#025 The Anchor, Digbeth, Birmingham : 1998 to 2021

 Whilst my fellow bloggers and pub tickers renew their acquaintance with beer gardens and blogging, I've still got one or two Digbeth classics to catch up with, and today's offering is The Anchor. Here's what I wrote back in 2011: -

"The Anchor in Digbeth is a success story in a world where proper pubs are disappearing, this pub is thriving. This is the eleventh in my 'Birmingham Eastside' series.

Here it is in 1998 and at this time I'd never been inside. This is another example of a pub built by James & Lister Lea and it is a Grade II listed building. Since taking the photo I have visited and found it to be a great place and 'unspoilt by progress'.

Here we are in 2011 and from the outside very little has changed. Even the lamp post is still the same one, although it has been painted in the intervening years! The inside is listed on the National Inventory of Pub Interiors which is run by CAMRA and shows pictures of the various rooms. The Anchor website is fairly extensive and also has plenty of useful information (not any more). If you find yourself in Birmingham (especially if you're at the Coach Station), The Anchor is well worth a visit."

Moving on to 2018 and I paid two visits to The Anchor. The first was in January when I took this picture.

As you can see it has had a bit of an external makeover...and the streetlight has disappeared! Apart from that, very little has changed about The Anchor as we found out on my second visit of the year for July's Proper Pubs Day Out trip around Digbeth.

So, as we reach 2021, how has The Anchor changed?

You'd have to say, "Not a lot!" The main question is, "When will it reopen (if at all)?" The good news, according to their Facebook page, is that The Anchor will reopen on 21st May (assuming the government don't do a U-turn)! 

#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!)

#014 The Lamp Tavern, Highgate, Birmingham : 1998 to 2021

 Still ploughing through the Birmingham Eastside pub catch-up (in no particular order) and we've got to The Lamp Tavern which was the 2019 Birmingham Pub of the Year according to CAMRA. And a lovely little pub it is too!

Here's what I wrote in 2011: -

"Back in 1998 I went around the Digbeth/Deritend/Highgate area of Birmingham taking photos of all the pubs I could find. It was my intention to return in 10 years to see how the Birmingham Eastside development had affected these pubs. I didn't find the time in 2008 and so, finally, I revisited the area this year with my camera and these are the results. 

This is the fifth in my 'Eastside' series.

At the time of taking this picture in 1998 I'd never been in The Lamp Tavern, in fact I didn't know of its existence! However, a couple of years later I was in the audience for a gig by Mean Old World. They were a Birmingham band who had incorporated a visiting American colleague of mine as the lead vocalist. I was amazed how small The Lamp Tavern is inside, but we had a great night. The lead singer, Dan Bode, can be seen here, back in the States, fronting his band Moko Bovo. Dan is a great singer and it was a pleasure to see him perform at several venues around Birmingham! 

 

Thirteen years later and remarkably little has changed on the outside, although the upper windows have been replaced! The Lamp Tavern is the only pub in Birmingham that sells beer made by the Stanway Brewery from Cheltenham."

 

I've made no more visits to the inside of The Lamp Tavern, but I was back in 2018 with my camera.

The exterior signage had been renewed, this time with a more Gaelic feel to it. Also, note the new satellite dish on the roof...seemingly a replacement for the standard TV aerial that was there in 1998!

 

So, a year later it was Birmingham CAMRA Pub of the Year, but what is the view like now, in 2021?

The Lamp Tavern itself appears to be completely unchanged, but next door is now a fast food café which is a good indicator that there is business around there for both food and drink.

 

I have no idea when/if it will open after the pandemic (I'm assuming May) as their Facebook page hasn't been updated for a year!

Back in the Saddle in Selly Oak

Eleven days after the much vaunted re-opening of pubs in England and I finally had my first pint in a  pub last night. I'm probably the last of my pub/beer blogging colleagues to get back in the saddle, but in normal times I'm not a particularly frequent pub goer, anyway.

 

We did try to get to the Country Girl in Selly Oak last Friday, but it was fully booked for the evening. So, it became our first Wednesday outing to the Country Girl in many, many years.

 

The first thing you notice is that the front door is closed and entry is via the back door that leads to the car park. This is also the only exit. There were notices on all of the outdoor tables about social distancing.

 

At the door we were greeted by one of the bar staff who confirmed our booking (done via the Ember Inn app), shown the hand sanitiser and then led to our table. It was really noticeable how well spaced out the tables were making the maintaining of social distancing quiite easy.

