The Amblecote Triangle

On an overcast August Wednesday I opted to tackle a few of the pubs in the south-western corner of the West Midlands.
The day began in Stourbridge, the best starting point to tackle the A491 corridor of pubs.

And a quite superb pub town in itself, of course.
At 10:30am I had eyes only for the Wetherspoons Chequers Inn, breakfast and a coffee refill or two.

I liked the Chequers with its island bar and vertigious route to the WCs.

I was abstaining until midday, but had I wanted to squeeze a half pint in, guest ales came in several varieties from the local Kinver Brewery.
Breakfast a 3-out-of-5: points deducted for some dodgy gooey clumps of tomato sauce in the baked beans and for having another of those toasters that forgets to toast the second side).  Draining the coffee, I made my way along the scruffy High Street.
Through the underpass, past the recently reopened New Wharf Inn (next time), then just over a half-mile up the busy road.
A right-turn at the Collis Street junction and my first Amblecote triangle pub wasn't far up the hill.

The Robin Hood (196 Collis St, Amblecote, Stourbridge DY8 4EQ)
As soon as you see this pub it cries out 'classic Black Country local'!
Great colour.  Good name.  Nice couple of picnic tables out front for watching the road.
Step inside the front door and there are two halves to the front room, bar to the left, plus another space to the back.
And a hefty number of casks to pick from:

I stood patiently whilst the landlady did something important with her back to me and the labrapoodle belonging to the sole other customer tried to get into my pockets for imagined treats. 
"You came in too quietly," I was told by the bar staff once spotted.
"Just like me" quipped the dog owner.
"I always know when you're here - you don't do quiet!"

Unfortunately (although maybe for the best) the Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild had just finished.  So much choice, but it had to be Bathams Best.

The Robin Hood has been a licenced house since 1855.  It was the local CAMRA branch pub of the year in 2024, not for the first time, in a branch that's never short of contenders.
It's a lovely place.  Livened up a little by the arrival of a couple of chaps in hi-vis and a couple of locals.
I settled on the comfy seating in the window in the room to the right, the shelves adorned with Beer Guides of past and a collection of old bottles.

From the 2024 local POTY to the 2022 recipient.
It was just a couple of minutes walk up the hill to the Starving Rascal.  This Black Country Ales inn stands on the sharp road junction that marks the furthest point east of the Amblecote triangle (∠α = 24.624°, 0.42978 rad).

The Starving Rascal (1 Brettell Lane, Amblecote, DY8 4BN)
This joined the ranks of BCA pubs in 2020 and underwent a lockdown refurbishment.
It was once called the Dudley Arms.  Legend has it that a beggar asked for food and shelter on a chill night, was refused, then was found frozen to death in the doorway the next morning.  The spirit has hung around to haunt the pub, leaving trails of wet footprints in dry weather, knocking picture frames off walls, and reaching out to grab customers pints with a ghostly hand.
I should have saved this one for the Halloween post.
It was renamed to refelct the story in 1977 ('Rascal' is a bit harsh though, no?)

Well, if any ghoulish hands were going to go in search of beers on this Wednesday afternoon, it was only going to be mine...

Far too quiet.
The staff member busied herself with a feather duster once my beer was served.
The local Fownd 'Frost Hammer', a murky fruity pale ale with tropical flavours from Olicana hops.

In the absence of any other customers I was entertained by a soundtrack of the Stones, ELO, War, and Marvin Gaye.  Not a bad selection.

But I was soon on the move to the next pub, another very short walk to The Swan.

The Swan (10 Brettell Lane, Amblecote, DY8 4BN)
Ah, now this had the lunchtime trade: a few folk eating in the left-side room, and a good dozen cheery chaps in the comfier right side working through the ales.
Wednesday ale and cider club, 20% off, drawing the punters in, I suspect.

The Swan is another local Pub of the Year - 2023 - everywhere on my route seemed to be getting a go with this award.

