Up the Saucey City!

In which we make a return pub-crawling visit to the city of Worcester, taking in historic inns, pub dungeons, gorgeous tiles, and Belgian beer.

I've made a few visits to Worcester in the past couple of years, but was tempted back when several members of the Oxford CAMRA branch announced a Saturday trip by train. 

A delay of 20-minutes, due to some doors that refused to close at Parkway, meant we'd developed a thirst by the time we alighted at Shrub Hill.  Fortunately it wasn't far to our first pub...

The Firefly (54 Lowesmoor, Worcester, WR1 2SE)
The Firefly wasn't a very traditional pub to start the day, but was instead a stylishly decorated bar with animal heads and large 'launderette' signs on the wall. 
There were just a couple of cask ales available when we visited, with the craft and continental keg range being more impressive. Including - oooh - a Verhaeghe 'Duchesse Chocolate Cherry'.
Was that too decadent a choice for first beer of the day?  Probably.  I stuck with the cask 4% Wylam ale brewed with citra and amarillo hops. 

I was rather pleased that the planned itinerary for the day didn't include too many repeat visits for me from my 2020 Worcester weekender.  But one place I was keen to go back to was the King Charles II, where we'd missed out a bit last time due to the pandemic rules stopping us wandering around much.

Two pubs in one in this pic

King Charles II (29 New Street, Worcester, WR1 2DP - web)
This looks the business from outside with it's tudor beams and overhanging top floor rooms in the gables.  

Stepping inside it doesn't disappoint either, the striking woodwork surrounding the fireplace being the first thing to catch the eye.
Leaving the rest of our group trying to make their picks from the big range of beers, I had a wander upstairs to check out the tipsily uneven floorboards, big bench seating, and piano.

Back at the bar and last in line, I opted for a pint of the dark stuff - a 'Blackheath Stout' by Fixed Wheel which had won a gold award at the national 2020 winter beer fest.  And it was lovely - a robust flavoursome beer served in good condition.

A couple of customers asked the bar staff about the dungeon, at which point tables were moved to reveal a hatch and a grilled entrance to the depths of the building.  The family sitting next to this seemed quite happy at the disturbance and kindly shone a torch light into the murky darkness.

Discovering the dungeon at the King Charles II

It wasn't  too much of an arduous journey to the next pub, as we stepped out the King Charles and into the Swan next door.

The Swan (28 New Street, Worcester, WR1 2DP - web)
Hmmmm...
I'm not quite sure why this was on the list today, although I was content to be visiting somewhere new.
"Many original features", it says on What Pub, but I'm not sure where they were.
It's an historic building, but has been opened up and purged of any olde worlde character.  Toward the back is a spacious venue with it's own bar and stage in the corner, and a patio area beyond.

On cask at the bar was a Wye Valley 'HPA' or Hobsons 'The Manor'.  I went for the Hobsons which was enjoyable enough, just about, in the sunshine out back.

The rest of the group strolled down the road to the Cardinals Hat, but I diverted at this point, planning to meet up with them again at the next pub.
This was because I was determined to see what lay beyond the glorious exterior of the Eagle Vaults...

Eagle Vaults (2 Friar Street, Worcester, WR1 2LZ - web)
I'm completely in awe of the incredible tiling on the exterior of the pub.  Okay, so it doesn't offer a wide beer choice, but the sole cask, Banks's Amber, was drinking well.
We took this from the bar room into the adjacent saloon, with banquet seating and a large eagle statue looking down upon you.
Football on the TV's in the bar, with a bit of Arcade Fire in the background from the speakers.  Followed by Steely Dan.  'I'm a fool to do your dirty work..oh yeah' was stuck in my head for the rest of the weekend.

  

Onward, to the Plough.
Not an especially photogenic pub, it sits on a corner with a largely plain white wall and relatively anonymous doorway.
So here's my attempt at a shot of the pub sign with Worcester cathedral in the background... 

