A Wednesday Walsall wander

On Wednesday 28 November, after crossing northwards under the M6 and passing the derelict Brown Lion pub with the green glazed tiles typical of the former Highgate Brewery, Walsall, our bus from Dudley disgorged us near the war memorial in Bradford Place, Walsall.

The late Victorian, Gothic style building in the background is the Institute of Science and Art, dated 1888, which conceals the Saddlers centre car park behind and now known as Globe House.

St Matthew's Hall

A short walk north east from here, to Lichfield Street, brought the 'Farnham Trubbellers' to St Matthew's Hall, another impressive building that is now a Wetherspoon pub. It was built in 1830-31 as a library, subsequently converted to serve as a county court and more recently has been a pub in different guises since 1998, finally refurbished by JD Wetherspoon in 2011.

My first beer of the day was Sadler's Peaky Blinder pale ale, currently brewed in Stourbridge but due to be brewed at Hawkshead Brewery, Kendal, when Sadler's Brewery closes in 2020.

St Matthew's Hall - Tony Lea with Ullage

Today's expanded group included Tony Lea who orginally hails from this part of the country but now lives in Hampshire.With an interest in historic buildings, Tony had prepared a tour of Walsall pubs including some with interiors noted in CAMRA's national inventory. Disconcertingly, St Matthew's Hall seems smaller on the inside than suggested by its exterior but we were still able to find tables in a side room.

Market Tavern, High Street, Walsall

The Black Country Arms

A walk via Goodall Street, brought us to the Black Country Arms on the sloping paved street that leads up to St Matthew's church and diagonally opposite the derelict Market Tavern and Highgate Brewery Stores.

The Black Country Arms has an interesting history dating back to 1627 and revived after Black Country Ales took over in 2008. With an entrance at the lower level, there are further steps inside up to the bar level in the top section which has a bay front.

Black Country Arms [Photo: Mark Geeson]

A long line of handpumps stretches the length of the bar.

Details of the beers and ciders available (1-10 and 11-20) are conveniently displayed on a central screen behind the bar. I ordered Black Country Ales BFG (Bradley's Finest Golden! £3.25) and a pork pie (£1.50).

Our group split up to find free tables at different levels of the large pub. It was a pleasure for me to sit with (left to right in photo above) Mark Geeson, Tony Lea, David 'Tankard' Bunyan and Gerald Daniels (Crookham Travel). These people all know how to organise tours for beer lovers!

It seems that no expense has been spared on the refurbishment of the pub and quality materials are evident as in the nearby fireplace with a real coal fire burning.

Lyndon House Hotel

A short walk up the hill and left into Upper Rushall Street led us to the creeper covered Lyndon House Hotel at 2.35pm.

Seven cask ales were available including beers from Batham's, Holden's and Burton Bridge breweries. I enjoyed  a half pint of Holden's Golden Glow (£1.55).

Decorative features in the cosy interior included a display of copper vessels.

We had now visited three of the pubs on Tony's list and we would visit three more before heading north to Bloxwich later.

The Victoria

Continuing, northwards from the Lyndon House Hotel, we reached the Victoria on Lower Rushall Street at 3.30pm. The side entrance is from Intown Row.

The central bar has separate counters for the front and back bars. While waiting to be served there was time to look at the bottle collection on a high shelf behind the bar and to check details of the beers on a blackboard to the left of the bar, on the chimney breast, above a real log fire.

The beer that caught my eye was AJ's Ales Hop Pot not least because this local Walsall beer was only £2 pint!

Unsurprisingly, this was a popular choice and well liked by all including me! Tony Lea commented on Untappd 'An amazing long bitter finish'.

The Fountain Inn

It was dark by the time we reached the Fountain Inn on Lower Forster Street.

The Fountain Inn acts as the tap house for the nearby Backyard Brewhouse. The central bar serves counters on both sides.

My choice here was a half pint of Backyard's The Hoard, CAMRA's West Midlands Champion Bitter of the Year 2017.

Our group had made themselves at home in the bar to the left of the entrance. Some of the artwork on display is for sale.

There is also space for a display of items for sale and I was tempted to purchase a pair of kitsch pottery figures holding musical instruments.

Dear reader, ukulele boy and lyre harp girl would reach my Newbury home safely after this trip!

I liked this pub a lot and was impressed by the range of events they host and publicise with posters.

The Pretty Bricks

From here it was a 15 minute walk, north west, past Walsall College to reach the New Inn, better known as the Pretty Bricks.

The Black Country Ales pub has a traditional interior.The CAMRA Historic pub interiors mentions 'The entrance on the left leads to a passage; front bar on the right; the passage opens out into a small rear lobby, then a rear lounge with a new fireplace.'

