We hadn't been in for a while so Shelley suggested that we pop in for a Sunday afternoon pint.
The pub itself hadn't changed much since our last visit, it is disappointingly under used, and whilst there were a few in when we first arrived, it soon emptied out leaving no more than half a dozen punters.
The lack of customers at The Market Vaults is a real shame, the pub is full of character and is infact reputed to be haunted.
Shelley went and got us a seat but gave me some money to get the round in leaving one astonished drinker to comment 'I wish I'd got a missus like yours ' !!
The beer was fabulous I opted for a pint of Joule's Slumbering Monk which was top quality, mind you beer always seems to taste nicer on a school night.
The pub was showing the FA Cup draw though unsurprisingly Blues's interest in the competition had long since ended, after all it was mid February !!
One surprise addition to the pub was a piano that was situated near the bar. The pub now runs weekly open mic nights, be warned though, The Voice reject Sam Buttery hails from Tamworth...you have been warned !!
UPDATE 12th April
Pub number three of our Saturday afternoon/evening pub crawl of Tamworth was the Market Vaults. I've mentioned before that this a lovely historic place slap bang in the middle of the town centre that is generally empty when we visit. How delighted we were therefore to see a few punters in there when we called in.
Shelley went and got us a seat while I was getting them in and looked horrified when I returned from the bar with just my pint, made worse when I told her that the pub was totally out of cider. How me and the landlord laughed when he came back a couple of minutes later with Shelley's drink, he'd gone to change the barrel and was in on the joke.
Once again I chose a Joule's Slumbering Monk and as lovely as it was with a really nutty taste it was certainly not a session ale, I found it quite heavy going, almost like having a meal.
As much as I don't mind well behaved dogs in pubs (more often than not they are a more welcome addition than kids) I think one prerequisite is that the dog must be clean. This wasn't the case for the dog that was in the Market Vaults that day sprawled out in the middle of the pub. It is difficult to describe the smell, think damp carpets and you'll get the picture !! Bath time Rover !!
The FA Cup semi final between Wigan and Arsenal was showing on the pub's tv but to be honest neither of us were particularly interested, me because, as is the annual tradition, Blues's interest in the competition finished months ago, and Shelley because a nail breakage incident had just occurred.
We stayed a while in the pub due to the fact that it took me so long to finish my heavy beer (no wonder the monk slumbered after a pint of the stuff) and made our way to the next pub The White Lion.
UPDATE 21st June
Amazingly our walk from The Gate into Tamworth town centre didn't include the usual stop off at The Bolebridge, maybe I'm losing my powers of persuasion !! Instead we walked through the grounds of Tamworth Castle (looking at their picturesque best on a sunny midsummer's night) and headed straight for The Market Vaults.
The Market Vaults is proving to be quite a popular pub these days, helped by the fact that it looks a lot more welcoming than it used to. The back passage (stop sniggering at the back !!) at the side of the pub where you used to gain entry in now blocked off meaning that entry is now through the pub's front door which is propped open giving a sense of genuine welcome. The pavement café style seating outside the pub adds to the general ambience of the place.
Great care is also being given to the beer that is on offer, this is down jointly to the change in both ownership and brewery. Slumbering Monk is always my drink of choice in The Market Vaults with Shelley on the Stowford Press. Once again it was impossible to avoid the festival of football so we had one eye on Germany v Ghana while we enjoyed our beer.
The pub really filled up with the arrival of a coach party. The Market Vaults was the final stop off point at the end of a trip out for local CAMRA members though tellingly I heard one of them say that the beer in The Market Vaults was the best pint that he'd had all day.
A man, stood at the bar, was trying, somewhat unsuccessfully, to chat up the young lady next to him. She went by the name of Organa. What kind of name is that?! Do you remember the good old days when girls were called names like Sharon and Tracy?! Life was so much simpler back then.
Time was getting on and we were eager not to stay too long as the Saturday night party crowd would soon be arriving in the town centre to drink Glitter Bombs and Smirnoff Ice so we drank up and decided that it was curry o'clock.
UPDATE 10th July
We were on our way, on a fabulous summer's evening, from The Amington to the curry house and the pavement café style seating outside The Market Vaults was too tempting to turn down so we popped in for an aperitif.
Granted us Brummies aren't always that popular with the Tamworth locals so I couldn't help smiling at the significance of hearing the haunting sound of the intro to Led Zep's Immigrant Song as I walked into the bar !!
The beer is brilliant in The Market Vaults so it my usual Joule's Slumbering Monk and a Stowford Press for Shelley, one of her favourite tipples.
We went and sat outside..
..and the Parisienne style seating meant that I felt I could have actually been in the French capital apart from the fact that I had a view of Cash Creator rather than the Champs Elysees !!
UPDATE 31st July
Please see the update for The Bolebridge on 31st July, in summary I made no notes on our two pub visits this night due to me being disorganised. As we were in the Market Vaults I would definitely have been drinking Slumbering Monk and Shelley would undoubtedly have found me witty, charming and the usual great company that she has become accustomed to !!...
UPDATE 28th September
This year's fabulous weather just seems to go on and on and we keep saying, when the sun is shining on a Sunday, let's go for a walk and an outdoor pint, it maybe the last chance we get in 2014, we've been saying it for several weeks now !! We decided to take a stroll through Tamworth's picturesque castle grounds so we could call in at the Market Vaults, we've drunk in the beer garden there before but not under the new ownership and we were keen to give it a try.
I had half hoped I'd get a Ryder cup update (it was the final day and Europe were closing in on victory) when we got to the pub, unfortunately the pub's television was showing a re-run of the previous evenings episode of X Factor !! If ever there was a reason to escape to the beer garden clutching our drinks (Slumbering Monk for me, Stowford Press for Shelley) then this was it.
We were pleasantly surprised when we saw the garden, it had been refurbished and now included what looked like a small bar, and a pebbled path that led to a tiny gate at the back of the garden. Maybe Narnia was behind the gate?! What a great location to enjoy the weather, and just like in the Bulmer's advert we headed for the table that was in the sun....
Apart from a couple of blokes, who left soon after we arrived, we literally had the garden to ourselves, which could only mean one thing.....no kids !!!!!
Although it was only supposed to be a one pint pit stop strategy it was too good an opportunity to miss so we stopped for another. It became apparent during the brief period when I went inside to get our drinks that Shelley would be hopeless on sentry duty. In the above photograph you can just make out the flag of Staffordshire that is flying from the top of Tamworth castle, it disappeared when I was at the bar and Shelley didn't notice it happening !!
I wonder if she'd notice if I crept to the bar to get a third pint?!!...
No comments:
Post a Comment