Back to pubbing on the Friday, as two days were enough to “clear the West Midlands“.
After the Bennets and the Bow Bars, my first newbie doesn’t look all that, does it ?
The Old Dispensary looks better in the photo on WhatPub, which otherwise seems a bit keen to tell me just how many beers and gins and (especially) ciders it has.
It puts the micro in Langley, this year at least. Duncan, Si and I will expect to see it listed under Oldbury, Causeway Green and Sandwell in future years.
Not Langley’s first GBG entry; who could forget the Model, a Kraftwerk themed cocktail bar selling only cask-conditioned Becks ? I may have got that wrong.
Yes, I’m playing for time, as I try desperately to decide if the Old Dispensary is worth its own past given that;
a) I made no notes. Often a good sign.
b) There’s little to say about Langley, a suburb for normal Oldburians that lies the wrong side of the M5.
c) It’s a bit boxy and spartan.
BUT. It had a magical atmosphere, where the Landlady chatted to everyone without the Spanish inquisition. More community local than micro, with beers you’ve heard of and stuff that people actually drink, too.
I only sat at the high table with my superb Salopian (NBSS 3.5+) because I’m not keen on sitting at the bar. But I felt part of the pub. You either do or you don’t.
The outside area (for smokers, I guess) was cosier than most Kent micros.
If I find my notes they probably centre on the excellent range of books about elephants.
As with mobility scooters, enhanced access for wheelchairs and locals who all shout “See ya mate” when you leave, that’s what makes a Proper Pub, not Victorian windows.
retiredmartin 
“There’s little to say about Langley” except that the most impressive building is the maltings built in 1898 for Showell’s Crosswell Brewery and bought by Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries in 1944 for £12,000. ,
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I see that the obligatory re-cycled pallets are much in evidence.
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I like the interior Paul. It gets an extra point from me, for the apparent absence of varnish from Martin’s high table too. I wouldn’t put money on the recycled timber being from pallets either, not that it makes any odds.
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Knock all the raised nail heads in and then a quick going over with an industrial sander, and who’s to say they’re not recycled pallets?
I have to agree with some of the other comments as well, although the origin of the pub fixtures and fittings shouldn’t affect whether the place is a good pub or not.
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Warm welcome for all, whether chatting or reading, good quality beer but not beer obsessed.
All I need.
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You definitely seem to be warming to the Micro .I thought that outside area looks really manky though -those settees !
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I prefer “lived-in”, Pauline ;-0
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But which creatures might live in an outdoors settee ?
Tim doesn’t risk having them.
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You don’t have to sit out there. Some folk do…. And have cosy nights too.
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Yes, looked cosy to me. And I bet smokers demonised elsewhere appreciate the effort to give them a decent space to enjoy life’s legal pleasures.
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The “enhanced access for wheelchairs” is probably from its time as a proper dispensary.
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👍
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Do they accommodate down and outs in the ‘smoking area’? I could go to the tip and find better stuff!
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That smoking area reminds me of the ‘garden’ at the back of the St Giles Ale House in Northampton, a town where “down and outs” were more likely to be doing ‘bargains’ in an alleyway pub.
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You can’t forget the Rifle Drum, can you Paul 😉
You’re spot on about the similarity with St Giles. Sadly the Oldbury micro didn’t back onto a Wetherspoons.
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No, but it was the most memorable of Northampton’s pubs.
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We should open a book on what will be the most memorable of Rugby’s pubs on Friday. Either the Bull or the Half Moon, I predict.
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If we’d spent all morning in the garden of the St Giles Ale House with some gardening tools, instead of drinking all day we could have made it into a very pleasant space!
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If we’d spent all morning in the garden of the St Giles Ale House with some gardening tools we might not have got to the Rifle Drum !
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