Ferry Across the Wye

This post contains pubs in two counties...

...a brewery tap.
...a hand-pulled ferry.
...and lots of Wye Valley beer.

We were spending a long weekend in Symond's Yat, staying in a cottage in the tree-lined gorge that the River Wye runs through, with friends Tim and Marta and Luna - chaos reincarnated in canine form.

But first, I'd spotted a midday beer diversion in Gloucestershire where we could sit next to shiny brewing equipment.

Bespoke Brewing (Building 5, Church Farm, Church St, Littledean, Cinderford GL14 3NL)
Bespoke started brewing in 2012 in nearby Micheldean.  They were brought by the current owners six years later, who proceeded to move the brew kit to a new home in 2021.
That home is located up a gravel lane running between the church yard and a field of sheep, eventually leading you to farm buildings and reassuring banners advertising coffee and ale. 

There were a decent number of folks in the sunshine on benchs outside, the barn-like taproom proving less of a draw in the fine weather.  Just me that gets a silly grin sitting drinking next to fermenting vessels, then.

Draft beers came in the form of Arbor 'Mosaic', Stround 'Easy Peasy', a mysterious 'Bohemian Lager', plus two of their own concoctions.
We stuck with their own, ordering halves of the Bespoke 'Forest Gold' and 'Test Brew': the test brew being a 6-point-something % American IPA with lesser-seen hops.

  And very nice it was too.

Top marks also for the coffee counter here who brewed a quite marvellous and expertly presented espresso and cappucino, as well as having tempting sweet treats that could very well have scuppered my appetite for lunch.
Top marks for the WC too, a mini musuem of breweriana... 

Our rendezvous point with our friends was in Blaisden.
Guess who picked a former local Camra award winner to have lunch in?

The Red Hart (Blaisdon Ln, Blaisdon, Longhope GL17 0AH)
At least I picked well (this time).  It's a former local CAMRA Pub of the Year, serving a South West selection of cask ales from Otter, Butcombe, and Glastonbury Brewery.

The Red Hart has its bar counter facing the front door, with a pleasant rustic dining room to the right and trad village pub seating to the left.  Super flagstone flooring, random tools on the wall, an odd bit foliage failing to hide the speaker...

We took advange of the good weather, sitting in the lovely peaceful garden, enjoying the Glastonbury Best Bitter and the chefs interpretation of Indian street-food samosa chat.
A great place.  Which I knew it would be as soon as I caught a glimpse the old battered pub sign...

We'd left ourselves with a final 14-mile leg of the journey to reach Symonds Yat, our home for 2-nights, located down mildly challenging lanes.  Which would be easy to drive down if only nobody else had had the idea of coming here on a sunny weekend.

Our cottage was in Symond's Yat West.
The 2025 Good Beer Guide entrant was in Symonds Yat East, the River Wye inconviently in the way.  Although that makes for a unique final approach to a pub...

The Saracen's Head (Symonds Yat East, HR9 6JL)
Whatever Chris De Burgh may tell you, you do have to pay the ferryman.  £2 each for the short distance across the water - cripes, on a cost:distance ratio that's more than even HS2 will charge us (probably).
Advance warning to this penny-pinching pub-ticker - you'll have to cough up £6 for a pint at the bar here too.

The Saracen's selling point is the location and the chance to sit on one of several outdoor terraces overlooking the river.  Inside there is a dining room with a modern feel, whilst the bar spoils its olde-worlde stone floors with the olive paint job.
Plenty of youthful high-season staff on duty, happily calling people to the end of the counter and scuppering the queue that the holiday-makers so desperately want to form.

Here's the beer choice - lots of similar ales, missing the opportunity to put anything mild or dark on...

The Wye Valley 'Sundowner' and 'Butty Bach' were both on reasonable form, supped whilst watching the ferry go and back and forth admidst the constant cacophany of busy pubbiness.

Symonds Yat East is all about the steep gorge and rocks and has a lot less buildings than its neighbour on the other side of the river.
We made our way back there the following day, walking the long-way round via the Biblins camp site rope bridge, being as the ferryman doesn't kick into action until the pub opens.
A short steep climb takes you to the spendid viewpoint which shows why this area has been given the area of outstanding natural beauty tag.

Back down at river-level we opted to poke our heads into the hotel instead of returning to the Saracen's.

Royal Lodge (Symonds Yat East, HR9 6JL)
This is very much a hotel rather than a pub, the route to the bar taking you past a check-in desk, then through a dining room, the ceral dispensers still on the table after breakfast service.
Tempting as a bowl of bran flakes was, one of our party (that'd be me) didn't need any as he'd left everyone in bed that morning and popped down to Wetherspoons in Monmouth for breakfast.

I was sure there'd be no cask in the hotel bar, but was proved wrong...

