Dudley Winter Ales Fayre 2025

Surely it can't be the end of November already? I triple check the calendar and there's no getting away from the fact that 2025 is fast vanishing, but this time of year always carries certain compensations in the form of the Dudley Winter Ales Fayre. This staple of the West Midlands beer festival scene has become an absolutely essential event - I've attended every one they've staged since 2010 - and the latest edition promises to be a bonanza of beer, grey peas and crackling company...

- Town Hall Temptations -

Trip Log: 28th November 2025 and our preferred Friday afternoon slot at Dudley Town Hall has been lined up for weeks if not months. Jane and I make the journey over from Tettenhall Wood aboard the number 1 bus whereas Nick travels from in Warwick via the 87, giving him a tour of Smethwick and Oldbury he could probably have done without. One way or another, we all converge upon St James Road at around half past eleven, greeted by the now-familiar CAMRA banner with its approximations of prickly holly leaves. £12 entry gets me my kit of tokens, glass and programme so let's see what's up for sampling this year...

- Serious about Snowflake -

No sooner have we set foot inside than Jane strides straight to the cider stand eager to get the lowdown on which from the sixteen offerings best fits her personal tastes - Snails Bank Fruit Bat is a sensible start with combinations of berry fruit. Nick is already circling, armed with his Loch Lomond Silkie Stout so I join him on the dark side courtesy of Northdown's Tidal Moon Stout, a Margate-based brew described as "brimming with dark chocolate, boozy cherry and a hint of vanilla tannins" - I don't disagree with that assessment. The chance to try some special heavyweight ales which are only brewed in anticipation of the festive period is part of Dudley's attraction, hence Nick makes sure to garner a glug of Sarah Hughes Snowflake barley wine before dwindling stocks run out completely. His eyebrows confirm that he likes it rather a lot!

- A Trip to Valhalla? -

Other favourites in line for royal reacquaintance include Enville's Gothic Ginger and Holden's Old Ale, a treacly treat he always likes to seek out. I'm experimenting with a varied selection of stuff I've never tried before; Ickle's Purple therefore carries notes of Vimto - I kid you not - then Cult of Oak's 1138 Matildine Mild delivers a "smooth, malty depth that evokes the defiance of Empress Matilda’s forces during the 1138 Siege of Dudley" (quite how they know these things is questionable but my besieged tastebuds aren't objecting to the spicy clove-laden mixture). Our cider correspondent Jane has taken it upon herself to alternate between lower and higher strength tipples, with locally-produced Mousesweet Valhalla vying with Oak & Axe for her affections - she's a woman not to be messed with if dangerous weaponry is present!

- Hearty Sustenance -

Collectively we've taken up residence in the Tommy Mundon Lounge where we can witness first hand how popular the Little Devils food menu is proving. Every year I look forward to the snacks almost as much as the beer, such is the enjoyment to be gained by gorging on Black Country delicacies. The menu involves simple good grub, from huge cobs to tubs of faggots, mash and mushy peas, or cottage pie with a cheesy topping, not forgetting burly bricks of bread pudding you could use as doorstops if you chose not to eat them. For me however it has to be the grey peas and bacon accompanied by a buttered slice, a dish of delight if ever there was one! Miss Woolf meanwhile gets her wish for a roast pork bap, using all her powers of persuasion to secure the biggest bits of crackling available!

- Chancing the Charlton House -

Back with the booze, Jane is persuaded to try a Pear & Chilli perry (she declares herself partial to this once it is confirmed that the heat isn't overpowering) whereas I spend up on a Cinder Toffee Stout that fuses the taste of charcoal ash with Crunchie bars. The festival fun may be now done and dusted but we maintain tradition by embarking upon a little pubcrawl. Our old standby the Courthouse is currently closed after Black Country Ales chose to divest themselves of the premises, so we're grateful that Bathams' Lamp Tavern is still as good as ever at the top of Blowers Green Road. Here, rear lounge musings on the state of the Higher Education sector are accompanied by wonky picture frames and ornamental zebras, then we relocate to my wildcard choice of the Charlton House on Priory Street. An elegant townhouse facade belies a relatively plain interior with down-to-earth regulars seeming mostly friendly. Guiness suffices in the side room as a young pushchair-wielding couple play darts.

