From Gunmakers to Woodmen - a Birmingham Pub Crawl

My central Birmingham pub explorations began in the Gun Quarter which, from the 17th to early 20th century, was an important and thriving centre of firearm manufacturing.
The industry and the area declined in more recent years and in 1960 the cities post-war planners drove the multi-lane inner ring-road through the quarter, leaving pedestrians to tackle unwelcoming underpasses to get there...

The Gun Quarter was incorporated as a district of Birmingham City Centre in 2008 as part of the 'Big City Plan'.
(Plan named by the same agency who title my blog posts... Consider clever word-play and cultural and historical references: settle on 'Birmingham Pub Crawl').

Heading through the underpass, my first pub of the afternoon stands proudly at the edge of the district with the busy ring-road as it's neighbour.

The Bull (Price Street, Birmingham, B4 6JU)
And it's an absolute corker of a pub, with a proper carpet, pictures of old Birmingham adorning the walls, and hundreds of ceramic jugs hanging from anywhere you can hang a ceramic jug.

I was hoping the blog could be completely pandemic-free from this point on, with no mention of that virus.  But the hand sanitiser pedestal takes centre stage in my photo of the pub's main room...

There are a reasonable number of folk in on a midweek lunchtime, many tucking into the traditional pub grub on offer.
"You've just missed the pie of the day", the landlady told the customers in front of me.
"As long as we 'aven't missed the Black Country faggots", they replied.

I settled on one of the huge tables in the side room, with a pint of Backyard Brewery bitter, waiting for my own food to arrive.
There were three good beers on cask to chose from, then a further selection of keg and cans listed on a craft menu.

Always trust a pub with an enormous collection of decorative dinner-ware.

I spent the whole of my lunch contemplating whether to stay longer and order a 12% Spanish stout from said craft menu, but common sense prevailed.

I wasn't about to burn off many calories walking to the next pub, which was all of two minutes around the corner...

Built in 1820 and looking pretty marvelous - the Gunmakers Arms

Gunmakers Arms (93 Bath Street, B4 6HG - web)
This is the tap house of the Two Towers Brewery, which is the next building down the hill.
On the bar was a choice of three of their beers, from which I picked a 'Jewellery Porter', diligently pulled through before being poured.

One chap spent a good 15-minutes holding an in-depth conversation with the juke box.
We were entertained by his extensive Beatles/Oasis selection, before someone else commandeered the machine and provided a bit more variety. 

Hang on a minute - wasn't he in the Super Furry Animals?

The Gunmakers was a great pub - good beer, interesting place, cool pub cat, and a really friendly and chatty barman.

Moving on, I headed back through the underpass and into Aston University territory at Gosta Green where my next pub was situated.

Sacks of Potatoes (10 Gosta Green, Birmingham, B4 7ER - web)
The current pub, dating back to 1890, was at one time surrounded by rows of back-to-back terraces.  Now it's very much part of the University campus.
The elegant white building to it's left was once the Delicia Cinema, which went on to become home to BBC Midlands TV studios for some time.

This is a Stonegate pub, with posters throughout advertising the fact that I could use my CAMRA vouchers, if only they weren't sitting on a shelf back home.

I really wanted to like this pub, perhaps because it's got a great unusual name.  And I do like my potatoes.
But it was a sizeable place that was painfully quiet.  The staff seemed bored, the hi-vis jacket gang on benches outside looked down-in-the-dumps, and 'Best Premier League Goals Ever' on TV wasn't captivating anyone.

After an unremarkable visit, I finished my pint - can't recall what it was, but it wasn't Goose Island - and moved on.  A heritage pub awaited.

The Woodman (New Canal Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 5LG - web)
For a few years The Woodman looked a lost cause as businesses around it closed and were demolished.
Directly across the road was the one-time train terminus of Curzon Street station.  All but the grand station entrance building was demolished, leaving the pub in a barren part of town.
It's all change now though.  There's a busy pedestrian path running by it, shiny new Birmingham Uni buildings across the way, and even the station will return to life when HS2 is finished in a timely manner on budget. 

The Woodman suddenly finds itself in an area rejuvenated with life, which should ensure the survival of this marvelous Victorian pub.  On a mid-week early evening there were young people (a bit too young for the ones who couldn't find their ID), ale aficionados, solo drinkers and construction workers.

There was a good and varied choice of ales from reliable brewers.  I went for the most unusual of the lot, a Malvern Hills Brewery 'Olicana' - the staff pick of the day on the blackboard - a refreshing pint packed full of tropical fruit flavours.   

  

A bit of time to spare before my train from New Street just allowed for a visit to an oft-frequented central bar, the Post Office Vaults (84 New Street, B2 4BA - web).
Taking the entrance through the unassuming door next to Greggs on a hectic shopping street, a set of stairs leads to a superb basement beer bar that hasn't changed much over the years.

I don't think I've ever seen it so quiet though - by now 6pm in the evening when I'd have expected the place to be packed.
Castle Rock come up trumps again with 'Sound and Vision', a good pale ale with a Bowie inspired pump clip.

Drinking that final beer I reflected on a successful day exploring some of central Birmingham's pubs and decided to head back again soon and tick off more of the nearby beer guide entries.  And I'll report on that shortly.

Cheers.