No, not that Blackheath. The one in the West Midlands with the identity crisis.
Blackheath is a town in Rowley Regis area of Sandwell, says Wiki. Got big capital letters and all, so it must be a proper place. Bet the residents support West Brom.
I’ve been to a couple of pubs on the A4034 from our Oldbury hotel, but WhatPub tells a grim story these days (unless you believe that slow-moving cask is the enemy of the people and should be removed).
Thank Goodness for the Conservative Club, eh ?
Things pick up in the typical Black Country town centre, the Wednesbury of the south, home to tanning shops, camping stores and bargain booze outlets.
And an Art Deco library where I spend 20 minutes looking at pictures of old West Bromwich (don’t ask).
Sadly my chance of a second ever Carling is scuppered by typical micro opening hours.
The only Guide entry is a Spoons, of course.
Which one did I have ?
It’s already packed at noon, and gentlefolk are happily moving tables around in that way old people do when reading out the menu gets boring. I’d offer to help them, but I’d probably do my back in.
I have a fair-to-middling view of the action.
One chap rattles a tine marked “Grumpy Old Man Tin“, the two next to me argue whether it’s ClanDudNo or ClanDidNo, but mainly it’s just pensioners eating fish and chips. Or just chips.
Gotta Love Spoons.
ClanDidNo if the locals were correct. Exmoor Gold for me.
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Mmmm.
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Exmoor Gold deffo
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“The one in the West Midlands with the identity crisis.”
You’ve cropped the map so it wouldn’t show my hall. 🙂
“Blackheath is a town in Rowley Regis area of Sandwell”
At least the walk from your hotel looks easier.
“Sells AJ’s Ales, whoever AJ is.”
That would be Andy Dukes. The ‘J’ is either his middle initial or the first letter of his co-owner, who could be his darling wife.
“Which one did I have ?”
After looking behind them, whichever one’s been pulled the most?
“One chap rattles a tine marked “Grumpy Old Man Tin“”
He had a single fork prong with that written on it?
“the two next to me argue whether it’s ClanDudNo or ClanDidNo”
Couldn’t they use their phones to check?
“Gotta Love Spoons.”
And, apparently, forks missing a tine. 😉
Cheers
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The Titanic,obvs.
I’d say it slipped down a treat.
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I would have had the Old Empire although Titanic’s Cherry Dark was very nice the other morning on Stoke railway station.
One of Mrs TSM’s brothers lives just yards from Rowley Regis railway station.
He rarely uses pubs and is coming here for lunch today.
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Have you noticed that a lot of the old boys in ‘Spoons look a lot like Les Dennis?
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Now you say it…
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Do they have ex-wives who look like Amanda Holden?
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I doubt they have current ones who do.
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Lads,don’t knock it.
He had the pleasure of tucking Amanda Holden into bed every night for her best years.
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A few years back I thought that I saw the now late Keith Chegwin in a Spoons. But it must have been a lookalike, because, as you all know….Cheggers Can’t Be Boozers.
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A few years back I thought I saw Tim Martin walking into Wolverhampton railway station – and it was Tim Martin because he had checked out the Moon Under Water there and nobody else looks remotely like Tim Martin.
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“Tucking”. That’s a euphemism, right?
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No euphemisms on my blog, John. You need to read the Prof’s comments for that 😉
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More like a double entendre.
Of the saucy seaside postcard variety.
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Ooh, I don’t know, Paul…
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Brilliant.
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Thank Private Eye, Paul.
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You may not be delighted to know that my son Matt identified Tim on his recent EU tour.
And had his first beers on his 18th birthday in Cambridge Spoons. 3 pints of Punk IPA he admitted to. #ProudDad
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But you had really hoped he would have used up three of your vouchers.
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Tim Martin reputedly hates computers, mobile ‘phones and e-mail. I have seen him a couple of times ; on both occasions, he was carrying an A4 hardback diary and a copy of the FT.
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He hates lots of things doesn’t he?
A list of those he likes would probably be rather short.
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Etu,
But then you’re making out that he’s like me.
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Is he the long lost son of Humphrey?
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One of the better West Midlands Wetherspoons in my opinion, especially for consistency of beer quality. The Blackheath Library in your pictures replaced an old Carnegie building I was always fond of and that’s since been used as a kiddies nursery. Not sure if you spotted Blackheath Market but that has something of a cult status, especially for lovers of pork scratchings.
That Whatpub list of doom makes for sobering reading. I’ve been in most of them apart from the Conservative Club I think – the Navigation was always worth a look if having a wander along the Titford Canal. I had a feeling that the Shoulder of Mutton might have been in the GBG not so long ago, a real earthy Black Country number overlooking that bottleneck roundabout. Cheers, Paul
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