- A.I. Moments in the Malt Shovel -

Whether a respectable royal such as Nick ever wants to be seen in the Charlton House again is a matter for debate, but it's safe to say he'd have no aversion to revisiting the Malt Shovel. This Dudley town centre gem has retained its berth in the Good Beer Guide and demonstrates why with an immaculate serving of Titanic Plum Porter Grand Reserve; conversation turns to the daunting topic of artificial intelligence whereby His Majesty and Jane ponder the possibiity of sentient computer entities ever turning on their human masters. Should the machines one day succeed in achieving world domination, I hope they leave us in peace to enjoy Dudley Winter Ales for many more years to come. Cheers!

WME Flickr Focus - November 2025

Over in Australia, the grunt and thrust of The Ashes cricket is underway as old rivals slug it out over a small but symbolic urn. Nothing quite so dramatic can be detected on the West Midlands Exploration photostream however, even though various galleries have been peacably updated...

Howzat!! First out to bat for this monthly update is - somewhat unusually - WME Shropshire, which more often than not counts itself right among the tail-enders but has been inexplicably promoted to open the innings. Why should this be the case I hear you speculate? Bridgnorth is almost entirely responsible for this turn of events, supplying a dozen new arrivals including the Northgate Museum, the New Inn and the instantly recognisable Ridleys Seeds lettering. The town's Severn Valley Railway Station ambles up to the crease too, yielding footbridge safety directives and a vintage advertisement for Morris Lubricants.

Also willing to weigh in with some serious strokeplay is WME Dudley, boosted by bits and pieces from Brierley Hill and Blowers Green. The Jones Brothers clock has been a favoured timepiece on Brierley Hill High Street for many a year so it's nice to give that the recognition it deserves, albeit you'll have to decide whether Adelaide Street and Link 51 are as worthy of attention. Black Delph Bridge and the Moor Centre swell the run-rate a little, then you get the customary dash of street signage thanks to Fox Foot Drive or Blowers Green Road.

The middle order engine room is populated by the redoutable pair of WME Birmingham and WME Wolverhampton. Brum takes on some Commonwealth Games deliveries courtesy of Perry the bull mascot, aided by Brasshouse pub lettering and the gilded bronze of Boulton, Watt and Murdoch's statue. Oakham Brewery beermats in Boldmere plus the sad Hodge Hill remnants of the demolished Comet pub also punctuate the scorecard, whereas the power hitting from Wolverhampton is mostly reserved for Bradmore's selection of street signs.

Fancying a role as a demon spinner, WME Worcestershire tantalisingly twirls its way to a trio of Bromsgrove additions (namely St Godwalds Road and some railway station orientation materials). It is joined in the slow bowling stakes by the irrepressible WME Walsall with Bloxwich offbreaks related to the Old Hall Trading Estate and a High Street cafe. The pace unit meanwhile numbers WME Telford (with Blists Hill coal lumps), WME Sandwell (Cyder and Cobb making a second Blackheath appearance) and WME Coventry (the lowest-scoring player of the lot, earning just its third picture of the year in the form of empty beer casks at the Broomfield Tavern). That completes our batting card - until next month, enjoy the pictures!

Perton and Pattingham with Mr D9

Here's a strange little puzzle for you: Mr D9 and Secretary WME have been at this Hub Marketing lark for nearly 15 years now, covering all manner of places around the West Midlands and beyond yet not once had we visited Perton or Pattingham. Somehow this little corner of South Staffordshire had evaded the Board's inspections until one gusty Monday evening at the tail end of 2025...

- Perton is Primed -

The Secretary is no stranger to Perton of course, having taken photos of the still-expanding estate several times over the years; in fact, following a recent house move, Mr WME should be getting to know the area even better in future. That said, it is worth repeating that Perton occupies the site of a former RAF airfield initially set up during the First World War and then re-established with three runways between 1940/41 and 1946. Housing took over from the 1970s onwards and current developments such as that underway at Wrottesley Village mean the local population is set to grow further. Anders Square is at the heart of things with the Civic Centre, the Church at Perton, a Sainsbury's store and other shopping provision based here.

