It's Bandwagon Time!

 To misquote The Bard of Avon, "Is this a bandwagon which I see before me, Come let me jump aboard!" Ever since the 'glorious' twelfth (of April) any reputable (and a few disreputable) beer/pub blogger has been revelling in and reporting on our new found freedom to have a proper pub pint in a proper pub...garden!

Who am I to buck this trend? Yesterday I took my first steps back towards normality with a lunchtime session at the Sacks of Potatoes pub by Aston University. I haven't been to 'The Sack' for many years, but I have previously reported on it on this blog (#205).

We chose here because our regular local, the Country Girl in Selly Oak, hasn't yet reopened (26th April). We booked online, but it was possible to just turn up.

This was the scene, a typically beautiful sunny day in Brum...with a bit of a chill wind! It is so long since my last visit, I was convinced that they'd moved the pub as it wasn't quite where I thought it should be!

On arrival we were shown to our table in the outdoor smoking dining area and asked to fill in their track and trace forms (as neither of us have the app!). Service was swift and efficient...and the Carling was as good as ever!

The limited food offering was just right for us, although on another day I may have bemoaned the lack of a proper sandwich...but not today, I was just happy to be back out in the real world!

Drinking at home and with friends is fine, but you don't get the banter with bar staff or the unexpected (brief) conversation with a stranger (and Rangers fan) about how much longer Stevie G might stay north of the border before taking over at Liverpool. Nor do you get the frisson of excitement/apprehension as when a group of young Asian men and women turn up without booking and just sit down at a table. After a brief chat with the bar staff, it wasn't a problem! Reassuringly reasonable...all's well (so far) in publand!

Our stroll back to New Street Station took us past one of the seemingly less loved of Birmingham's statues - Bruce Williams 1996 sculpture of Tony Hancock.
 

This is my retouched version because in real life it is looking somewhat shabby after many years of neglect.

And so to home to spend the rest of the day sleepily thinking, "Why did I have that fourth pint?" Worth it!

#044 Sir Charles Napier, Highgate, Birmingham : 1955 to 1998 to 2011 to 2021

 This is another pub that I've never been in, but it still thrives despite this! Here's what I wrote in 2011: -

"This is another of those pubs that I first discovered on my initial 1998 trip around the area. The Sir Charles Napier looks like a typical back street, corner pub of which there were many more then than there are now.

I've still not set foot inside, but I was pleased to see that the Sir Charles Napier was still in business when I returned in 2011.

Apart from a lick of paint it doesn't appear to have changed in the intervening years, aside from it not being an M&B pub any more. The shamrock leaves indicate that it is another Irish pub. It's unlikely that I'll ever visit the Sir Charles Napier for a drink as it is a bit off the beaten track from my usual pub crawls around the 'Eastside' of Birmingham

This is the twentieth in my 'Birmingham Eastside' series.

As I was researching the Sir Charles Napier I came across this website - Digital Photographic Images (broken link) - which has many old photos of Birmingham pubs. One of the images was of the Sir Charles Napier from 1955. So I've acquired the postcard and scanned it so that you can see how the pub has changed over a longer period.

The main difference, and I can't quite work out how it was achieved, is that in 1955 the junction was a right angle as was the corner of the pub. However in 1998 the junction is an obtuse angle and the pub looks to have been similarly altered, but with no change to the overall appearance of the building! 

When I started this blog my intention was to use only photos that I'd taken, but I think in a few cases these old photos add to the detail and interest."

 

Moving on to 2018 and we get another external redecoration.

Lovely bright paintwork which is often a sign that the pub is still thriving.

I can't seem to find any information about when the Sir Charles Napier will be reopening, but their Facebook page seems to be active and promoting other local pubs and businesses.

This is how it looks in 2021. Another slight redecoration, but still looking vibrant!

As I've been writing this I wondered, "Who was Sir Charles Napier?" Not as simple a question as I'd hoped - it turns out, according to Wikipedia, that there were three of them!

 

General Sir Charles James Napier (1782 - 1853)

Admiral Sir Charles John Napier (1786 - 1860)
Captain Sir Charles Elers Napier (1812 - 1847)

So, I'm still not sure who the pub is named in honour of!

#062 Town Crier, Digbeth, Birmingham : 1998 to 2021

The Town Crier is still a pub that I've never been inside, but despite that, it seems to be surviving OK! Here's what I wrote back in 2011: -

"This is a pub I've never been inside although I've passed by on many occasions. This is how it looked in 1998.

