Black Country and Birmingham Wetherspoon pubs

On a Spring Bank Holiday week holiday we visited three Wetherspoon pubs in the Black Country and three in Birmingham.

Although not a fan of Tim Martin for political reasons, the fact that Wetherspoon pubs open early and close late and can provide an acceptable meal at reasonable cost all day long, means they can be a useful refuge and 'pit stop' when on holiday. The absence of music and TV screens is another bonus.

After travelling to Stourbridge Town by train via Reading and Worcester and the Stourbridge Shuttle from Stourbridge Junction, we dodged the rain and lunched at the The Chequers Inn near the station.

Notable features here included craft glass items and a display at the entrance showing that 772 pints of ale were served in the previous week.

Every Wetherspoon pub has its own unique carpet design including The Chequers Inn (above).

After bus rides to Dudley for our hotel and then on to Sedgley where we visited Mount Pleasant and the Beacon Hotel we dined at The Clifton, previously a cinema.

The art deco streamline style architecture is reflected by the original 'fins' in the ceiling.

Wall displays included one with scenes from classic films.

The Clifton has a unique carpet design that sadly doesn't appear to have any art deco references.

We breakfasted at The Full Moon, Dudley, the next morning. The main front entrance (above) is on Dudley High Street and there is also a lower level back entrance on King Street.

A wall display describes how Dudley became known as the Capital of the Black Country and a centre for metalworking and mining with images including Baggeridge Colliery, Coalbrookdale Ironworks and Bradley Ironworks.

The Full Moon has its own carpet design. 

Now it was time to catch a bus and meet up with Mark Geeson and CAMRA friends at the Vine Inn, Brierley Hill, the home of Batham's beers. We returned to the Full Moon for a meal in the evening after subsequent visits to the Old Swan, Netherton and the Lamp Tavern, Dudley.

Birmingham

There are several Wetherspoon pubs in central Birmingham and Five Ways but we didn't visit all of them!

The Briar Rose is a Wetherspoon hotel just down Bennets Hill from the Wellington. It has some nice design features and an art nouveau style carpet (above). We had breakfast here on the Wednesday and it was fine.

On the Tuesday evening, after passing the Library of Birmingham and the Rep theatre, we continued towards Five Ways along Broad Street and walked into the Soloman Cutler. All the window tables at the back were taken, there was a patch of sticky floor and a poor choice of guest ales (it used to be a Lloyds No 1 bar) so we walked out again.

After crossing the Black Sabbath bridge over the canal, we continued along Broad Street towards Five Ways and the nearby Figure of Eight where we enjoyed pints of Jolly Brewer from Froth Blowers Brew Co, based in Erdington, six miles away.

The Figure of Eight carpet design is psychedelic!

Dudley South by Southwest

On Bank Holiday Monday 27 May a rendezvous with Mark Geeson and other CAMRA friends took over the long back room at The Vine Inn, Brierley Hill, the home of Batham's Beers.

Meg and Tim arrived by bus from Dudley, passing Russels Hall hospital at the same time as Mark's group arrived by bus from Wolverhampton. We all enjoyed pints of Batham's beers and many also bought a sizeable and well filled cob to eat sooner and / or later.

The front rooms have more character but those tables were already occupied by locals at our 12.30pm arrival time.

The Vine is known locally as the Bull and Bladder and there are bull motifs on the interior tiled walls and vinyl floor.

Mark's group were determined to revisit Roberto's Bar in Halesowen next, before the Old Swan Inn in Netherton. Meg and Tim opted for a local walk to explore Delph Locks before a second rendezvous at the Old Swan.

Turning right outside the Vine Inn, we had a better view of of Batham's brewery before walking down Delph Road as far as the Tenth Lock, with a short break for shelter from the rain just outside the Black Horse.

There were Canada Geese with chicks by the canal and a heron, on the opposite bank, seemed to follow us as we walked up the towpath beside the Delph locks (seen perched on railings in the photo above). The Black Country does seem to have a lot of green spaces.

JD Wetherspoon pubs shown in blue above

From the top of Delph Locks we followed a signpost to Merry Hill to catch a bus to Netherton.

The bus stopped opposite the Old Swan Inn. The entrance on the right was closed but thankfully the one on the left was open. There's a model of the RMS Titanic with a green background in the window to the right of the door.

The etched glass on the window to the left of the door shows Mrs Pardoes Bar and the Old Swan is known locally as Ma Pardoes.

Locals were gathered near the back of the bar and we found a nice sunny spot to sit by a window in the smaller front room.

An interesting collection of old bottles above the bar included a beer brewed here at the Olde Swan brewery named Bumblehole named after the local Bumble Hole nature reserve, another example of the Black Country's green spaces. 

We followed Mark's progress c/o Google Maps sharing location on the bus from Halesowen. We couldn't work out how he was where we were but nowhere to be seen. Eventually we were advised that Mark's group was next door in the part of the Old Swan that had opened later! Instead of taking our beers out of the door we found a way through the labyrinth that is the two adjacent properties into the front room on the other side of the dividing wall! It seems that the Old Swan is a 'Tardis'! Perhaps the Old Swan should provide a map for visitors?

