Every year since 1988 the National CAMRA organisation has been presenting a Pub Of The Year Award (POTY). This involves every branch in the country and every member if they want to cast a vote.

It starts at branch level with a pub in each branch’s area being awarded the local Pub Of The Year. This year ours was the Merchants Inn. These then go up against other branch POTYs in the region. The winner in each region is pitted against winners in other regions, eventually giving us an overall national winner. Given that this pub has been judged the best in the country it is therefore quite a prestigious award.

This year's winner was the Tamworth Tap in Tamworth centre. Few (if any) of us had ever been so we had the perfect excuse to travel over to not only sample a beer in the Tap but also try a few other local hostelries.

The Tap itself, to be brief, is wonderful. I did fear that success may have made it over popular and that we wouldn't be able to get in the door. Thankfully that was not the case and although busy we did get in and even got a seat.

The bar usually has 8 beers and can include their own Tamworth Brewery beers. The main room had a Belgian café feel to it and there was additional space upstairs along with seating to the front and a courtyard to the year. The beer was, unsurprisingly, in top form. All in all, a worthy winner, and I am sure we will be returning soon.

The other good news about Tamworth is that this is not the only great pub in the town. On the night we paid the following a visit:

The King’s Ditch: Great little micro pub. At least 4 beers on and large range of ciders. A cosy downstairs room along with a small upstairs seating area. Watch out for the opening hours as it closed at 9pm on a Friday when we visited.

The Old Bank House: Fantastic Victorian building that was converted from a bank in 2021. Usually 5 interesting and unusual beers available.

Market Vaults: A classic, unspoilt pub with a large range of Joules ales available.

Phoenix: With up to 8 beers on at any time this was well worth a visit.

Sir Robert Peel: Who said pubs are losing trade? You wouldn't think that if you visited this one. Very popular. 5 quality beers available when we visited.

With the exception of the Market Vaults and the Phoenix, all are in the Good Beer Guide. We also used the local Tamworth Town Ale Trail produced by the local CAMRA branch. A total of 9 pubs are listed in the Trail including all those we visited. Thanks to Lichfield, Sutton and Tamworth CAMRA for producing this excellent Ale Trail.

Stuart Events Organiser