The urban guide to the countryside -

Warwickshire

Well, hello!

I'm Catherine, editor of Muddy Warwickshire, here to bring you the quirky, cool and downright unmissable in the area.

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Gotta Have It

I officially declare it cashmere jumper season, so time for a toasty treat? Just don't put it in the washing machine like a certain idiot I know who never learns (ahem).

Our curated A-Z of the grooviest local businesses

Your #Joulesautumnwalks photosDid yours make the cut?
Nurturing Your Teen’s Career AspirationsMany Year 11's are now deliberating over where to study for A levels and what subjects to choose. How can a school best support your teen to succeed in today’s rapidly evolving workplace?
Christmas rappingWatch out John Lewis! IKEA's and M&S's Christmas adverts are bonkers and brilliant! Watch, laugh and tell us your favourite.
15 Christmas Wreath WorkshopsSelling quicker than hot strudel, Christmas wreath workshops seem to grow in popularity very year. Grab your diary and make a date with a pal, or meet new friends at one of these laid-back, inspiring workshops.
5 reasons to sort Christmas at Bicester VillageNew openings, live music, pop-ups, gorgeous gifts and fairy lights everywhere you turn - it's festive frolics all the way at BV.

What's On

This Weekend

FRI NOV 15 - SUN NOV 17

This Week

MON NOV 11 - SUN NOV 17

This Month

NOV

Little Black Book

The latest handpicked businesses we think you’ll love

Eat Out View more

Is this Warwickshire’s quirkiest bar + kitchen?

At Leamington-based Hart + Co, meals are served school lunch style, then there’s the bottomless cocktail brunch from 5pm-9pm! And why is there a bathtub in the middle of the room? We sent Muddy’s Rhiannon Pursall to investigate…
- NEW cocktail masterclass
  
  Christmas is just around the corner...If you're looking to gen up on some new drinks recipes or would like an office do with a difference, get your party started at this Warwickshire artisan distillery!
- Bluebasil Coffee Bar and Vintage Store, Leamington Spa
  
  Love coffee? Love vintage? Oh, and how do award-winning gourmet brownies sound? I’ve a feeling this could become your new favourite indie hangout…it’s one of ours.
- Bon Appétit! The new 2020 Michelin awards
  
  The prestigious 2020 awards have just been announced - with new entries including a "picture-perfect" Warwickshire pub known for its game, wild foraged ingredients and "unfussy" style. Take a look at the full line-up for our region.
- The Old Coffee Tavern, Warwick
  
  An East End-style London boozer in the heart of historic Warwick? Yup, indeed! Muddy checks into this authentic Victorian pub with rooms managed by talented 27-year-old India Marsh!

School Reviews

Our honest reviews of the UK’s best schools

Read the reviews

Fun Finder

Making plans? Find your perfect Pub, Inn, Hotel, Café, Restaurant or Bar across the Muddy counties.

The 37 coolest party palaces

Got a big birthday celebration looming? Or fancy a weekend away with your squad? We’ve sniffed out the 37 dreamiest party palaces across the land, available for exclusive hire. Grab your gang and let’s go!
- Stay here: One Abbey Lane, Southam
  
  This beautifully renovated Tudor gem in Warwickshire featured on BBC 2's Restoration Home is now a stylish one-bedroom B&B retreat.
- The Lygon Arms, Worcs
  
  Broadway in Worcestershire is arguably the most lovely of the Cotswolds villages – and we know exactly where you should be staying.

Fashion View more

Ready to wrap up?

Brrrrrrr! It’s got a bit chilly hasn’t it? Come warm yourself with these 10 stylish woolies and coats from the ever-brilliant hush, starting with this elegant ribbed, frill-necked beauty.
- Muddy + Bicester Village shopping & styling spectacular!
  
  We're very excited to announce our brand new collaboration with designer fashion heaven, Bicester Village. Think the ultimate girls' day out. Come dine, shop and chat with us?
- Is 7pm too early for PJs?
  
  It's suddenly dark, cold and wet outside - let's hunker down and cheer ourselves up with some chic new pyjamas (yes, such things do actually exist).

