a bit different.
It serves some quality lagers including Staropramen, as well as some quality ciders, real ales and wines.
I first visited about 2 years ago and was very impressed with the food even if it was a little pricey. Since then the menu has shrunk slightly, but the last time I visited it was still impressive. Even the cheese board was pretty exciting, offering toffee flavoured chedder (surprisingly pleasent).
24 Aug 2009 10:42
This is a really nice pub with extremely friendly staff and clientele.
Unfortunately it does not serve anything that I enjoy drinking so I've only been in there a handful of times in the last few years.
Still worth a visit though.
24 Aug 2009 10:37
Excellent traditional pub - exactly what one should be like.
Food is basic but very good value. However serving times are extremely restricted.
It would probably get more custom if people knew how to get to it by road (which is very easy if you know how). People shouldn't be put off by the housing estate that surrounds the pub, because the clientele and staff are very friendly.
Unfortunately in the last year or two it's fallen into the same trap as all the other pubs in Penkridge and has increased the price of drinks to beyond what is reasonable. A pint of lager for example is a good 50p more than a similar pub in Stafford.
24 Aug 2009 10:35
Unsurprisingly The Boat Inn is closing. The current landlord clearly has no idea what sort of pub he wants this to be as regardless of whether families are eating or if people are enjoying a chat in the bar, the bar staff will turn up the music or TV to deafining levels which has resulted in me leaving on more than one occasion. Come on do you want to attract sensible customers or louts??? I think this has put off a lot of locals which has resulted in the pubs demise.
On the plus side it has a good menu which is extremely good value for money for most meals. Personally I've had bad experiences with the gammon but I now know to avoid it.
Despire pushing the fact that it is an old traditional pub, drinks largely consist of modern pop spirits and some fairly boring lagers, ciders and real ales.
The Boat can also boast that it serves the worst pint of Stella in the village which in fact tastes watered down and it is very expensive at well over �3 a pint.
Confusingly, despite the pub being situated right next to the Staffs & Worcs Canal, the sign outside depicts some kind of wide beam barge which appears to be on ship canal somewhere.
Hopefully, if someone takes up the challenge and buys this pub they will do some work to rebrand it and turn it into the traditional pub it should be and expel the unsavoury clientele it has been attracting in recent years (Penkridge already has the George & Fox for the youths). Get rid of the big TVs and use the projector for big football matches and remove the big speakers from the dining area. Also, please replace the sign with something a bit more fitting. Look at The Star and the Cross Keys for guidance on what a country pub should be like.
Oh and one last thing, turn it into a B&B because there is plenty of space upstairs.
24 Aug 2009 10:23
The Lord Moreton, Gledrid
The quality of food, drink and customer service fluctuates dramatically from week to week. When it first opened it was top quality then it went down, then back up again, then down again. The last time I went in there, they only did a carvery on a Sunday which somehow they'd managed to make completely tasteless.
The Lion Quays down the road is much better!
24 Aug 2009 14:36