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.