PubBlog

Aldirdge:

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Right where the A452 meets the A454 just outside the town, the Old Irish Harp is older than it looks at first glane- it has been much extended over the years- and has been a pub to eat at for many years now. It’s now a by-the-numbers Marstons house with a choice of 3 cask ales, plus all the usual stuff, and an extensive food menu. Given that, it’s not bad at all. A bit soulless and Moe’s Family Feedbag, but the food ranges from OK to pretty good, the prices aren’t too bad, and the beer is OK too. The staff are friendly enough too, in a corporate ‘how can I help you today’ kind of way.

Bloxwich:

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Big, thirties-looking pub just up the road from The Bell and The Turf.

Sadly it falls down against such exalted company. It’s not a bad pub, but it’s just not as good. Less atmosphere, less friendly, less beer choice (I had to settle for Boddingtons, which was drinkable but bland).

Pelsall:

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Another pub that’s seen varying guises: having been a bit of a food pub briefly, it’s now back to it’s original guise of a average, traditional pub just off the common.

Our visit was marred by the beer (my Pedigree was best suited to be used on chips, Stymistress’s budweiser had some of it spilled while being poured into the (plastic) glass, and the barmaid left some of it in the bottle until I asked), and the children whose parents allowed them to run around in circles. Now I know why I always head to The Railway.

Pelsall:

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A pub famed in Pelsall for being a bit, erm, rough, though it’s by no means the roughest. It had bad publicity for a drugs raid a while ago.

It’s not that bad though: a bit dark and dingy, maybe and probably better before being opened out inside. Beer choice very limited though, but the beer garden was quite pleasant on a sunny day.

Pelsall:

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Much extended pub towards the north end of Pelsall. It’s a popular chain pub with a cheap food menu: There’s nothing spectacular food, beer, or atmosphere-wsie, but it’s an OK place for a pitstop.

Brownhills:

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The Hussey Arms has a bit of an up-and-down recent history: It’s been a sequence of various chain pub/restaurants over the past few years.

At the moment, it’s a bit down. It’s tidy enough inside, but the once quite nice beer garden is somewhat overgrown, the food menu is now definitely towards the bottom of the market (though it *is* cheap), and the real ale was limited to Old Speckled Hen (though that was pretty good), and bargain priced due to a promotion.

The barman was friendly, and there was nothing actually wrong, but it just gave the impression of being slightly in decline. Nothing that would stop me going in, though.

Brownhills West:

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Didn’t have high hopes for this one: It’s a pretty uninspiring building in a sidestreet in Browhills West. However, appearances can be deceptive, and once in, it’s a friendly locals pub with OK beer (but no real ale, sadly) and a reasonable snack-type food selection (we didn’t try any, having been to the nearby Thai Lanna restaurant).

We went in hoping to find somewhere a bit more welcoming than The Crown, which of late has got even more canteen-like and soulless.

We succeeded. It’s rather like a social club for a pub, perhaps it was a club previously? Anyway, there was a not-too-bad singer on, and the locals and staff were very pleasant. It’s not a wonderful pub, but it’s not too bad either.

Not sure exactly what water it is beside: Chasewater isn’t far, but it’s the other side of the M6 Toll.

Pheasey, so technically Walsall:

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This falls into the category of pubs we were curious about, but never visited, and didn’t have high hopes of, like this one.

This was pretty OK. The building’s not up to much, but there’s one of those chain-pub food menus (can’t remember which), and the beer was OK, and the staff and customers friendly, even though the place was packed on a Villa match day (very much a Villa pub, so I’m told).

Walsall:

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Close to the bus station, we visited here on our way home to get a quick drink in rather than wait outside.

It’s typical Wetherspoon, basically. It doesn’t have the huge fibreglass brontosaurus anymore, but it is quite a nice building- an old cinema. Gets packed with the typical crowd- and very crowded on a weekend evening with people getting tanked up for cheap.

Birchills, Walsall:

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Nothing exceptional, but quite nice all the same, The Parkbrook sits on the busy Wolverhampton Rd, but it’s a locals pub. There’s some real ale, and food as well, but they weren’t sreving any at lunchtime when we visited. Landlord was very friendly, beer pretty good, TV wasn’t too loud.