Happy New Year one and all! Can you believe that 2020 is now upon us? The number always seemed so far into the future I can't quite fathom the fact it's actually here, but before I crash headlong into a new decade of exploration, let me pause to ponder the highlights from the twelve months just gone...
January: it turns out that 2019 was neatly bookended by canal walks, the year having started in style with a Curdworth and Minworth trek along the Birmingham & Fazeley. I followed that by taking the towpath to Tipton via spooky Coseley Tunnel, while the Hub Marketing Board quickly got down to business with one of our Desi Day adventures - the mixed grill in the Red Lion near West Bromwich was a thing of wonder!
February: judging duties are usually to the fore in February so I had the pleasure of visiting Enville and Cradley Heath in swift succession, finding time to squeeze in a tour of the Timbertree estate. Mr D9 donned his paper periwig to help me assess Sedgley and Kingswinford whereas the Chip Foundation laced up their hiking boots ready for tackling Trysull and Wombourne - Bratch Locks never stood a chance. Brewood also entered the equation with the sun smiling down upon the Shropshire Union, magic moments indeed.
March: a month chockful of memories here, star billing perhaps going to the Chip Foundation's day in Hereford during which we admired the cathedral and caught glimpse of Edgar Street football ground. A solo stomp around Stafford likewise rates very highly, tracking down 'bod' at Weeping Cross after getting my first ever photos of Wildwood and Walton-on-the-Hill. Then again, how about the Rugeley Power Rangers blast when (after a bus garage breakfast) Mr D9's bald spot bade fond farewell to some landmark cooling towers? That's before I even mention the Rugby Beer Festival, Nick being on hand to join me in collecting the Crafty Banker and the Town & County Club.
April: no debate about the main event in April, it has to be Rail Rover Week which this time around involved the joys of Matlock, Oxford, Newtown and Gloucester - I especially enjoyed sampling some proper Welsh pubs although Gloucester Docks were fascinating too. Elsewhere, the Hub Marketing Board spent Good Friday riding around Redditch, surreptitiously seeking out flat-roofed establishments in Matchborough, Winyates and Woodrow, what a day that was! Earlier in the month D9 and I had already done a mini-Walsall trip focusing on Rushall where the Farmer's Boy was closed, thankfully not for good...
May: Nick Turpin's springtime special entailed a nudge around Northampton, calling in at the Albion Tap, the Pomfret Arms and even Long Buckby but definitely not Carlsberg - what a load of Cobblers! The Beardsmore award for the gammon dinner of 2019 goes to the Doctor Johnson pub in Netherstowe where we feasted most contentedly having surveyed Stowe Pool and the famous three spires of Lichfield Cathedral. In other news, I was back on the Birmingham beat with a wander around Woodgate Valley and Bartley Reservoir (Frankley Parish Church technically falling under Worcestershire jurisdiction) and supplemented that with an Inner Circle investigation, Mr D9 savouring the Bluenose boozers of Bordesley.
June: Broseley was the destination for the WME birthday trip as the Chip Foundation pottered around the pipeworks, whereas a Father's Day flourish saw Dad and I descend upon Hagley to make the acquaintance of a certain King Arthur for bostin' Batham's. Bromsgrove was blessed with summer sunshine on the occasion of the town's beer festival and Stephen attempted to spot the sea at Southport, scene of a coach trip caper and several Silcock's enterprises. Mr B Junior was also an integral component of a week in York watching the mighty Warwickshire winning in a city that hadn't hosted first class cricket for over a century.
July: halfway through the year now and the thrills kept coming thick and fast. Take Nottingham for example with a tram-based extravaganza that meant Nick and I landed up in Basford, Bulwell and Beeston. The Shrewsbury Beer Festival was held in the spectacular setting of St Mary's Church, then there was Beatles sightseeing afoot during a family weekend in Liverpool - the Globe and the White Star stood out as classic Scouse watering holes. Further daytrip discoveries awaited with the Beardsmores in Cleveleys, John avoiding getting shipwrecked along the promenade, and I suppose I should mention the small matter of England winning the Cricket World Cup in one of the tightest finishes imaginable!
August: the height of summer brought the prospect of two Hub Marketing afternoons, one in Wellington and the other in Walsall Wood. The first of those gave us glass-snatching in Shawbirch, the latter had us dodging deluges in confirming the Farmer's Boy had reopened (hurrah!) - the Charles Napier in Palfrey stole the show that day though. My Hay Green Hike took me along memory lane where Edgbaston, Selly Oak and Bournville were concerned - all places I initially discovered whilst at university - albeit I'd have to go back to childhood for my previous encounters with Dudley Zoo, an attraction that enticed the Chip Foundation over the Bank Holiday weekend. Unfortunately Mr B Senior wasn't accepted as one of the exhibits so he was very much in attendance for the Garrison (Peaky Blinders theme) and the Bull & Bladder afterwards.
September: into autumn next with a double dose of Beardsmore coach tripping. Betws y Coed and Beaumaris were simply brilliant, clambering over castles and such like, then a Cleveleys revisit allowed for a slice of Fleetwood ferreting down by the ferry terminal. Nick, Ken and I survived an evening in Smethwick that was otherwise notable for a Red Cow curry, and the weather put paid to our Warwickshire cricketing finale so we ended up in Kings Norton and Stirchley instead. No such meteorological mischief for the Hub Marketing Board in the Potteries mind, just superb exploring focusing on Hanley and Longton with a bonus spot-the-difference in the Tam O'Shanter - trying to tell Mr D9 and Norman the gorilla apart was not easy!
October: a quieter month relatively speaking, the main component of which had me stepping into Solihull to tick the Bulls Head at Barston off my bucket list. Stephen came along on a Wyrley & Essington meander, traipsing the towpath between Coalpool and Pelsall Junction prior to quiz night challenges at Tettenhall. Team Bears had a pretty productive year actually, culminating in victory on our tenth anniversary showing - the picture rounds and anagrams often prove tricky and we always have to guard against any wipeout scenarios.
November: comedy quiffs are an essential feature of any Hub Marketing Coventry excursion and on this occasion Willenhall and Binley were 'treated' to the Chairman's latest coiffeured creation; Mr D9 would subsequently join forces with Nick and myself in partaking of the ever-excellent Dudley Winter Ales Fayre, an event we somehow combined with calling at Legends in Tipton (a bar Nick won't forget in a hurry). The Chip Foundation meanwhile bustled their way around Boldmere and Sutton Park then rain almost stopped play for the Beardsmore contingent in Rugeley, luckily the Red Lion came to our rescue complete with quality Banks's Mild. Nor should I forget my annual Telford tour for an instalment that conquered Ketley Bank and wiggled around Wombridge - good local knowledge there!
December: all of which leads us to the delights of December and the fun of a Festive Forage that happened upon Highgate and darted about Digbeth - there might have been the odd Guiness or two en route. Halesowen hosted the Hub Marketing Christmas do, a lively affair that resulted in Charles Pemberton Rowbottom delivering his presentations at Cradley Labour Club's Wilson Hall. The year ultimately came full circle back to the canals whereby the Stourbridge Sixteen proved to be my last trip of the decade, a fitting finale even if I say so myself.
That sprightly summary just goes to show that 2019 has been another special year, and once again I must acknowledge all the folk who made it happen. My sincere gratitude therefore goes to Andy (a.k.a. Mr D9), Nick, Stephen, John (a.k.a. Mr Beardsmore Senior), Ken, Dad and anybody else caught up in all the mayhem - here's to yet more of the same in 2020!!!
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