A rather unprepossessing appearance, but surprisingly it has survived into 2011!

Quite a few external changes have occurred in the intervening thirteen years. Most notably, it was an M&B pub and now it is Banks's. The Off Licence (or 'outdoor' as we Brummies call it!) is closed and boarded up and the windows have been replaced. Apart from that, there have been signage and other changes as well.

 

Apart from that I don't have much more information.

This is the twenty-ninth in my 'Birmingham Eastside' series."

 

One reason for its continuing success, that i didn't know in 2011, is that the interior of the Town Crier is on the Regional CAMRA Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors.

 

I revisited (for photographic purposes) in January 2018 and this was the scene.

Some superficial changes have taken place over the years...seemingly an equal split between design choices and general decay. On our Proper Pubs Day Out later in 2018, the Town Crier wasn't on our itinerary, but one of our party did take a detour to pay a visit. Sheffield Hatter's review can be found here on the Pubs Galore website. This was when I found out about the heritage of the Town Crier.

So, we move on to early 2021 and this is how the pub looks at the moment.

It is difficult to discern whether the Town Crier is still a going concern or whether it will reopen when the current lockdown is over. I suspect that it will as it has proven to be a survivor over the past few years (but I can find no confirmation either way!)

#060 The Moseley Arms, Digbeth, Birmingham : 1998 to 2021

 The Moseley Arms is one of the survivors and looks like it will return after the pandemic (fingers crossed) and here's what I wrote in 2011 and 2018:-

"The Moseley Arms is a pub I'd never been inside when I took this picture in 1998. In fact, I hadn't really noticed it even though I must have driven past it on numerous occasions on the way to work (one of my alternate routes when the main one was blocked)!

A typical street corner M&B pub, but a bit off the beaten track for Digbeth pubs.

As we move to 2011, I still haven't been inside the pub, but I was pleased to see that it was still standing.

It is not now an M&B pub and the outside has been extensively redecorated and re-signed, but essentially it is unchanged. It appears to be thriving and has its own website (now broken), although this is still a little spartan at the moment. The Moseley Arms is, like many Digbeth pubs, a music venue.

So, now we're in 2018 and I'm pleased to report that The Moseley Arms is going strong, but has now transformed itself into a 38 room hotel.

The signage looks to be unchanged, but the rest has been redecorated and the hotel rooms added to the left of the original pub building.

Interestingly, the website describes it as both a pub and as a hotel - yet another survival model that seems to work here for what was once a simple back-street boozer." 

 

Now we're in 2021, the website is still up and it looks like The Moseley Arms will be reopening soon.

Little has changed in the last three years apart from another repainting of the exterior.

#054 The Fountain, Cheapside, Birmingham : 1998 to 2021 (RIP)

 During the first lockdown in 2020 I brought you fine bright pictures of Stirchley, Selly Oak and Harborne. For this new, winter lockdown I'm going to update my Birmingham Eastside (mostly Digbeth) pubs to show how they have fared since my first foray into the area in 1998.

We start with The Fountain and this is what I wrote back in 2011: -

"The Fountain is a small street corner pub in Digbeth that in 1998 I'd never been in, but was on my route home from work so I passed it almost every day.

This is not to be confused with The Fountain Inn which is a gay pub in Highgate less than a mile away.

Since taking this picture in 1998 I've visited the pub a couple of times on pub crawls through Digbeth. Inside it is pretty much as you'd expect; a small basic bar with friendly locals and staff. In short, a proper pub!

As I went around the area in 2011 I was pleased to see that The Fountain was still there and largely unchanged.

Obviously, it has been repainted, but the M&B sign remains! The pub continues, I assume, as it is part of the strong Irish community in this part of Digbeth and because there is still industry here. I'm not sure whether the new residential developments nearby are a positive factor - do the people that live in these new apartments go to the local pub? I don't know, but I suspect not.

This is the twenty-fifth in my 'Birmingham Eastside' series."

 

As part of my periodic reviews of the area I took this photo in 2018.

It was pleasing to see that it was still open and, presumably, thriving.

Unfortunately, my optimism was soon crushed as, some weeks ago, I first noticed that it had become boarded up and surrounded by scaffolding. This is how it looks in early 2021.

The site is going to be converted into 40+ flats with the pub building being kept and extra building work added on either side - details here.

