Chelmsley Clubbing with the Hub Marketing Board

The month is March and that means the Hub Marketing Board like to aim for East Birmingham on a date as close to St Patrick's Day as possible, with the Chairman keen to recall his legendary colleague Pattie Hughes of the Old Coventry Road. This year the calendar has fallen nicely for us, so strap yourselves in for a full-on blast during which we'll go clubbing in Chelmsley Wood...

- Pattie drives the X12 -

Trip Log: Friday 20th March 2026 and the day commences with Midland Metro tram action from Bradley Lane. Driver familiarisation training is underway ready for more new stops to open as the network is set to expand in the near future; change is also afoot down by Priory Queensway due to the demolition of The Square shopping precinct, meaning sections of Bull Street and Dale End are cordoned off for safety reasons. It takes us a while to work out where the X12 bus now departs from but once aboard we can settle in for a speedy grunt along the Aston Expressway and through Spaghetti Junction - those interlocking concrete ribbons are quite a sight when seen from the top deck of a National Express bus!

- Bromford Hub Business -

Alighting on Bromford Lane, we get down to the main business of the day. Decorative mural panels at the gateway to the Bromford Bridge estate include a reference to 'The Hub' so the Chairman is deployed to apply his trusty seal of approval. The Heart of Birmingham Vocational College nearby has its own separate hub facility - giving us two spottings in swift succession - plus there is chance to recall the days when Drews Lane played host to the Wolseley Motors factory (latterly LDV before the site was cleared). Sadly our top greasy spoon target of 'Come Dine With Us' on the corner of Fairholme Road is shut, so we need a replacement option...

- Silly Sausage, Stechford -

A nifty bit of Googling therefore has us jumping onto the 11C Outer Circle for the short ride via Ward End to Stechford so that we can seek out Silly Sausage on Flaxley Road. Part of a run of small business units that otherwise includes The Bed Centre and Flaxley Tyres, this takes care of our breakfasting needs through the deliverance of bacon, sausages, eggs and fried bread. Mr D9 stoically munches his meal down despite the considerable risk of gourmet gas, then has to suffer a secretarial silly song in the guise of Ken Dodd's Nikky Nakky Noo (with a chorus of high-pitched diddymen). The 14 route has us on one of Pattie's old patches, passing Lea Hall Garage and covering Kitts Green to deposit us at the Meadway Lidl by Mackadown Lane. There aren't all that many drinking options left in this part of Brum but we have an idea...

- The Banbury Club -

Guided once again by Google, we navigate to Granby Avenue in the industrial portions of Garretts Green. The Club is a sports bar majoring on pool, snooker and darts; membership is required for using the games equipment but we are welcome to climb the stairwell and partake of £4 Carling in the dimly-lit dartboard corner. We've unwittingly set our theme for the day now because we'll subsequently undertake a tour of similarly constituted establishments over the course of the afternoon. A heritage-styled double decker on the 72 survives Tile Cross to link us to Chelmsley Wood where we successfully plot our way through the shopping centre when tracking down the Banbury Club. This building seemingly has no windows but is surprisingly luxurious inside; we savour M&B Mild in the lounge while the function room bingo is packed. The amount of mobility scooters stationed outside is a testament to how popular this place is, and we exit to the strains of Pick of the Hub Pops with guest presenter Pattie counting down the charts from 2025, complete with Cilla Black, Lester the Lobster and missing gnomes.

- Rumours Bar & Grill -

If you'd said beforehand we'd spend the day 'clubbing' in Chelmsley Wood I'd have raised a concerned WME eyebrow but the brief has been set and we're game for the challenge. Next up, we ferret across to Fordbridge by way of Chelmsley Road to see what has become of the former Fordbridge Social. After a bit of sprucing up (externally at least) it is now calling itself Rumours Bar & Grill so a crafty Carling will suit us while a broken-down building supplies lorry causes utter gridlock outside. The Chairman loves his flat-roofers so this is right up his alley, as indeed is the C's Bar over on Bosworth Drive where we pass the security check to gain access (Mr D9 must have been smiling appropriately). The staff are busy preparing for a 40th birthday party but we're fine to stay for a quick drink, the premises seemingly being closely linked to the St Anne's Catholic Church next door. We could get used to this clubbing lark!

- Cast Iron Closet Inspections -

Setting aside any pretensions of covering Coleshill today, we figure that our St Patrick's Day trip should probably dabble a little with Digbeth. The 97 can get us there even if the Bordesley Green traffic tries its best to detain us, then the sight of an intact cast iron urinal on Great Barr Street definitely attracts much D9 excitement (and a certain bald spot for good measure). Over the road is the Son Caney Cuba Bar which some people might recall being the Forge Tavern for many years; we've never done it in either guise so a first ever look is a must. It's quiet but we can admire some of the original bar fittings as well as getting into a Latin American spirit - fun, friendly, and something that little bit different from the norm.

- An Irish Coffee -

Digbeth seems to specialise in the unusual these days so you never really know what might lurk around the next corner. Low Places bills itself as a Dive Bar inspired by US honky tonk haunts so we don't need much persuading to try out the Pabst Blue Ribbon lager amidst a wall of truck registration plates. It's relaxed, it's quirky and it has a comic cover for Thor in the gents toilets. Knowing Digbeth's long links with the Emerald Isle, it makes sense that we round off with a couple of modern takes on Irish hospitality hence Hennessey's and Norton's both get a whirl - the first of those is an impressive bar-cum-function suite with a penchant for Guinness toucans, the second is housed in the vast units of a former hydraulics works and serves up a cracking drop of Church End's Irish Coffee stout. There's just time to sample Subside (a rock and alternative music emporium which stocks real ale) before Scruffy Murphys memorably brings the curtain down with its own rock-leaning tastes. What an exceptional crawl!