- Oxford Gold in the Wrottesley Arms -

This is a Hub Marketing summary and this means there must be pubs. The Wrottesley Arms takes on the role of our rendezvous location, Mr D9 eagerly getting himself into position circa 4pm ready to be joined by the Secretary once he's finished his shift. Brakspear Oxford Gold is a satisfactory start to drinking dispatches although it's the £2.70 Happy Hour price that really has the Chairman grinning. The bar room is a lively place with groups of chaps watching a replay of Leeds v Aston Villa on the Sky Sports screens while other folks play pool. A huge inflatable Christmas tree is another standout feature while Mr WME approves of the framed promotional covers of hockey club publications.

- Shropshire Sun in the Ale Hub -

After giving the Wrott a big thumbs up we decamp next door where a micropub can be found as part of the Anders Square precinct. Any establishment called the Ale Hub definitely requires our attention and this does not disappoint, proving a relaxing setting for a refreshing pint of Hobson's Shropshire Sun whilst sat on chunky Chesterfield-styled sofas. The Chairman gets himself a new canine chum when stroking the Staffie loitering by the bar, the scent of his own chihuahuas likely causing the surge of interest. We can't stay long because we've got a bus to catch, so we scramble over by Sainsbury's to intercept the 10A beside the petrol garage.

- Totem at Twilight? -

It takes little over ten minutes to reach Pattingham, although negotiating the dark lanes of Nurton and Great Moor isn't much fun in the dark. An attractive and affluent village based around St Chad's Church, Pattingham has had its fair share of previous blog entries although always during daylight hours whenever Mr WME has dropped by before. The bus terminates outside a small run of shops just shy of the Pigot Arms, and by the Chairman's calculations we've got roughly half an hour to do two pubs plus gather any required photographic content. The totem by the village hall is duly snaffled, as is Patshull Road and a Burnhill Green sign.

- The Pigot Arms -

A brace of boozers at rapid pace - no problem! We dash straight into the Crown, tucked away on High Street just down from St Chad's lych gate and my is it busy! Standing room only on a Monday night is impressive going for a pub out in the sticks, but the quality of the ale is a clue as to why it might be so popular - the Plum Porter is outstanding. We seek brief refuge in the back room near the dartboard, noting neat mining lamps as added wall decor, then switch to the Pigot Arms for Timothy Taylor's Landlord and a bus-watching brief from the front window. It's quieter in here, but by no means dead, and the beer is perfectly acceptable too so we can easily envisage paying Pattingham a longer visit in the not-too-distant future.

- Would you let this man loose near your bus shelter? -

Our haste has been necessitated by not wanting to be stranded without a return bus, albeit Mr D9 gets very nervous standing by an oak shelter that was the subject of complaints when a timetable case was erected! Our desired 10A doesn't let us down and the ride is enlivened by two Ronnie Corbett silly songs ('Fanny' and 'Big Man'), not to mention a hedgerow-dodging steering demonstration from the Chairman. Progress has been such that we've enough time for a Pear & Partridge nightcap back in Perton, sampling more Plum Porter as well as Wye Valley Butty Bach; again this proves encouragingly busy with 1970s Wolves programmes providing some of the Molineux-themed decoration. Cheers!

Chip Foundation Chronicles: BURSLEM

Chronicles No. 90 is a belated birthday adventure in honour of Mr Beardsmore. True, Stephen did turn 61 back in October so we're a few weeks behind schedule, what with busy calendars and a house move having delayed things until a suitable date became available. As with his birthday trips from 2022 and 2023, we've picked out the Potteries for the resultant pubcrawl...

- Lemmy Forever -

Trip Log: Saturday 22nd November 2025 and we're very much following on from that 2023 episode by returning to Burslem for a second bite of the Mother Town cherry. We'd covered a fair bit two years ago but by no means everything, so we're all set for fun once a very crowded Manchester Piccadilly train has deposited us at Stoke-on-Trent Station at 10:48. One earnest hello to Josiah Wedgwood later, we combine the 40A and 39A buses (switching at Hanley) to pitch up in the heart of Burslem. One notable development since we were last in the vicinity is the installation of a statue remembering legendary bass guitarist Ian Fraser Kilmister - known to adoring rock music fans as 'Lemmy' - who fronted both Hawkwind and Motorhead. Mr B is quite partial to the genre and approves of a Lemmy Forever tribute across adjacent windows.