Beauty View more

- J’adore/ J’abhor
  
  It's Movember, the month when blokes grow moustaches to raise money for charity. Turns out the Muddy crew have VERY mixed views on men's facial hair. Where do you stand?
- Muddy reviews Jen Adams’ Anti-Ageing Skin Rejuvenation Plan
  
  How to look ten years younger in 12-weeks? Jen Adams, who runs a natural anti-ageing skin clinic in Leamington Spa, has a plan and Muddy was a very willing recipient!

Arts & Culture View more

The 10 dreamiest coffee table books of the year

Clear space on your coffee table! Muddy’s books editor Kerry Potter has 10 sexy, shiny visual feasts for your delectation.
- Review: Utopia, Shop Front Theatre, Coventry
  
  Ex-national freelance journalist and author Chris Arnot reviews Theatre Absolute's latest commission, the first in their new three-year Humanistan project.
- Are you watching the best show on TV?
  
  Because no one else in the Muddy office is, except for Kerry Potter. So she'd like to talk to you about it instead. Ready to become totally obsessed?
- Absolute-ly Fabulous!
  
  Coventry's ground-breaking Theatre Absolute celebrate 10 years of the UK's first Shop Front Theatre and the launch of Humanistan, an ambitious series of eight original commissions.
- FIRST LOOK: The Boy in the Dress
  
  Back of the net! Footie, fashion and clever choreography come together in the RSC's new stage adaptation of David Walliams' children's novel. Take a peek ahead of next month's opening night.

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Home View more

15 Christmas Wreath Workshops

Selling quicker than hot strudel, Christmas wreath workshops seem to grow in popularity very year. Grab your diary and make a date with a pal, or meet new friends at one of these laid-back, inspiring workshops.
- 3 party cocktails – ready, steady, shake!
  
  Step away from the Chablis and try something different! We've got 5 copies of a cool new cocktail book to give away - and here are three autumn liveners from it to whet your whistle.
- Speedy supper anyone?
  
  If you're sick to death of your weekday cooking repertoire (yup) then here's some quick and classy culinary inspiration for you.
Wellbeing
- How to flex your life
  
  Is life an exhausting loop of sleep, work, chores, repeat? Yep. Need to make a change but now sure what or how? Er, yes. Read our interview with hot new self-help author Annie Auerbach. She has the answers!
- Run for the hills!
  
  Actually don't just yet - let me tell about these brilliantly inspiring running books first.

Work View more

Making work work for you

Back at your desk after summer fun and not really feeling it? We hear you. Here’s some food for thought from the autumn’s hottest self-help book by ex Elle journalist turned author Lotte Jeffs.
- Flexi-time – are you working it out?
  
  Flexible working is a buzzy phrase, but seriously - how many of us actually live the dream? Our ed-in-chief was at the launch of The Women’s Business Council's #100waystoworkflexibly project.
- Sexy Stationery
  
  Stationery is one of my specialist subjects. And - whoop! - it's National Stationery Week. Check out this sexy lot. Hubba bubba!
Kids
- Nurturing Your Teen’s Career Aspirations
  
  Many Year 11's are now deliberating over where to study for A levels and what subjects to choose. How can a school best support your teen to succeed in today’s rapidly evolving workplace?
- The Kingsley School, Leamington Spa
  
  Muddy says: Originally founded in 1884 by Rose Kingsley, daughter of Victorian author Charles, this is a thriving, academically strong and family-orientated day school for girls aged 3 – 18; and boys from 3 – 11 in Leamington Spa.

People View more

Q&A with The Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson

Incredibly Julia Donaldson’s and Axel Scheffler’s bestselling picture book The Gruffalo was first published, 20 years ago! Muddy talks books, performing and buying a post-office with the best-selling writer.
- Fight Club
  
  Love a good food fight? Well there's a huge one in the RSC's new autumn production King John. Just don't go in your best garb if you've booked a front row seat! Actor Richard Pryal fills us in.
- GBBO contestant, Priya O’Shea
  
  Sadly Leicester's Priya O'Shea was the seventh baker to leave the tent this week. Here's everything you need to know about the Midlands amateur baker.
- Q&A with writer and performer Francesca Millican-Slater
  
  Birmingham writer-performer Francesca Millican-Slater has been collecting the stories of visitors, past and present, to Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, the childhood home of William Shakespeare’s wife. You too can be part of the story.
- Everyone’s talking about… The Guilty Feminist
  
  Love the podcast? Good news - its creator is coming to Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, this Friday (May 24). We grabbed super-talented comedian Deborah Francis-White for a chinwag.