PubBlog

Walsall:

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Long overdue for a blogged visit, we hadn’t been here in a long time, so a visit in the company of Andy seemed appropriate.

The Pretty Bricks has always been known as such, but it’s official name was The Tap and Spile, with The Pretty Bricks being a nickname from the unusual glazed bricks on the frontage. For some years it’s been noted for real ale.

It’s a traditional 2 room pub, now owned by Black Country Taverns, a small but growing chain in and around the Black Country, who specialise in traditional pubs, and they’ve adopted the name as it’s official one.

It’s a great place: 5 or 6 well-kept real ales, food (both a menu and cobs/pork pie), no music or gaming machines, and a friendly welcome.

Minehead:

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Large chain pub in the mould of Wetherspoons, but not actually one. In a rather glorious old theatre building, modern and stripped out inside. No real ale, but decent lager at least. Big screen TV, if that’s your thing, and a standard pub-food menu that seemed good value. Friendly barman.

Birmingham:

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Situated close to Snow Hill station, this is a large Victorian pub, part of the Nicholsons chain, like The Shakespeare and errm, The Shakespeare. For a chain pub it’s very nice indeed. Somehow it has been missed from PubBlog despite it being a regular visit in the big bad city. Never eaten here, but the food looks OK, the beer is great, and a good choice, and the staff usually good too. The only thing to watch is that they sometimes use tankard type glasses [shudder], and at weekday lunchtimes it’s full of lots of bankers. A wunch of them, to be precise.

Walsall Wood:

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This is near enough to be a local, but I’ve not been in for 3 years or so. It’s on the face of it, a by-the-numbers carvery pub, so not really my thing, but an old friend suggested it for a meet, and we needed food, so we went down a bit early. The food itself was predictable, but not bad at all, prices reasonable, and the drink reasonable too- staff very pleasant. There was even real ale, but nothing I fancied. The niff from the landfill over the road doesn’t help the ambience outside though.

An unusual twist is the gaffer from years ago has returned, so live music is featuring again.

Birmingham:

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Ooops. This has got missed. I’ve been here lots since PubBlog has existed, but not blogged it, and when I worked just around the corner I was a regular visitor.
It’s on th edge of town, handy for the ICC, and has the feel of a local. It’s Vicorian, typically Birmingham, but is a chain pub with cheap but reasonable food, and pretty good beer.

Corporation St, Birmingham:

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This is a large, imposing Victorian pile of a pub, near to some other nice Victorian buildings just outside the main shopping area.

I’ve visited it before, some years ago, when it was rather down-at-heel. It’s since had a makeover, and the pubco that own it own a good few more successful pubs in the city. I’d been meaning to drop in for a while as the pub has had some favourable comments in CAMRA lefalets, and had a bit of time to kill while waiting for my better half, so I dropped in.

It’s not bad: a typical (good value) chain pub food menu and tidy but by-the-numbers interior (but without taking away all the character, but by no means unpleasant, and my pint of Landlord was very nice indeed. Staff were pleasant too.

Hurst St, Chinese Quarter, Birmigham:

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Called in for a post-work, pre-comedy drink. It’s a ‘spoons, so nothing special, but perfectly tolerable, near the Hippodrome, and not The Old Fox, which we won’t be hurrying back to.

Literally just yards from The Wellington, this is a Wetherspoons, but not bad considering. Several real ales, OK food, cheap prices, close to New St,

Southend:

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A pretty average pub- Moe’s family feedbag style, right on the seafront and with great views. Friendly enough, and quiet on a Thursdasy afternoon, but the IPA was a bit duff (again). With better beer it would be quite a nice place to sit and watch the sea.

At Brownhills West:

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One of the pubs around Brownhills that hasn’t shut yet, unlike the Rising Sun opposite.

It’s not a terrible pub- there’s a decent selection of beer, and the outside seating is OK even with the A5 just feet away, but at times (including this) it’s a bit canteen-like. It enjoys a good reputation for it’s 2-for-one meals, and so, even on a Thursday, it was packed- passing traffic means it gets a good trade, though there were lots of local accents evident.

Still, it’s a good stopping point near Chasewater, and the beer and wine isn’t bad, if not the cheapest.