Lichfield Pubs

'As smooth as oil, sweet as milk, clear as amber and strong as brandy.' Boniface, in George Farquhars play The Beaux Stratagem, describing Lichfield ale. Farquhar was one of the visitors to Lichfield in the eighteenth century when the city was notorious for its many pubs and brothels. Today, thankfully, only its pubs are famous and continue to add colour to this fine Georgian city. The great medieval cathedral forms a magnificent backdrop to the many pubs of the city, some of which were visited by Lichfields most famous son, Samuel Johnson, whose brooding statue can be found in the citys market square. Many of Lichfields ancient pubs, some of them old coaching inns from the days of stagecoaches and highwaymen, are still in existence; others, sadly, have gone. This book tells the story of those lost pubs where they were and why they disappeared as well as examining those that still grace the city, tracking their history through the centuries and telling their many uplifting, sad, and sometimes strange stories. Find out about haunted pubs, the pub where an army regiment was founded and the two rival inns where political parties encouraged mob violence in the street that separated them. Lichfield Pubs is a book that residents and visitors alike will not want to miss.