- Pointing to Port Vale -

It's a stereotypical November day weather-wise - drab, dreary and drizzly - but we're keen to see one of the grand old stages of Midlands football. Vale Park has been home to Port Vale FC since 1950 and is an old-fashioned ground merely a short walk from Burslem Town Centre. Like in 2023, our visit has coincided with a matchday and fans are already assembling for the 12:30 kickoff against Plymouth Argyle. We mingle happily among the throng, checking out the Vale Store club shop (where a line in branded Christmas trees with bearded gnome baubles is subject to a special offer) and spotting a statue of legendary manager John Rudge in flat cap.

- Burslem Park -

Ken has been there and done that many times in terms of watching football in the rain and the cold (decades of penance at St Andrews supporting Blues imbue in him a certain stoicism) but we've no wish to sit in the stands today. Instead we'll let the pre-game rush subside with a little snoop around Burslem Park, which is literally across Hamil Road from the stadium. We're not seeing the park at its best and yet it still conveys a sense of Victorian civic pomp, not least the Tudor Revival-styled Pavilion overlooking a rather fine terrace lawn with ornamental fountains. Other key aspects are a sizeable lake, a replacement bandstand and a Pulhamite rockery, then we spot a peculiar sculpture representing the life cycle of a mayfly - how intriguing.

- The Bursley Ale House -

Many of Burslem's pubs had opened early to facilitate pre-match imbibing, and given that Port Vale's footballing fortunes this season aren't much better than those of Wolves I suspect some of the drinking might have helped prepare for the worst! Things have quietened down a bit by the time we make the Bursley Ale House our first liquid refreshment haunt, taking a shine to an old townhouse setting opposite the former Wedgwood Printworks. Nick dodges a draught when positioning himself in front of a cabinet of casks, although the Castle Rock Mysterons ale apparently isn't to his taste - perhaps Captain Scarlet would like it more? 

- Johnys Micro Pub -

The royal tastebuds are much more partial to the beer in our next chosen establishment, Hog Noggins serving up both Bass and Titanic Plum Porter Grand Reserve in exemplary condition. This is a friendly little place with staff all wearing Port Vale replica shirts; we make ourselves comfortable to reflect on England's Ashes capitulation in Perth (like Wolves, another cheerful topic!) then relocate a few doors down to the New Inn for Beardsmore bleach, Guinness and televised football - at least West Brom are losing. The New Inn fills the gap while we wait for Johnys Micro Pub to open at 2pm, and I must say I'm glad we lingered. Not only is Dancing Duck's Dark Drake oatmeal stout available - with delicious whispers of liquorice - but the setting is perfect micropub fare, small but perfectly formed.

- An Old Dog in the Reginald Mitchell -

We could happily have stayed in Johnys much longer but the final whistle has blown at Vale Park and the home fans are arriving en masse to drown their sorrows after a 1-0 defeat. We take our cue to sup up and seek a bus connection, albeit the traffic gods aren't being kind to us with a lot of to-be-expected football-related congestion. The 103 down from Crewe does show up eventually, linking us back into Hanley where we make the Reginald Mitchell our dining contender for the day. You know what you're getting with Wetherspoons most of the time, and this one has a reasonably grand setting in the town's old Meat Market building. Stephen might want to send out a search party for his lack of chips whereas Nick goes all oriental for a steaming bowl of Korean chicken with rice, and Ken is the only one of us with sporting reason to smile given that Blues are comprehensively beating Norwich.

- A Large Dog at Hanley Town Hall -

Time is ticking on and our intended look around Longton will be saved for another day. Instead we can marvel at a pair of giant Staffordshire dogs guarding Hanley Town Hall before rounding things off at the Coachmakers Arms: one, because it's extremely handy for the bus station and two, because it's a cracking traditional multiroomed boozer that can be relied upon to serve great beer. Peakstones Rock's '20 is Plenty' is a case in point, a darker brew with a hoppy edge that hails from a brewery based in Cheadle. The rear left room offers perimeter bench seating and the BBC Radio Stoke football phone-in plus the outhouse gents loos are very much in demand too. With that, we intercept the number 23 Blurton bus and troop to Stoke railway station in time for the 17:44 train. Belated birthday wishes Mr B, cheers!