Birmingham pubs and bars

We arrived at the Charlotte Street / Newhall Street Travelodge after 4pm on Tuesday 28 May after a bus ride from Dudley. This hotel is on the southern edge of the Jewellery Quarter in a quiet location near Birmingham's extensive canal network.

View to southwest from Newhall Street

After checking in, we walked northeast up Charlotte Street towards the railway arches for the line that runs from Snow Hill to the Jewellery Quarter and beyond. 

We passed the attractive sloping square space with St Paul's church in the middle.

At the junction of Charlotte Street with Livery Street we noticed the large building that will house Indian Brewery and its Taproom later in 2024. The brewer was by the open doorway when we passed.

We continued under the railway as far as Constitution Hill where we noticed Hen & Chickens on the corner but only stopped to take a photo, not realising that it was a Cask and Curry desi pub.

Indian Brewery, Snowhill

We turned back and soon reached the Indian Brewery Taproom in two railway arches, just before the side entrance to Snow Hill station. It was a nice surprise to be greeted by the Indian Brewery's brewer who was at the entrance and recognised us after we had passed him earlier.

There's a beer menu in the window which includes two cask ales.

We found a sunny spot to sit by the full height windows and ordered Indian Brewery Pekok lager which was chilled and refreshing and served with a smile by friendly bar staff.

The lower room has some individual tables and chairs and a window to the kitchen while the main bar has a long table with bench seating.

We would return here on Wednesday evening for 'Faat Naan' curries.

The Good Intent

Based near Stourbridge, Craddock's Brewery have an outlet in a Birmingham arcade. It was only a short walk from the Indian Brewery to find The Good Intent at 32-33 Great Western Arcade, which has an entrance opposite the main entrance to Snow Hill station. It's a Non Profit Bar donating profits to local charities.

They have a shortage of half pint glasses and my Saxon Gold was served in a Brooklyn lager glass!

We would return to this bar with Mark Geeson, Jon Gadd and CAMRA friends tomorrow for our third rendezvous of this trip.

Jon Gadd is on the left of the group at the bar in the photo above. It was interesting to see the casks elevated to the left of the bar in a cooled environment. 

A mini blackboard on the bar lists bottled beers available from the fridge including Dutch and Belgian options.

Thanks to Mark Geeson for supplying this photo of our group at the back of the Good Intent taken by Meg Thomas. 

The Colmore Tap

The Colmore Tap, a collaborative project between Thornbridge Brewery and Pivovar was the next destination after our second visit to The Colmore Tap. It was a short walk to find it, on the other side of the cathedral.

There's a handsome bar with the keg taps set in a slab of marble on the wall behind.

My choice of beer was Big Ozzy, named after a mechanical bull named after Ozzy Osbourne who was born in the city. Weighing in at 5.6% ABV, the IPA is a collaboration between Thornbridge Brewery and Birmingham based Burning Soul Brewing Company. 

Our group was able to enjoy our beers in a pleasant partially screened area at the back of the room with comfortable leather banquette seating and marble topped tables.

Purecraft Bar and Kitchen

Our next move was just around the corner of Waterloo Street to Purecraft Bar and Kitchen after a brief stop to get a photo of the 'Floozie in the Jacuzzi' en route!

There are 20 beers listed on the blackboard behind the bar including Purity Brewing beers from the five handpumps on the bar.

Luckily there was plenty of room to accommodate our large group in comfort as the photo below from Mark Geeson taken by Meg Thomas shows.

Sommar Birmingham

The Sommar bar is just across Waterloo Street from Purecraft. (The Sommar Brewery and Taproom overlooks the canal at Utilita Arena and is only open from Thursday to Saturday.)

Twenty draught beers and ciders are listed on the screen behind the bar including a Milkshake IPA brewed by Sommar. There is a mixture of comfortable seating options and plenty of space for our group.

The main group would visit the Post Office Vaults next and Tim took a farewell group photo before heading to the Prince of Wales with Meg, passing Birmingham Library (below right) and Repertory Theatre (below left) in Centenary Square on the way.

Prince of Wales

Unlike the main group we had not yet visited a Black Country Ales pub on this trip so this was an opportunity to catch up. The Prince of Wales is situated on Cambridge Street, behind the International Convention Centre (ICC). 

We entered by the left hand door and found the pub busy with many tables occupied but we were able to find a good table at the back of the room.

There are framed historic photos of Birmingham and its canals on the walls. Apart from the Old Contemptibles, a Nicholson's pub near Snow Hill station that offers a CAMRA discount, where we had first met the main group after their arrival from Wolverhampton at lunchtime, this was the most traditional of all the pubs we had visited today. 

We had spent Wednesday morning with breakfast the The Briar Rose (JD Wetherspoon) followed by a visit to the Victorian Radicals exhibition organised by Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery at the Gas Hall.

On Tuesday night, our bus from the Figure of Eight (JD Wetherspoon) towards our hotel had passed the Prince of Wales but this evening we had the chance to walk there directly along the towpath, passing Farmer's Bridge locks on the way.

The Jam House

Later on Wednesday evening, we walked back to the Indian Brewery for a meal (see earlier section) and then enjoyed some live music at The Jam House, St Paul's Square on the way back. We were lucky to find Acoustic Sessions with Ben Drummond on this date, a free monthly event at the impressive venue which features live music on several nights of the week. Mainstream keg beers and ciders are served at the bar.

The Jewellery Quarter

On Thursday 29 May, the last day of our trip to the Midlands, we went for a morning walk around Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter. Our Travelodge hotel had copies of the useful free Heritage Trail multifold leaflet produced by the Jewellery Quarter BID to guide and educate us. 

Other guides are produced by the JQ Business Improvement District including an Ale Trail. 

We passed two pubs of interest on the route but they had not opened for the day yet. The substantial Rose Villa Tavern, also featured on the cover of the Heritage Trail leaflet behind the Chamberlain Clock, has an interior recognised by CAMRA as being of outstanding national historic importance.

The Jewellers Arms, 23 Hockley Street, is a Black Country Ales pub serving beers brewed at its brewery in Gornal.

Today's breakfast in the Jewellery Quarter was at Costa Coffee, 32 Frederick Street. Subsequent research shows that this handsome building dates from 1914 and was built as a manufactory for E.L. Guide Ltd, Diamond Mounters. It is now Grade II Listed.

Returning to our hotel, we passed a 'peaky blinder'! After collecting our bags and checking out before 12pm, we walked to Snow Hill station to catch a local train to Worcester Foregate Street via Stourbridge on the way back to Newbury via Reading.

A final view of Birmingham was taken from the platform looking southwest towards an A38 Queensway tunnel. There are lots of reasons to revisit Birmingham soon but not roads like this dividing the city!

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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