The Plough (23 Fish Street, Worcester, WR1 2HN)
Up the small flight of steps from the front door is the bar counter, with small, comfy rooms leading off either side.
It's one of those great places that dishes out German pilsners for lager drinkers, proper ciders and a pleasing selection of real ales.  Of the six on offer, I picked the Salopian 'Sunlit Uplands' golden ale, on top form in this beer guide regular.

We settled in the comfy left side room, with it's selection of paperbacks on the mantelpiece and bottle of Worcester Sauce in a case on the wall in pride of place.
The toilets are outside, with the route to them revealing a small hidden sun-trap patio.  All-in-all, great pub.

Troublemakers

'You were so close to Triple B's, you must return' commented Mappiman on my 2020 Worcester post.
So return we did...it just took me a couple of years to follow up on this recommendation.

Trippel B Belgian Beer Cafe (9 Copenhagen Street, Worcester, WR1 2HB - web)
I have to admit to being a bit skeptical of a Belgian beer cafe in the UK, but this was great.
There was a good crowd of folk in, but enough space inside for us to get a large table at the back.
Several of the group returned from the bar looking very happy with themselves with their Kwak in it's distinctive glassware.
I went with a 2019 vintage of an old favourite on tap - De Struisse 'Pannepot Reserva', a proper Belgian ale weighing in at a hefty 10%.  The beer list was pretty superb, with some fine bottles on offer, but you're in risky territory if you start ordering double-digit ABV bottled Belgian brews as part of any pub crawl.

We also popped into the Oil Basin Brewhouse.  The Oxford posse were ending the day on this street - and with a choice of Belgian ales or brewpub beers right next door to one another, I can't blame them for deciding to count down the clock to the train home here.

But I decided to stick around a little bit longer, planning to visit somewhere that I'd not been before, just beyond Foregate Street.

Sociable Beer Company (6-8 Britannia Road, Worcester, WR1 3BQ - web)
This bar is tucked down a side street, in a building once housing the local police lost property store.  It's a hip kinda place, a concrete floored room with the bar to the rear and a decent sized stage to the side.  I'm sure it's great later in the evening with live music and a crowd of folk.
There's also some neat retro monitors above the bar...

Brewing equipment is visible through windows at one end of the building, although no Sociable Beers were available whilst we were there.
The three hand pumps in use were all dispensing different varieties of pale ales by Ledbury Brewery.  I picked the 'Hop Development Series CF302 Townend Farm', cos' I'm a sucker for an experimental hop.
Retro hi-fi on display en-route to the toilets...

We also managed to pop into the Craft Inn opposite Foregate Street - one-for-the-rail.
Before making the evening train trip back to Oxford, happy with a job well done of exploring Worcester's pubs.  Again.

Worcester Pub Crawl

Pub explorations of the city of Worcester, with Heritage pubs, micro breweries and bars in railway arches lined up for the weekend.

Following on from the last post, where I finished at Malvern Links train station, Worcester Shrub Hill is the next point of call on the Cotswolds Line.

The most notable part of this station by far is the elaborate tiled Ladies Waiting Room on platform 2.

Other than that, you step out of the station and wonder where on earth you are.  It's one of those stops that lies in an old industrial part of the city, whereas Foregate Street is the more central station depositing travelers within a few steps of Tesco Metro and Wetherspoon's.

So, where to first?
We figured we'd start at one of the Heritage pubs...

Cardinal's Hat (31 Friar Street, Worcester, WR1 2NA - web)
Claiming the title of the Cities Oldest Pub, the Cardinal's Hat traces it's history back to the 14th century.  The current Georgian red-bricked facade was built in the mid 1800's.  In the '90's it housed the Jolly Roger microbrewery, before spending some years in the rather unlikely guise of an Austrian theme bar. 
Now it's back to life as a trad pub, selling pies and ales.
 