The Fountain is not a victim of the pandemic as it was failing back in 2018 when the first steps in this conversion took place. Sadly, there appears to be no need for basic, street corner boozers in the 21st Century in this part of Birmingham.

#005 Bristol Pear, Selly Oak : 1996 to 2020 (Revisited)

I don't visit the Bristol Pear frequently, but this hostelry has the dubious honour of being the last pub I drank in before the current lockdown!

I have made occasional visits over the past few years, but this is what I wrote in 2011: -

I first visited The Station in the late 70's when I was a student. My vague recollection is that it was a pub for locals and full of 'old' people (at a guess, about the age I am now!) so I wasn't a frequent visitor.

As I lived in the area, over the years I visited a few more times and it was completely refurbished some years later. During this period, The Station was a regular stop off for a pint whilst our Chinese takeaway was being prepared on a Saturday evening. During this phase of its existence it was reasonably welcoming and catered for all ages. 

The picture below is from 1996 when I was visiting close to the end of our canal trip to Llangollen and Chester on the evening of Thursday 5th September 1996.

Not many years after this the pub was completely revamped into an 'It's a Scream' pub and renamed the Bristol Pear. This was Mitchells & Butlers way of making student friendly pubs, which seemed to work. On the odd occasions we visited it was full and loud, but strangely the layout was the same as before! The picture below is from the evening of Thursday 3rd June 2004 at the end of a short trip exploring some of the hidden canals in Birmingham.

Finally we come to the afternoon of Thursday 21st July 2011. I'm still an infrequent visitor, but it survives by being apparently what the students want, so who am I to argue?


It's a funny thing; when I was young this pub was full of old people, but now I'm 'old' it's full of young people so it has never been one of my favourite pubs...oh for a time machine.


I'm not sure if The Station was one of The Pub Curmudgeon's haunts when he too was a student in Brum, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his help and encouragement with this blog and I'll finish with a story that will not help his blood pressure!

The last time I was in the Bristol Pear was on a Saturday evening and we were served our lager in plastic pints. We were told that this rule had come in after some trouble (unspecified at that time) and plastics must be used for beer after 7pm in all pubs in Selly Oak! The next pub we went to was The S'oak (a new establishment) where again we were served our pints in plastics. This time we found out the cause - in separate incidents someone had been glassed and someone had been badly cut after falling onto a broken glass. So maybe the precautions were warranted...except...the person had been glassed with a Coke glass and the person who'd fallen fell onto a wine glass. Neither of these types of glass had been banned!
I don't know if these restrictions are still in place as I've no real desire to go back and drink out of plastic!

I can confirm that the practice of drinking out of 'plastics' was a thankfully, short-lived phenomenon!

The next time I took photos was on the afternoon of Friday 6th June 2014.

As it happens, very little had changed in the passing three years.

Moving on to the time of Covid-19 and the first lockdown, I took these photos on my permitted exercise on the afternoon of Wednesday 8th April 2020.

 That is quite a refurbishment! The 'Scream!' pubs were bought by Stonegate (from Mitchells & Butlers) in 2010, but they ran them in a similar fashion for several years. The Bristol Pear is now part of the 'Common Room' brand within Stonegate (other brands include Slug & Lettuce, Walkabout, Yates to name a few). I do like the new look, but to my mind, you can't beat the classic décor from 1996 when it was still The Station!

#009 Country Girl, Selly Oak : 1996 to 2020 (Revisited)

This is primarily a pub blog but, as we're now in 'lockdown' and practicing social isolation, my only recourse (other than to open the 'archives' as many other bloggers are doing) is to update some of my more local pubs that are within walking distance!
The nearest of these is the Country Girl and this is what I wrote in 2011: -


This is the pub which, over the years, I've spent most drinking time in! My first visit to the Country Girl was back in my student days when it was a proper pub, but it was a bit off my 'beaten track' so I was never a regular in those days.

Following my move to Stirchley in 1983 I became a more regular visitor to the Country Girl as it is only a 15 minute walk away. However, in those days I would go out on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, often into Birmingham, but going 'local' was an infrequent occurrence! 

As I've grown older, the number of nights I go out drinking has dwindled (now just Friday and Saturday!), and I've become less adventurous and so the Country Girl has become, by default, my local!

It has undergone several expansions and refurbishments and when these first two pictures were taken it was still a proper pub with a Bar and a Lounge.

This photo is from 1996 and is the earliest picture that I've taken of the Country Girl.

