Return to Recent Events

West Midlands Pub Tour by Preserved Bus

Saturday 29th March 2008

The bus arrives

H&B were kindly invited to join this Leicester Branch trip and four members took up the offer. We were collected from the Three Pots at about 10:00am and rushed off up the Motorway at a steady 45mph. The bus was a Bristol MW from 1960 ( for more details click here) driven by Martin, one of the restorers & previously seen on the Welland Valley BF.

Our first stop was Bilston, the Trumpet & the Old White Rose. Some of us had visited both of these previously on one of our Metro Trips. The Trumpet is a famous jazz pub with many live acts appearing. It offers a full range of Holden's beers including Mild & a guest.


When we reached the White Rose it was already buzzing with customers, many of whom were taking advantage of what looked to be an excellent food menu. The beer list here is far too long to for me to remember or type! Suffice it to say there were 13 handpumps each with a different beer, nothing below 4%. Prices ranged from £2.20 to £2.50.

Sedgley was our next stop, with the Bull's Head & the Beacon Hotel within walking distance. The Bull's Head was another Holden's pub, offering a full range of their beers. The price list needed a second look - Mild was £1.55 a pint, Bitter was £1.60, guest beers were £1.65 - and they have a happy hour (Mon-Fri 10-4!!) with 20p off. Norman was unsure whether to invest immediately or wait for happy hour!

The Beacon is home to the Sarah Hughes Brewery as well as being an excellent restored Victorian pub. It has four rooms all served from hatches in a central island bar - well worth a visit.

Our next stop was the Jolly Crispin in Upper Gornal. There were nine beers available, including offerings from Oakham, Castle Rock & Abbeydale.

The next call was one I was particularly looking forward to - The Vine (Bull & Bladder) at Brierley Hill, famous as the home of Batham's Brewery. I was not disappointed - from the outside it looked interesting and inside it was a super pub selling wonderful beer!

After the Vine we went to the town of Lye where the Shovel & The Windsor Castle are close together.
The Shovel was first, offering Batham's Best + 8 others (see picture right)

The Windsor Castle was next, this is the home of Sadler's Brewery. The decor here is very modern, making quite a change from previous pubs. There was a full range of Sadler's ales available.

So to the last call of the day - the Waggon & Horses at Halesowen. This pub was already full when we arrived! There were 14 beers on offer - order by number (see right).
 

From here it was a short drive to the M5, and after a 'comfort break' at Corley Services we were dropped back at the Three Pots about 9:00pm.

All in all an excellent day out, nine pubs visited - many thanks to Keith Satterley for his organisation & navigation. Also thanks to Martin, our driver, for his patience and skill.
I think it probably rained most of the day, but I didn't really notice!

Most of the pubs we visited are listed in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide click here & the excellent Dudley Real Ale Trail Guide available on the Dudley CAMRA website - click here

Other useful Links:
Six Brewery Taps by bus
Trumpet, Bilston
Jolly Crispin
Batham's Brewery
Shovel Inn
Sadler's Brewery

Serious sampling!	Island Bar at the Beacon	Bus & Vine	Bus & Shovel	Bus & Waggon & Horses	Keith handing over money & asking for a 'top up'?

Words by Alan Cooke
Photos by Chris Davies & Alan Cooke

top