Chuckery and Other Stories

Saturday 29th August saw me return to the West Midlands beat as I joined Rog and the Bears for a tour of Walsall and Sutton Coldfield. In keeping with recent high standards, it was another day packed full of fun and adventure - here's the tale of the trip...

• I begin with a ride on the 333 to Walsall, a quiet journey that covered Portobello, Willenhall, Lodge Farm, Darlaston and Pleck. I was particularly interested to note the ongoing redevelopment in Bentley, where construction of a housing complex and the new library is set to transform the area.


• I meet Rog at Bradford Place and we immediately launch into a local walk. Our stroll takes us around the market and into The Chuckery, where I can investigate the site of the old Crabtrees (not Cadbury's!!) factory and take photos of the Spring Cottage and Duke of York pubs. I would have added the Walsall Arms too, but lost my bearings a little with Rog worrying I might be leading him on a wild goose chase!


• Rog's feet then got some respite as we caught the 377 across to Boldmere. Here we track down the Bishop Vesey pub, where I sample a pint of Red Dwarf and Bonus shows off his miniature wrestling belt - he's one teddy that's not to be messed with!


• A short walk then takes us to Chester Road Station, passing Boldmere Library, St Michael's Church and the Boldmere Oak pub. It was my first visit to the station and I made sure to get photos of the signs on the roadbridge along with a couple of platform views.


• The Cross City line takes us north to Blake Street, where we call in at the Blake Barn for a spot of lunch and a pint of Hobgoblin. Rog tackles his customary gammon steak whilst I go slightly more exotic by trying the moussaka - a decent meal, although we did have a bit of a dash afterwards to catch the 902 at Hill Hook terminus.


• From Hill Hook its down to Sutton Coldfield, where we watch the F1 qualifying and are stunned when Giancarlo Fisichella secures pole position in his Force India. To add to the sense of "how did that happen?", Jenson Button only qualifies 14th with Lewis Hamilton 12th - needless to say, Rog is not a happy bunny.


• To cheer Rog up, we catch the 68c across to Minworth Village. Here we enjoy a short stroll along the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal followed by a visit to the Boat pub - it was nice to sit outside in the sunshine supping a pint of Highgate Dark Mild.


• I quite liked the look of Minworth, especially as we went on to discover the Village Green, local school and the Hare and Hounds pub for some handy local photos. These are soon followed by shots of Walmley, where I investigate the shops, library and war memorial before we pop into the Fox to check what's happening in the afternoon's football - Wolves are drawing 1-1 with Hull at Molineux.


• From Walmley we weave our way back to Walsall, pausing for the odd stop at Sutton Coldfield and New Oscott. The latter included a call at the Beggar's Bush as Roger's bladder was in dire straits at the time!


• The trip turns full circle as we return to Walsall and call back at the Chuckery. Having failed to locate the Walsall Arms earlier, we make sure to find it on the evening and are rewarded with a relaxed pint in traditional homely surroundings. I really liked the pub, and hope the apparent lack of customers doesn't result in it disappearing before too long.


• A Rog trip isn't complete unless we finish off at a biker pub, a tradition that has featured the Giffard at Wolverhampton along with our old favourite, the Rock Station at Stourbridge. To this we can now add the Rising Sun, a Highgate local situated on Ablewell Street where Rog gets Metallica up on the jukebox and we attempt a rather chaotic game of pool. A great end to another fine trip!