Another new variety of Wye Valley beer for me, ensuring I didn't end up drinking Butty Bach all weekend.
The 'Pyoneer' was a superb sweet malty amber ale, brewed with Target and Goldings hops.  On great form, although the less said about the condition of the Clavel & Hind beer on the second pump, the better.

A short walk alongside the riverside path took us to the Old Ferrie Inn, except for that pesky bit of water being in the way again.
This pub also has a hand-pulled ferry to collect punters from the opposite bank.  With a bit of added jeopardy that they could only take a limited number, all sat at one end, to prevent the ferry getting grounded with the low levels of the Wye.

Ye Old Ferrie Inn (Ferrie Lane, Symonds Yat West, HR9 6BL)
This pub claims to date back the 15th century; to a time when it provided refreshment to the folk using the ferry crossing here to transport livestock from one side to the other.  
As with the Saracen's, this has an enviable location to draw the crowds in.  We saw little of the interior - packed the rafters when we were there - sticking to the outdoor benches overlooking the water, knocking back the Butty Bach.

There was one more pub in close proximity a little further up the lanes...

The Wye Knott Inn (Symonds Yat West, HR9 6BJ)
And this was probably my favourite of the lot.
Inside there is a decent traditional pub room in front of the bar, with more seating by the windows along the front in an extension to the original building.
I can find little out about the pub other than it being nicknamed 'Jampots' after using jam jars to serve beer during a wartime glass shortage.  I think I prefer Jampots to Wye Knott Inn.

There were two cask ales on the bar: the tropical hoppiness of Ledbury 'Olicana Pale Ale' and the malty 'Llandogo Trow Ale' from Kingstone Brewery.  The landlord was enthusiastic about his beers and did a fine job of selling Tim both scratchings and chicharones.

 

Very much not vegetarian, but the Hobson's bags were worth manuevering into the picture of my pint.
The Wye Knott has a pretty non-descript garden across the road from the pub, so scores more local trade than the hotspots by the river.  It's also a short somewhat precarious stagger downhill on a path through to the trees to the caravan park from where I guess they pick up some trade.  Someone's certainly drinking the cask, as both pints were in great condition.

So that brings an end to exploration of a handful of pub in Symonds Yat and a fine sunny weekend.  Back to Oxfordshire now and a new 2026 Good Beer Guide waiting on the doorstep. 

Halesowen Pub Explorations

Way back in March, Chairman John elected to pull off the M5 on the way back from our Wigan weekender, providing us with a comfort break complete with cobs and Black Country Ales.   
Although he put 'City Plumbing B63' into the sat-nav to incorporate a mystery-tour element as to where we were going.

Waggon and Horses (21 Stourbridge Rd, Halesowen, B63 3TU).
This red-brick terraced gem dates back to the 1830 when a chap called William Jones applied for a licence to sell beer and cider.  Black Country Ales took over in 2017 and didn't take long to win a local CAMRA branch award by having handpumps stretching the length of the long bar.
It's quite the looker inside: a narrow room divided into two sections, with cushioned bench seating galore, etched windows, a bit of tiled flooring, and a feature fireplace. 

Perhaps the folk of Halesowen prefer big plates with Yorkshire puddings for a Sunday lunch rather than a cheese & onion cob...and who can blame 'em.  The Waggon and Horses was far too quiet on our visit, although this didn't seem to affect the 'Jubilee Ale', brewed to celebrate 25 years of Black Country Ales.
Being kind to a pub ticker, our group agreed to stroll a little further up the road to score a GBG'25 tick.

King Edward VII (88 Stourbridge Road, Halesowen, B63 3UP)
Looking good.  Not a Batham's boozer, but painted in their favourite colour.
There's a no-nonsense pub sign.  And lamps.  And an advertisment for Happy Hour pints for £3.50.
Cask ales available were Wye Valley 'Butty Bach', Enville 'Ale', and Stourport brewery BOA 'Lock n Load'.  The previously untried 'Lock n Load' for me, a fruity session IPA on good form.
Had we been sociable, the locals were in the back room on t'other side of the bar. But we didn't disturb them, sticking to the comfy front room with its ample pictures on the walls and decorative plates on the beam.

That had given me a taste for the pubs of Halesowen.
So, leaping forward a few months I made the return to the West Midlands.

From Birmingham centre, the number 9 bus transported me the 8-miles across town in time for a midday pint.  There's a lot of green within easy reach of Halesowen - the big Leasowes Park, an English Heritage abbey, and the Clent Hills visible from the top deck of the bus.
Regrettably, I missed all of that and can only report that it's really not worth making a long journey to explore the Cornbow shopping centre.
Would it be worth coming all this way for the micropub?

Roberto's Bar (55 High Street, Halesowen, B63 3BG)
Yeah, I think so.

The Roberto in question is Roberto Ross, the owner of a micro brewery in Netherton who also ran a bar in central Birmingham prior to opening this venue in 2022.
Roberto's consisted one rectangular room with proper pub furniture throughout and red leather sofas by the window.  The walls were decorated with Euro breweriana, pump clips, a Union Jack, and a TV listing the beers and latest Untappd check-ins.

