retiredmartin

February 2026. Aldridge. Walsall.

No railway station in Aldridge (the curse of B******g), but plenty of buses from my secret campervan stop. I still made the schoolboy error of heading for central Aldridge, confused by Lazy Turtles and Hop Heads,

and missing the main point that my target GBG pub was actually in a suburb a mile north of town. I thought Aldridge was the suburb !

Here’s what you come here for; Beef Bourguignon spelt correctly,

and a place to buy your £25k Linn/Naim Hi-Fi system.

They’ve got the red triangle the wrong colour, mind.

The Hop Station is in a little shopping area containing another old GBG pub, the Lazy Hill’s desi menu sadly not available until 3pm.

So the micro beats the roadhouse on opening times,

and while it’s no heritage pub it’s spacious and comfortable and friendly,

with darts and U2 and “Steaks by Heather”. A real community micro.

Half a dozen in already, with a man talking to his dog the highlight.

Excellent beer, too. Green Duck’s Space Lord a chewy NBSS 4. A deserved GBG newbie, though if you sense a slight lack of enthusiam in the dull title, you may be right. It’s not you, Hop Station, it’s me.