Now it is 1998 and very little has changed. I do remember watching the second half of the 1999 Champions League Final in the Bar. Just over a year later and the Country Girl was changed beyond all recognition. Whilst the refurbishment was going on we had to visit several other establishments and became regulars at the Bell in Harborne for a while.

Then the Country Girl reopened as an Ember Inn...and I was there on opening night. As with all Ember Inns it became a one room pub done out more like a wine bar than a proper pub, but still an acceptable place to drink and chat. I don't have any photos from the early Ember days, but more recently I've taken some.

This is from 2009. The distinctive Country Girl sign has gone and the M&B sign has disappeared from the pub. Other than those changes, the outside seems to be largely untouched. Unfortunately, because of its position, it is difficult to get a good shot of the pub from the front.

Now it is 2011 and the place is still pretty much the same as before. Shortly it is due to become an Ember Pub and Dining establishment. I'll reserve judgement until I've been into one, but from a drinkers perspective I don't think this is such a good move. However, as a quiz master (not at the Country Girl) I'm thankful that the new re-branded pubs will still be including quiz nights as part of their strategy. Watch this space!

Fortunately for all concerned the Country Girl never went down the route of Ember Pub & Dining. As I understand it, after quite a few of the pubs had been upgraded to the newer format it was discovered that the expected rise in takings didn't occur and so they didn't convert any more pubs.

Since 2011, though, the Country Girl has undergone another refurb and the exterior now looks like this.

The typical Ember Inn pastel green décor, but little else has changed. No meal/drinks offers on the main sign as befits the lockdown era (and no cars in the carpark).
 
I'm a less frequent visitor to the Country Girl these days, but it is still, probably, the pub I visit most for pleasure. By and large it has changed little in terms of atmosphere and service (still pretty good for both!) and with nearby the Selly Oak Hospital site being converted into housing (similarly with the nurses former accommodation), the Country Girl should have a rosy future...once this nonsense is over! 

#276 The Fishery Inn, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire : 1992 to 2019

On our canal trips we've only stopped at The Fishery Inn once, on the evening of Thursday 1st October 1992, on the return journey to the then mooring of Emma Jane at Cowley Peachey.

I have very little recollection of what it was like. It must have been alright as we ate there and didn't leave in search of alternative hostelries.

Although Emma Jane was moored in the vicinty from 1991 to 1995, we never returned to The Fishery Inn, preferring to visit the Three Horseshoes at Winkwell instead, which is only fifteen minutes away by boat.

Our most recent trip that brought us up the Grand Union from Brentford was very similar in that we didn't stop at The Fishery Inn and lunched at the Three Horseshoes. However, as I was winding the locks I still took this picture.

This was at midday on Monday 5th August 2019. Quite a transformation! It is another example of a Mitchells & Butler's Premium Country Pub. In fact, if you use the historical views on Google Street View it was an Ember Inn in 2008 and 2009, but from 2012 it adopted it's current guise!

Kings Langley, Hertfordshire : 1993 to 2019

As it has been a while since my last post, I thought that I'd treat you to a two-for-one offer to start the New Year.

Kings Langley was never one of our regular stopping places back when Emma Jane was moored down south on the Grand Union, but on each occasion that we visited, we've been to the same two pubs!

#272 Rose & Crown

Our first visit was on the lunchtime of Saturday 26th June 1993 (the day after our first visit to #271 The White Bear) and, as you can see from the picture it was a sunny day and the Rose & Crown was quite busy!

I remember very little about the pub itself, but I have a feeling that this was the day of the village/town's summer festival, so everywhere was busy.

We returned for an evening visit on Saturday 3rd June 1995 at the start of a week long trip that took us all the way to Limehouse Basin in London.

The pub was little changed from two years previously, but it was much less busy!

We hadn't been back that way until the evening of Sunday 4th August 2019.

On a structural level it is remarkably unchanged, but it was decorated very much in the modern pastel shades style. Also, despite the signage declaring it to be a Freehouse it is in fact one of Mitchells and Butlers Premium Country Pubs (I've since discovered) which are a bit more upmarket from their Vintage Inns in the style of food. We did have a pleasant meal, but the pub was a bit quiet so we moved on (as we had on all previous visits!) to the nearest pub.

#273 The Saracen's Head

This pub is smaller and much more of a local and has remained so throughout the years - firstly in 1993.

Then again in 1995.

And finally in 2019.

