April 2024. Willenhall. The only downside of my Big Day Out in Wolves was a lack of GBG pubs to tick, newbies in Wombourne and Kingswinford just out of reach due to what we pros call “Ye Hellishness Of Bumpy Buses Betwixt Wolves And Dudley“. But there was one option for a tick a ten… Continue reading UNLOCKING THE KEY TO WILLENHALL
Tag: Black Country
HOLDEN’S v BATHAM’S IN THE GREAT WESTERN
April 2025. Wolverhampton. And so to bed, or at least, the hotel next to our last pub on the Grand Wolves Tour. Lenny Henry should promote this Premier Inn (£39) for its pub crawl potential. In truth, I’d stopped taking notes well before the Great Western, and the photos aren’t great (see here for better… Continue reading HOLDEN’S v BATHAM’S IN THE GREAT WESTERN
FIREBALL
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
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
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
BBB – BORING BUT BRILLIANT IN THE POSADA
March 2024. Wolverhampton. A hotchpotch of a day in the Black Country, where I’d caught up with The Two Pauls on their Big Black Country Day Out, but after pints in the wonderful Old Swan and Beacon I’d had enough of waiting for Dudley buses, and had a plan to get back to Sheffield for… Continue reading BBB – BORING BUT BRILLIANT IN THE POSADA
SECURING SARAH HUGHES. A MAD DASH TO THE BEACON HOTEL.
March 2024. Sedgley. Dudley. Two Pauls and a Retired Martin do the Black Country ctd. I knew we were cutting it fine to catch last orders at the Beacon, with its Old Skool 3pm close. So many great photos in the Old Swan, and then 5 minutes negotiating the maze to get from the old… Continue reading SECURING SARAH HUGHES. A MAD DASH TO THE BEACON HOTEL.
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