Saturday, September 25

Hub Marketing 2021: Leaping Into Lye

Now that our esteemed Chairman has returned to full fitness, the Hub Marketing Board can convene the meeting we'd originally scheduled two weeks ago. The hostelries and taverns of Lye are on standby to receive our custom, so brace yourselves for bald spots, discounts and an encounter with a famous feline...

- Treatos Are Served -
Friday 24th September 2021 and our first challenge is to get ourselves across to Stourbridge to meet that celebrity cat. Mr D9 dodges any cob forfeits by arriving promptly at Bradley Lane while Secretary WME survives a brief brush with The Hawthorns, meaning we soon saunter into Stourbridge Junction in search of resident mousecatcher George. He isn't on his usual ticket office seat so we eventually track him down on platform 1, studiously ignoring us until the Chairman's pack of Dreamies provides the necessary persuasion - let it not be said that the bald one isn't above acts of blatant bribery when a ginger furball selfie is required!

- The Queensway, Pedmore Fields -
Leaving George to roll about in some platform mud, we press on into Pedmore Fields via Old Ham Lane and Drew Road. The local JET petrol garage is attracting constant queues as motorists try to stock up amidst concerns over fuel shortages, hence the Queensway pub gives us an ideal vantage point for watching the unfolding pump procession. Keenly-priced respective pints of Carling and John Smith's put Mr WME into early discount contention as we watch a bit of the Racing Channel and trade some Pick of the Pops predictions. The front bar here is smartly furnished in making for a good start to the day's quaffing business. 

- Stevens Park, Wollescote -
From Pedmore Fields we weave a trail through Wollescote, taking in the leafy surroundings of Stevens Park - this is one of three public open spaces gifted to the area by Ernest Stevens, the others being in Quarry Bank and Stourbridge. Wollescote Hall is the park's Grade II-listed centrepiece, dating from the C17th and latterly used as a Social Services base by Dudley Council. We tiptoe through the trees and out towards Brackendale Way, playing our silly song selections as we go; it remains to be seen whether the excitable strains of Margarita Pracatan have ever echoed across these grassy expanses before but they certainly have now!

- Checkout Craftiness in the Hadcroft -
Our other dubious ditty choices both concern decimalisation, whereby Max Bygraves seems very much in favour but Wilfrid Brambell bemoans the potential loss of old-fashioned counting skills. Our mathematical prowess is duly put to the test at the Hadcroft when we stage our latest darts contest. D9 Destroyer takes the opening leg and seems to be fixated on leaving himself 19 for each and every checkout, a ploy that backfires when WME Whirlwind snatches a double 17 finish that leaves all onlookers truly flabbergasted. Perhaps the Secretary feels inspired by the Banks's Mild or the melodious tones of Petula Clark, either way he wins 2-1. 

- A Foxy Bald Spot? -
The Lye area was once known for having over fifty watering holes within half a mile square. There aren't quite as many nowadays even if we still have plenty to keep us occupied, our next example being the Fox on Green Lane for a dose of backstreet Banks's complete with a Peaky Blinders undercurrent. One swift Amber later we head around the corner to check on the Hollybush, just down from Lye & Wollescote Cemetery (sadly for D9 the old closet was removed a few years ago). Elsewhere, the Railway is closed despite having undergone extensive renovation and the Windsor Castle is now home to the Printworks Brewery after the Sadlers name was bought up by Halewood International.

- Sir Cedric Hardwicke Tribute Filmreel -
Lye Cross is the intersection of the A458 Stourbridge Road/Lye High Street with the A4036 Pedmore Road/Dudley Road, a notorious bottleneck prior to the bypass being constructed. The junction has been chosen as an appropriate setting for a sculpture celebrating the life and works of locally-born Sir Cedric Hardwicke, an acclaimed stage actor whose many film credits include roles in 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame', 'The Ten Commandments' and 'The Ghost of Frankenstein'. Lye railway station resolutely remains its usual mundane self, improved by the replacement of a concrete footbridge but the grey plank ticket office ensures a continuing sense of ugliness.

- Beat Brewery -
Secretary WME has been keeping a close eye on the clock for the last half hour and his intentions become clear once an industrial estate wriggle reveals the Beat Brewery premises. A relatively recent arrival to the West Midlands beer scene, the Lye taproom was established in 2018 after the brewery relocated from Somerset. 4pm opening sees us eagerly partaking of Metalhead Stout and Jungle Drum Machine American Pale, all accompanied by a ginormous grated cheese and onion cob - a Madness soundtrack is evidence of the company's music preferences, one of the other craft brews being named Skaburst. 

- Lye Cross -
We've enjoyed a stellar afternoon already but we couldn't leave Lye without sampling the Shovel, one of those must-visit Black Country hostelries it would be sacrilege to avoid. The stand-out ale here is Bath'ums, a cheeky collaboration between the pub and the Ambridge Brewery - it certainly hits the spot! A final glance at Lye Cross precinct then precedes a ride on the 7 up Thorns Road, spotting the aforementioned Quarry Bank version of Stevens Park followed by the Koyla Kitchen (the overhauled Thorns box boozer that operates as a sports bar-cum-steakhouse and has nothing to do with Koala bears). 

- D9 Drives Home -
A Delph dash will round off the day nicely, and for once we won't be making the pilgrimage to the hallowed Bull & Bladder. No, the Chairman has his heart set upon doing the Roebuck on Amblecote Road, an ex-Ansells number if Detective D9 is to be believed. The Golden Glow is on form here as we check the bus times and realise we've got a small window for a Corn Exchange curtain call. It's certainly been an action-packed blast and homeward haulage duties go to the number 8 route via Merry Hill, Woodside and Dudley. Cheers!

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