Sadly, the music quality had dropped, in my opion, Maria McKee's 'Show Me Heaven' playing as I waited at the bar.  Time to peruse the pump clips whilst the old boys put their orders in. Hobson 'Town Crier' or 'Best', Green Duck 'Jet Stream', and Kinver Brewery 'Edge'.
The Kinver for me, a fine best bitter in great condition.

I departed the Swan, with its chequered carpets and decorations of old sporting implements, to make my way down Bretell Lane towards a pub owned by the same people.

Red Lion (147 Brettell Lane, Amblecote, DY8 4BA)
My impressions of the Red Lion's interior may have been tainted by the decorations for the forthcoming Festa Cubana.

The two staff concocted an impressive looking cocktail complete with colourful umbrella poking out the top, then proceded to photograph it for the promos.  Had they taken their eye off the beer though?  My Mighty Oak 'Gorgeous George' was just 'okay' (other options came from Hobsons, Green Duck and Salopian (who part-own the pub)).
And - strewth - it was hot in there.  Were they heating the place up to Gulf of America temperatures ready for the fiesta?

The music was of the kind that I needed Google's help to identify - SYML 'Where's My Love'.
I'd rather have listened to the Housemartins as promoted on the chap in the corners excellent t-shirt.

I originally only intended to visit the four GBG '25 pubs in this area.  But a sign in the Gents warned me that if I was banned from one I'd be banned from all pubs on the Amblecote triangle (I wasn't, not this time).  The list of triangle pubs included one that hadn't been on my radar but still commanded a decent beer score on the Camra pub pages.

No chance for Scottish snacks, Bites 'n' Bru's with the lights off and door shut.

Lucky the large 'Spoons breakfast had amply filled me up.
Just a few doors away on a busy road junction (what's that idiot doing prancing around in the central reservation photographing the pub?) is the Maverick.

The Maverick (1 High Street, Amblecote, Amblecote, DY8 4BX)
This was a bit of an oddity - a West Midlands Wild West themed pub. 
Let's skip description and just jump to the picture...

There was a decent beer local selection in the form of Wye Valley 'HPA', Hobson 'Town Crier', and Ludlow 'Stairway'.
I picked a half of the 5% premium pale bitter from Ludlow, a chewy fruity beer.  Then settled under the TV at one end of the room.  There are a couple of pretty basic side rooms plus a garden to the rear where a few other customers had headed.

The Temptations 'Just My Imagination Running Away With Me' wasn't really the wild west soundtrack I was expecting.

But the 'art' followed the theme...

Must ask Mrs PropUptheBar if we can get a copy of that for our lounge at home.

The Amblecote triangle done, I decided I'd walk the 0.8 miles straight down the road to Wollaston for an extra Good Beer Guide tick.  That would leave only a visit to Kingswinford to tidy up this corner of the GBG chapter - then, if I could motivate myself one day to get to Solihull and Dorridge, I'll stand a good chance of completing the West Midlands.
In the meantime, this diversion was a good'un...

The Unicorn (145 Bridgnorth Road, Wollaston, DY8 3NX)
Painted in the classic Bathams colour, The Unicorn is a fantastic simple two bar local.  It dates back to 1859 and brewed its own beer on-site until the 60's.  The Unicorn spent 80 years in the hands of the Billinger family from 1912 onwards until they decided to sell the premises to Bathams in 1992.
The front door leads to a passage with the first door to your left taking you into a tiny front bar. 

Bathams 'Best' or 'Mild' on a bar with lots of crisp displays...

I picked the 'Mild' as it's a while since I've seen it.  Just £2.90 a pint.
I also partook in a cheese and onion cob from the deli display, settling myself on the bench at one end of the side room.
What a great place.  Nothing here to distract from the jovial chatter of a a blokey clientele, cask in front of one and all.

Perhaps before I complete all the Black Country Ales pubs I should visit the whole Bathams estate.

