Britain's best pub, bar none

HAT-TRICK FOR CAMRA FAVOURITE

- FROM RICHARD ASHMORE

Louise and George Greenaway toast win. Below, bar

THOSE familiar with porcine heritage will know Tamworth gives its name to a breed of pig, and I must admit to being as happy as such a creature is often said to be in the proverbial when given this assignment to visit Britain’s record-breaking Pub of the Year.

A famous pair of porkers, dubbed the Tamworth Two, made headlines when they escaped from an abattoir in the 1990s and today Rachel Reeves appears hellbent on slaughtering the hospitality sector with taxes.

But despite an “unparalleled” burden of cost under the Chancellor, according to landlord George Greenaway, his Tamworth Tap inn has scooped an unprecedented third Campaign for Real Ale Pub of the Year title.

Barrels

It is the first venue to win a hat-trick of gongs since the award started in 1988. The pub was crowned in 2022, 2023 and now for 2025.

George, 58, and wife Louise, 50, have lovingly grown the business, which sprawls across three Tudor buildings, over eight years since it started as a microbrewery with “two barrels and no bar”.

It is thriving but, sadly, the national picture is not so rosy for the industry which has seen 1,060 pubs going under last year, according to CAMRA.

George said: “It’s a huge honour to be awarded the prestigious CAMRA Pub of the Year title for the third time but we are under no illusion that we have huge cost burdens under this government.