Lost Pubs from the WME Archives #35

There's always an element of sadness whenever I file one of my Lost Pubs postings, thinking about what might have been if a pub had been retained instead of getting consigned to the history books. Every bygone boozer must presumably be missed by somebody - even the rank dives - so let's see if any of these five stir the sorrows of someone's memory bank...

- The Victoria -

Our starter for ten this time around is the Victoria, a former Banks's tied house which could be found on Malt Mill Lane between Shell Corner and Coombeswood. I remember playing darts (very badly) here on one of the Hub Marketing trips in early 2014, and it would have closed down permanently not long after that. Marston's disposed of the building by selling it for residential conversion and it is now occupied by several flats. 

- The Waterloo -

Sticking with a Dudley remit, let's bustle over to Brierley Hill to remember the Waterloo which stood on the Mill Street/Venture Way traffic lights. I must admit I had a soft spot for this one as stepping inside was something of a timewarp experience, transporting you back to the 1980s if not earlier - even the Banks's signs outside hadn't changed in years. The building is still there, another one given over to residential use. 

- The Cross Guns -

The South Staffordshire village of Codsall Wood (not to be confused with its larger neighbour Codsall) was home to two good boozers but alas one of those has fallen by the wayside. The Cross Guns was a handsome Wood Road mainstay for many years and had a flat-topped side extension to augment its restaurant provision, but it sat on a sizeable patch of land which was prime real estate for building houses. The Crown - latterly known as the Pendrell Arms - has thus far survived further along the same street.

- The Crusader -

Birmingham used to be a real hunting ground for proper precinct pubs, the kind that always looked very dodgy regardless of their reputation. They're a dying breed nowadays sadly with a notable casualty being the Crusader which was based in one of the Auchinleck Square units at the Five Ways Shopping Centre off Islington Row. In this case the entire block has been overhauled as part of the Park Regis development. 

- The Red, White & Blue -

I'll finish off in Featherstone, a village which straddles the A460 midway between Cannock and Wolverhampton. Given the amount of rooftops in the vicinity, you'd think there would be more than enough demand to sustain a local pub but the Red, White & Blue has seemingly fallen on hard times of late. First opened in 1928, it has been up for sale for the past couple of years so there's a chance it could yet resurrect itself, although the overall condition of the building has been deteriorating after suffering fire damage a few months ago. I fear the worst!

Trunks and Tipples in Tamworth

Into early autumn we happily glide for the prospect of seeing yet more March of the Elephants members, this time as dovetailed with the tantalising tipples on offer at the Tamworth Beer Festival...

- Ski-Ellie -

Those hardy souls amongst you who read this drivel regularly will know that Tamworth was my remaining frontier in terms of collecting elephant sculptures this summer, so on Saturday 7th September Jane and I attempted to fill in the gaps. Alas the weather was of the persistently drizzly variety but this did not stop us from seeking out the SnowDome in order to meet 'Ski-Ellie', a sporty specimen complete with safety goggles, green helmet and skiing attire. 

- Rainbow Elephant -

Also temporarily part of the SnowDome furniture was 'Rainbow Elephant', although this one had to suffer the indignity of standing outside in the rain rather than enjoying Ski-Ellie's shelter by the main reception desk. Swirling ribbons add to the colourful effect here, and the wider SnowDome facilities seemed very popular in comprising indoor ski slopes, swimming pool, gymnasium, ice skating rink and some climbing walls. 

- Elvis -

I wasn't prepared to risk the embarrassment of putting my frightful lack of coordination on public display so we gave any skiing the slip by heading for the Tamworth Castle Grounds. Two more elephants awaited us here, namely 'Tamworth Pigs' (referencing the famous local porky breed) and 'Elvis', who had nothing whatsoever to do with the King of Rock & Roll but instead was a yellow floral design with gerbera daisies and Stay Positive mottoes.