Our group sat in the front bar which has a fireplace and a blackboard listing the draught ales and ciders.

I enjoyed a half pint of Sadler's Hop Bomb, a 4.6% ABV West Coast pale ale.

There are some historic photos on the wall and a framed notice explains that Peter Linley launched the North Midland branch of CAMRA at the Pretty Bricks in 1972. As other local branches were formed, it would become the smaller Walsall branch. The two photographs are from 1973 when Peter Linley got protest posters made by students at Walsall Technical College where he was Vice Principal.

A separate blog post describes my subsequent visit to The Bloxwich Showman and rejoining the group at the Turf Tavern, Bloxwich later on this evening.

Stourbridge (27/11/2019)

Talbot Hotel, Stourbridge (later photo - 29/11/2019)

The 'Farnham Trubbellers' gathered in the breakfast room at the Talbot Hotel for a 'continental breakfast'. We had been warned the previous evening that a full English breakfast would not be available as the chef was away. 'Normal' service would be resumed on Thursday.

To pass the time before we caught the bus to Dudley as the first stage of the trip to Walsall, some of us would end up in the nearby Wetherspoon pub, The Chequers Inn, at the southern end of the High Street.

The attractive centrepiece of the island bar is a reminder that Stourbridge is traditionally associated with the manufacture of glass. Unlike the coffee from the urn at the Talbot hotel, the bean to cup coffee machine here was worth returning to for free refills.

Suitably caffeinated, there was a chance to snap the stylish 1930's style shopfront for John Pargeter & Sons on the High Street before crossing to Stourbridge Interchange via the subway under the busy ring road.

Less attractively, we noticed a few closed pubs from the bus on the way to Dudley.

However, passing canals and the chance to see Dudley Castle from Dudley Interchange were bright spots of the first stage of the journey on this gloomy day.

Separate posts - A Walsall Wednesday wander and Destination Bloxwich cover our group's visit to historic pubs in Walsall and Bloxwich.

Returning to Stourbridge from Bloxwich, via Wolverhampton, the group set off for The Chequers Inn (only to discover that the kitchen was closed). However, as I had eaten earlier, I visited the Red House Boutique, near the subway from Stourbridge Interchange.

Red House Boutique (later photo - 28/11/2019)

Featured in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide, this large pub is popular with a younger age group and the classic hits music playing from Gold radio was mainly to my taste.

Sitting on my own in a quiet corner, it was nice to be approached by manager Danii to ask if I was enjoying my £3.50 pint of Northern Monk 'Don't mess with Yorkshire ale'. She explained that they regularly have tap takeovers at the pub like their current range of Northern Monk beers on cask and keg.

In turn, this would become my excuse to later approach Danii at the bar and ask her to pose with a copy of Ullage, the West Berkshire CAMRA magazine, which I edit.

After finishing my pint, I returned to the nearby Duke William, visited earlier the previous evening.

A half pint (£1.85) of Craddock's Cast Iron stout would make the ideal nightcap.

It was pleasant to return to the table by the side windows and relax in the dimly lit room with just the sound of lively conversations rather than a radio stream that included irritating advertisements.
I left for the Talbot Hotel before midnight as there would be more Black Country pubs to visit on Thursday.

From Stourbridge to the Bull and Bladder

A pleasing way to arrive in Stourbridge is on the West Midlands Railway shuttle from Stourbridge Junction to Stourbridge Town. This was the final stage of my train journey from Newbury via Reading and Worcester on Tuesday 26 November, 2019.

The small railway vehicle heads downhill on the 0.8 mile branch line which can claim to be the shortest in Europe.

After crossing the ring road, a short walk along Stourbridge High Street leads to the Talbot Hotel, a traditional coaching inn which dates back to the 1630s.
I had time to take a photo of the High Street from the second floor bedroom before noticing that the shower fitting was damaged and leaking into the bath. After returning to reception via the creaking staircase I was able to change keys for a different room.

The hall passage to the rear second floor bedroom gave views of the hotel's open courtyard. The tower of St Thomas' Church beyond could be seen from this bedroom. All the floors appear to be sloping at second floor level!
A short walk via Victoria Passage led to Barbridge, based in an old retail unit since 2015.

Barbridge, Stourbridge  [Photo: Mark Geeson]

Mark Geeson and the 'Farnham Trubbellers' were already well established on the high level seating and the only seat I could find was at low level! Mark established that our group included CAMRA members from seven different branches. This is a bar with an appeal to all ages that features music memorabilia.

