The First Hubs of 2020

The new year is merely a couple of days old and already the Hub Marketing Board are back in action. This trip has been specially convened following news that the Eagle & Tun in Birmingham's Eastside is due to close its doors forever, hence Chairman D9 wants to administer the last rites...

- Bilston, St Mary's -

The Christmas festivities are barely over when Friday 3rd January heralds the opening outing of 2020. As it's a lovely sunny morning, Secretary WME breaks his photographic duck for the year courtesy of a look around Loxdale near Bilston. Oxford Street offers side-by-side churches (St Mary's and Holy Trinity) with a hint of a former social club, then Chapel Street supplies snapshots of the local primary school, an educational establishment that originally opened in 1929.

- HS2 coming to Curzon Street -

At Bradley Lane, Chairman D9 maintains his custom for belated arrivals before we eventually get Birmingham-bound aboard the Midland Metro. Once in Brum we head straight into Eastside to catch up on the latest progress as regards the HS2 project, for which a new Curzon Street station is projected to be operational from 2026 onwards. Promotional hoardings surround the site at the moment, foretelling of fast journey times and the wider benefits that transforming the area will bring. 

- Goodbye to the Eagle & Tun -

The HS2 scheme is however the reason why the Eagle & Tun is being consigned to history, the pub having been subject to a compulsory purchase order that will result in imminent demolition. The last day of trading will be Saturday 4th January so we're 24 hours early with our goodbyes, but at least we can see the heritage interior (which famously appeared in UB40's 'Red Red Wine' video) one last time. We can't resist a mournful game of darts - WME Whirlwind winning 3-0 in subdued circumstances - while the Chairman rivals some Evening Mail journalists in trying to get as many pictures of the premises as possible. 

- The White Tower -

The Eagle & Tun's demise is such a shame but you can't stop the march of progress it seems. Needing to cheer ourselves up, we seek out one of Digbeth's newer bastions of beer by finding Kilder among the railway arches of Shaw's Passage. We're literally beneath Moor Street station here as we partake of 'Mint Choc-Chip Dairyfreak', a 5.2% Milk Ice Porter from Magic Rock - it's tarmac but not as we know it! The Chairman is however itching for some inner-city investigations so we take a punt on the White Tower (a.k.a. Moriarty's) as perched beside Lawley Middleway overlooking Curzon Circus. 

- Baldness beneath the arches -

The White Tower actually exceeds expectations with a friendly welcome and some lingering Christmas decorations to accompany our Carling, while Mr D9 can revel in getting his fix of Heartlands 'scenery' - Viaduct Street is particularly daunting with fly-tipping and shadowy recesses, not the kind of place an innocent bald spot should be seen parading around that's for sure. Garrison Lane Park puts us within a defensive hoof of St Andrews, giving us chance to boost our Bluenose boozer collection care of Bainsy's Bar. 

- Dead Wax in Digbeth -

Bainsy's must presumably get very busy on matchdays but on a quiet Friday mid-afternoon in January there's not a lot happening unless you're a fan of the tv quiz show 'Tenable'. Having failed abysmally to name London tube stations beginning with T, we lick our wounds in Digbeth where the Wagon & Horses has undergone a startling makeover and now calls itself Dead Wax. The change is quite dramatic - craft beer, distressed woodwork, creepy mannequins, subversive art - so it takes a bit of getting used to. Britain Beermat recently wrote about his Dead Wax visit and probably liked it more than we did. 

- D9 drives home -

Still recovering from that additional shock, we have to fall back on the Fountain for our desired dosage of old-fashioned Digbeth - this Alcester Street local does us nicely for a drop of Guinness among the Irish old boys. A quick check of the clock tells us we've time yet for some Highgate haunts, the upshot being a half apiece in both the Town Crier (about as basic as you can get) and the Charles Napier (surprisingly presentable). Sadly that really is all we have time for but we've certainly started 2020 in style - cheers!