A Day Out in the Black Country

This was the second trip I'd organised to the Black Country as there are so many pubs that deserve a visit. Our first stop was Bilston to visit the Trumpet, a Holdens pub and the White Rose which has up to 12 ever changing beers but, above all, does a superb carvery for £4.95!

After a long stop at Bilston, we set off for Sedgeley to visit the The Black Bull, another Holdens pub and the home of Sarah Hughes Brewery, the Beacon Hotel. This is a gem and offered 3 Sarah Hughes beers and 2 guests. It was packed and there I met a family who said you must visit The Jolly Crispin at Upper Gornal. I admit I didn't realise we were passing by the pub and after ringing the Landlord to see if he would take a bus party we duly arrived. The Crispin offered 9 guest ales between 4.1% and 6.0% and prices ranged from £2.10 to £2.80. Little did I realise either that about 100yds down the road was Bathams' Britannia (Sallys) which some of the party went to and made it less crowded in the Crispin.

It is easy to make John and Jane happy by saying to them we will visit the Vine (Bull & Bladder) at Brierley Hill, the brewery tap of Bathams. Personally I don't ever recall visiting the place but certainly another gem - I'm told it serves superb lunches on weekdays. One thing I did find out was the Mild sold at £1.95 a pint and the Bitter £2.05 and they 3 different types of pork scratchings!

We then moved on to Lye to find the Shovell Inn where I found a range of 8 guest beers on tap and a friendly Landlord who told me of his pumpclip collection on the outside wall, well over 1600 pumpclips. Some members of the party opted to leave in the pouring rain to visit the Windsor Castle Inn, home of Sadlers' Brewery where 8 of the Windsor Castle beers are on tap. Unbeknown to me, the Landlord had provided Black Pudding, Cheese and Apple and as the word spread more people moved down there.

Our final pub was the legendary Waggon & Horses at Halesowen. It had 14 guest beers on between 4% and 5% and prices of £2.20 to £2.40 a pint. I personally sampled the Bays Gold. Mine Host was present and I thanked him for his hospitality.

The three things that stood out from this trip wrere the hospitality of the Landlords, the friendliness of the locals and the reasonable price of the beers. With a bit of careful planning, the pubs on the trip can be visited by public transport using a West Midlands day tripper ticket.

Thanks to Martin Southam for the hire of his bus and driving us around safely all day.

Words - Keith Satterly, Social Secretary, Pictures Keith Williams.

This page last updated: June 3, 2008

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