The King's Ditch

TAMWORTH

Specialising mostly in local ales, The King’s Ditch was Tamworth’s first micropub, opening on 27th Nov. 2014

Four to Six gravity-served ales straight from the cask are complemented by Sixteen real ciders, Three Fruit Ciders and Two Perries, all carefully chosen by our passionate team.

The King’s Ditch is characterised by its simple but modern bare brick and wood interior. We have a single ground floor room and a small drinking area upstairs, accommodating around 40 people.

The Beer and Cider being served from a chilled room at approx. 12 degrees centigrade.

We don’t have any fruit machines, TVs or music – we simply have a warm and friendly atmosphere where people can enjoy real ale and good conversation. Please note! Children are welcome, to sit and not race around, until 6pm. Dogs are also welcome as long as they bring their owners.

We look forward to welcoming you to The King’s Ditch soon! Go to the Blog for our latest news…

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Phil Baverstock

Great beer and cider, well kept and plenty of choice. Also need to add friendly and relaxed atmosphere even to new visitors like us, locals chatty and the landlord/staff welcoming. Micropub heaven.

Fiona Phillips

We love this micro pub. There's always a warm welcome and an excellent selection of ales and ciders on offer. Great atmosphere and community feel.

Vince Moore

CAMRA award winning micro pub serving ale at its very best. Constantly changing selection of real ales and brewerys. Knowledgeable, friendly and helpful staff and owners. Will always let you sample a beer or cider to help with choice. Great scratchings, crisps and other nibbles. Our favourite place to enjoy a "coupla two three pints".

KING'S DITCH NEWS

KEEP UP TO DATE

Good Friday opening hours

April 12, 2025
We will be open at the earlier time of 1pm on Good Friday, April 18th 2025.
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READ MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS

OPENING TIMES

Please see our announcements or social media posts regarding any special opening times.

Monday

16:00 - 21:00

Tuesday

16:00 - 21:00

Wednesday

16:00 - 21:00

Thursday

16:00 - 22:00

Friday

14:30 - 22:00

Saturday

12:00 - 22:00

Sunday

12:00 - 19:00

PHOTO GALLERY

KINGS DITCH MICROPUB

HISTORY & BACKGROUND

EST. NOV 2014

About Micropubs

Micropubs are springing up all over the UK. A Micropub is a small freehouse which listens to its customers, mainly serves cask ales, cider, wines and no draught lagers, promotes conversation, shuns all forms of electronic entertainment and dabbles in traditional pub snacks. For more information see micropubassociation.co.uk.

So why The King’s Ditch?

Well it goes back to the very origins of the name Tamworth, they add the worth bit in the name, meaning enclosure, Tamworth = enclosure by the River Tame.

Tamworth

The enclosure in this case consisted of a broad ditch and bank, known variably as the King´s Ditch or Offa´s Dyke or Walferlong. Similar Saxon earthworks and fortifications have been measured at upto 50 ft wide.

The King’s Ditch was still visible and cleared identified on maps in the 19th Century. By 1884 the eastern ditch had disappeared.

The Northern line has been placed at approximately between 51 Lower Gungate and Bell Corner. From the various historical reports we have found the Ditch may date to either King Aethelfaed’s or King Offa’s rule — that’s over a thousand years ago and well before the castle or church were built.

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About us

The King’s Ditch was setup by Dave Barnfield, Ade Smith and Ged Fisher. Formerly a cycle shop, after renovation we opened for business on 27th November 2014. It was Ged’s dream from Christmas 2013 to open a micropub, having been to several in Kent, that September.

The premises were found in June 14 and lease signed in October, it took 5 weeks to lay the floor, get the stillage, build the benches (with thanks to John Deeming), source tables and chairs, install the cooling system. Oh, and get the beers and ciders.

We have a passion for real ale and cider, having been keen followers of the local football team, and CAMRA members, we have been in many pubs on away days and drunk many pints of good and not so good beers. We thought that we might be able to supplement the beers sold by other establishments in Tamworth. Our aim is to complement the other pubs that sell real ales in the town, by stocking beers from different breweries.

Dave decided early in 2015 that working behind the bar wasn’t for him, so he left the company.  Ged and Ade jointly ran the pub for the next eight years, winning many CAMRA awards during that time.  In October 2023, pub regular Chris Collinge took over and continues to run the pub along the same lines.   The King's Ditch has recently been awarded Branch Cider Pub of the Year (Staffordshire) 2024, by Lichfield, Sutton & Tamworth CAMRA.

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FINDING THE KING'S DITCH

TAMWORTH

Finding us from Tamworth railway station:

We’re just an 8 minute walk from the railway station. Head to the island from the station forecourt, follow the path to the right to the crossing, cross road and take the left path towards Domino’s Pizza, pass this building on your left and go up Albert Road. Pass the Albert Pub, until you come to the junction with the traffic lights. Turn left into Lower Gungate. We are 50 metres down on the right.