 

Service was at the bar, but with a queueing system to maintain social distancing. It took a while for my first order ("Two pints of Carling, please!") as there was only one person serving...and the bloke in front of me was ordering meals for his table.

 

There was no real ale although the bloke in front said there was Worthington. (Maybe CAMRA do still have their work cut out for them if the general populace believes that Worthington Creamflow is real ale!). When I asked the bar maid about this she said that, at first, the pub had no say in what they actually got, but did manage to get their quota of Carling increased (phew!).

 

To me, the first pint didn't taste quite right, but by the fifth it was perfectly fine! We left at about 10:30pm and we were the last out!

Country Girl, Selly Oak (Post Lockdown July 2020)

So, what was the experience like? Remarkably civilised. Once drinking and talking we disappeared into our own 'bubble' and from that perspective it felt perfectly normal (and the music was so low you couldn't tell it was on most of the time!). But, in reality you have to wonder how long pubs can survive on such small numbers - we saw 20 - 30 people max all evening (but to compensate it was a skeleton crew of staff on.)

 

I'll be setting out on a couple of canal trips in the coming weeks (fingers crossed) and that should give me a better perspective on what this 'new normal' is like and an inkling as to how sustainable it really is.

School Trip to Rugby

Another Proper Pub Day Out, this time to the home of 'egg-chasing' and Flashman - a place that I've visited several times via the canal, but obviously failed to find most of the good pubs (as usual!).

Arriving by train, this time, gives a shorter walk to the town centre, but still a bit of an uphill slog for someone as unfit as I am these days! But lo! There was a pub in sight just to keep me going...but it isn't on our list...aaagh!

The magnificent looking Wheeltapper serves as a beacon for those weary walkers from the station...but I resisted and strode on up the road to the right. Onwards to the Seven Stars...and it was well worth it! (and I wasn't the last one to arrive!)

Proudly proclaiming to be the Rugby CAMRA Pub of the Year 2018 and I wouldn't argue against that description. Whilst you will get better internal descriptions from Retired Martin and Beer Leeds and an in depth blow-by-blow account of the beers (and some of my pictures) from Pub Curmudgeon, you'll just get the external shots and whether I liked the place for each pub...Yes in most cases!

As commented elsewhere, I could have stayed here for much longer, but we had a lot of ground to cover (pubwise, if not in terms of distance!). Next was a very short walk away.

I took my photo on departure as the Coors van had moved on by then, but the weather had turned into a re-run of Huddersfield...almost! This was another good pub that, on another occasion, we'd have stayed for more than just one pint.

Our next destination was one of the pubs I'd visited before, but I doubt I could find it again from Martin's 'meandering' route there!

The Merchant's Inn is an interesting place with more pub memorabilia and breweriana than the average ten pubs combined and I've never seen so many pump clips in one place! This was our lunch stop as well. The food was good, so, it's another "Yes" from me!

Then it was the longest walk of the day (almost 10 minutes) away from the town centre to this place.

The Victoria was well worth the walk. We turned left and entered the bar at the pointy end of this classic street corner boozer. My second pint of an Atomic Ales beer - both very pleasant.

It didn't seem long before we were on our feet again and heading for the best pub I'd previously visited in Rugby.

The Squirrel is a very compact pub and, whilst still a very good pub, it wasn't quite as wonderful as I'd remembered it. Possibly because previous visits had been in the dark and The Squirrel was the best pub of the evening, but on this trip we'd already been in three pubs that I'd now rate higher! It's still a "Yes" from me, though!

Now we were headed for micropub territory!

A relatively new addition to the watering holes of Rugby, The Crafty Banker was somewhat better than some other micros I've been in. There seemed to be more space than in many, but with modern décor. As a pub I'd rate it as OK.

Then it was another micro, which had grown out of the bottle shop next door.

The Rugby Tap Room felt more like a pub than the previous micro, but was also more cramped. Again, I'd rate it as OK, but I expect that it gets quite a lot of trade from tourists come to marvel at Rugby School which was just over the road and the Rugby Museum which is next door.

Then it was another stroll to the final pub that we all made it to.

As I'd had a pint in all the previous seven pubs, I have no recollection of how to find the Half Moon. (But Rugby isn't such a big place that it will remain lost to me!) This was quite a lively little boozer (well, it was about 6pm on a Friday!) and it gets the thumbs up from me!

