Hub Marketing 2026: STOURBRIDGE

Evening commitments with the Woolfs at a Wombourne barn dance mean the Secretary is (mostly) on his best behaviour for this latest Hub Marketing excursion. Stourbridge and its pubs hold a lot of happy memories for Mr WME but there are a few gaps in the Chairman's collection that need plugging...

- Serious Steering on the 16 -

It's Friday 4th September and a 10:30am Wolverhampton rendezvous has been agreed, the Chairman arriving off his tram in relatively punctual order. We're still awaiting news of when the Midland Metro extension to Dudley might open with the launch date delayed again until later in 2026 or possibly early 2027. Stourbridge is in our sights today however hence we board the number 16 bus for the familiar journey along the A449 Penn Road and into the South Staffordshire villages of Wombourne, Swindon and Hinksford, Mr D9 saving his best scowling steering poses for extracting us around the endless Darlington Street roadworks.

- A Tea4Two Coffee Call -

Keeping a beady eye out for breakfasting opportunities, a few greasy spoon candidates could enter the equation although the Chairman draws the line at having lettuce and cucumber as part of his fry up. Tea4Two in Wall Heath looks a good bet and is partly a building site due to the cafe being extended into the gaming shop next door. Black polythene sheets protect the walls as we line our stomachs with a sensible portion of bacon, egg, sausage and black pud, all washed down with mugs of tea or coffee. They have one menu item called the Tea4Two Challenge which has a monstrous amount of stuff on it, presumably as a sharing platter.

- Wollaston's Bike Hub -

The bus stop outside Wall Heath Church is as good a setting as any for divulging this trip's silly song selections. 'I Like Birds' by Terry Scott was in line to be a future secretarial pick but the Chairman beats WME to it, although the "Valerie, Valerie" chorus of Richard Stillgoe's 'Suffering from Inflation' could well be a long-term earworm. The 16 combines with the 8 at Stourbridge Interchange to project us beyond Wollaston Farm, alighting on Bridle Road for a glimpse of the Bike Hub combining bicycle repairs with an associated coffee outlet. Next door is the Plough, one of the mainstays of the Enville Street pubcrawl route. It used to be an M&B establishment and we can see the results of a stylish makeover while supping Hop Shed's Crowd Surfer malty ale, our halves proving very agreeable to the D9 tastebuds.

- D9 Destroyer in Bisto Mode -

One pub above all others is central to the Chairman's aims this afternoon - he's absolutely insistent that we cover the Gigmill, a Marston's estate boozer between Wollaston and Norton. The number 7 bus gives us a helping hand past Stourbridge Crematorium, hopping off on The Broadway and venturing straight up to the bar. Spying an unoccupied dartboard, we settle in for a few legs of Carling-fuelled arrows, albeit WME Whirlwind has gone completely off the boil when it comes to hitting those all-important checkouts. D9 Destroyer is in inspired form, some might almost call it clinical: the result is a 6-1 thrashing that puts the bald one in pole position to win the 2026 Pub Games Champion Award. Very 'Bisto' (or should that be Bristow) indeed!

- The Waggon & Horses -

Despite a few closures, Stourbridge still seems to be stacked with a good proportion of inviting alehouses. The New Inn (on Cherry Street) and the Longlands Tavern (on Western Road) are both still going strong in the sidestreets off South Road, then we arrive on Worcester Street for a classic pairing of the highest quality. The Plough & Harrow used to be a Holt, Plant & Deakin (Holt's) tied house which retains some of the former Langley-based brewery's insignia; these days it is owned by Craddocks so we try to tame a glass each of Crazy Sheep. Back towards the town centre, the Waggon & Horses has long had a reputation for good beer and lives up to that promise again today. 'Dunk' is a collaboration involving Tiny Rebel and Titanic who have combined to craft a biscuit ale with a tinge of tea-tones about it, I'm most impressed!

- A Sociable Secretary -

There are enough pub possibilities within the confines of Stourbridge Ring Road to keep most people occupied should they so wish, in which case the Hop Vault and the Crafty Jar would be worth seeking out if you favour the more refined style of surroundings. The latter serves up a tasty Easy Tiger (Green Duck Brewery) and has surprisingly spacious toilets if like Mr D9 you notice these kind of things. Although our remit is to target places the Chairman hasn't covered before, there's always room for a WME wildcard and the Stourbridge Social will be that venue this time around. Situated within a River Rooms industrial unit below Domino's Pizza, it has a vast courtyard appearance lined on one side with padded booths, and even features a large blown-up photo of the 1977 incident when a train smashed through the wall at Stourbridge Town Station and was left dangling over the road. Hobson's Town Crier is a cask bonus here.

- White Horse, Amblecote -

We're nearing the end of our pub collecting expedition but there's still time to tickle the Old Wharf (close to the Bonded Warehouse) for a classy half of Mallinson's Wiggle Room, enticed by the psychedelic wavy lilac pumpclip. This is quite an upmarket haunt, far removed from the days when the Moorings Tavern was on its last legs so the owners have done well to breathe new life into the place. I need the 16 for my critical dancing link to Wombourne so we stroll the short distance up to Amblecote where the Chairman is deposited in the White Horse with his Boddington's nightcap. Readers might know this one better as the Maverick - complete with carved chieftain - but it has reverted to its historic name and lost a few of the Country and Western touches which made it more distinctive; still a solid pub though. Cheers!

Caunsall, Cookley and Kinver

Cask ales, canals and some rather special cobs are all on the menu when Nick and I delve into the underrated area where South Staffordshire meets Worcestershire - there is even a seriously sizeable serving of side salad!

