#138 Ye Olde Seven Stars, Kidderminster, Worcestershire : 2008 to 2013

As reported previously, we've only ever stopped in Kidderminster twice despite passing through on the canal on many occasions.

Our first stop was on the evening of Monday 26th May 2008 and Ye Olde Seven Stars was one of the pubs we visited on out pub crawl around the town.

As usual, I don't remember too much about the inside as we only had one pint there.

On our second visit to Kidderminster, at lunchtime on Thursday 16th May 2013, we only went in one pub, but we did stroll around the town centre so I could get pictures of how the pubs had changed.

Externally Ye Olde Seven Stars has had a complete makeover. 

In doing the background research for this post I've discovered that this is the oldest pub in Kidderminster and that I made a mistake in my blog entry about The Red Man (#127).

It was Ye Olde Seven Stars that allowed (in fact encouraged) people to eat their takeaway meals inside whilst enjoying their pint and, judging by the signage, they still do. The pub has its own website, but I'm not sure when it was last updated.

#127 The Red Man, Kidderminster, Worcestershire : 2008 to 2013

Despite the fact that we've done the Stourport Ring on several occasions, we've only ever stopped in Kidderminster twice! 

Before I get on with it, I'm not sure if there are any other pubs with this name - I've come across many a Green Man, but this is the only Red Man I know of - do you know any better? 

The first time, and indeed only time I've been inside The Red Man was on the evening of Monday 26th May 2008. We were having a bit of a pub crawl around Kidderminster whilst trying to find a suitable place to eat when we came upon The Red Man. Inside it was like many small town pubs; functional but lacking in any real character...and, as it was a Monday evening, fairly quiet. One rather different aspect was that it didn't just allow people to eat their takeaways in the pub, it was positively encouraged with various menus scattered about. At the time I thought it was a great idea for a pub that doesn't do food!

The next time we stopped in Kidderminster was on a lunchtime and we didn't go in The Red Man, but I took this photo as we strolled by.

This was taken on Thursday 16th May 2013. This is one of the most complete external makeovers I've documented in the time I've been doing this blog. Seemingly their innovative experiment with the food has gone by the board as it would appear that they now do their own. Here is their website.