March 2024. Old Swan. Netherton. Dudley. (Part 2 of 2) I’d gate-crashed (if you can gate-crash something you’re invited to) The Two Pauls Black Country Crawl in Netherton, fearlessly taking on the torture of two hours on the top deck of Dudley buses. Convinced I’d beaten them into the Old Swan (aka Ma Pardoe’s) I’d… Continue reading MA PARDOE’S
Tag: Black Country
TOP 100 PUBS – OLD SWAN, NETHERTON. PART 1 of 2.
March 2024. Netherton. Dudley. A 2 parter. I’d like to tell you it’s because it’s a cliffhanger but in all honesty it’s because I’m soaked and typing this on a phone in a pub in Newport (Salop). Stafford Paul will know which pub. He’s a Joules expert. You left me in Wolverhampton, contemplating culture and… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – OLD SWAN, NETHERTON. PART 1 of 2.
ON TOWARDS ROWLEY REGIS, AND THE INEVITABLE ABK-LED MICRO
20th March 2023. Two ticks in the bag, I sped up on the way back to Oldswinford, stopping only to bring you Stourbridge street art. I think this is a metaphor about the housing market, and this gorgeous painting may well be on the wall of an old pub on the Bridgnorth Road; and here’s… Continue reading ON TOWARDS ROWLEY REGIS, AND THE INEVITABLE ABK-LED MICRO
PLAYING A PEAKY BLINDER AT MERRY HILL
25th January 2020 Tick No. 2 on the return to Wolves, a rare newbie in Brierley Hill, home of you-know-what. This post will mainly be of interest to Curry Charles, who’s had an office base at the Waterfront since before Simple Minds wrote a song about it. GOOD TO KNOW (as the Yanks say) :… Continue reading PLAYING A PEAKY BLINDER AT MERRY HILL
THE ROAD TO LOWER GORNAL
Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed I didn’t score the Batham’s in the wonderful Vine. Don’t read anything into that; it was Good (NBSS 3+), fully deserving of its GBG place. It’s just the beer next door was even better. I doubt you’ll be following me to the Black Horse though. A friendly, modernised, opened-out fun… Continue reading THE ROAD TO LOWER GORNAL
STOURBRIDGE TAKES IT TO THE BANK
You can bank on Stourbridge. Another year, another excellent new GBG entry to add to the classic Batham’s pubs in the town’s suburbs. Perhaps it lacks an absolute classic like the Cooper’s or Great Western, but I can’t think of many towns with the same consistency. Just pray it doesn’t get completely overrun by brewery… Continue reading STOURBRIDGE TAKES IT TO THE BANK
I WOULDN’T LET IT LYE
Here, as promised last night, is the delayed report from Lye, former Balti capital of the West Midlands. And here’s Susan Tully, beautifully rendered in the town’s only noticeable street art. I can find no connection between Susan and the Black Country from a cursory look at the Grange Hill Annual for 1978, no doubt… Continue reading I WOULDN’T LET IT LYE
MERRY HILL – APTLY NAMED
What greater joy can there be on a Spring day in England than traipsing round an out-of-town shopping centre in Dudley looking for a Wetherspoons. Several, I’d say. I can safely vouch that Merry Hill is a joy best left to people who need things, or like arguing with their wife over meeting places. Which tends… Continue reading MERRY HILL – APTLY NAMED
WOLVERHAMPTON – GREY PAES, BRIGHTER DAYS
My regular catch-up with ex-colleagues over curry moved from Kinver to Wolverhampton, and again proved that Auditors are human beings. Wolverhampton is a tricky place to tie down. One the one hand it has The Great Western and a great Art Gallery, on the other it has less great architecture and pubs than you might… Continue reading WOLVERHAMPTON – GREY PAES, BRIGHTER DAYS
THE DUKE WILLIAM, STOURBRIDGE
My Top 100 pubs will be places I could recommend without hesitation, particularly if I’ve been able to revisit them in the last six months. There’s also a tranche of brilliant places with a big question mark over them. The home-brew Globe in Glossop is one; the Duke William falls into the same category. I visited… Continue reading THE DUKE WILLIAM, STOURBRIDGE
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