Roaring Raindrop, Abingdon

A Greene King, single-storey, estate pub, to the south of the town centre, offering many drinks and meal deals and promotions throughout the week. The sports on tv is popular, and includes Sky 3D and HD. Opened in 1974 by Lord Stokes, then head of British Leyland Motor Corporation, for Morland who held a competition to name it. The MG works still thrived in the town and the winning name was 'The Magic Midget' after a number of record-breaking 750cc MG cars of the 1930s. In supercharged form as EX120 it became the first 750cc car to exceed 100 mph in February 1931. A major refurbishment in 2002 changed the pub to an open-plan layout and the name proved too racy for Greene King who shortened it to 'The Midget' after a 2 seater sports car produced by MG between 1961 and 1980. In 2024 an activist in Liverpool launched a petition claiming the name was offensive and after a minor refurb. Greene King renamed the pub 'The Roaring Raindrop' after MG's fastest ever car, the EX181, which broke the class world land speed record in 1957 doing 245.64 mph with a young Stirling Moss at the wheel.