Beery Business at the Double!

February bursts into life with back-to-back days of ale-related adventure, starting with a visit to the Great British Beer Festival (Winter Edition) in Birmingham before the Chip Foundation's tenth anniversary trip takes in a few haunts around Cradley Heath and Old Hill...

- Over there to Hockley Port -

Beginning as seems logical with Friday 7th February, I make my way to the Jewellery Quarter where I can attempt some pre-festival photography prior to meeting Nick. The Brookfields area isn't one I capture on camera all that often so Pitsford Street leads me past Warstone Lane Cemetery and out towards the Hockley Trading Estate. The local primary school stretches around one corner with Hingeston Street but my principal target is Hockley Port, a short stub of residential canal moorings that link onto the Soho Loop. Access to the arm is restricted but I catch a fleeting glimpse after braving the driveway of a half-derelict industrial compound.

- GBBFW beckons -

Nick is perfectly punctual for our 10:30 summit and we head straight for the New Bingley Hall, venue for the ale extravaganza that is the Great British Beer Festival (Winter edition). Birmingham is making its debut as host city for this flagship event which has previously been held in Manchester, Derby and Norwich. We join the eager throng pending 11am opening then studiously peruse the plump programme trying to work out which beers we most need to try. First up are Petite Belgique (Nick pining for our European friends post-Brexit) and Harbour's Shoreline Stout, a slightly nutty number from Cornwall.

- Triumphant on the Tombola -

We are spoiled for choice and then some with over 400 beers on show, although we do seek out some quirky brews as a matter of priority. Standout selections include P-P-Pick up a Penguin (Church End's liquid take on the chocolate biscuit bar), Round Corner's Notorious Hooligan (red and 'luscious' apparently), Green Duck's Catch Me If You Can (a gingerbread stout) and Thornbridge's St Petersburg (smoky peatiness in an imperial stout). The hall soon fills up with happy revellers as we take turns on the tombola, both landing lucky for bottled Electric Ale and a pub games polo shirt respectively. 

- Something Sour at the Craft Inn -

The festival proves hugely enjoyable and four hours soon whizz by in a flash. With our Saturday exertions in mind, we won't push the boat out too much thereafter but do track down a couple of intriguing additions to the Jewellery Quarter drinking scene. The Craft Inn is a self-proclaimed nano bar on Warstone Lane by the Chamberlain Clock; it's certainly compact and has an eclectic keykeg offering from which I pick Sweet Disaster, Heist's take on a Cherry Berlinerweisse. The Rock & Roll Brewhouse meanwhile isn't necessarily new but has relocated behind a mysterious doorway on Hall Street (next to the Brown Lion). Doctor Feelgood Stout is an excellent finale as we admire a drum kit and wonder what tomorrow might bring...

- Plough & Harrow, Cradley Heath -

Indeed, Saturday 8th February marks not just the 62nd episode of the Chip Foundation Chronicles but also the completion of a full decade since our inaugural Gornal trip from early 2010. Cradley Heath kickstarts proceedings on this occasion whereby honorable mention goes to the Plough & Harrow, Dudley CAMRA's 2019 Pub of the Year winner and in the running to retain that title for 2020. Of the six or so ales, Cleric's Cure and Shropshire Lad keep us more than satisfied as an appreciative lunchtime trade starts to build. 

- Windswept Chips -

Blustery conditions can't dissuade us from finding food so Corngreaves Road helps us battle the breeze up past the site of St Luke's Church. Reddal Hill Road is then where we find Ivan's, a chip shop that has assumed legendary local status having "bin gooing since 1957". Fresh fish fillets are displayed in the window and the fact all the eat-in tables are booked up speaks for itself; we therefore take our carefully wrapped goodies to a bench at Bearmore Playing Fields, looking out over the sports pitches as preparations are made for a parks football fixture. The roe special thankfully gets the thumbs up from our resident chip critic Stephen while Nick shocks us all by devouring his mini-fish in record time. 

- Thirsty Work in Old Hill -

Another establishment in contention for the Dudley branch 2020 PotY crown is Wheelie Thirsty at Old Hill so we get there via Clyde Road and Trinity Street, spotting Macefield's Mission as an impressive chapel building dating from 1904. The micropub we seek is of a much more recent vintage, opening last year in a former Midland Bank premises as an outlet for the Fixed Wheel Brewery (sadly their sister pub in Lye has recently closed down due to lack of trade). A cycling theme is very much apparent among the resident artworks as I partake of Sniper (a sprightly pale ale) and Nick savours some Blackheath Stout, a brew which this week was declared to be the Champion Winter Beer of Britain - a superb achievement!

- Uncle B at Haden Hill Park -

A wider look around Old Hill proves rather fruitful when Halesowen Street reveals the presence of several landmarks, namely the Regis Masonic Lodge, Holy Trinity Church and the Spring Meadow Social Club. We continue uphill past a modern fire station to reach the Haden Cross, a popular boozer that was saved from closure following considerable community protest a few years ago. We pop in for a swift half  - Bathams' Best Bitter on good form - then double back to Haden Hill Park to make the acquaintance of Uncle B, a Big Sleuth bear sculpture who nowadays welcomes visitors to the Haden Hill House Museum.

- Bowled over by a Long Hop? -

Haden Hill House is a Victorian residence (dated 1878-79) that stands immediately next to Haden Old Hall, a Jacobean-styled manor; together they form the museum complex although winter opening times are limited to special events only. We concentrate instead on the Long Hop Taphouse at Old Hill Cricket Club where we infiltrate the tail end of an engagement party. A gallery of squad pictures suggests the mid-1980s was a golden period in the club's history although today's regulars are mainly watching the Six Nations rugby. Hartlebury Hooker is an appropriate ale choice in the circumstances and we play a little game trying to guess the #1 song this week in 1977 (Don't Cry For Me Argentina by Julie Covington as it turns out). Old Hill railway station finishes things off for our train home and we now look forward to the next ten years of Chip Foundation fun and frolics - cheers!