Entering the front door there is a charming little snug to the right, whilst the servery is to the left.  I ordered a pint of Wye Valley 'Butty Bach', grabbing a table in the rear lounge room.
This is the pick of the rooms - floor to ceiling wood paneling, bench seating around the walls and the old bell pushes for table service still visible.

We had the room to ourselves for a while until a rain shower forced a couple of guests in from the rear patio.
Lovely place and  not a bad pint of Butty Bach. 

Drinking up, we decided food was required, so make our way to Wetherspoon's as an easy option.

The Postal Order (18 Foregate Street, Worcester, WR1 1DN - web)

It will come as little surprise that the building used to be a post office, although it's more recent pre-pub usage was as the local telephone exchange.

Other than the screens between tables, life seemed relatively normal in Spoons.  Plenty of punters in on a Friday lunchtime, and a good line-up of ales on the bar, including Elgood's 'Plum Porter' and a couple from Shropshire brewer Wood's.
The pub design was Spoons-by-numbers - pretty basic inside - but that's not a complaint.  It did exactly what we wanted today - filled us up with some good value fodder and served a fine pint of Wood's 'Shropshire Beauty'.

Fed and watered, we walked back along the main shopping street to check into our accommodation for the weekend.
Ye Olde Talbot is one of Greene King's Old English Inns.  For a reasonable price we had a room with a view of the Cathedral, a dodgy wi-fi connection and the opportunity to sit drinking GK IPA all evening, just a stagger up the stairs from bed.  (We didn't).

Our digs

We were about to succumb to the dangers of Untappd. Pressing the 'Nearby' button generates a list of what other users have been drinking in the vicinity.  In this case, it tempted us to abandon the pub-list and head in search of the craft.
 

Hop Lord's (7 Pump Street, Worcester, WR1 2QX - web)
This tiny shop unit along Pump Street opened as a craft bottle shop and tap room in 2018.

Six beers on tap, including a pilsner from Verdant, a sour, and a couple from Brighton brewer Unbarred.  
I picked one of the Unbarred beers: 'Bueno Shake', a lovely 6.4% milk stout, at £3 for a half.
Hop Lord's was an unexpected little treat and no doubt I could have made my bags twice as heavy had I started perusing the cans and bottles in the fridges.

Time to head back to the 'proper' pubs and visit another one from the Heritage list, the Paul Pry.

Paul Pry (6 The Butts, Worcester, WR1 3PA)

This is a fantastic looking pub; a wedge-shaped building, built in 1901.
Walking through the door, the corridor instantly shouts 'heritage pub', with terrazzo flooring, elaborate tiling on the walls and etched glass in the doorways.
We stepped through into the main bar, which is a classic Great Pub Room.

There were three bitters on cask, from which I chose the Hobson's 'Best'.
Just don't remind Mrs PropUptheBar that she'd left behind all the craft at Hop Lord's to be faced with a choice of boring bitters!

(The Honeycomb Milkshake Pale, that we missed, is still a sore subject!)

Here's a very dubious attempt to photograph the corridor tiling...

Moving on from the Paul Pry, we walked along the alleyway behind the pub, to the railway arches, in the hope of visiting Arch Rivals, only to find the shutters well and truly closed after the advertised opening time had passed.
Figuring we'd try again later in the weekend, the alternative was a short walk eastward to St Nicholas Street.

Imperial Tavern (35 St Nicholas Street, Worcester, WR1 1UW - web)
Black Country Ales transformed a closed disco bar into this fine boozer, winning the local CAMRA pub of the year award in 2016.
It's a cracking ale house.  Not one for those who think one ale is plenty - a run of 10 hand-pumps stretch along the bar making for a tricky choice.  All fine, as long as the cask is selling, which it certainly was here on a Friday evening, the lone barman working like a trooper pulling pints.

The place was as busy as it could be without flaunting social distancing precautions, with the crowd making for a good atmosphere. 

We had plenty more pub stops in Worcester still to do.
In order to keep the size of the post sensible, I'll cover those in a part 2 shortly...

Cheers! 🍻