Here’s a fact that’ll win you pub trivia: Carlisle is one of the most “besieged” cities in Britain, and The William Rufus sits near the medieval city walls. Locals joke that if a siege happened today, you could hide in the pub’s beer garden with a stack of sausage rolls and outlast any attacker. The garden is a quiet little courtyard, surrounded by brick and history, where pigeons eye your chips like tiny feathered loan sharks.
Also, weirdly, the pub is on a street called English Street. Yes, the street is literally named after the language. It’s the most British thing since a queue for a queue.
The Morning After (Breakfast)
Don’t skip breakfast here. The “All Day Breakfast” at The William Rufus is a legend—a plate of eggs, bacon, beans, and hash browns that costs about the same as a bus ticket. It’s the kind of meal that makes you feel like a Roman legionnaire conquering Gaul, but instead of a sword, you’ve got a ceramic mug of tea. Pro tip: arrive before 11 a.m. if you want the grilled tomato to still have structural integrity.
Coronavirus: Carlisle Wetherspoon pub The William Rufus shut - BBC News
One regular told me, “I came here for the history, but I stayed for the toast.” She wasn’t wrong. The butter-to-bread ratio is disturbingly generous.