A blackboard lists four cask beers and four keg beers. My first beer here was Black Iris Snake Eyes, a 3.8% ABV hoppy pale (£2.90 pint 'Happy Hour'). Blues music was playing on the sound system. Our attempts to revisit this bar on subsequent days were unsuccessful as it may have closed early.

As Craddock's Brewery is based at the Duke William, Stourbridge, this was the next pub we decided to visit.

The Duke William was the second Craddock's pub to open in Stourbridge (in 2009). The brewery was installed at the Duke William in March 2011.

Trevor - The Duke William

The Duke William has atmospheric lighting, a fireplace with a stove, and hops for decoration.
Pieminister pies are available with a blackboard above the fireplace giving further details.

My first beer here was Craddock's King's Escape, a 4.7% ABV cask ale. Craddock's pubs have a loyalty card system where stickers are given for each beer and once a card is filled with eight stickers a free beer is offered. Our group were soon able to fill a card!

The Vine Inn aka The Bull and Bladder - Farnham Trubbellers assemble!

A trip through residential streets on a National Express West Midlands number 8 bus service from Stourbridge Interchange to Delph Road, Brierley Hill, took us close to the Vine Inn, also known as the Bull and Bladder. This is the home of Batham's beers.

The public bar on the right of the entrance has an Edwardian bar and a three-bay bar-back with a central clock and a bell for calling 'time'. On arrival, only Batham's Bitter was available but this was the beer that I had been looking forward to drinking.

As the public bar was already busy our large group found tables in another of the rooms and carried our beers through.

One of the large cheese and onion cobs from the bar made an ideal accompaniment for a favourite beer. Martin Taylor's Bull & Bladdered blog post, about his visit to the Vine in April 2019, includes photos of the public bar and a cob at this 'classic pub' which is featured in CAMRA's inventory of historic pub interiors.

A long room at the back of the building has further seating and a darts board over a fire place.

Thanks to an earlier arrangement made by Mark Geeson, our group was privileged to be invited on a tour of the large cellar by landlord Tom. He mentioned that at busy times, the pub can empty a hogshead (54 gallons - shown in photo) in a day. There were also barrels (36 gallons) of Batham's beer in the cellar. (For comparison, the largest size container of cask ale seen in pubs in the south of England is usually a firkin (9 gallons) although brewers supplying CAMRA's Great British Beer Festival are asked to use kilderkins (18 gallons)).

Photo: Mark Geeson

Bitter, Mild and (seasonally) XXX are the three Batham's beers served. Roger Protz's 'Black Country family affairs' article in What's Brewing (January 2020, with same text as linked Protz On Beer blog post) has more details about Batham's 'delicious and uncomplicated' beers, from the brewery located behind the pub.
After this enjoyable introduction to the Black Country and its beers we would catch a bus back to Stourbridge and our hotel for rest before a visit to Walsall the next day.

Brakspear brewery tour with Reading CAMRA

Thanks to Reading CAMRA, Quinten Taylor and the Clifton Arms in Caversham for the opportunity to join a trip to Witney for a Brakspear /Wychwood Brewery tour on Saturday 23 November, 2019.

Quinno's joining instructions mention 'We will be departing from the car park at the Clifton Arms in Caversham at 12 noon sharp - we won't wait around for stragglers, so make every effort to be a few minutes early. The pub will be open to prior to departure from 11am. As they have been instrumental in helping us secure this tour, please consider getting drink before or after the trip to show your appreciation.'

Following these instructions gave me a chance to drink a half pint of Brakspear Gravity (recently rebadged Brakspear Bitter), before boarding the minibus in the pub's car park.
Departure was delayed until 11.10am but one missing member failed to arrive. About 20 minutes later Quinno received a phone call to say that the latecomer had seen our minibus driving off from a short distance away. An otherwise uneventful journey, via Swinford toll bridge, resulted in our arrival at the brewery by 12.15pm.

An iconic, carved Hobgoblin figure stands at the public entrance to the brewery and taproom.

We entered and ordered beers from the bar in the cellar taproom. The bar prices charged here are reasonable eg £1.70 for half pint of Brakspear Gravity.

Chris, our tour guide, would later tell us that the taproom has been open to the public for 9 months and that the circular floor of the original Brakspear mash tun is now repurposed as a feature of the taproom floor (photo above).

The taproom was busy but I found a stool to sit on facing Quinno (photo).

When it was time for our tour, we headed for the bar reserved for tour groups, passing some members who would rejoin the main group after finding space in the overflow seating area for the taproom.

The passage leading to the tour group bar passes some framed original pastel artwork used for subtly advertising Brakspear beer.