Again, another pub that is structurally unchanged and inside it still felt more like a proper pub than the Rose & Crown which is as it should be, The Saracen's Head being independently run.

One final thing to note - the two 'gentlemen' crossing the road in 1993 were still lurking outside the pub in 2019 and I'd have to suggest that they may not be 'structurally unchanged' by the passing years! (But they bought me a beer, so all's well with the world!) 

#262 Swan Hotel, Brewood, Staffordshire : 1987 to 2018

Another village that we probably could have visited more is Brewood on the Shropshire Union Canal. There are three pubs (were four, but the Admiral Rodney is now a small housing estate!)

The pub we're most likely to visit in Brewood is the Bridge Inn (#224) which is the first pub you come across as you ascend from the canal cutting into the village. There are occasions, though, when we make the short walk into the centre of the village where both the Red Lion and Swan stand on the sides of the village square.

The first time we ventured into the Swan Hotel was on the evening of Wednesday 8th July 1987.

Back then it was an M&B pub and quite a lively, basic village local.

It was a good number of years before we set foot in the Swan Hotel again.

 This was a lunchtime visit on Wednesday 31st August 2005, just 18 years since our first encounter. The main change was that it had beome a Free House. Inside it was little different from before.

We didn't leave it so long before the next visit which was on the evening of Wednesday 8th September 2010.

This time there were no discernible changes - inside or out.

Our most recent visit was a lunchtime stop on Sunday 26th August 2018.

Remarkably, it was still unchanged from 2005. It also doesn't do food on a Sunday lunchtime so I survived on a diet of pub snacks and a couple of pints of Salopian Lemon Dream, which was gorgeous!

#060 The Moseley Arms, Digbeth : 1998 to 2018 (Revisited)

This is what I wrote in 2011: -

The Moseley Arms is a pub I'd never been inside when I took this picture in 1998. In fact, I hadn't really noticed it even though I must have driven past it on numerous occasions on the way to work (one of my alternate routes when the main one was blocked)!

A typical street corner M&B pub, but a bit off the beaten track for Digbeth pubs.

As we move to 2011, I still haven't been inside the pub, but I was pleased to see that it was still standing.

It is not now an M&B pub and the outside has been extensively redecorated and re-signed, but essentially it is unchanged. It appears to be thriving and has its own website (now broken), although this is still a little spartan at the moment. The Moseley Arms is, like many Digbeth pubs, a music venue.

So, now we're in 2018 and I'm pleased to report that The Moseley Arms is going strong, but has now transformed itself into a 38 room hotel.

The signage looks to be unchanged, but the rest has been redecorated and the hotel rooms added to the left of the original pub building.

Interestingly, the website describes it as both a pub and as a hotel - yet another survival model that seems to work here for what was once a simple back-street boozer.

#226 Hare & Hounds, Minworth, West Midlands : 1986 to 2016

Our first visit to the Hare & Hounds at Minworth was on the evening of Wednesday 30th July 1986...the first year that I took a picture of every pub we visited.

As I recall it was a fairly large Ansell's pub split into a Lounge and a Bar - a common enough arrangement in those days.

With our boat, Emma Jane, being moored 'Up North' and the 'Darn Sarf' for a few years, we didn't return to the Hare & Hounds until the evening of Tuesday 5th September 1995 as part of her return journey to the Midlands.

And what a change it had undergone in the passing 9 years - it was now a Mr Q's Pool Lounge! Inside there were a large number of pool tables of varying sizes and shapes! It was still an Ansell's pub.

This experience put us off returning until the evening of Sunday 14th June 2015 - a gap of almost 20 years!

In all honesty, if The Boat (#180) had done food on a Sunday evening, we wouldn't have needed to leave and visit the Hare & Hounds at all. I'm glad we did because the Hare & Hounds was now a pub restaurant which caters for both drinkers and diners and, most importantly, they were still serving food for us!

It was no longer an Ansell's pub and the Wacky Warehouse is now Fuzzy Ed's Fun House (not that we went to either!)

We returned just 12 months later on the evening of Sunday 12th June 2016.

This time we were even later getting there, but the staff were great and we got food even though they had, technically finished serving. Excellent service, which is all too infrequent as we travel the canals.

As I was doing a bit of research to see who owns the pub, I discovered that it has changed again into a Sizzling Pub & Grill which is one of the brands of Mitchell's & Butler's. Hopefully they will maintain the excellent service levels.