100. Centennial pub crawl write up - recommended pubs to the South West of Birmingham, Friday 26th to Saturday 26th May 2006

The vast amounts of precipitation to hit these Isles on the Saturday of the Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend meant that the cycle pub crawl had to be put on hold and instead the centennial crawl would have to be in Birmingham instead. Pleasingly, many of the original participants of the inaugural crawl would have a part in this one.

Dave Wacey and I hurtled up to Birmingham after work one weekend to see Smiley and rendezvous with G and Elizabeth who were attending a wedding. Upon meeting in the city centre we sauntered into the Briar House, a busy Wetherspoons type establishment and were most pleased when we saw Highgate Mild on offer. Amongst other pints, this was ordered and it did not disappoint. I finished mine off in about 5 minutes, closely followed by Dave and Smiley. G and Elizabeth laboured because they had had a couple already. Some solids at an Italian place followed, and the drinking was soon under way again with a visit to the Old Joint Stock, a grandiose Fullers pub where we had hoped to find some of the fabled George Gale festival Mild. Alas there was none to be seen, but we got a decent few more standard offerings anyway. Post 11pm drinking was conducted in the Wetherspoons in Paradise Place, and after a brief break to escort Elizabeth home, we returned and played World Cup Top trumps and had one of the longest games on record. Freddie Ljungberg is not a good card to have. The beer on offer was rather good too, though the surroundings were a bit dire.

Surveying the weather the following morning a decision was taken to knock the cycle element of the crawl on the head and instead go and do some recommended establishments to the south west of Birmingham. We started with the Weighbridge in Alvechurch which is a very small and pokey pub next to a canal. It was alright but somehow a bit like a converted house and there were children around so we elected to consume our beer, including the wonderfully geological 'Devonian' (from a selection of three ales) in their marquee whilst it pissed it down outside. Next up was the Coach and Horses, Weatheroak Hill which had a far greater array of beers on. As I recall, one could on first inspection mistake this for a bistro pub, but the combination of the aforementioned ale selection (mainly Weatheroak) and cheap pub fodder meant that this observation was false. There are nonetheless a couple of dining rooms as well as a more bar like area. All rustic but smart and with flagstone floors.

The Plough at Shenston was accessed down some very narrow side roads and was a hidden gem. Although dispensing only Batham's Mild and XXXX, the mild was quite simply superb and, in the public bar at least, was about £1.65 per pint. The interior was magnificent and unspoilt, a true hidden gem, with old fashioned fixtures and fittings. Thinking that we would find something equally good, we ventured to the Fox at Chaddesley Corbett. It is a bit of a mystery why the CAMRA people list this pub. True there is a bit of rather good beer on but the surroundings are really quite nondescript. Pleasant enough though with an old soak drinking Guinness by the bar. CAMRA normally like something quaint with low beams.

Anyway, the Dog at Harvington was nearby and again was nothing special, being a large foody pub with a U shaped bar and two gents'. We all elected to have quite a creamy beer that I didn't care for particularly. Fantastic service was however resumed after we drove to Halesowen where we once again paid a visit to the Waggon and Horses and a splendid pub that is with about 20 beers on and an impressive array of snacks. I had an especially nice pint of stout with earthy overtones to wash down a packet of pork scratchings and a pickled egg. Mild was also on the agenda. The picture of Barbara Cartland is still there too. After brief respite at a chip shop, the pub drinking concluded rather early in the garden of the Garden House in Edgbaston, a grand pub with sprawling grounds and quite foody, although they had a bit of beer on too. In a rare moment of common sense we actually decide that the best thing to do next was retire to Smiley's to play cards, albeit via Tescos for the collection of some bottles of Leffe.


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Dan Lovegrove
dan@doctor-lovegrove.com

Last updated 6th July 2006.