Codsall & the Club of the Year

I had several options to break my journey between Shrewsbury and Birmingham New Street, as I headed back toward home.
But I relished the opportunity to pay a revisit for Holdens ale in Codsall Station, so that's where I decided to hop off the train.
It just so happened that this gave me the chance to get a micropub Beer Guide tick and call in to the current CAMRA Club of the Year whilst there.

Codsall Station (Chapel Lane, Codsall, WV8 2EJ)
This is a pub that isn't just the closest to the railway station - it is the railway station. Local brewers Holdens converted the waiting room, offices and station masters house in 1997. It's a thoroughly pleasing place, with a couple of rooms, a conservatory, and a terrace to the side from which you can make a dash when you see your train coming.

Holdens serve up their trad bitter, special and golden.  'Black Country Bitter' for me on this occasion, just gone midday being a wee bit early for the 5.1% special.

The last time I was here, the whole side room was occupied by a group of real ale and train enthusiasts, but on this visit I had it to myself.
Great cushioned bench seating around the sides, railway memorabilia on the walls, and a smart GWR patterned carpet.

Too early for my lunch for me, which is a shame because the menu is pub grub gold.  The top-billed faggots, chips/mash, peas and gravy are tempting me away from vegetarianism. Lasagne, burgers, chilli, omelettes...chips with Holden's Ale Gravy 😋 - anyone better than me at  creating itineraries for a day out should allow time to eat here.  

I left the station and ambled up the street to central Codsall, then through a supermarket car park to the front of the Firs Club.

Firs Club (Station Road, Codsall, WV8 1BX)
Hmmm...it all looked very smart. And I had to walk past people discussing a future event, then ponder the guest book in the hallway wondering if I should sign in.
Tricky business, beer guide clubs.
But this was one of the best welcomes from bar staff that I've come across - the lovely lady had chatted to me for 5-minutes and pulled my pint of Hobsons 'Equinox' before asking "CAMRA are you?", as if she hadn't already clocked me as such!

Other picks in the run of five ales were Wye Valley 'HPA', Purity 'Gold', Greene King 'Spring Break' (one of their Future Brewers beers, which are normally pretty good), and Black Sheep 'Respire'.
One old boy kept appearing from another room for his next half as he proudly declared he was working his way through the lot.
Somewhere there's apparently an on-site micro brewery, but no sight of their home brew on this occasion. 

Your starter for ten: Name the football ground on the telly.

Not for the first time in a club, the staff insisted on telling me that I was there at a quiet time (nothing new there, I'm there at a quiet time almost everywhere I go!). Most of the members were off playing for various sporting teams in the daytime and were due to descend on the Firs later.

The staff also quizzed me about where I'd been and was going - a thumbs up for the micro; a frown at the Joules pub; a recommendation to catch a bus to the Wolves suburbs to Hail to the Ale. And I may have changed my plans and done just that had Hail... not had such challenging opening hours.

I'm sure it'd be a different experience when full of all its members, but I still enjoyed a quiet and relaxed Firs Club.

Now let's brave the Joules...

The Crown (1 Wood Road, Codsall, WV8 1DB)
I see what they were trying to do with the play on words, painting 'The Crown Joule's' on the front of the pub.
Except they seem to have named themselves after a brand of pants...

Two pairs of underpants for £35.00 - crikey, modern life is expensive.

All sources tell me this was a jazz club of some national fame from the late 60's to early 80's, so I hoped to find some enlightening history about the venue.  Yet, I can't find any specifics or old pictures.  Apparently, the music used to happen in the back room, now the library room.

Joules took over in 2015, gave it a makeover throughout and reopened the pub in 2016.
Lots of wood.  Reclaimed furniture, old ale house touches, a maritime theme to the pictures, old beer barrel tables in one of the many different sections.  It's certainly well done, if not your authentic olde pub experience.

Four Joule's cask ales on offer, from which I picked a decent IPA with a pump clip and name that at least make it sound more traditional than most things which call themselves India Pale Ales.

A beer on good form.  In a comfortable, if a bit too quiet, pub.  With Arctic Monkeys, the Beatles, and Dire Straits as a background soundtrack.

Almost directly across the road from the Crown Joule's is the Beer Guide listed micro, benefitting from tables in the sunshine and busier than its five-times-the-size neighbour.

Love & Liquor (1-3 Church Road, Codsall, WV8 EA)
This micro was converted from a shop in 2019 and has picked up a 2022 South Staffs CAMRA branch pub of the year award.
Local faves Butty Bach and HPA on cask, plus Ossett 'Excelsior', Oakham 'Bishops Farewell' and this stuff..

The Allendale 'Anvil' was a cracking pint to finish my visit to Codsall on.
A chance to catch up with the footy on the telly, cheery staff and punters, a delivery of a giant bag of cobs arriving as I was halfway through my pint.  Crusty variety: leaving a pile of guilty crumbs at the foot of my stool.

I missed the most traditional pub in town.  But I'm pleased to have ventured beyond the station this time around - Codsall is somewhere well worth hopping off the train to visit.