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.

Blackheath Bound

Thursday, mid-morning.  Stubborn clouds lurking to defy the sunny weather forecast.  I was on a bus somewhere in the lesser explored regions to the west of Birmingham.  Just don't ask me where exactly.
Google directing me onto a number 4 bus, then insisted I'd reached my Blackheath destination when we pulled up next to The Bear in Bearwood.  Only about 4-miles off target, Google.

I realised it wasn't going to Blackheath but stuck with the No.4 anyway.  Almost as good as an open top sightseeing bus - as long as you're happy without an open top and content that the sights are the estates of Langley Green.
It eventually deposited me in Oldbury, where a quick check for anything worthy pub-wise brought up a heritage inn.

Waggon & Horses (17A Church Street, Oldbury, B69 3AD)
The gloriously red-bricked 'proper'-looking Waggon & Horses is situated right next door to Wetherspoons, which possibly hasn't helped a few turbulent open-shut years.  They've risen to the Spoons challenge by unbolting the doors early in the day and advertising some ridiculously cheap pints on the blackboard out-front.
The basic main bar with well-trodden wooden floor boards and trad furniture was fairly busy with scruffy tradesmen and scruffy blokes.  I fit in well.

I was fully anticipating keg only, so was chuffed to see the cask Enville Ale.  My notes say "passable but ropey", although at £2.15 a pint I wasn't about to grumble.
£2.15!
A big TV in the corner pumped out the Pet Shop Boys 'What Have I Done to Deserve This' on a music video channel with extended adverts for foot massagers every couple of songs.
I perched in the corner for a while before pondering if I was missing the heritage features.  What's in the rear smoke room?

Ah, that's more like it.
Okay, I had sit on my own in silence, but what a great room.  The TV above the fireplace spoils the effect a little, but the bench seating was superb, old bell pushes still visible from the days that someone would have come to serve you at your seat.
There's a nice bit of pub tiling in the corridor too...

Although the WCs, down dark corridors at the far end of the pub were definitely not 'heritage' and not for the faint hearted.

I figured I may as well pop into Spoons whilst right next door.

The Court of Requests (Church Street, Oldbury, B69 3AF)
This Grade II listed building was originally a jail and courtroom.  Somewhere behind locked doors and beyond the three areas of seating that make up the pub are original cells still in good condition.
The staff probably wish they could pop the odd customer in them, starting with the chap who was keen for an extended debate about why breakfast service had stopped at midday.

Beers from Conwy or Batemans complemented the usual cask suspects at Spoons.  I opted for a £1 half of the Batemans 'XXXB', an EPA that I haven't had for years and which went down a treat.

Right...that was two pubs and a pint-and-a-half that I wasn't expecting.  Where was I trying to get to again?
Blackheath - just a short hop southbound on another bus.  My destination turned out to be a bit chaotic, a confusion of diverted traffic and roadworks which were transforming central Blackheath (...into a hub of excitement and charming buildings? Possibly not). 
For the time being I passed straight through and headed south to Shell Corner.

And my next pub...

The Swan (282 Long Lane, Halesowen, B62 9JY)
Located in a residential area betwixt Blackheath and Halesowen, this is a pub that was saved from bulldozers in 2014 by local campaigners.  Paving the way for the Black Country Ales makeover.
It's an open-plan pub with a dog-leg shape generating two distinct areas either side of the bar in the middle.
I procured a cheese and onion cob and a half of 'Maybug' from local brewery Kinver.  A top-fermented German style lager apparently, which may not have been my first choice had it said that on the pump clip but it actually proved a winner to wash down the cob.

Because - strewth - that onion was strong!
Although I snapped a picture of the empty room, there was a procession of locals wandering in and all tables around me ended up occupied in a short space of time.  All ordering their own cobs (and black pudding sides); none phased by the onion, so it was just me with my eyes watering.

Departing from the Swan, I had a trek through residential estates to reach a second Wetherspoons of the day, this one a Beer Guide regular.
It's a bit of a rarity in the JDW chain as it was actually built as a pub in the 1950's rather than being converted from something else.

The Britannia (124 Halesowen Street, Blackheath, B65 0ES)
That said, for all the traditional feel to the outside, it's a typical Spoons within - vastly extended to the back and side to create a large open plan room of regimented tables.  And I bet the original pub had toilets that didn't require a trek up to the first floor!

There was a good selection of cask on offer, including locals from Fixed Wheel or Byatts.  But the one that jumped out at me was the Burton Bridge 'Masterpiece' - always love these recreations of historic recipes.

Back in the centre of Blackheath there is a bar that may or may not constitute a Good Beer Guide tick - I was confused.
Cyder & Cob is listed in the 2025 guide, but now appears as permanently closed on Google.  That appears to have shifted a couple of miles south to Halesowen and converged with the Shell-ter micro bar.
But there is still beer to be drunk in the original Cyder & Cob address...

Artisan Micro Bar (167 Halesowen Street, Blackheath, B65 0ES)
The original site of Cyder & Cob was taken over in January '25 by the folks from the coffee shop next door.  The coffee shop which I've managed to photograph from the street instead of the bit that's the bar.
This was a typical modern micro made up of one rectangular room and a half dozen high tables and vertiginous seating.
Music from Madness, the Beatles, and Sting.
Beers from Black Iris, Hobsons, Rowton and Bluntrock breweries.  A robust Rowton 'Equinox Porter' from Shropshire for me.

It was a half mile walk directly west to get to my next destination - another Black Country Ales establishment.

The Old Bush Revived (44 Powke Lane, Blackheath, B65 0AD)
This was formerly a Marston's pub before being taken over by BCA in December 2022 and becoming number 46 in the chain.
At number 46 they're still diligently sticking to the tried and tested formula - horticulturally patterned sepia wallpaper, busy carpet, dark wood, tartan fabric on the bench seating.
And a screen above the fireplace listing the beers, from which I picked a Front Row 'Red Roses'.

I opted to top-up with another cob.
"They're crusty and chewy", warned the landlord.
They're burnt, aren't they?
Apparently the last bunch had been really pale and he'd asked for the next delivery to be given extra time in the oven.  Well, someone's taken that on board.

So I chewed my extremely well-done, very crusty cob ("we'll be offering jaw massages tomorrow for anyone who's had one") with a bit of Springsteen, Gerry Rafferty, and Yahoo as background music.

The Old Bush had obviously been pre-warned of a sweaty pub ticker en-route and had prepared the bathrooms accordingly.

Whilst in this neck of the woods I decided to squeeze in a half-pint in Rowley Regis, being at it was only a short walk to another Beer Guide entry...

Britannia Pub & Brewery (18 Rowley Village, Rowley Regis, B65 9AT)
Possibly one pub too many on a hot 'n' sticky afternoon...my beer guide is bigger than my belly, or something like that.
I'm sure I would have done better to visit on a Saturday with a crowd of folk rather than on a midweek afternoon when I almost had the place to myself.
The Britannia also appears to be more pub than brewery, despite the name.  There is a suggestion online that you'll find house beers from Fownd, but not on this occasion.  That's not to say the Wye Valley duo of Butty and HPA, Titanic 'Plum Porter', Ludlow ESB, and a Green Duck pale didn't make for a solid cask line-up.

And so this post ends, with a decent Green Duck 'ᴙevolution' ensuring the use of a new special character on the blog.
Lesser-heard pub music from Chacka Chan.
And the realisation that it takes a long time to get back to civilisation from Rowley Regis on public transport.