With every month of lockdown that ticks by, I wonder how many more pubs might be lost forever, their financial plight made ever more perilous by the ongoing pandemic. Public health concerns are rightly paramount of course and further closures must sadly be inevitable, although these five establishments had already met their fate long before Covid became a factor...
- The Borough Arms -
February's haul begins in Bilston where the Borough Arms once stood proudly on Bunkers Hill Lane; I remember passing the pub several times as a kid when Dad and I made our way to nearby Queen Street to watch Bilston Town FC in non league footie action - come on you Steelmen! This sizeable roadhouse with separate Lounge Bar and Games Bar was bulldozed circa 2009 and the site has remained wasteland ever since.
- The Stamford Arms -
Staying with Wolverhampton, we can pop over to Penn Fields for a peek at the Stamford Arms which was very much a backstreet Banks's number among the terraces off Lea Road. I recall nervously photographing this during one of my early library lunchtime walks, intrigued by hints of period tiles and well-worn doorsteps. The building still exists but has been turned into flats with the distinctive corner entrance now bricked up.
- The Red Lion -
Next up is this Stourbridge offering that could be found close to the town's concrete collar of a ring road. The Red Lion occupied the fork where Green Street meets Lion Street (on the way to Rog's house) and was a relatively unassuming Banks's example. I think we played pool here the once, no doubt with Metallica or similar on the jukebox, although it now goes down as another pub given over to residential conversion.
- Hare & Hounds -
Rog trip pedigree was also the case for the Hare & Hounds on Stowheath Lane (near Bilston), a flat-roofed boozer that was handy if visiting East Park. Mr SBI and I called by in June 2005 when my tipple of choice used to be Strongbow - I hadn't been fully converted to the charms of cask ale by that stage. The pub closed down a couple of years later and was subsequently cleared to make way for houses plus the Larkspur Close cul-de-sac.
- The Anchor -
February's finale hails from the outskirts of Lichfield where the Anchor has ceased trading as Streethay's local watering hole. The A5127 Burton Road was the location for this one when I photographed it back in April 2010, making it one of my Rail Rover discoveries following a stroll out from Lichfield Trent Valley station. After a few years of decay the building has been refurbished to provide flats and a retail business premises.
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