Nudging Netherton

Hello 2024, I wonder what you'll have to offer in terms of evidently exciting exploration memories? The year ahead stretches out like a blank sheet of parchment, waiting to be filled with news of new discoveries as well as old favourites being revisited. January's first contribution now has me reaching for the quill and the inkwell to bring you details of a jaunt around Netherton and Darby End...

- Cradley Heath DIY -

It's Saturday 6th January 2024, easily the nicest day we've had weather-wise for a while after what has seemed like constant rain since Christmas. Via a Smethwick Galton Bridge switch, I get myself to Cradley Heath so as to be reacquainted with Mary MacArthur Gardens (named after a prominent suffragist and campaigner in the women chainmakers strike of 1910) and Five Ways junction. The Cradley Heath DIY shop is showcasing its wares from the corner of Graingers Lane and High Street although I'm not in need of any broom handles, buckets or Miracle Gro compost bags on this occasion. 

- Terry's Timber -

Foxoak Street offers variety instead of my more customary stroll along Cradley Heath High Street, giving glimpses of the far side of the Tesco supermarket but also reminding me that Jasper's (also known as the Swan) has been turned into a private residence in ominous tones of battleship grey - I have fond memories of that pub as a Holden's outlet so it's sad to see it gone. The Hollybush on Newtown Lane appears to have survived, possibly as a Thursday night comedy venue rather than a standard boozer, while Terry's Timber has a neat line in homespun signage for anyone in need of kindling or picket fence pieces.

- Primrose Hill Community Church -

Mousesweet Brook marks the division between Sandwell and Dudley Boroughs as I cross from Cradley Heath into neighbouring Netherton, pressing on along Cradley Road to confirm another pub closure (RIP the Elephant & Castle). An Asda supermarket oversees the Saltwells Road traffic lights - diagonally opposite what used to be the Golden Cross - then I can check in again with Astle's Bridge which affectionately pays tribute to the legendary West Bromwich Albion striker. The structure's historic name was always Primrose Bridge but it gained its more colloquial title thanks to various 'Astle is King' graffiti daubings that appeared over the years. A Chapel Street detour then allows a sighting of Primrose Hill Community Church, intriguing!

- Darby End Bible Institute -

Emerging onto Halesowen Road, I fancy a dabble with Darby End because it's been a few years since I last passed through. Cole Street therefore offers a few interesting titbits such as the Gate Hangs Well (I've been in there with both D9 and Roger), a Methodist Church with 1960s hexagonal stained glass breezeblocks, and the M S H Premier corner shop. Darby End Wesley Bible Institute meanwhile traces its origins back to 1915 and looks every inch the kind of non-conformist chapel that would once have been commonplace across the Black Country.

- An Encounter with a Black Widow -

Windmill End might otherwise have tempted me with its ribbons of entangled canals but I'm very much counting down to my first pub pint of 2024 and want to get inside Ma Pardoes before it is swamped by eager diners. St Peter's Church and Greaves Road duly escort me towards Halesowen Road once more where the Pure Home Brewd Ales lettering is an iconic clue that I've arrived again at somewhere very special indeed. The public bar with its famous swan ceiling enamels is out of commission today so I find a perch in the restaurant section in order to partake of Entire, a lovely sweetish drop brewed on the premises. As anticipated, the lunchtime takers are arriving in their droves, discussing miscreant parrots and dodgy hips, but I linger around long enough to try the 6.7% Black Widow - not a lady to be trifled with!!

- Saltwells Road -

Ma Pardoes remains an unmissable classic that transports you back in time and to my mind is as good as ever; I'm far too young to have ever met the formidable Doris in person but if I ever get my hands on a time machine I'd whizz straight to 1974 I reckon. Anyway, this 2024 story continues with a dosage of Dudley Wood once I've figured out how to get from Yew Tree Hills down to Saltwells Road (answer: via Bratch Close and a footpath over Saltwells Bridge). Gone are the days when the area used to reverberate to the sound of speedway races, the final meeting having been held here in 1995.

- The Woodman -

Names of riders such as Erik Gundersen, Jan O. Pedersen, Greg Hancock and Billy Hamill are still fondly remembered in these parts and its fitting that the Woodman pays homage to Dudley Wood's sporting links among its artistic montages. A standard Marston's (Banks's) experience awaits with most of the youthful clientele watching the Sunderland v Newcastle match; I pick a table overlooking a well-maintained bowling green as strong winter sunshine streams in through the windows, the only downside being that I have to make do with Carling in the absence of real ale. My return route to Cradley Heath Station involves Brook Lane, Chapmans Corner and Reddal Hill Road (for an Amber splash and dash in the Waggon & Horses) and it's job done - legs stretched, pictures taken, a 2024 trip in the bank. Cheers!