This room also has an enamel ceiling, a steam whistle and a nice collection of pewter tankards above the bar.

CAMRA has recognised the importance of the historic interior of the Old Swan and it is listed in the national inventory of historic pub interiors.

The Olde Swan brewery is in the yard behind the pub and can be seen through the window of the Gents toilets!

Rooms behind the bar can be seen through window of the passage that leads to the toilets.

Pictures on the walls reflect the local industrial heritage of the Black Country.

On their return to Wolverhampton, Mark's group planned to visit Park Inn, the Holden's brewery tap, which we had visited the previous evening. We now went our separate ways with the Lamp Tavern, Dudley as our next destination, only a short journey by bus away.

This traditional Batham's pub just outside the centre of Dudley wasn't busy when we arrived.

The XXX is only available in the winter and the Batham's Bitter was in superb condition.

We turned left on entering the Lamp and our room had a fireplace guarded by Gromit!

There's a similar bar on the right of the entrance but with a carpeted floor and no fireplace.

It was now 7.30pm so we walked via King Street to the rear entrance of the Full Moon (JD Wetherspoon) which also has a front entrance on Dudley High Street.

We enjoyed pints of Enville White with our curries. This was a new addition to the bar since our earlier breakfast here.

We stopped for a photo of poet Ben Boucher and the Market Place Fountain beyond on our way back to the hotel at 9.30pm

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Dudley to Sedgley by 229 bus

Our first journey on the Diamond 229 bus was from the Black Country Living Museum (BCLM) to Woodsetton with a circular tour of Tipton's Victoria Park and a glimpse of Mad O'Rourkes Pie Factory en route. On Sunday 26 May we needed protection from the rain to reach the bus stop from the 'Dudley Town Centre' Travelodge.

The Park Inn, the tap for Holden's Brewery was our destination and thankfully the rain had stopped by the time we got off the bus.

The front rooms were busy at the pub so we found a table in the extended part of the building which has a roof light and views of the bar to the front and the conservatory and garden to the side.

A simple choice of drinks included Celtic Marches Abrahall's AV Vintage cider and three Holden's beers.

Tim's Black Country Bitter and Meg's Golden Glow were served sparkled and in lovely condition and were as pale as usual for beers from the Black Country. With the 229 bus an hourly service on Sundays we had less than an hour in the Park Inn before returning to the stop for the next 229 bus to Sedgley.

A short walk brought us to Mount Pleasant, featuring a hotchpotch of building styles that extends backwards for quite a distance. The entrance looked well worn and we decided to sit in the quiet front bar area as the bar behind sounded quite noisy. 

The Stump is the local name for Mount Pleasant. A blackboard at the bar lists details of the cask ale range with a good range of beer styles. Tim's half of Butty Bach was served in a Hobsons glass.

There's an interesting selection of bottled fruit wines under the blackboard.

Like many Black Country pubs, there are cobs behind the bar to satisfy anyone with an appetite. An interesting collection of ceramic tankards was ranged above the line of spirits bottles. Since January 2024, the pub is managed by Tracey Arenare, the former barmaid.

A visit to the toilets at the rear gave an opportunity to see the extent of the pub which has multiple rooms.

With the Beacon Hotel opening at 7pm on Sundays, we were soon on our way to get there in case it got busier later. Now out of sync with the 229 bus that stops outside, we walked along tree lined back streets instead. There were still several free tables in the long back room and it was nice to sit in familiar surroundings for the first time this evening.

Dark Ruby, Surprise and Pale Amber were the three Sarah Hughes ales available from the small bar area between front and back rooms. Tim relished his half of the award winning 6% ABV Dark Ruby mild on this short visit. Once again out of sync with the 229 bus, we walked downhill to our fourth and final pub earmarked for serving food later than most other establishments.

The Clifton (J D Wetherspoon) was once Sedgley's cinema. We enjoyed pints of Salopian Crash & Burn pale ale with our meals.

There was still some light in the sky as we returned to our Dudley hotel via Woodsetton and Tipton on the 229 bus.

JD Wetherspoon pubs are shown in blue in the rough map above. 

Black Country Living Museum

On Tuesday 28 May, it was a short walk from our hotel to the Black Country Living Museum (BCLM). We met up with Mark Geeson and CAMRA friends at the entrance after their journey from Wolverhampton. With the benefit of advance planning we used pre-printed vouchers combined with rail or bus tickets to get admission discounts. 

There are now two relocated pubs at the BCLM and we visited the Bottle & Glass Inn, the original one first. 

It stocks beers from Black Country Ales and we enjoyed the Citra Sublime pale ale in the room on the right with a real coal fire in the grate.

There are several other rooms with sawdust on the floors and candles on the tables. 

After our beers we left the cosy pub and walked the short distance in the rain to the 2022 addition, the Elephant & Castle. 

Originally built in 1905 in Wolverhampton and knocked down in 2001, it is now set in the 1960s and serves Banks's beers and Westons Rosie's Pig cider. 

By now the pub was busy with people of all ages sheltering from the rain, including children who amused themselves by repeatedly playing the piano in the main bar room despite our attempts to deter this by closing the lid!