Happy New Year one and all! As 2018 arrives kicking and screaming, I shall keep to my usual custom of having my first January blog posting be a retrospective looking back over the preceding twelve months. 2017 wasn't such a bad year as it turned out, and there were certainly many exploration highlights...
January: the old year got underway with a brace of Wolverhampton wanderings, seeking out the familiar (and not so familiar) around Finchfield, Castlecroft and i54 - I paused to ponder the final passing of the Goodyear tyre factory before investigating the new focus of manufacturing as represented by Moog and JLR. A solo Saturday stroll saw me rummaging around canal remains in Halesowen, popping along to Hasbury for a crafty pint in The Crafty Pint prior to meeting up with Rog and Rachael in the Waggon & Horses. The Hub Marketing Board opened their 2017 account with a Desi Day (the curry in the Red Cow stole the show) whereas the Chip Foundation braved Bearwood and Harborne courtesy of the Outer Circle bus route.
February: judging duty saw me focusing on the Dudley and South Staffordshire area in February with Mr D9 appearing in full courtroom regalia when we pitched up in Kinver and Enville. Trysull made its presence felt, walking out from Wombourne with a bonus peek at Bratch Locks, while Stephen and Nick were summoned to tour some classic Black Country boozers: the Bull & Bladder, Ma Pardoe's and the Beacon Hotel = pub heaven! Nick was also on hand for the first beer festival of the year with Rugby claiming that particular curtain-raising honour; Hillmorton at dusk was our memorable finale that day, tracking down the Bell for some good old Draught Bass.
March: Spring is in the air and there's a spring in my step as I linger in Langley, calling in at Causeway Green to sample the Old Dispensary micropub. It was then D9's turn aboard the Outer Circle although he nearly got sent to the scrapyard when some Handsworth hospitality had us staying out much longer than anticipated! We were much better behaved in Meriden and Olton a couple of weeks later, the prospect of Bedders fish and chips (plus those delectable onions) making sure we kept to schedule.
April: the major headline here has to be the long awaited return of Rail Rover Week, three excellent days of train-related adventures that took me to Leominster, Tutbury and Nantwich among other places. A couple of Stephen strolls kept the archive ticking over, Rocket Pool and Codsall Wood being the respective destinations. Micropub magic is to the fore in Burton-upon-Trent (another festival special with Nick Turpin) whereas the Hub Marketing Board's Easter Extravaganza encompasses Good Friday in Great Bridge.
May: a month with arguably the most memorable sight of the year, Mr D9 in a bright pink wig during the Hub Marketing Board's Bloxwich bash - not for the faint-hearted that's for sure! Two Thursday morning taster trips otherwise have me occupied; the first comprised Northycote and Underhill with newly-born lambs, the second was a Wednesfield walk stopping off at Long Knowle and Ashmore Park gatherings shots of Co-ops and Corpus Christi.
June: into summer then and that can only mean cricket. Chelmsford was where Stephen and I witnessed the future County Champions in action - sadly for Warwickshire it was opponents Essex who would go on to lift the title, the Bears ultimately suffering an ignominious relegation. The beer festival bandwagon saw Nick and I roll into Nuneaton (sampling the Lord Hop in the process for some superb Lucid Dream stout) whereas Dad was introduced to the delights of Stone for his Father's Day treat - he still gets misty-eyed thinking about the outstanding Titanic Plum Porter he drank in the Royal Exchange. Wednesbury ensured that the West Midlands was not forgotten, the resultant Patent Shaft pubcrawl came complete with a guest appearance from Roger.
July: who could forget all the fun of finding the various animal artworks dotted around the region as Big Sleuth Bears and the Wolves in Wolves all awaited discovery. An initial bear hunt took Mr Beardsmore and myself to the esteemed environs of Bournville and Sutton Coldfield although Shakesbear in Birmingham City Centre had a neat line in Twitter proclamations - has a sculpture ever uttered the word forsooth before? Nick and I made the most of the summer sunshine for a Lapworth circular stroll (via Baddesley Clinton), and I was likewise blessed with excellent weather when investigating the remains of the Hatherton Canal between Calf Heath and Cannock
August: next up is the WME 2017 family holiday which entailed seven days in Scotland, Edinburgh to be precise. Given that I'd never been further north than Newcastle before, this was a seminal week that dabbled with Dunfermline and pottered around Prestonpans - I very much enjoyed venturing into Inspector Rebus territory too with a pint in the renowned Oxford Bar. Hub Marketing happenings mean a mention for Worcester, roaming around the racecourse to the tune of 'Waf Woof' by the Springfields, not forgetting the D9 Wolf Watch trip in Wolverhampton trying to track down the ever-elusive Claude.
September: the approach of autumn tells us it is time for some sculptural swansongs, seeking out final fleeting glimpses of bears and wolves. It's not every day you get to meet Elvis Presley, Mary Berry and Richard Branson in quick succession but that was the fate that befell the Hub Marketing Board over at Resorts World and Solihull - we even saw Citizen Khan! In other news, a certain Nick Esq celebrated a notable birthday so the Chip Foundation converged upon Blists Hill Victorian Town in order to mark such an important occasion (thankfully the Beardsmore contingent were still able to join us after missing the bus).
October: now this was a month bookended by beer festivals, Solihull at the start balanced by Birmingham towards the end. Nick was present on both occasions while Mr D9 attended the latter and developed a taste for the stronger end of the brewer's spectrum - half pint scratching mugs in Olton and Celery Sour in the Clink will be among my abiding memories of those two excursions. In between times came the smaller matter of the annual Hub foray into Coventry, the Chairman exceeding himself yet again in terms of quiff creation. The Cheylesmore Social Club inscribed itself into HMB legend that day as we contemplated the finer arts of the bagatelle table.
November: Coventry was also quick to make an impression in November, this time with the Chip Foundation for company. Fargo Village has to go down as one of the quirkiest destinations of 2017, where else can you meet pink gorillas and rusty robots then sample the wares from the Twisted Barrel Tap House - wonderful! Lower Penn was the recipient of one of my Thursday morning missives but undoubtedly the most personal photo session came when I bade a fond farewell to Bushbury, my former home of nearly 30 years.
December: and finally to those outings that are still very fresh in my mind. Nick Turpin's 2017 Festive Forage turned into a Leamington and Warwick showstopper that was especially notable for coffee taverns and cellar bars. The Hub Marketing Board made Willenhall their Christmas setting before unleashing Charles Pemberton Rowbottom III on the unsuspecting Beehive complete with complimentary brandy. December also supplied a couple of doorstep duties (Frozen Finchfield; a dalliance with Dovecotes) then concluded with a Shrewsbury spectacular as I sought out the remains of the old Gay Meadow football ground (replaced by an exclusive housing development) - and that's a wrap!
Tradition dictates that at this point I should say a heartfelt thankyou to those brave souls who have been such a huge part of my escapades over the last twelve months. My gratitude once again therefore goes to Nick, Stephen, Andy, Ken, Dad and Rog - here's to more of the same in 2018...
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