Chip Foundation Chronicles: Walsall

Wednesday 27th February and another chapter is enshrined into Chip Foundation folklore as I bring you the tale of our gallant trio and their latest escapades in the Walsall neck of the woods. Altogether now, once upon a time...

This particular ripping yarn begins with Perry Barr and a ride on the number 51 bus, carrying us forth to the Rushall Canal for a rampage up the towpath. There were locks aplenty for me to photograph whilst Messrs SB and NW took to commenting on the various summerhouses and benches seen in the Park Hall gardens backing onto the canal.

Our first pub port of call was the King Arthur on Liskeard Road, a pub name that conjures up its own links to legendary tales. For a relatively modern estate pub this was an impressive place with some excellent Wye Valley ales for the two Mr W's to sample.

Many epic sagas have a common thread running through them and in our case it is the chip element that links everything together. Here the chaps tuck in to their spoils as obtained from the takeaway on the Liskeard Road precinct.

The action moves quickly to Brownhills where Nick is mesmerised by a magnificent miner. A couple of halves help him cope with such a sighting, so thanks are offered to The Swan (Golden Glow) and the Royal Oak (Harvest Pale). The latter pub had a decorative 1930's elegance complete with a vintage phonograph cabinet and a period fireplace.

As evening falls our brave souls venture to Aldridge, taking a chance on a 935A bus that worked very nicely for a connection to the Lazy Hill Tavern. This was a particularly homely cottage pub where rather than a wolf for company we made the acquaintance of some Blythe Staffie.

So what can we summon up by way of a fairytale ending? Well the foundation's very own customised time machine delivers us to the Turf Tavern, Bloxwich where you feel like you're stepping back at least 50 or 60 years if not a century or more. The interior is full of modest character epitomised by the simple slatted bench seating, whilst the gents toilet out the back might well have given Stephen nightmares. 

With that there's just a postscript for the 89 bus back to Wolverhampton, and hopefully they all lived happily ever after.

WME Flickr Focus: February 2013

With a pocketful of loose change to use up, February was the month when we visited the WME sweetshop for a pick and mix selection of photostream updates. Let's see what we got for our pennies and tuppences...

• WME Walsall is the gobstopper jar from which we prise out a photo of the Prince of Wales pub at Brownhills
• WME Birmingham sees us dipping amongst the cola bottles for shots of Acocks Green traffic roundabout and a look at the 55 bus on Lower Bull Street
• Flying saucers next courtesy of WME Dudley and its crew of bus pictures - the 9 and 242 at Stourbridge and a 123 at Merry Hill, not forgetting an archive shot of the Ashwood pub on Ashwood Park
• Fizzy sherbet is also in our goody bag as WME Sandwell contributes the Tame Valley Canal in the form of Balls Hill Bridge and a view from Holloway Bank
• WME Coventry brings us white chocolate mice with the number 2 bus at both Cheylesmore and Arena Tesco whilst the 11 at Eastern Green gives us a tail to chew on
• WME Solihull has been at the liquorice laces again with buses 40A, 72 and 197 at Solihull Station alongside a look at the bus interchange at Birmingham International
• A solitary penny chew from WME Staffordshire sees the 395 at Burntwood join our haul
• WME Worcestershire gives us some jelly eggs from Barnt Green Station and the Harbour Inn at Arley
• WME Warwickshire is a drumstick lollipop coated with the ribbon weavers sculpture at Bedworth, a platform sign at Bedworth Station and a number 3 bus at Nuneaton
• A sprinkling of dolly mixtures is our helping from WME Shropshire - I think I spotted a few buses in there, a 1 at Shrewsbury, a 101 at Bridgnorth and a 39 at Much Wenlock
• All of which leaves us with the final lucky dip of Exploration Extra to pluck out Wainfleet Level Crossing, a beach sign at Mablethorpe, the Duke of Wellington pub at Ruabon and a couple of views from Matlock Bath Station.

I do hope all of that hasn't given you toothache, and I look forward to reporting another sweetie selection at the end of March!

Winter Ales in Derby

Saturday 23rd February and the final day of Derby CAMRA's 12th Winter Ales Festival sees Nick and I making tracks for the East Midlands in order to sample one of the beer capitals of Britain...

    The venue for the festival is The Roundhouse, barely a stone's throw from the 

back entrance to Derby Station. The building was for many years at the heart of 

Derby's locomotive building industry (complete with an engine turntable) but is 

now a flagship feature of the Derby College campus. Here we see the queues forming in readiness for the festival opening at 11am.