Our final stop was right in the centre of town, but only me and the assorted 'Mudgies' ventured inside.

The Bull (not sure if I've been there before!) was the place which broke my resistance and I had a half of Carling Punk IPA (as I've been reliably informed!). After confirming England's victory in the cricket, me and the Mudgies headed for the station. (What is the collective noun for a group of Mudgies? A Snug of Mudgies?)

It was quite a trudge back to the station...but at least it was downhill. We walked past the Wheeltapper again, which looked even more magnificent through the haze of 8½ pints!

If we'd known then about the train delays that we were about to experience, we may well have popped in for a swift half...but we didn't and had a longer wait on the platform than anticipated. We all got home at a reasonable hour.

It was an excellent day out and, next time we're passing Rugby on the canal I'll know where to go for the best pubs!

Seeing the Light at Burning Soul

This is going to be a slightly different entry from usual and the 'blame' lies with squarely Pub Curmudgeon, West Midlands Exploration, BRAPA, Life After Football and Retired Martin. Whilst all of us share a love of pubs, their constant blogging about the joys of real ale and the incessant photography of pints/halves of (mostly) 'nectar' have turned my head.

I'd got to the stage where I would choose Oakham Citra over my long-term choice, Carling. That was before Saturday! Some friends had been so impressed on a brewery tour of Burning Soul that they wanted to return for a session.

 In typical micro pub/brewery style, the opening hours are extremely limited (Friday 4 - 8 pm; Saturday 1 - 8 pm).

It was a cool, overcast evening, but seats were still difficult to find. I imagine that on a warm summer's evening there would be twice as many people there.

There were seven different beers on the list which kept on changing as beers ran out and were replaced with new ones; all served in half-pint measures.

My first impression wasn't good as the beer I'd chosen ran out as it was being poured. To my untutored eye as a confirmed lager man, I was struggling to find something that appealed, but I did make a choice and sat down.

The first mouthful changed my demeanour, instantly. It was cool, fruity, tasty, complex and refreshing - words I never expected to be using in relation to real ale. I sampled two more of their beers (can't remember any of the names!) which were equally superb. They are all a bit stronger than normal ranging from 4% up to 7% ABV which is why they only serve in halves (and why I can't recall what I had to drink!).

Inevitably, 8 pm arrived all too quickly and we had to leave to search for some nibbles and more drink. It was only a short walk to The Church.

The Church is a lovely street corner boozer which has been well refurbished and was nicely busy. It is now an Everards pub and they had Sunchaser on. I've had this before and quite enjoyed it. I ordered a pint and one of my companions ordered a pint of Tiger. Well, what a comedown! My pint was lifeless, flat and might as well have been dishwater; the Tiger was similarly unimpressive. Neither were actually 'off', it's just that after Burning Soul's fresh, brilliant beers anything else was always going to be a disappointment.

For the first time, I understood what the real ale aficionados had been wittering on about for years - I'd finally seen the light! After a shared bowl of nachos and some chips (which all helped the beer to go down), we moved on to the newly refurbished Jewellers Arms.

It has been taken over (and refurbished) by Black Country Ales. They've done a good job, but on a Saturday evening, it wasn't that busy. Again, I can't remember what I ordered (but it was something that I liked the look of) and, again, it was dull, dull, dull! (Although not quite as disappointing as the Sunchaser.)

So, have I undergone a Damascene conversion? Er...no! I now understand what the esteemed gentlemen, above, have been going on (...and on...) about for years, but I've not been converted to the real ale scene as a born-again beardie! It has, however, opened my eyes to the new world of craft/real ale and from now on I'll be much more likely to try out new beers.

#203 The Old Windmill, Coventry, West Midlands : 2000 to 2015

We are occasional visitors to the centre of Coventry by canal as it is a 5 mile stretch of canal from Hawkesbury Junction to Coventry Canal Basin which is the terminus of the Coventry Canal. So, if we have time in the schedule we sometimes make the trip into the city to see how it has changed.

The Old Windmill is situated in Medieval Spon Street which is one of the few parts of the old city to have survived the blitz. It is quite a walk from the canal which is probably why we'd not been there before the evening of Tuesday 30th May 2000.

As I recall it was a proper pub and quite a pleasant experience. From the signage, it was still a Mann's pub back then.