The Bartons Arms with a Digbeth Dash

March = Spring = Longer Days = Brighter Weather (we can but hope). The seasons change as they always must, and the first day of the new month is put to good use with a Birmingham-based adventure. Nick and Jane are willing accomplices as we sample Bartons Arms opulence and the delights of Digbeth...

- Birmingham Cathedral -

Trip Log: Saturday 1st March 2025 and there are bright West Midlands skies to cheer us all the way to the Second City. A brief snoop around by St Philip's Cathedral cranks the camera into gear, noting the statue dedicated to Charles Gore who was the first Anglican Bishop of Birmingham (serving between 1905 and 1911). Colmore Row's architecture shimmers in the sunshine whereby the Chatwin Building carries medallions of Benvenuto Cellini and Lorenzo Ghiberti, two noted Italian sculptors. Pictures pocketed, we declare it close enough to 11am for it to be Pub O'Clock...

- A Wellington Appetiser -

Our designated meeting point will be the Wellington, with Jane and I arriving first and then keeping watch for our resident royal to appear along Bennetts Hill. A longstanding purveyor of excellent ales, the Welly is doing a roaring morning trade no doubt boosted by the early kick off at St Andrews later. We find a free table among the Bluenoses and peruse the pub's many CAMRA certificates, recognition of the esteem in which the place is held. Black Country Ales are the operators here and are launching their annual Ale Trail, requiring participants to visit 25 of their 53 pubs for the chance to win a polo shirt and case of beer. Rowton's Meteorite or Rooster's London Thunder ensures we get our passports stamped, just 24 more to go!

- Bartons Arms Tiling -

Finding the correct Moor Street bus stop among a mass of tram-related roadworks is no mean achievement but eventually we board the number 51 north into Newtown. The Bartons Arms is no stranger to the WME blog so we were concerned to hear that it had suddenly closed last year. Thankfully this turned out to be a temporary issue and normal service resumed in August with all the late Victorian splendour we know and love intact. I could wax lyrical about Minton tiles and wooden snob screens but you really have to see it for yourself to appreciate just how magnificent the interior truly is. Green Duck's Babylon and Black Sheep Bitter were the ales on show this time around, and we even snuck up the grand carpeted staircase for a cheeky peek inside the Palace of Varieties function suite. Spectacular doesn't do it justice!

- Yo Birmingham! -

From the Bartons Arms we head back across town so as to spend the afternoon in Digbeth, that melting pot district just beyond the Bull Ring which seems to set Birmingham's cultural heartbeat. You're never short of pub options - or street art - in this neck of the woods so we land in the Rainbow on the corner with Adderley Street, enticed by a lively Beavertown mural featuring a series of skeleton-like characters. Inch's Cider slips down nicely in a velvety back room noted for embossed gilded wallpaper, all rather refined. Sports screens show the football match with promotion-seeking Blues closing out a narrow victory over Wycombe Wanderers. 

- The Spotted Dog -

Knowing that hordes of fans will be descending imminently eager to celebrate said 1-0 result, we hotfoot it over to Alcester Street and the Irish mainstay that is the Spotted Dog. Our timing is impeccable, for no sooner have we armed ourselves with Holden's Mild and Aspalls than the place goes from virtually empty to packed out within the space of five minutes. Musician portraits and bottle candleholders caked in layers of wax are part of the charm, sitting in the side snug munching tasty salad cobs. I could literally have stayed in here all day but switch we must to the Old Crown on Deritend, reputedly one of Brum's most historic buildings. The timber frame is worthy of note, even if the 1368 date might be dubious; either way, this is equally as busy so it's standing room only joining the throng by the back yard cocktail van.

- Beware Woolfs with Big Balls -

Much of Digbeth's artistic sparkle centres around the Custard Factory, which probably feels a far cry from the days when Alfred Bird & Sons were manufacturing their prized yellow powder. Independent cafes, bars and workshops are to the fore, including Chance & Counters wherein you can sample craft beers and ciders whilst picking from an extensive range of board games; it's too full for us to get a table indoors but we can sit outside and partake of appley goodness. Birdies is similarly lively - we encounter Sharp's Cold River cider here in what appears to be a portakabin setting - before the fun and games go up a notch at the Roxy Lanes bowling alley. Let's just say Jane knows her way around a bowling ball!

- HRH shows how it's done -

Making ourselves at home on Lane 8 (with guardrail bumpers up due to our novice status), we progress through two competitive games of ten pin bowling. The first one sees The Woolf all triumphant, beating His Majesty and 'Ano Paul' with relatively ease having scored a strike with her very first attempt. The second game is a Paul versus Jane grudge match which Mr WME takes on the final frame, suddenly finding unerring accuracy that had otherwise been absent! Somersby Cider is selected from the bank of craft taps in ensuring we won't go thirsty, and besides the bowling they also offer shuffleboard, American Pool or 'Beer Pong' activities.

- Ruined in The Ruin? Not Quite! -

Darting beneath viaduct arches, we make the Ruin on Floodgate Street our final port of call for an apparent taste of European dive bar sensibilities. I can't comment on whether it replicates accurately the type of haunts you might find in Budapest or Prague but there's a mysterious shabbiness at play which makes for a nice contrast. Orchard Pig cider is detected, winning our vote ahead of the Purity UBU and Gold offerings, while scuffed furniture and courtyard murals add to the overall effect. All in all it's been a memorable day mixing old favourites with newer discoveries, dodging football fans and generally enjoying the Second City sunshine. Cheers!