As part of the tour, Chris poured us our choice of beer before giving an introductory talk about the history of the brewery.
Brewing started at the Eagle Brewery premises in Witney in 1831 as Clinch & Co.. In those days there was also a maltings and a stables associated with the brewery. In 1961 Courage bought Clinch & Co for its pub estate and closed down the brewery. In 1983 Paddy Glenny rented part of the site and established Glenny Brewery. Chris Moss took over and changed the name to Wychwood Brewery in 1989. Beers were named after Wychwood Forest myths and legends with Hobgoblin as the best known ruby beer.
The brewery was taken over by Refresh UK, a subsidiary of Marston's in 2002. Marston's bought Refresh and Wychwood Brewery outright in 2008. Jon Tillson was appointed Head Brewer in 2018.

The Cross Keys, Witney, was the original home of Brakspear Brewery. In 1769, Robert Brakspear became the pub landlord and this is where Brakspear Bitter was first brewed. In 1779, Robert and his uncle Richard Hayward moved to the Bell Street brewery in Henley-on-Thames. in 1812, the brewery moved to New Street in Henley.

In 2002, Brakspear moved away from direct brewing and its beers were brewed under licence at Wychwood Brewery in Witney. Vessels including the top of the copper and the double drop fermenting vessels were moved from Henley to Witney.
Chris mentioned that bottling and kegging for Wychwood and Brakspear beers has been done at Marston's in Burton-upon-Trent for some years but that more recently casking has also moved there. A tanker takes beer from the brewery to Burton leaving at 4am.

Chris led us into the brewery for the tour.

Standing in front of the white grist cage, Chris pointed out some other equipment including the red roller mill. The whirlpool is on the left of the photo above. He explained that separate yeast strains are used for Wychwood and Brakspear beers which are stored separately.

We walked to the other side of the building and Chris showed us some Isinglass from Brazilian lumpfish that is used for fining beer. There is a framed poster, showing the layout of the brewery. Chris also passed round small containers of different malts to taste and hops to sniff.

We were standing near the wooden steps to a platform around the Copper which has an open chimney above. The next stage was to climb the steps for a view of the rest of the brewery.

A large square shaped vessel at the back on the left is the Hot Liquor Tank. The nearer, circular vessel is the mash tun. Chris explained the brewing process and mentioned that the capacity of the Copper is 29,000 pints and that there are 10 brews per week.

The final stage was to see the Double Drop fermentation system used exclusively for Brakspear beers.

Chris explained that the wort is fed from the copper to the whirlpool and then via a heat exchanger to the circular top fermenting vessel where it rests for four hours. It is then allowed to drop, by gravity, into the square vessels below for the final fermentation period. The drop process adds some oxygen and also allows some sediment to be left behind in the top vessel.

The final part of our visit was an opportunity to taste a variety of bottled beers produced at Wychwood brewery. Chris opened a pair of bottles which were passed around our group to pour and then taste and offer comments about the flavours and ingredients. On this occasion, we tasted Arrowaine (3.6% ABV Mild), Brakspear Oxford Gold (4.6% ABV), Imperial Red (4.7% ABV brewed with Scottish rolled oats), King Goblin (6.6% ABV brewed with chocolate, crystal and pale malts), Black Wych (5% ABV also brewed with Scottish rolled oats) and Bah Humbug! (5% ABV spiced with cinnamon and cloves).
We learned that many of the distinctive label designs for Wychwood beers like Hobgoblin and Black Wych are the work of artist Ed Org.
There are various historic mementos in the brewery tour bar.

Chris told us about Piledriver, a beer named after Status Quo's fifth album. The giant label is signed by members of the band.

We also heard about the framed photo of the occasion when David Cameron presented Barack Obama with a bottle of Hobgoblin in 2011.
Our guide Chris had plenty of other interesting tales and some good jokes and earned our thanks after answering remaining questions before it was time to leave, nearly two hours after the start of the tour. Before leaving we were each given a souvenir half pint Wychwood beer glass.

Finally, there was a chance to visit the store which has merchandise and a large range of bottled beers at reasonable prices.

Details from 2019 Wychwood Brewery taproom, store & tours leaflet:
Brewery Store: Mon - Sat 10am - 5pm
Wychwood Brewery Tap: Wed, Thu 5pm - 10pm; Fri 2pm - 10pm; Sat 12pm - 10pm, Sun 12pm - 6pm
Tours: (£12 per person): Thu, Fri 3pm, 6pm; Sat 11am, 11.30am, 1.30pm, 2pm, 4pm & 4.30pm; Sun 2pm & 2.30pm
Check availability and book at www.wychwood.co.uk

Wychwood Brewery, Eagle Maltings, The Crofts, Witney.  OX28 4DB
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