Bank Holiday Beer

Monday 30th August: A dry and sunny Bank Holiday Monday seems like a rare event, so Dad and I made the most of the weather with an afternoon walk, adding in a few pubs along the way...

Our stroll took us along the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, out from Aldersley Junction to Compton through Newbridge. The cut made for a relaxing green backdrop as we discussed Wolves' start to the new Premier League season. We left the canal at Compton Bridge and braved the hike up the Holloway into Tettenhall Wood, rewarding our climb with a first pint of the day.

The Royal Oak on School Road has always appealed to me as an old-fashioned local that has been a long term feature of the community. Calling inside, we find a nice cosy bar with green leather seats, and then a homely lounge/restaurant area with farmhouse-style furniture such as a big wooden dresser. Dad tries the Banks's Mild (his usual barometer when in a Marston's pub) whilst I opt for Ringwood's Showman's Tipple, the guest beer plucked from amongst the Marston's stable. Sitting in the window we can watch the comings and goings at the local shops on School Road, and generally enjoy a nice village setting for a relaxed drink.

Having supped up, I can then get a few photos of Tettenhall Wood including the old branch library building and the Institute. My attention also focuses on the former Shoulder of Mutton pub, now closed down and awaiting demolition despite a long battle by customers to try and keep the place open. Personally I think it is a great shame to be losing a popular facility, and I doubt the housing earmarked for the site will have anything like the same value for the wider community...

Anyway, getting off my soapbox it's back down the hill to sample pub number 2. Dad remembers visiting the Swan at Compton years ago so it would be interesting to see whether it had changed. I guess the answer would be very little, as entering the pub certainly seemed like stepping back in time to me. A classic wooden bar room complete with dark benches, solid tables and a sprinkling of seasoned regulars chewing the fat. The Swan has apparently been a coaching inn since 1777, a fact testified by the painted sign above the fireplace. We take a pew in one little cranny and sample some Marston's Old Empire, an ale with a fair old kick to it as befits a 5.7% ABV. There were lots of intriguing little touches, such as little joke signs dotted about by the bar and a corridor of deep red glazed tiles that all added to the character. I'm already keen to return for a further pint or two, perhaps exploring more of the building and the snug in particular.

How do you follow a gem like that? Well, a beer festival would be a good start and that's what was on offer at the Chindit on Merridale Road. A further walk up Compton Road and Richmond Road ensured we worked up a thirst, and I was particularly keen to see what the pub was like having had my eye on it for quite a while. I was not disappointed, as the Chindit has its own period feel and atmosphere, albeit evoking the 1970s with a plain stark interior and artex style walls. It might've been basic but the place still carried a sense of honesty and homeliness, a pub where the beer very much is king.

Talking of the ale, Bank Holiday weekend was the Chindit's 11th Real Ale festival and seemed to have proved popular judging by the fact that most of the beers had sold out. No matter though, Dad and I tried some Mauldon's Mid Summer Gold off the stillage on the back yard (very nice although the 'gold' is open to debate) followed by Hop Back's Summer Lightning from the handpull at the bar. We sup the latter sitting in the front room, admiring the music posters and the net curtains - a fitting way to conclude an excellent afternoon, containing some great pub discoveries I shall definitely look forward to revisiting in future...