A GUIDE to more than 500 licensed establishments in the city has been released by a respected Worcester writer.
Bob Backenforth – nom-de-pub of former newspaper editor and council press officer Bob Blandford – has reprised his role of pub scribe for ‘Bob Backenforth’s Worcester Pub Guide 2016′.
The book is a comprehensive new guide to the city’s current 88 pubs, alongside 50 lounge and café bars, 36 clubs and community centres, 200-plus restaurants, takeaways and off-licences, as well as sports and education venues licensed to sell drinks.
Also included will be profiles of around 75 brewers and cider-makers serving Worcester, with pub trails, incentives to visit every pub and an opportunity to vote for Pub of the Year, Beer of the Year and other accolades.
But the stars of the show, he says, will be Worcester’s pubs – each of which gets a two-page profile of around 800 words detailing what’s on offer, their specialities, reasons for visiting, and illustrations, at no charge to the licensee.
Bob hopes the new book will provide a much-needed shot in the arm for the city’s pubs and bars.
“Somebody’s got to do something for the pubs before they become a relic of the past, and no amount of fiddling around the edges – like, talk of community assets is going to make the slightest scrap of difference,” he said.
“The pubs need action and they need it now” said the former journalist who’s also the city’s top-selling author with two volumes of ‘Bob Backenforth’s Worcester Pubs Then and Now’ both topping the local best-sellers list.
The guide is aimed at tourists and locals alike and designed to fit in a pocket, handbag or glove compartment so as to be easily portable.
“Aside from being a comprehensive pub guide, it’s also intended as a good read in its own right,” he said.
“Essentially, it’s a personal and sometimes tongue-in-cheek observation that’s the outcome of 50 years of dedicated Worcester pub-going.
“Every pub has its own unique ‘draw’ and that’s what I’m aiming to bring out,” he added.
The guide is available in the city’s pubs for £9.
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