I didn't really get to grips with Amblecote as a place - does it even have a centre, or is it just a chunk of land above Stourbridge?  But what a great selection of pubs it has all within easy walking distance of one another.  With the added bonus of a fine pint of Bathams next door in Wollaston, this had made for a fine afternoon's excursion.  Cheers!

Stourport Pub Explorations

A diversion from Kidderminster pubs and football to make a debut visit to Stourport-on-Severn, where I planned to call in to the two 2025 Good Beer Guide pubs.

The town was built around the terminus where the Staffordshire & Worcestershire canal and Birmingham canal converge.  Prior to the waterways there was nothing but a sleepy village here, the influx of barges, business and people warranting a new name for the place. Stourmouth at first, then Newport (which was thankfully changed because we've got enough of those and it's already confusing), finally settling on the name Stourport in 1771.
It now has a population of over 20,000, a couple of frustratingly busy roads through the centre, and a surprising number of amusement arcades.

I escaped the initial traffic chaos and challenging road crossings, making my way to the Holly Bush...

The Holly Bush (54 Mitton Street, Stourport-on-Severn, DY13 9AA)
I always think I must be getting close to completing all the Black Country Ales pubs.  Even with two more the day after this, I'm still nowhere near close.
I am a fan of them.  Yet how many beers are too many?
Eight in this case.  My pick of a Zest 'Timelord' was way past its best and almost certainly should have been returned to the bar.
The Guinness beer mat is past its best too...

At least the cob was a winner.  Onions in tuperware on the bar for you to add to your taste.

The Hollybush is a sizeable pub cosisting the bar room, two snugs, and a lounge on a lower level to one side, TV showing sports at the far end to an audience of none.
That lounge area used to belong to a cottage next door, the original fireplace at the end retained when the pub expanded into this space.

There were a handful of locals in a table by the bar and a couple of families in the snug, the Holly Bush busier than my pictures make out, but not busy enough for all those casks of beer to be drunk swiftly.
The crowds were up the road in the Black Star...

The Black Star (1 Mitton Street, Stourport-on-Severn, DY13 8YP)
In a great location, with the best outdoor seating lining the path overlooking the canal below.
Stepping through the main entrance the impressive snack display is the first thing that stands out.
The centrally placed bar has counters facing three ways into the small lobby and rooms either side.  Different handpumps depending which way you went, necessitating some back and forth for the fussy beer drinker. 
I settled on the Woodcote Brewing Co 'XPA' from nearby Bromsgrove.

 

Also available were brews from Wye Valley, the common-round-this-way Ludlow 'Gold, a Hobson's seasonal ale, and another from the Woodcote Brewing Co.
I avoided the more food orientated tables in the chapel-side, but was left perching on a stool by the window ledge in the busy boozier trad pub side.
And completely failed to get a picture to show what either room was like.

The Black Star is a pub I probably would have appreciated more with a decent table and the music a notch-or-two louder.  Top quality beer, mind.

Glass returned to the bar, I strolled through the streets down to the River Severn and the canal basins.
Not what I expected at all.

There were a host of ways to entertain yourself here from crazy golf to skateboarding to eating ice cream in rowing boats.
The Treasure Island fairground was a slice of seaside resort in landlocked Worcestershire.  I resisted agitating the dubious Zest beer by riding on the Freak Out frisbee or Sky Flyer.  I resisted a visit to the big Davonport's pub.  Instead walking a little further down the river to the more peaceful surroundings of the Angel.

The Angel (14 Severn Side, Stouport-on-Severn, DY13 9EW)
This is a Grade II listed red brick building standing above the river with some fine al-fresco tables.  It dates back to the mid 18th century with the different brickwork of the 3rd storey suggesing someone decided it needed to be one floor higher and added this at a slightly later date.
It's lovely inside: a central passage with the Georgian Bar to the left and a dining room to the right.

On the bar were two options from Stourport's own BOA Brewery: 'Peace Out' or 'Lock n Load'.  Or Banks's on keg, or ciders from the box, should you prefer.
I ordered the 'Peace Out', a light pale ale hopped with Citra and Enigma, at a very sensible 3.6%.  An enjoyable pint served in good condition.

