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).
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!
