Happy New Year! Before we get down to business with 2017, let's pause to reflect on what the previous twelve months had in store. 2016 will no doubt be remembered for Brexit, Donald Trump and several celebrity deaths, although on a personal level I have many adventures to look back on with fondness...
January: the old year began with a Bloxwich Monday Mission that also involved pieces of Pelsall's former railway line, not to mention some Mossley moments by Bloxwich North station. Other solo expeditions took me from Widney Manor to Olton (via Shelly Farm and Sharmans Cross) then separately around Acocks Green (a circular walk covering Tyseley and Hall Green with a Fox Hollies ferret). Nick Turpin meanwhile was woken from his post-Christmas slumbers for a January Jaunt at Warwick Castle, meeting medieval mannequins and surreptitiously sneaking into Daisy Greville's bed chamber!
February: more Monday Mission action here with a second peek at Pelsall's railway remains, this time squelching through towards Brownhills and Ogley Hay. Both the Chip Foundation and the Hub Marketing Board opened their accounts for 2016; Stephen and Nick joined me for an afternoon in Claregate and Codsall (the dual delights of Hail to the Ale then the Firs Club) whereas Chairman D9 attended a hub double-header comprising Wolverhampton wanderings followed by a Stourport session (seeking out the Stagborough Arms and several silly photo opportunities). Elsewhere, Rog and I memorably discovered the Fixed Wheel brewery tap on a Blackheath trading estate while Nick Turpin twice took to his Stagecoach, requisitioning ales around Alcester on Friday 5th before nudging into Northamptonshire during Daventry duty on Monday 29th - it's always wise to make the most of the extra day in a leap year.
March: the action continues with two Rog afternoons to report, one in Ashmore Park (which we commenced by sampling the newly opened Slater's Bar in Wolverhampton) and one in Gornal (a destination Mr Chance had always historically avoided). March was the month that heralded the welcome return of 'Towpath Turpin' who joined me in inspecting the canals around Polesworth and Fazeley (our cue for fantasy footbridges and abbey antics), Nick also being present for the Walsall Beer Festival complete with a Cafe Metro Bilston bonus. Not to be outdone, the Hub Marketing Board spent St Patrick Hughes Day in East Birmingham before chasing crumbs of lost canal during a Golds Hill Good Friday bash - rumour has it we actually got back on time that day!
April: a relatively quiet month by comparison although there were visits to the Stourbridge Beer Festival (after which the Green Duck brewery bar on Rufford Road certainly made an impression, Mike from Solihull joining Nick and myself to see what awaited behind the green door) and to Codsall (my first visit to the refurbished Crown, now operated by Joule's). I made the most of my annual 'Unchained' pass for a solo session at the Black Country Living Museum, not forgetting a family day in Shropshire whereby the Anvil in Shifnal proved to be another excellent pub find. April was almost at an end when the Chip Foundation clocked in once more, their Penkridge penance requiring a country lane hike to Whiston and back.
May: the WME blog celebrated its tenth anniversary in May 2016, a milestone I remain rather proud of as I now near my 600th post. In terms of exploration, Hub Marketing was to the fore courtesy of two trips, Ellesmere with Oswestry being the day of D9's parking penalty notice distress before the Cold Case Unit attempted to solve a West Bromwich murder mystery - despite scouring the crime scene for clues, all we found was a rather familiar bald spot! The occasion of the Kidderminster Beer Festival meant it was Towpath Turpin's turn to pose with purple dinosaurs and such like at Stourport while over in Nottingham the Warwickshire batsmen scored good runs at Trent Bridge (centuries apiece for Chris Woakes and Keith Barker).
June: Cricket was a prime consideration heading into the summer so Stephen and I spent a few days in Sale whilst witnessing the Bears take on Lancashire at Old Trafford. My bostin' birthday outing saw the Chip Foundation tracing Tipton canals, making merry at the Black Country Museum then fossil hunting at Wrens Nest nature reserve - I'm not sure Nick really counts as a preserved historic specimen though! Nuggets of North Birmingham were on hand for the Hub Marketing brigade who combined Pype Hayes and Kingstanding with a serving of Spaghetti (the musical meatballs were purely optional). A Kingswinford encounter with Rog featured a few pints at the Woodman where Mr SBI met someone else with the Chance surname, and I must mention an excellent Earlswood excursion linking up with The Lakes and savouring a stroll along the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal.
