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
Tag: Wye Valley
TICKLED PINK IN SHIFNAL
May 2023. Another day, another small pub (NOT a micro) in a Midlands market town. Keen readers will remember Shifnal as the venue for one of the last Proper Days Out before Covid. Half a dozen Old Codgers tip up at a remote train station with 27 different train tickets and visit half a dozen… Continue reading TICKLED PINK IN SHIFNAL
A WEE WALK IN WORCESTER
May 2023. Lots of mini-posts and I may even catch up before the end of the month. Perhaps… An overnighter parked up (literally) under the railway arches in Worcester, £4 for 24 hours. A minute from the racecourse (never been to a horsey race), three from the station, five from the cricket and the Cathedral,… Continue reading A WEE WALK IN WORCESTER
THE MASONS ARMS, WADBOROUGH – THE TRADESMENS’ CHOICE
May 2023. Worcestershire’s handful of Guide new entries (a half dozen in GBG23) always delight. Expect somewhere posh in the hills below the A456, a heavily timbered town pub recently acquired by a small home brewer, a new Black Country Ales opening as they achieve world domination, and a micro pub in a Worcester suburb.… Continue reading THE MASONS ARMS, WADBOROUGH – THE TRADESMENS’ CHOICE
ALE-CESTER
May 2023. Own up. How many of you could place Alcester (pop. 6,273) on a map ? Probably only Mark Crilley, who reads all my posts thoroughly and saw the map in my 2017 post. Except I see that I only gave you an extract of the town itself 6 years ago, so here’s a… Continue reading ALE-CESTER
PUB LIFE, ABEREDW
More unpronounceable (if you can’t pronounce them) Welsh villages, as we leave a fully-ticked Herefordshire a fortnight ago for our Room at the Inn. I used to use that CAMRA guidebook to £45 B & B pubs in the 90s, before the internet made books redundant. We tend to mix up the nights in a… Continue reading PUB LIFE, ABEREDW
CHEPSTOW BOOKED
The end of the Welsh Wander, on a gorgeous day that started with avocado smash at the wonderful Parc Pantry in Malpas. I bet you didn’t think you could even get avocado smash in suburban Newport, did you, let alone that it looked like this; Chepstow is practically England, but it never feels quite as… Continue reading CHEPSTOW BOOKED
I’M FEELING GLADESTRY ALL OVER
AKA Dodging Duncan. This post from Euro Semi-Final day feels more interminable than the Final itself by now, but we brought it to a close near Gladestry at the end of the Hergest Ridge in what Real County Enthusiasts know as Radnorshire. Not many people are aware that Hergest is named after the “difficult” sophomore… Continue reading I’M FEELING GLADESTRY ALL OVER
LEOMINSTER IS BACK
Of course, if this were BRAPA it would be “Cheese munching spinster, illuminates Leominster” (actually that’s Mark E. Smith) or something. But when you’ve made as many trips to Herefordshire and been disappointed by The Lem’ster as often I have, you’ll know a decent pub in the county’s second town is cause for raising a… Continue reading LEOMINSTER IS BACK
A PEAK INTO PEMBRIDGE
You always get one bit of classic Black & White Herefordshire in the new Beer Guide. Normally a village you can’t pronounce with lots of vowels, cherry blossoms on the approach, dull Wye Valley ales and that tempting sign for Robinsons cider the ticking rules won’t let you succumb to. Pembridge, the half-daytrip for Brummies… Continue reading A PEAK INTO PEMBRIDGE
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