- Plastered in the Old Blue Ball -* 1pm and time to get going. Mr B meets me in Wolverhampton and we’re off onto the Metro for the short ride into Bilston. The town seems reasonably busy on a Friday afternoon and a quick stroll brings us to The Trumpet, where Nick is already in situ with his pint of Golden Glow. The pub is renowned as a venue for live music (especially jazz) and Stephen and I admire the various gig tickets adorning the bar area. My beer has the rather jazzy sounding name of Flo Jangles and constitutes Holden’s opening monthly special brew of 2011, hence being entirely appropriate for our setting. George Benson provides smooth musical accompaniments to our conversation - all in all, an excellent opening gambit.
* After a bite to eat we make our way to Bilston Bus Station and track down the 339 bus for an interesting ride down through Moxley and Herberts Park. Nick also uses the journey for some covert chipmunching having smuggled the remainder of his lunch on board. We alight in Darlaston at 2:45pm hoping to sample the Prince of Wales, but despite the chalkboard outside suggesting a 2 o'clock opening (not to mention Nick's valiant attempts at breaking and entering), there is no sign of life and we have to fall back on a standby selection.
* Thankfully salvation was at hand just down the road as The Springhead Tavern came to the rescue. Last time I was across this way the pub had closed and it’s future was uncertain, but Black Country Ales have taken it on and even secured it a spot in the 2011 Good Beer Guide. We receive a friendly greeting from a couple of locals and then pick out our ales: Blue Monkey’s Ape Ale for me whilst Nick is on the Imperial Russian Stout and Stephen the customary lemonade and black. The pub feels fairly open plan and quite basic, with one nice feature being the Rogues Gallery picture board immortalising some of the regulars.
* Safely past 3pm now we decide to give the Prince of Wales another go. I did have high expectations of the place and was hoping for another special Holden’s Good Beer Guide experience, but it never quite transpired like that. At least the pub was now open, meaning we could stage the momentous occasion that was the ‘Prince of Wales in the Prince of Wales’ with royal lookalike Nick posing gamely for the photos. We did this sitting in the lounge, which soon qualified as one of the shabbiest rooms I’ve ever had a drink in. In some cases a bit of rusticness can add an authentic quality to a pub but here it seemed more like neglect, and we left with the sense that the place was tired and struggling. I have no wish to do the place a disservice and I would love to be corrected if necessary, but I aim to be honest when writing this blog and my first impressions of the Prince of Wales simply weren't favourable at all.
- With 'Nickolenko' in the Cottage Spring -* Moving on, let's have a little wander towards Wednesbury. Cobden Street leads to Franchise Street where I was pleased to see that the Forge Tavern was still standing, and just down the road is another Holden's, the Cottage Spring. Given the sad state of the Prince of Wales I was seriously wondering what this place would be like – actually it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The front bar was noticeably busy and the back lounge was comfy and pleasant with the pub dog providing curious entertainment by chasing its own tail.
* 4 pubs down and still more Wednesbury to come, but first a slight detour so that I can add the closed Scott Arms to my Darlaston pub archive. Kings Hill Park and Methodist Church are other notable features en route as Nick's wintry appearance leads us to christen him Nickolenko Pubalotovich as our best attempt at passing him off as a Lithuanian.
* The clock on Wednesbury Church in the distance has ticked round to 5pm and beyond as we pitch up at Hall End. We were taking a risk by revisiting some of our thwarted haunts from our Metro trip (when Wednesbury was memorable for all the wrong reasons), but this time the pub was open and our faith was about to be restored. Indeed, the Old Blue Ball proved to be a nice little free house that soon won me over. It feels quite compact inside, with a particularly snug front bar room accessed through a sliding door. From a good selection of beers Nick chooses Reverend James whilst I take a punt on Everard’s Original and very nice it was too. We decamp to the larger lounge area on the left hand side of the building, finding a cosy corner where we can admire various shields and trophies and discuss the local canals.
* Next up we're out into the darkness to try out the other pub that escaped us on that previous Wednesbury visit. Vicarage Road brings us to the Olde Leathern Bottel, reputedly an old building where the low ceilings and beam effects do add a hint of olden charm. Hobgoblin and Salopian Shropshire Gold are the tipples here as Stephen studies the menu for future reference. I'm glad we made the effort to drop by.
* Our final call of the day sees us heading back to Bilston, timing our walk to perfection just in time to catch the 79. We alight just after 7pm and make a beeline for the Olde White Rose, a place Nick and Stephen both have a certain affection for. As ever there are plenty of real ale aficionados congregated around the main bar, eyeing up the wide selection of tipples including a mixture of local brews and those from further afield. Last Rites catches my eye until I realise its 11% so a timely swerve brought us to Backyard Brewery’s The Hoard, celebrating the Roman treasure found in Staffordshire the other year. The pub interior has changed a little as the raised section has gone and the carvery servery is now at the far end of the main corridor. It does feel more spacious and we find a decent perch at which to ruminate on the day’s events – a good place to finish.
* 7:30 approaches and with that it’s time to leave, shuffling around the corner for a 525 from an almost deserted Bilston Bus Station. The bus arrives fairly promptly and gives us a handy ride homewards, with Mr B departing at Wednesfield and me then leaving Nick to the remainder of his journey. On reflection it had been a good afternoon out, full of interest and some excellent ales. Wednesbury came through strongly and Darlaston was memorable, but my pub of the day crown this time around goes to Bilston and the Trumpet, a true pub classic that deserves further visits in future...
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