A check-in of Mousesweet 'XXXK' mild for me.
Craft pump clip...

£5 for a pint of the 6.5% mild.

For those more sensible than me, there was also a Utopian 'Blonde', or a 5% IPA from the brewers of my strong mild, Mousesweet from Audley in Staffordshire.

Being as I was 30-seconds away from the local Spoons whilst sat in Roberto's, I figured I'd poke my head in. 
"Lively", said the CAMRA website.
Promising.

Here's my entry into the 'Make a JD Wetherspoon pub look really unappealing' photo competition...

The William Shenstone (1-5 Queensway, Halesowen, B63 4AB)
Yep, it;s not a looker is it?  The addition of half-a-dozen hanging baskets can't detract from a brutal bit of concrete.
The pub is named after an 18th century poet and landscape gardener whose grave is across the road in the grounds of the St John the Baptist church.  Halesowen is also the birthplace of Manchester United winger Lee Sharpe, so I figure Spoons missed a more recognisable naming opportunity there.

Here's the beer range...

I stayed loyal to my own birthplace and ordered the Nottingham 'Legend'.  Not on legendary form, unfortunately.  Another case of 'probably should have returned it, but didn't'.
Despite a beer of dubious quality, I got the feeling that The Bill Shenstone was a decent JDW - a sizeable L-shaped room with a well-worn carpet and a wide variety of custom, plenty of whom were doing odd things and making people watching a fine pass-time.

Moving on, Google suggested it would take 16-minutes to trek the 0.7 miles to my next destination - westwards on Stourbridge Road and straight past the Waggon & Horses and King Edward again.
Further along the street is another Black Country Ales pub...

The Whitley (Stourbridge Road, Halesowen, B63 3QX)
This one became part of the chain in 2018, apparantly giving the place a total makeover, creating an open-plan space with familiar decor and ample ale choice.
Leatherbritches 'Comfortably Numb' was my pick, because I'm a sucker for the Pink Floyd vinyl/CD-style pump clip. 

Loads of space in the pub - looking quiet compared to Spoons - although there were a few folks dotted around beyond the edges of my picture.  I took the seat in the window with the best vantage point of the proper pub carpet...

Black Country - time for the obligatory ale and cob shot.
Oooof...that's a lot of onion.

My dilemma at this point was that my remaining Good Beer Guide tick in this area was a 4pm opener and it was no-where near 4pm.
The kind folks at Diamond Bus conspired to waste 45-minutes of my time as I waited for a non-existant service to somewhere I'd spied a potential GBG tick.  At which point I figured I'd just walk towards The Crafty Pint and see what was on the way.
Ah, that'll be the Hunting Tree...  

The Hunting Tree (Alexandra Road, Halesowen, B63 4BL)
This is quite a splendid red-brick building, standing next to a roundabout in the far-flung housing estates of western Halesowen.  It has a mighty impressive garden attached to it, if only the weather wasn't so overcast on this occasion.
The building was originally the family home of local button makers the Grove family, although don't expect a National Trust period-piece interior.  It's very much the smart modern open-plan pub with parquet flooring, gharish wallpaper and paintwork in various shades turquoise shades.

The lone cask hand pump was hidden around the corner of the bar, out of sight of the folks ordering their Peroni and house white.  I didn't expect much from the Wye Valley 'HPA'.  Yet it was a fine pint - well presented in matching glass, fresh and crispy and thoroughly enjoyable.

Less enjoyable was the soundtrack of B*witched and Whitney Houston, until Warren Zevon's 'Werewolves of London' somehow snuck onto the pop playlist.
Sat by the pool table in the side room, I could follow the La Vuelta cycling on a rather excessive choice of 3 TVs visible from my stool.

A quick check of the time revealed that the clock had ticked past 4pm and I could tackle the final plod down the hill to the 2025 Good Beer Guide-listed Crafty Pint.

The Crafty Pint (8 Wassell Road, Halesowen, B63 4JU)
This is a little out-the-way of central Halesowen, just over a mile down the Hagley Road.  A bus back after my beer, I reckon.  The bar is in a little run of shops which includes the neighbouring barbers and All-Occasions florists.  Handy for the Hasbury Chippie too.

The Crafty Pint is a micro which has expanded in recent years to make it a decent sized place.  Although I think the locals were less inclined towards the tables in the side room, based on the scowls I got for nabbing the choice seating in the window. 
There were a decent number of punters making their way in not long after opening, cask being king, with beers from Wye Valley, Salopian, Oakham, Titanic and Neepsend to pick from.

A top-quality pint of Neepsend 'Manu' for me.

Bringing to an end a good trek around some of the pubs and bars of Halesowen.
I'll leave you with the artwork in the Crafty Pint WC.
Does Ursula Andress in Dr No count as 'mild smut in the gents'?  No, surely not...

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!