Lost Pubs from the WME Archives #42

I'm in a reflective mood again, blowing the cobwebs off another dusty box of memories to see what else can join our photographic parade of perished public houses. The 42nd episode of the Lost Pubs Series therefore brings you four from Dudley plus a South West outlier from Somerset's county town...

- The Barley Mow -

We'll start with a Stourbridge selection which takes us to Wollaston (in the dark no less). The Barley Mow was a typical Banks's estate affair nestled near the apex where High Street meets Vicarage Road with frontages on either side of the fork. I had the pleasure of visiting a couple of times and always found it a friendly sort of place; the second of those calls was a specially convened Hub Marketing meeting in 2013 when we'd heard it was imminently due to close forever. Those reports were true - it has been turned into a Sainsbury's Local shop. 

- The Royal Exchange -

To Brockmoor next for a brace of boozers which were not very far away from each other. The first of these is the Royal Exchange on Bankwell Street, just off Wallows Road. Like the Barley Mow, this would have been a Banks's tied house back in the day, built on a slight slope with a  ramp leading up to the front door. The pub seems to have shut between 2012 and 2014, after which the building was taken on by Chimera for retail use as some kind of gaming enterprise.

- The Brockmoor House -

Also hailing from Brockmoor is the eponymous Brockmoor House which could be found on the crossroads where High Street, Hickman Road and Station Road all intersect. Black Country Ales had this one for a while, although it never seemed to be a successful venture for them, and it was during their stewardship that Mr D9 and I popped in for some BFG in January 2013. I don't know the exact date of closure but it's been many years since this one was operational, and the condition of the premises is gradually deteriorating to a worrying extent.

- The Crown -

Our fourth and final offering from the Dudley Metropolitan Borough area involves wandering over to Woodside, where the Crown would have served the residents of the adjacent Holly Hall housing estate. Redolent of the type of small box-like pubs that popped up in the 1950s and 1960s, it was located on Highgate Road just along from Woodside Primary School and the local Community Centre. One Stop are the current convenience-oriented occupiers.

- Masons Arms -

I've promised you a further flung finale so let's take a brief trip to Taunton and pay homage to the Masons Arms. Being somewhat off my usual patch, there isn't much I can tell you about this one other than to say it is positioned on Magdalene Street practically next door to the Perkin Warbeck (Wetherspoons) rear entrance, and it would have been a free house. The building was still there last year, with basic signage, but looks long-term closed to me.