Why do they put cushions on the front of bars?

All-in-all, a pleasant visit to the Angel.
'Last Man Standing', 'The River', 'Racing in the Street', and 'Thunder Road' making for a bit of a Springsteen fest whilst I was there.

Back up on the High Street I spied a bar bistro that was reputed to serve a well-kept ale.

Fedoras (6 York Street, Stourport-on-Severn, DY13 9EQ)
This was a fine micro (sort of) - a rectangular room with regular tables at the front by the window and some high stools towards the back where most of the Tuesday afternoon custom had gathered.

Here's your beer choice - three ales very frequently seen in these parts, plus the local Bewdley Brewery 'Baldwin IPA'.

Just a half pint of the very tasty IPA for me, drunk whilst sat next to Marlon Brando.

I grabbed the wifi code from bar, typed it in wrongly several times as per usual, then checked the bus times.  5-minutes until the next service to Kidderminster or face a long gap in buses.
I quaffed the ale too fast and felt a bit guilty about my visit to Fedoras being so short.  I was gone in the time it took Counting Crows to sing 'Mr Jones'.

Cheerio Stourport.

Hurry up Harriers...we're going down the pub

An trip to northern Worcestershire: visiting Stourport, grabbing a GBG tick in Kidderminster, and watching Oxford City play at Aggborough in the evening.

I arrived at Kidderminster station at midday, a smooth journey on the pricier route via Birmingham, as I steadfasty refused to sit on a bus replacement service between Morton-in-Marsh and Worcester for an hour and fifty minutes.
Midday.  Thirty-five minutes until the No.3 to Stourport.  A quick visit to the steam railway station pub, I think.

The King and Castle (Station Dr, Kidderminster DY10 1QX)
This welcoming pub is housed in part of the Severn Valley Heritage railway terminus.  It's not quite as historic as it looks, built in 1985 to recreate refreshment rooms that once stood at Ross-on-Wye station.
The main room of the King and Castle is a bright, airy space with perching tables down the middle and red cushioned bench seating serving the tables along each side. Black and white tiled flooring by the bar and an impressive carpet stretching the length of the room emblazoned with the GWR logo.

It was a bustle of activity when I arrived - the tail-end of the breakfast trade overlapping with the first lunch orders.  Space soon opened up for me to plonk myself on a comfy seat with a pint of BOA 'Bone Idle' pale ale.
Enough choice of ales to make them CAMRA award winners in the not-so-distant past - I only resisted the Bathams on the assumption I'd encounter it again later in the day.

Finishing my beer at the King and Castle I scooted across the road to await the bus to Stourport.
The riverside town deserves a post of its own so...
⏭
Fast-forward to a 4.30pm return, the bus depositing me in central Kidderminster.

No Bass in the Seven Stars.
So I figured I'd try somewhere I hadn't been before and strode into The Swan, located opposite the town hall - temporarily closed while it undergoes a 'major transformation'.

The Swan (Vicar St, Kidderminster DY10 1DE)
I'd read that the Swan was a Daveport's pub so was expecting the Gold or IPA with their retro pump clips.  But instead I found a well-known south-west duo of Butcombe 'Original' and St Austell 'Tribute' on the bar.  A 'Tribute' for me - on decent form, although it was replaced by 'Butty Bach' whilst I was there.  Which was odd, as I didn't recall anyone else ordering cask and it being declared as finished or past its best.

I have a bit of an issue with the beer board...

Fosters: location Australia.  Shouldn't that be Manchester? Ditto Birra Morretti.

I'd locate the Carling as coming from Burton unless the Swan are getting their supplies shipped over from Ontario.

This is a fine town centre boozer with tall tables and standing room around the front by the bar and a dining area stretching further back.  Sports memorabilia, blokes in tartan beanie hats, Trent Rockets v Manchester Originals in the Womens 100 on TV.

