Tap of the pubs

A pub in Tamworth has been named the best pub in Britain for the second year running.

According to the BBC:

The Tamworth Tap scooped the National Pub of the Year 2023 award by the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) - the organisation's top honour.

Located in a 16th-Century building in Tamworth, the pub is only the second to win the prize twice consecutively.

I’m not a fan of Camra - largely because they actively welcomed the smoking ban and did nothing to oppose it - but the Tamworth Tap … that rang a different bell.

In October 2022 the pub also won the Best Pub Garden award in the Great British Pub Awards organised by the Morning Advertiser.

I remember searching for it online and the outdoor area did indeed look nice. I was a bit concerned though by the ‘no smoking’ signs, so I emailed the landlord, congratulated him on the award, and added:

Forgive me asking, but can you confirm your smoking policy? I’ve seen signs that say ‘No smoking in the courtyard’ but I wondered if smoking is allowed anywhere in the courtyard (a smoking area, perhaps) or at the tables out front.

The reason I ask is that a decade or so ago we were co-sponsors of the Best Outdoor Smoking Area award at the Great British Pub Awards. That award no longer exists but we still like to monitor trends in the pub industry and it’s interesting that in 2022 the ‘Best Pub Garden’ might be non-smoking.

To be clear, we have always argued that as owners of a private business publicans should be allowed to devise their own policies on smoking so this not intended as criticism. I’m merely curious.

He replied very quickly and explained that:

The garden is divided into two areas with smoking and non smoking. We also allow smoking at the front of the building. We aim to cater for all customers.

Fair enough.

It was at that point however that I realised I had made an unfortunate faux pas. Instead of addressing the landlord as ‘Mr Greenaway’ (his first name is George), I had addressed him as ‘Mr Galloway’. Doh!

All I could do was apologise and blame it on autocorrect.

See also: Tamworth Tap has been named the best pub in the country (Camra)