Although we'd been back to Coventry a couple of times after this, we didn't venture to The Old Windmill again until the evening of Monday 6th October 2014.

On this occasion we'd moored at Hawkesbury Junction, but we'd been unable to get any food at The Greyhound (#167) as it was full. This necessitated a taxi ride into Coventry and our driver dropped us off by The Old Windmill so that we could eat at Turmeric Gold on the opposite side of the road (his recommendation!).

The signage had completely changed and it was no longer a Mann's pub, but little else had changed - apart from the tables and chairs outside the front of the pub! (Café society comes to Coventry!) Inside it was still a proper pub.

We returned almost a year later; this time we'd moored at Coventry Canal Basin to re-explore the city on the evening of Tuesday 1st September 2015. Unfortunately, as we were having a pint in the Wetherspoons the heavens opened, thus curtailing any further exploration, but we still got a bit damp on the walk over to Medieval Spon Street!

It was still chucking it down when we left The Old Windmill after a pint before venturing across the road to Turmeric Gold for our evening meal. There were few discernible changes to the pub (new hanging baskets), but what price 'café society' now?! To see more about the 2015 CAMRA Coventry Pub of the Year have a look at their Facebook page

Whilst The Old Windmill dates from the 16th Century and claims to be one of the oldest pubs in Coventry, somehow I don't think that Turmeric Gold has quite such a long history. The food was good on both occasions we visited. 

#201 Angel Ale House, Atherstone, Warwickshire : 1995 to 2015

The Angel Inn, as it was called when we first visited it on the evening of Monday 4th September 1995, is a pub that has hardly changed externally, but has been transformed internally over the years.

I really don't remember too much about the inside, I think it was a fairly standard town centre boozer. (We visited quite a few pubs that evening as Atherstone was something of a revelation for the quantity of drinking options!)

We were next in Atherstone on for a lunchtime stop on Saturday 20th August 2005, but we didn't go into the Angel on that occasion. I do, however, have a shot of the pub from down the street that I've blown up for this entry!

There doesn't look to be too much change, but difficult to tell from this distance!

We didn't return until the evening of Sunday 5th October 2014 and, again, we didn't venture inside.

It had obviously been refurbished and, peering through the window I could see that it was done out in the more modern, open, rustic style that so many places seem to go for.

We were back in Atherstone about a year later on the evening of Wednesday 2nd September 2015.

Yet again, we didn't go inside, but obviously they've managed to make a success of the place judging by the banner hanging over the front of the pub. At least the hanging sign is back outside the pub denoting the change of name to the Angel Ale House. Also, there is the large shelter added onto the side (just visible in the 2014 picture) that no doubt is there to accommodate extra drinkers and smokers.

#173 The Vaults, Knowle, West Midlands : 1999 to 2014

This is going to be a short post about a pub that I've only been into once...and I don't remember what it was like inside!

We don't visit Knowle very often on the canal and when we do go there we end up in any/all of the other pubs. Our first (and so far, only) visit was on the evening of Sunday 4th April 1999. It was Easter Sunday and we'd finished our regular Easter trip to Stratford and back. So, rather than drink locally in Lapworth we caught a taxi to Knowle to see what the village had to offer.

Although it has a High Street address, the entrance is on one of the side streets (next door to Loch Fyne restaurant). We must have had a pint in there because in those days I didn't take pictures if we didn't go in, but I have no recollection.

We were once again in Knowle on the evening of Sunday 28th September 2014 and, as we were strolling along the High Street, I took this picture.

To be honest, I wasn't sure if it would still be there, but it appears to have gone from strength to strength. (I discovered, whilst researching this entry, that it has been the Solihull CAMRA Pub of the Year nine times since 1992, most recently in 2013!)

The Vaults now advertises itself as a 'Real Ale Bar' that seems to have filled a niche in the area. Despite the major changes to the outside it is interesting to see that the hanging sign is still the same...even if it has been turned around in the intervening 15 years!

#134 Old Swan (Ma Pardoe's), Netherton, West Midlands : 2004 to 2013

I'm fairly sure that I'd been to Ma Pardoe's before our first canal visit, but I can't remember when! The centre of Netherton is built on a bit of a hill and so it is a bit of a walk from the canal. Our first visit was on Sunday 30th May 2004 on a short trip around the West Midlands.

