CHRISTMAS!

PUB
OF
MONTH THE
October 2015
Woodman’s Stroke, Rothley
Jonathan (left) receives the award
from Keith Williams
Award
Winner
The October 2015 Pub of the Month
Award went to The Woodman’s
Stroke, Rothley. Nominated by
Roy Denney, the presentation took
place on 21st October and was well
attended by CAMRA members and
regulars alike.
The pub has been run by the Warner family for
24 years and is currently operated by brothers
Jonathan and Simon, with sister Anne-Marie
helping out with the food side of things at
lunchtimes Monday to Friday. The family has
a long history in the trade and the siblings’
parents ran M&B’s Reservoir at Cropston (now
The Badger’s Sett) for eight years before
taking on “The Woodies”. Famous for its
sporting memorabilia, for the past 15 years it
has run buses to Tigers home games. Initially
this was a single minibus but it is not unusual
for three double-deckers to leave from here
on matchdays. The pub will usually have three
Real Ales and a Real Cider on at any one time.
Draught Bass is the permanent ale and Black
Sheep will, as often as not occupy one of the
others. The third is always a guest and they
will generally try to buy locally (Belvoir, Church
End, Langton, Grainstore and Charnwood
to name a few) though on the presentation
night it was Exmoor Gold. Westons Old Rosie
is the regular cider but there is always a good
selection of bottled ciders available as well.
On the night sandwiches, etc were provided
and card-carrying CAMRA members were
treated to a free first pint; a gesture that was
much appreciated.
Receiving the award from CAMRA’s Keith
Williams, Jonathan was most gracious in his
acceptance and particularly gratified that a
country pub on the fringe of the branch area
was able to compete with city centre pubs
that are more widely known. R.M.
22 December 2015 - January 2016 The Newsletter of Leicester CAMRA Branch