April 2025. Wolverhampton. Congratulations to CAMRA members for rejecting that motion to reduce the number of Beer Guide pubs. Wolves typically has half a dozen central entries in the GBG; they all deserved their place on the PubMan visit. But there’s more to pubs than cask, and for many years I’d been eyeing up the… Continue reading FIREBALL
Month: April 2025
THE WHEATSHEAF – WOLVES UNSUNG WONDER
April 2025. Wolverhampton. If you’re getting the impression our intrepid cask warriors were having a good time last Thursday you’d be right, I nearly sat out our 5th/6th pub, the Wheatsheaf having been a bit too “earthy” even for your lover of earthy pubs last time out. A drinkers pub, we’ll call it. But the… Continue reading THE WHEATSHEAF – WOLVES UNSUNG WONDER
MID-AFTERNOON, THE POSADA, WOLVERHAMPTON
April 2025. Wolverhampton. It’s always good to report that the classic pubs are holding up well, even as cask sales decline a bit. Last year I met the two Pauls in a couple of Black Country gems (Ma Pardoes and the Beacon) and found them a joy, with a stop in Wolves’s Posada an unexpected… Continue reading MID-AFTERNOON, THE POSADA, WOLVERHAMPTON
A BRIEF POP ART INTERLUDE IN WOLVES
April 2025. Wolverhampton. Wolves looked great last Thursday. I realise these posts are largely about unrelentingly good pubs, but you could equally spend a day exploring the two nearby National Trust properties, alternating Asian and Caribbean snacks, and taking photos of slightly faded grandeur. We’d bee joined by the original and best Pub Curmudgeon at… Continue reading A BRIEF POP ART INTERLUDE IN WOLVES
TIME FOR A COB…
April 2025. Wolverhampton. While our group of #PubMen mused on the disappointment of a closed Combermere Arms, I joined Paul Mudge on a brisk walk back to central Wolves. Paul pauses for no-one in his pub pursuit, not even pics of porcelain cats, and was in and out of the Clarendon in 10 seconds, 10… Continue reading TIME FOR A COB…
ROYAL OAK, WOLVERHAMPTON. A GOOD SUB FOR THE ONE WITH THE TREE IN THE GENTS
April 2025. Wolverhampton. Just like Tiny Tim tiptoeing thru’ the tulips back whenever, our #PubMen heroes set off through the blossoms of Wolverhampton’s West Park for Pub No.2. As I’ll never tire of telling you, Wolverhampton is a city of some beauty. Two National Trust properties, ancient churches and a pub with a tree in… Continue reading ROYAL OAK, WOLVERHAMPTON. A GOOD SUB FOR THE ONE WITH THE TREE IN THE GENTS
WOLVERHAMPTON’S STILE – THE KING OF PROPER PUBS
April 2025. Wolverhampton. Mainly due to it opening at 11:30, we started our Proper Pub Day Out in Wolves at The Stile. Not always ideal to start at the best one, though the pub standard never really dropped, at least until one of our group moved on to Fireball whisky. A very high standard of… Continue reading WOLVERHAMPTON’S STILE – THE KING OF PROPER PUBS
NO SUNBEAM, BUT SUNSHINE OVER WOLVERHAMPTON
April 2025. Wolverhampton. What started out as a “Proper Day Out to Wolves” on the codger forum became Sheffield Hatter’s “Curated Pub Research Trip” when thrown open to the CAMRA masses on Discourse. Which meant Will had to pin down start points, lunch breaks, bus routes and supply commemorative T-shirts. It’s hard being a leader.… Continue reading NO SUNBEAM, BUT SUNSHINE OVER WOLVERHAMPTON
SURPRISING REQUESTS IN THE SHAKESPEARE
April (finally) 2025. Sheffield. Spring has arrived, and Sheffield’s Peace Gardens look lovely just before the start of the End of the World or whatever’s happening this week. The city is (still) going through a construction boom. Historic Fargate has been beautifully tidied up, and there’s some expensive new flats towering over Derek Dooley Expressway… Continue reading SURPRISING REQUESTS IN THE SHAKESPEARE
ON GWYDIR STREET
March 2025. Cambridge. Finding tea in a pub on Sunday night gets harder by the year, even in tourist Cambridge. A bit of a surprise to find grub on Gwydir Street, whose residents typically retire to bed at dusk with an improving text from the outdoor library, probably that one by Danish philosopher Peter Schmeichel.… Continue reading ON GWYDIR STREET