We'd moored up at Windmill End Junction expecting to spend the evening in the Dry Dock (#125), but as it was a Bank Holiday Sunday it was closed! So we set off in search of sustenance and after three basic boozers we finally found the Old Swan (but we failed to find any food!). As any real beer drinker will know, this is one of the famous real ale pubs that brews on the premises and inside is unspoilt by progress. It has been known as Ma Pardoe's since the interwar years after the long term landlady Doris Pardoe who owned and ran the Old Swan until her death in 1984.

We were back again in 2013 when again the Dry Dock let us down...now it is closed for good. This time we weren't distracted by any pubs on the way (both of them were closed...one just for lunch and one more permanently!)

This was a lunchtime stop on Tuesday 14th May 2013 and this time we were able to get food as well as drink. Unsurprisingly it was completely unchanged outside and in! As I've got older it has been  a choice not to drink at lunchtimes (I just can't cope any more!), but I was faced with a serious dilemma. My lunchtime drink of choice is a pint of Blackcurrant & Soda, but being a traditional place there was no soda water on tap. The only logical choice left to me was to have a pint of Old Swan Ale instead...and then another...and another! As a 'confirmed' lager drinker, I can confirm that it was very good and there were no ill effects!

The Old Swan is well worth a visit and here is the CAMRA write up of it outlining its status as a Real Heritage Pub.

#089 Prince of Wales, Birmingham : 1996 to 2012

For those of you who know the city, this is the Prince of Wales pub in Birmingham city centre on Cambridge Street, behind the Rep and Convention Centre. (I will be reporting on the Prince of Wales in Moseley at a later date.)

My first ever visit to the Prince of Wales was in 1976 when I was a student and went along to a meeting of the Birmingham University Real Ale Society which was in an upstairs room. In those days it was an Ansells pub and was one of the very few places that sold hand pulled beer. However, as I recall I didn't take to the beer on offer and ended the evening drinking Rum & Blacks!

My first canal related visit was at lunchtime on Sunday 29th May 1996.

I don't really recall what it was like, but I also don't think it has changed much inside in the subsequent years. In recent years it has been a good place to visit for lunch as they do good pub food in a proper pub bar environment. Back in 1996 it was still an Ansells pub.

Our next visit was on Saturday 28th August 1999 at the start of a trip to Leek on the Caldon Canal.

In the intervening years it had become a Festival Alehouse and the external signage had changed. Inside it was largely unchanged.

It wasn't until lunchtime on Sunday 30th May 2004 that we revisited the Prince of Wales again.

The outside had been completely redecorated and stayed this way for our subsequent visits.

Thursday 1st September 2005 (Evening).

   Saturday 3rd June 2006 (Evening).

Saturday 26th May 2007 (Lunchtime).

Saturday 24th May 2008 (Evening).

Then we had a few years when we didn't pop into the Prince of Wales.

Tuesday 6th September 2011 (Evening).
This was actually my last visit as a drinker. It is interesting to note that the exterior has not changed even down to the red Biffa skip outside, usually to the right hand side of the pub.

This final photo was taken on Tuesday 28th August 2012.

As I live in Brum and because we didn't visit any repeat pubs on the canal this autumn I thought I'd better get some pictures of local pubs I had visited to keep this blog going! I would guess that the inside hasn't changed much despite the complete external makeover. (...but where's the Biffa skip??)

I can't seem to find a website, but if ever you're in Birmingham city centre, near the convention centre, I'd suggest that a visit to the Prince of Wales is well worth it if you want a proper pub.

#072 Newbold Crown, Newbold-on-Avon, Warks : 2005 to 2011

Believe it or not, we've visited Newbold-on-Avon many times on our canal trips (including my first ever trip in 1980!), but it wasn't until 2005 that we ventured beyond the Boat and Barley Mow (#053) and discovered the Newbold Crown!

It is a fairly standard estate/village pub that was quite welcoming on our visits. This first encounter was at lunchtime on Tuesday 31st May 2005 on a trip to take our boat to Nuneaton for repairs.

Our next visit was on the evening of Monday 30th May 2011. As we'd stopped quite early, we decided to have a bit of a pub crawl around Newbold-on-Avon. This meant revisiting the Newbold Crown for the first time in 6 years - and it had hardly changed. It is still a friendly local, but as we were there early in the evening it was fairly quiet (and it was a Monday!)

There's not much more to add, except that it is listed on the local CAMRA website.