- Stained Glass at St Thomas's -

It's Saturday 17th February 2024, mild but overcast as I board the number 16 bus opposite Penn Library. The journey to Stourbridge is one I used to make quite frequently back in the day, so the likes of Wombourne, Swindon, Wall Heath and Kingswinford form a roll call of familiar friends before Stourbridge Interchange hovers on the horizon at nearly 10 o'clock. Nick is already in attendance having utilised the 'Dodger' shuttle train down from Stourbridge Junction and we've a few spare minutes for a spot of Stourbridge sight-seeing, hence nosing around inside St Thomas's Parish Church. This Grade I-listed Georgian gem features many interesting details, not least of which are an elaborate barrel-vaulted ceiling and some very fine stained glass (the latter produced by Chance Brothers of Smethwick).

- Stourbridge Town Hall -

Stourbridge's architectural treats also include the Town Hall further along Market Street, a venue Nick and I know well from the times when it hosted the local beer festival. Red brick in appearance and constructed in a Renaissance style to designs by Thomas Robinson, it was built in 1887 and funded by public subscription in honour of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. Our bus connection to Kinver is the 242 route, departing at 10:40 and currently operated by Select Bus Services of Penkridge. A trundle along Enville Street to Wollaston Junction is followed by a circuit of Hyperion Road (an ordinary Stourton housing estate), a glimpse of Stourbridge Rugby Club and a reminder of the Stewponey, a massive roadhouse pub which was demolished circa 2004 and replaced with apartment living. 

- Snuggly Buggly on the Staffs & Worcs -

Dunsley Road wiggles its way towards Kinver and we hop off as soon as we see the Vine Inn so as to join the Staffs & Worcs Canal at Kinver Lock. Hyde Lock and Dunsley Tunnel would await were we to head north but on this occasion we're aiming south in the general direction of Caunsall and Cookley. Despite recent downpours, the towpath isn't overly muddy and there are cottage gardens on the far bank for us to admire (with chimpanzee and parrot ornaments). Narrowboats including 'Little Grebe' and 'Snuggly Buggly' are moored up as we take our time, leisurely reaching Whittington Horse Bridge with the River Stour for close company.

- Whittington Lock -

A little more strolling brings us next to Whittington Lock, accompanied by a creamy yellow keeper's house where the canal ducks below Windsor Holloway. You feel like you are getting away from it all here, a scene that won't have changed much over the centuries except maybe for the distant traffic churn of the A449. We're crossing into Worcestershire by this stage and the sight of Caunsall Bridge prompts us to exit the canal in favour of hamlet exploration. There isn't very much to Caunsall in truth, a cluster of houses and barns with an excitable barking Alsatian guarding one goose-focused smallholding. There is however one more item of note...

- Ludlow Gold in the Anchor -

Ah, that'll be the Anchor with its Mitchells & Butlers lamp over the front door. It's been over ten years since I last had the pleasure of coming here yet it hasn't altered one jot, from the snug with its horse racing illustrations to the main bar alive with that peculiar burr of Black Country accents mixed with a Worcestershire twang. It seems an anachronism in the modern age to say that a pub can survive merely by selling cobs but the ones on offer at the Anchor are the stuff of legend; we opt for the cheese variety, getting a solid slab of cheddar and a generous plateful of salad ingredients (onion, cucumber, lettuce, tomato, as fresh as you could want) - all for the princely sum of £3, goodness gracious! The drinks are equally exceptional with me savouring a Ludlow Gold while Nick is drawn towards the Barbourne scrumpy cider, perfect!

- Cookley Tunnel -

Conscious of tight timings because the last bus back from Kinver is ridiculously scheduled for quarter past three, we continue along the lane into nearby Cookley but do detour to the canal again briefly so as to see Cookley Tunnel. Otherwise referenced as Staffs & Worcs Bridge No. 23, the tunnel burrows 65 yards through a sandstone ridge with a row of houses on high. Up on the lane once more, we nip into the Bulls Head for your standard Marston's experience - cue a swift half of Banks's Amber sitting in a lounge furnished with baby toys and high chairs. The barmaid here is something of a character with a booming voice that would put many a foghorn to shame, making Nick want to adjust his hearing aids pronto!

- Kinver Constitutional Club -

Cookley Lane takes the strain for the return leg to Kinver, spotting St Peter's Church on the skyline to reassure us we're going the right way. Having been spoiled for cask quality at the Anchor earlier, we'd like to try somewhere with similar levels of ale excellence and the Kinver Constitutional Club will be that place. A longstanding entrant in the Good Beer Guide, the club is often in the running for CAMRA awards and can serve up to a dozen tempting beers mostly from local breweries. As a case in point, we plump for pints of Kinver Noble (a moreish 4.5% pale bitter) and sit in a plush bay window keeping half an eye on any High Street happenings. Clubs such as this offer that additional level of comfort compared to what you might get in a normal pub, so it's a relief when we're buzzed through and welcomed inside.

- Bathams Bitter in the Unicorn -

Catching that 15:13 242 as planned, we stop off in Wollaston where the ever-beguiling Unicorn has lost none of its Bathams beauty - Best Bitter, textured walls, carved pews and good conversation is all you can ask for really. The Kingsbridge has more of a coffee shop vibe by contrast but there's no disputing their Wye Valley Butty Bach is in good condition and news that Wolves are winning at Tottenham further embellishes my good mood. Acting on a recommendation from a bloke we'd chatted to on the bus, we finish up in Stourbridge courtesy of the Crafty Jar, a newish venture on Lower High Street which specialises in craft beer. Purity Bunny Hop scores highly here then it's a nightcap task of squeezing in at a busy Duke of William on Coventry Street to round things off over a Ludlow Black Knight. Cheers!