- Brothwell -

The ongoing rain did not make for the best of photographic conditions so we called it quits upon finding 'Brothwell', an elephant named after the founder of St Giles's Hospice. Located outside St Editha's Church, the design in this case referenced charity shop happenings with words such as donate and volunteer clearly to the fore. I never quite managed to pin down every single sculpture but I've covered most of the herd over the last month so I've got to be pleased with that. It's certainly been a lot of fun...

- Sugar Spun Stout -

And talking of fun, we had a beer festival to get to! The revamped Assembly Rooms on Corporation Street had resumed hosting duties for Tamworth's ale and cider extravaganza so we made a beeline for the side entrance and obtained the necessary tokens and glassware. I'd anticipated that several of the beers would have sold out but there was still plenty of quality quaffage to be had on the Saturday lunchtime session, not least Sugar Spun Stout with its candyfloss aroma (Firebrick Brewery) or Green Duck's Cinderman (for hints of burnt toffee).

- The Winner Takes It All -

Jane meanwhile eagerly acquainted herself with the cider corner of the bar, testing out the Broadoak Rum & Raisin followed by Hecks Farmhouse Perry. Alas the 8% Pineapple Cider she'd most been looking forward to had already been drunk dry, but any disappointment was more than offset by the Wilkins Traditional. Tamworth often adopt special themes for their festivals and this year they'd gone with an ABBA anniversary celebrating 50 years since the Swedish supergroup won the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Waterloo'. 

- Cider Contemplation in the Kings Ditch -

Our festival visit had gone swimmingly so there was no need to send out an SOS, not with the chance to then try out two of Tamworth's finest establishments. The Kings Ditch micropub has an extensive cider menu so Jane was extremely happy there - we even got chatting to a chap from Chase Terrace who knew all there was to know about anything apple-related. A Star Trek glass from a previous festival was cheekily obtained too before we switched attentions to the Tamworth Tap, winner of CAMRA's National Pub of the Year accolade for both 2022 and 2023. The place was heaving with contented punters availing themselves of the stonking selection of cask ales, but for us a Squealer cider was the perfect finale. Cheers!

WME Flickr Focus - August 2024

If August's activities on the West Midlands Exploration photostream were equated to an episode of Sesame Street then the last few weeks have been brought to you by the letters D, E and F. Alas I haven't got Big Bird, Elmo or Bert and Ernie on standby to bring you the rundown, but let's Count von Count up the recent additions anyway...

Our favourite playmate of late has been WME Staffordshire which has had something to say for each of the letters in focus. This means D has daintily deposited more droppings from Doxey, notably Greensome Crescent and the village's welcome sign, whereas E expertly rustled up a commemorative wreath over at Enville War Memorial. Most of the thrust was however reserved for F, specifically the Potteries town of Fenton. A J Philpott & Sons timber merchants, the Bonaparte Restaurant, the Angel pub and Lordship Lane have all featured amongst the ensuring flurry of Fenton-ness!

If Staffordshire did a fair amount of F legwork, WME Wolverhampton has displayed a total F fixation. This is solely on account of Finchfield contributing its customary swathe of blossom captures, furnishing us with petal pictures from Cranford Road, Wootton Road, Woodland Crescent et al., all accompanied by side dishes of coppice daffodils and bluebells. A snowy supermarket scene showing the Lidl store on Oak Hill rounds off the set for the time being.

Elsewhere, WME Dudley dabbles with its own delivery of several D items, comprising Dudley College's Evolve branding, a truncheon-wielding police station carving and a Trinity Road street sign. The Dudley Fs are fashioned from Hurst Green correspondence with the Fairfield pub, hence a Marstons badge and a 1930s upstairs window. WME Birmingham by contrast gave the Es some emphasis courtesy of Edgbaston cricket happenings although I must pay due reference to a Digbeth street art tiger cub as one of the cuter examples of graffiti.

The remaining scraps were hoovered up between them by WME Sandwell (Dudley Port station orientation snippets), WME Coventry (building on July's resurgence with some Fargo Village scooter action), and finally WME Shropshire (where its hello to Evelith and its liking for painted pooch pebbles). All being well, our journey through the alphabet should continue into September so until then enjoy the photos. Won't you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street...