    

The restored interior of the Roundhouse was a spectacular sight and provided a wonderful setting for all the lovely beer. Over 300 different ales were available over the course of the weekend, with some of our personal favourites being Rutland Beast, Noggin Filler, Dark Drake (Dancing Duck), Coffin Lane Stout and some Humber Bridge Black IPA. Nick (as ever) nailed himself firmly to the dark side whilst I seemed to be 

ploughing a furrow of Best Bitter.

We couldn't fault the festival one bit, and an extra feather in the cap was the free 

bus that was laid on to ferry visitors back and forth between the Roundhouse and 

the City Centre. We were never going to pass up on a gift such as this so we 

clambered on board for the short ride to the Quad, operator Trent Barton 

doing the honours with much aplomb. 

The afternoon would have us seeking out some of Derby's finest local hostelries as 

we put the city's beer capital credentials firmly to the test. First stop was the Furnace 

on Duke Street where we enjoyed some Crate Stout as recommended by a 

very enthusiastic barman. 

Amongst our other calling points was Ye Olde Dolphin Inne, said to be Derby's oldest 

pub in that it apparently dates from 1530-odd and is reputed to be haunted. 

We didn't detect any ghosts ourselves but do partake of Centurion Mild served 

in traditional fashion straight out of the jug.

I don't think the Flower Pot was originally among our targets but upon hearing a 

glowing recommendation we simply had to check it out. It was here that we had a 

close encounter of the Zymosis kind, the beer being a real brute despite its 

deceptively pale colour. 

It has to be said that the centre of Derby is blessed with an array of excellent pubs, 

all with their own little quirks and points of interest. There are brewery taps to be sampled - Dancing Duck's at the Exeter Arms and the Derby Brewing Company's 

taphouse, the latter being where I try to explain the finer points of rugby to an 

utterly baffled NW, talk about attempting the virtually impossible! We round off down

by the station getting to grips with Harold Larwood and then squeaking in 

Bass from the jug to close. 

What a fantastic day, so here's to Derby as a beer capital - it definitely gets my vote!

Battery Bother in North Birmingham

Friday 22nd February 2013: The latest installment of Anti-Hub Marketing duties brought with it frozen fingers and power problems as Chairman D9 and Secretary WME surveyed North Birmingham...

THE HAWTHORNS: the customary breakfast rendezvous of bacon rolls in West Bromwich provides just enough fortification for the Secretary to stomach visiting The Hawthorns, where he stoically photographs the Jeff Astle Gates whilst trying hard to forget about the current plight of his beloved Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Chairman has no such qualms and happily gets shots of the ground in all its glory.

- Handsworth Cemetery -

HANDSWORTH: the Secretary needed cheering up after that close encounter with West Bromwich Albion, although a stroll around Handsworth Cemetery wasn't quite what he had in mind! The cemetery grounds are quite extensive and include an impressive arts and crafts styled mortuary chapel, although there was no sign of the old closet block the Chairman had set his heart on sampling. We emerge empty-handed at the 101 bus terminus by the Leveretts ready for a ride down to Handsworth Wood and a quick peek at The Grove.

- The Chairman gets Hubbed -

WITTON: onto the Outer Circle next and a short trundle through Perry Barr to Witton, where the Secretary's sleeve summons up a photo opportunity outside the Hub development off Witton Road. The Chairman's toilet detection skills sniff out the urinal block in the walls of the Aston Hotel and then there's more footballing torment for the Secretary to endure when Villa Park becomes the second rival stadium to be photographed in a matter of hours, the freezing breeze doing little to add to his enthusiasm.

- The King Edward: an Aston landmark for how much longer? -

ASTON: Villa Park becomes the scene for the first onset of power failure when the Secretary is beset by battery problems whilst in the midst of dealing with the Holte End. Various juggling of AA's ensues to try and extract some kind of charge so that Aston Hall, the Parish Church and the derelict Aston Tavern can be committed to camera. Other pub targets include the New Adventurers (a dubious vision in claret and blue) and the King Edward VII (a landmark apparently at risk due to proposed industrial developments) before members cast a unanimous vote to procure an emergency cafe meeting in order to escape from the biting cold.