July: One of the highlights of any year always has to be my annual Telford tour which in 2016 comprised an extraspecial Madeley medley, the All Nations Inn serving as the centrepiece of a day that nibbled on Randlay and Brookside for good measure. Mr D9 has his own idea of God's Country and we were there with Nick to take in the Bromsgrove Beer Festival albeit there still hasn't been any update about my mislaid topiary balls - no garden ornaments were however detected when Rog and I celebrated Mr SBI's 40th birthday with a perky Delph and Brettell Lane pubcrawl. The Monday Mission series creaked back to life with a Willenhall railway rummage whereas the Hub Marketing Board tried to avoid any Brexit fallout by soaking up the Staffordshire sunshine over in Burntwood. One of the most notable omissions from the blog this year was a Nick Turpin Nottingham adventure, a 'tram-tastic' day riding the length and breadth of the Nottingham Express Transit network from Hucknall to Clifton with bits of Beeston too.
August: the reason that Nottingham trip didn't receive its due record was that I got preoccupied instead by a family holiday in Faversham. A whole week of Kentish exploration was simply superb with Broadstairs, Deal and a day at the Canterbury cricket being among my cherished memories - Kent seems to be the spiritual home of the micropub movement with several examples of such establishments although my favourite pub was actually of a more standard size, so take a bow the Ship Centurion in Whitstable. Once back at home in the West Midlands I busied myself with some little local larks (Pattingham or Warstones for example, or a Mesty Croft missive to satisfy the curiosity of Mr Beardsmore). There was Monday Mission correspondence from Erdington (stopping off at Stockland Green and Short Heath in the process) before Bridgnorth served as the Chip Foundation's summer away day where Ken and Mr B Senior swelled our membership to five.
September: early autumn next and a month ever enshrined in hub legend thanks to my traumatic tumble at Turners Hill - I needed a few ales afterwards in Rowley Regis and Lower Gornal to aid my recovery! In other news, the Tamworth Beer festival had a distinct Star Trek theme as I got to grips with Glascote Locks, then Nick and I enjoyed an afternoon ramble over Barr Beacon prior to trying out the Turtles Head micropub in Aldridge. The end of another cricket season was marked by an evening drink in Brum's Fiddle & Bone while my sequence of Monday Missions also drew to a close care of a Walmley walkabout with Stephen - the series totalled 19 exceptional episodes over two years but has been put on hold due to a change in my working pattern.
October: keeping the camera occupied was a hunt for the Red Admiral, an endangered Great Barr pub which Stephen and I tracked down on the Gorse Farm housing estate. Birmingham took its customary spot on the beer festival calendar as Nick and I were Hockley-bound for the multitude of ales at the New Bingley Hall; Mr D9 was likewise of a Brum persuasion when the Hub Marketing bandwagon rolled into Balsall Heath, Ladypool Road and Warstock, all rounded off with some Rednal reconnaissance.
November: no 2016 mention for Coventry yet but the Hub team could not overlook one of their favourite stomping grounds. The quiff was therefore in pole position for Whitmore Park, Stoke Aldermoor and Coundon as the Humber Hotel paid host to the full Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent singalong session. The canals of Galton Valley were the subject of a solo Saturday stroll in Smethwick, the Engine Arm being of particular interest among the array of tunnels, bridges and junctions. The Chip Foundation concluded their 2016 Chronicles thanks to an alluring afternoon in Albrighton while special praise has to go to the volunteers who came together to stage the Dudley Winter Ales Fayre this year - the event had been at risk of being cancelled a few months ago but thankfully did go ahead, thus claiming its rightful place as our traditional festival finale.
December: all of which brings us to the small matter of December whereby recent excursions to Burton and Banbury remain fresh in the memory. A splinter group of the Chip Foundation braved wild and wet West Bromwich for a seasonal nod to the Sow & Pigs and the Crown & Cushion (not to mention a rather bizarre encounter with the New Soho Tavern), while the Hub Marketing year ended with a toast to Charles Pemberton Rowbottom III in the Manhattan (a Heath Town pub that had long been on D9's Christmas wish list). That just leaves one final outing as the year's exploration activities ended as they had begun - in Bloxwich. Nostalgic recollections were evoked as Mr WME Senior and I visited former haunts and formative places from Dad's youth, culminating with the timewarp-like treats of the Kings Head in Blakenall becoming a notable last minute addition to the 2016 pub portfolio.
So there you have the year in summary, twelve more epic months of adventure and memory-making. As ever I would like to thank all of the people who have been part of the story in 2016 - particularly Nick, Stephen, Andy, Rog and Ken - and I very much look forward to whatever awaits in 2017...
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