- Saying hello to Stephen -
This tale of cautionary completion begins over a lunchtime meeting with a certain Mr Beardsmore who hadn't yet had the pleasure of making the Chairman's acquaintance. The bald spot was duty inspected and lived up to the hairless hype.
- Scary Poppins! -
As Stephen says farewell members press on with a stroll down to the Willenhall Road, noting former pubs and the Wolverhampton Amateur Boxing Club by Eastfield School. Ever on the lookout for suitably silly poses, Mr D9 seizes upon a discarded pink umbrella as a means of shielding his baldness from being captured on camera.
- Baldness at Deansfield -
Sadly for D9 the tactic didn't quite work as the spot was soon on display down on Deans Road. Could some Worthingtons woe be to blame for his weakened defences? Rumour has it that the Secretary rustled up a happy hour at the Victoria to considerably undercut the Chairman's outlay in the Malt Shovel.
- Deans Road Memorial -
Whilst on Deans Road it was only appropriate that we should pause at the local war memorial and remember the sacrifices made given that 2014 will mark the centenary of the beginning of the Great War.
- WME Whirlwind in the Merry Boys -
Our doorstep challenges of late have also been darts challenges and this outing was to be no exception. The competition is intense with neither player able to open up a decisive lead despite blazing a chalky trail from the Victoria to the Grapes. The Merry Boys sees WME Whirlwind get his highest checkout (a neat 40) while the darts are put on hold at the Cleveland Arms in favour of an astroturf inspection. In between times we try and locate the spot where Mrs Thompson's fish and chip shop once stood on the corner of Willenhall Road and Deans Road - the takeaway is still nostalgically recalled by local residents despite having been demolished several years ago.
- A 'Killer' Treble Twenty -
Having got to grips with a giant bag of pork crunch in the Grapes, our action now moves on to Portobello, passing the Community Centre and Stow Heath School on Hill Road. Some of the streetnames in the vicinity refer to wartime battles such as Tobruk, Arnhem and Alamein. Heading along Vaughan Road we find the Royal Oak where the dartboard takes pride of place alongside some televised ladies tennis, inspiring Mr D9 to eke out an advantage when he skilfully nails a treble twenty amidst claims of oche overstepping.
- Portobello Subway -
The eyesore shops on the main roundabout at Portobello are thankfully no more but there is still ugliness on offer down below in the island underpass, a graffiti-splattered subterranean zone that comes complete with a heady aroma of stale urine. The Chairman is always mesmerised by such subway specimens and sniffed up the atmosphere while I held my breath and snaffled a further bald spot shot.
- Checking out the Hub Network -
The remainder of the outing was a broomstick exercise in the environs of Willenhall and Bilston, gathering up some of the establishments that had eluded previous Hub Marketing sweeps. The Chairman hits top form with his darts in the Three Tuns, Secretary WME being stunned into submission by some dubious cladding before mounting a comeback in the Crown. Reconvening at the Dale bus stop, D9 is able to admire his hub handiwork as we catch the 25C to Bilston where there is just time to squeak in a nightcap. Cheers!
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