Moving on from the Swan, I made a fairly long trek through the underpass, up past the station, then into the side streets to find a short-cut to the town's 2025 Good Beer Guide pub that I hadn't previously been to. 

The Chester Tavern (211 Chester Rd N, Kidderminster DY10 1TN)
This cracking mid-terrace pub, with its striking flat-roofed extension jutting out the front, was re-opened in August 2022.  Dating back to 1855, it closed in 2019, fell into disrepair, and was looking set to become flats.
It now looks great - a modern refit which still retains plenty of older features and has gone for a proper pub carpet, dumpy stools and cushioned bench seating in the window bays.

The chap who brought the Chester back to life has now converted a church into a bar in the town which will have to go on the 'to-do' list for my next visit.

Cask ales were Arbor 'Everyday', Wye Valley 'HPA', Bewdley 'Red Hills', and a Brass Castle 'Bright'.  The 'Bright' for me - an easy-drinking pale ale with Citra and Chinook hops.

I'd like to have hung around and tried some of the good-lookin' crafty keg options.
Heck, I'd like to have hung around a few weeks to watch ex-Stiff Little Finger Henry Cluney playing at the Chester. 
A fine pub that I did enjoy and would happily recommend.

But on this occasion I was on a mission to get to the football ground with enough time to spare for one last pre-match beer.

The Harriers Arms (Harriers FC, Hoo Rd, Kidderminster DY10 1NB)
Not a bad option for a pre-match pint, eh?
A bustling social club doing a fine trade.  Pool table covered and pushed to one side. Cricket on the TV screens. Red-cushioned banquet seating bays.  And quality cask...

There was a Wye Valley beer alongside the Bathams Bitter - no contest on this occasion.
Served in a plastic pot because I foolishly said I was taking it outside, then spent about a minute standing in the yard before coming back in.

Waiting for a seat to become available I perched on a beer barrel alongside adverts for future events.
Why fill your squad with a host of international players whose names you can't pronouce properly when there's the extra marketing potential of signing players with happily rhyming names...

C'mon Forest...
Savoloy with Bryan Roy?
Jambalaya with Daniel Ayala?
Mac and Cheese with Dorus de Vries?

Aggborough is a proper football league ground, head and shoulders above most of the grounds at this sixth tier level.  Whilst many venues in the National League north and south ferry you in through one set of turnstiles and allow you to wander around all four sides, you're stuck in your designated stand here.

Oxford City brought a grand total of 38 supporters for a Tuesday evening match, although I'm suspicious that the 11 lads lined up along the railings on the terrace were one of the youth teams, ushered onto the bus to bolster the away support.

City scored first on 36 minutes, impressing in the first half with several decent chances and a free kick from midfielder Josh Ashby hitting the bar.  Kidderminster clicked up a gear in the second half, eventually volleying in an equaliser in the 81st minute. 

The game came to a close - honours even - under dark skies. I traipsed off the terrace and back through the residential streets towards the station.
The Weavers micro pub was a beacon of light and chatter tempting me in...

The Weavers Real Ale House (98 Comberton Hill, Kidderminster DY10 1QH)
It was buzzing.  A vastly different experience to when I was last here in 2021 with strange plastic dividers in the pandemic era.
There was an orderly queue to the bar where 9 hand pumps served up ales from locals Fownd, Hobsons, Bewdley, Froth Blowers, the slightly-less local Wye Valley, and the longest travelled Ben's Brewery 'Bazaar' from Chorley.

A Fownd 'King Korvak's Champion Porter' for me.  Gorgeous.

Against the odds I scored a tiny table in the corner, pondered what card game was going on to one side of me, then why the group in front had half a dozen pumpkins on their table.

"I'm drowning me sorrows", said one fella, such is the effect of dropping two point sto Oxford City. Especially seeing as the City goal was - they insisted - "a yard offside".

A decent point away from home for Ross Jenkins' team.
Good luck to Kidderminster for the season ahead - they're a club that deserve to be playing at a higher level, from a town that makes for a very decent pub crawl.