TOP 100 PUBS – THE OLD BUSH, WOMBOURNE, STAFFS

August 2025. Wombourne

Our last of 4 days in Brum, and while Mrs RM explored the Jewellery Quarter, I headed west for a couple of ticks in the hard to access bit betwixt Wolverhampton and Stourbridge.

The fast train from New Street to Wolves takes a mere 16 minutes, but after that it’s a hard slog, as the Number 16 crawls through Penn towards Wombourne at funereal pace.

Appropriately, as Wombourne (pop. 14,157) can feel like a giant home for gentlefolk at times.

But it’s charming, and the service at Elly’s was great (“There you are my lovely“)  and some nice walks along the disused railway line.

“Let’s go hand in hand together, not one before another“.

What a motto, whether literally, around the maypole,

or metaphorically, into an uncertain world.

It’s the Kinver of the, er, north,

or perhaps a southern Penkridge. Stafford Paul will know.

I count down the seconds to noon opening at the Old Bush,

yet another Black Country Ales winner.

Welcoming and immaculate,

and if I still reckon ten (10) pumps is nine too many,

the Pig on the Wall is good. Enough.

But it’s the foot long cob that puts this in the Top 100,

cheese, onion and black pudding a winning combo.

And a wonderful landlady, who made a mum and toddler welcome.

“Mummy, am I 18 ?” asks little Jimmy.

Even at 18, Jimmy, you won’t be able to finish this cob in a sitting.

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

17 thoughts on “TOP 100 PUBS – THE OLD BUSH, WOMBOURNE, STAFFS”

  4. “It’s the Kinver of the, er, north, or perhaps a southern Penkridge. Stafford Paul will know”.
    No, I don’t really.
    Wombourne and Kinver are rather like Birmingham, with the difficulty of getting past Wolverhampton.
    But I’ve got a bus pass now so might get on that number 16.
    By the way, there was a maypole at my infants school. It was out one day a year, just like the St George’s flag on the church tower but about a week later.

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  6. Just to cement your position as an influencer, I visited Brum today for the first time in my life. It was slightly enforced due to work on the Marches line. I definitely would have chosen the black pudding option, but the Wellington meats BNS station only had corned beef and onion, which was fine. Washed it down with a very chocolatey pint of Stout Coffin by Church End.

    In 2014, prior to them being taken over by the Brighton gambler, I watched Royale Union Saint-Gilloise of Brussels the night before Wales played the national team. They were well shit then, but it was the best match and post-match experience ever. Their clubhouse had a pub sign ‘acquired’ from a Welsh brewery. Anyway, I bet it’s been gentrified to smithereens now, but the snack bar there sold foot-long baguettes with black pudding sausage, smothered in ketchup. As it was an evening game I had serious beer munchies, so had two. I was in heaven. I guess the only thing that will have improved is the choice of beer. At the time they old sold Maes europiss. Coincidentally, ‘maes’ means pitch/field in Welsh.

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    1. Still trying to get over “first time in Birmingham”, even though I know some folk in Walsall have never been either.

      You either get black pudding sausage or you don’t. What is black pudding sausage, though ?

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    2. I’m sorry I haven’t replied to your comment, Rhys, the return of Russ (which is 50% of Rhys) has set me back, in the best of ways.
      I might need a week to fully digest your post, particularly the reference to Champions League topping St-Gilloise, which I always thought were fags.

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      1. No need to apologise or feel the need to reply to all my witerings, but it did take considerably less than a week to digest the black pud baguettes, I can tell you.

        *Russ only has 33% of my letters, as my name consists of only three letters – rh, y and s

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