- The site of Tyburn Bus Depot -

TYBURN: thawed out by a medicinal sausage bap, our agenda moves to the Tyburn Road courtesy of the 67 Bendibus. The Chairman remembers the old Tyburn bus depot based near Wood Lane but all that remains of it now are crumbs of rubble and a long flank of white hoardings. Holly Lane offers a sighting of the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal at Brace Factory Bridge but a second power failure means further investigation is futile so the proposed towpath walk is abandoned in favour of a quick 966 ride into Erdington instead.

- Wallet woes at the Lad in the Lane -

ERDINGTON: alighting on Orphanage Road, members make a beeline for the warmth of the Swan pub where the radiators are requisitioned for battery heating duty and the Secretary celebrates an early contender for the discounted round of the day competition. Further power reinforcements are obtained from Boots the Chemist whilst it is pleasing to note the completed restoration of St Barnabas Church five or so years after a devastating fire put the building in jeopardy. The Secretary is on the hunt for sleeve surprises in Rookery Park only to take a wrong turn and miss his intended exit. His navigation skills do however manage to locate the Lad in the Lane, reputedly Birmingham's oldest pub and said to date from the 1400's - sadly for the Chairman, the building does not come with medieval prices and the D9 wallet incurs considerable collateral damage. A diplomatic incident is only avoided when the belated discovery of the Rookery Park closet gets the Secretary off the hook, with D9 ecstatically snapping the vintage tiles and urinals for all that he was worth.

- Bald Spot braves the Rookery Park closet -

PERRY COMMON: additional Outer Circle gymnastics then transport events to Stockland Green where a lung-busting sprint is required in commandeering an onrushing 65. Streetly Road and Short Heath are glimpsed breathlessly before we touch base with Perry Common terminus on Witton Lodge Road. The perishing temperatures have predictably created a D9 bladder situation so the Secretary summons up a pub from the recesses of his memory bank. Thankfully the Leopard was close at hand and the Chairman was spared any need for impromptu phone calls.

SUTTON COLDFIELD: the 66 bus covers some of what used to be the 68 Birmingham North Circle, thus collecting members outside the Leopard for transportation to Sutton Coldfield via The Hurstway, Finchley Road and New Oscott. Once in Sutton there's an encounter with the Duke Inn to sample some Theakston's Lightfoot, although there are no apparent sightings of a Chicken Tom or a Perry Barr Pig. The Chairman reminisces about Sutton Coldfield's former bus garage on Upper Holland Road, the site near Plantsbrook School is now occupied by a care home. More battery frustrations rear up at Lower Parade so the emergency stash needs to be broken into for the rest of the agenda.

- The Anvil - 

FALCON LODGE: the outer reaches of North Birmingham beckon with a ride out to the Falcon Lodge estate, where members are able to enjoy a game of darts in the Anvil. Alf the dog will be on hand to referee (and sniff out the scent of chihuahuas) as the Secretary secures a stunning victory by virtue of hitting the treble 19 twice (despite only needing to score 32)!

- Chewing Wasps on the Driving Demo -

MINWORTH: a 115 RUAG induces an attack of wasp-chewing proportions with the Chairman particularly suffering in the vicinity of Walmley. Local landmarks include the Fox Inn, a war memorial and a library/community hall, but thankfully D9 manages to spit the miscreant wasps out by the time members had reached Minworth. A Walmart Hypermarket is a notable feature here whilst the Boat and the Hare & Hounds are both close to the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal.

- A Castle Vale Clue -

CASTLE VALE: there is no immediate prospect of a 71 to catch so the Chairman takes the decision to hike into Castle Vale along Park Lane with a full circuit of Farnborough Road to follow. The estate is very different to the one our Chairman visited twenty-odd years ago and has lost most of its tower blocks and all of its pubs, even though the Skylark building is still standing. The area has a proud aviation history and a local traffic roundabout is known as 'Spitfire Island'. Much has been done regeneration wise including the redevelopment of the Reed Square shopping centre. After circumnavigating most of the estate, members will be pleased to intercept the 67 Bendibus for a ride back towards Birmingham.

ASTON: this North Birmingham investigation reaches its conclusions within the environs of Aston Station, where members take the opportunity to sample the King Edward VII. It would seem quite certain that the pub is to be demolished, a real shame for such a handsome building in an area that needs features of character. The D9 wallet takes its final punishment of the day care of some expensive Guinness and then the train towards Walsall completes another adventure. Hopefully all batteries will be fully operational in time for the next excursion!