Stirchley in The Time of Coronavirus - Part 5

This will be my final pictorial report on Stirchley during the 2020 lockdown (but there may yet be 2021 reports to come...who knows?).

It took me many years of living in Stirchley to discover our very own park, hidden away by the side of the Co-op (soon to be Morrison's).

Stirchley Park - 25th March 2020

Stirchley Park - 11th January 2013

 The street art changes fairly regularly, partly because it gets vandalised quite often. The extra path has been added so that you can do a circuit of the park and more, small trees have been planted.

Also backing onto the park is Stirchley Library, which at the moment is shrouded in scaffolding.

Stirchley Library - 27th March 2020

Stirchley Library - 11th January 2013

Since I last reported on Stirchley, in 2013, the future of the library has been in jeopardy, but the scaffolding is a good sign that it will endure for a while longer.

Another Stirchley stalwart is the British Oak pub which has changed little in the intervening years.

British Oak - 25th March 2020

British Oak - 11th January 2013

Before the lockdown, the British Oak seemed to be doing quite nicely and I hope that it makes a success of the return...whenever that is. It is Grade II* so hopefully it will be back soon.

Whatever happened to Drums International?

Drums International - 4th April 2020

Drums International - 11th January 2013

This was one of the quirky shops along the Pershore Road, but unfortunately it closed down in August 2018. It was another of those 'Aladdin's Cave' type shops, but for drummers...every High Street should have one...sadly in these times it just didn't work out.

Oulsnam Estate Agents - 4th April 2020

Laing Estate Agents -11th January 2013

It wasn't long after the 2013 picture was taken that Laing were bought out by Oulsnam and another local firm had been consumed into a larger chain.

Before I sign off there are a couple of places that I didn't photograph in 2013. The first is an example of discovering something new that, really, I should have noticed long before!

The Central Bakery -5th April 2020

Until the other day I hadn't realised that this was originally the site of the bakery for the whole of the Midlands Co-op Society. The blue plaque, which was installed in 2018, is in honour of Mary Ellen Cottrell who has an impressive list of firsts.

Finally, as this is supposed to be a blog about pubs, we have the Wildcat.

Wildcat - 5th April 2020

This micropub was originally in smaller premises further along the Pershore Road and, because of its success, the owner decided to move to these, larger, premises. They reopened in June 2019 and promptly ran out of beer as they were so much busier than anticipated...hopefully, when this is all over, they'll have the same problem again!

Two doors down from the Wildcat is Alicia's Micro Bakehouse, Stirchley's very own artisan pizza place. Last time I was by there it was takeaway only which looks as though it will continue for the foreseeable future.

Another two doors down is Cork 'n' Cage, another micro bar/eatery which was also thriving before the lockdown. I do hope that they're able to weather the storm otherwise there's a good chance of losing the vibrant variety that these places had brought to old Stirchley Village!

From Attic to Infimary (via Alicia's and the Oak)

I'd thought about doing blog posts away from the usual theme and detail some of my other 'adventures' in pub land like proper pub bloggers do...you know who you are...and our trip to Stirchley's newest microbrewery Attic Brew Co seemed to fit the bill perfectly. (...and I even managed a punny title!!)

As I strolled there to meet my friends I couldn't quite work out whether it was closer to me than the British Oak. (It's about 100 yards further, I reckon) The opening hours are typical micro...4 - 10pm on Fridays and 1 - 10pm on Saturdays.

So, on a cool, damp Saturday at 7:30pm this is the scene I came across.

The place was packed and it was standing room only. So, what beers (all craft keg!) did they have on offer...cue picture of typical micropub beer list!

I had the Session IPA, followed by River Street Czech Pilsener and finished off with a pint of the Munich Wheat. I think that between us we had a pint of everything apart from the Confused Brummie. I enjoyed my three pints although I probably wouldn't go for the wheat beer again!

I like the fact that they're not afraid to sell beers from other local microbreweries like Dig Brew and Birmingham Brewing (also in Stirchley!)

It's a family friendly place as there were lots of children there when we arrived and, remarkably for the new micropub on an industrial estate, there were two toilets.

One final shot of the multiplicity of beards on offer and a young Frankie Boyle!

So, then it was off to Alicia's Micro Bakehouse for our evening repast. Before we went inside there was just time to get a shot of the new, larger premises for the Wildcat Tap which is moving to be almost next-door to Alicia's and opposite the British Oak.

Here in Stirchley, we don't bother with mobility scooters when you can have the real thing!

Inside it is quite cosy and was full again (this being our second visit). It is a quirky place in that you have to go to the counter to order both food and drinks which included taking your own beer from the glass fronted fridges. I chose a bottle of Ichnusa, a Sardinian beer that I'd never heard of previously. And very nice it was too.

I know that, at this stage, I should have a picture of at least one of the pizzas...but I don't! Three out of the four of us enjoyed our pizzas (which isn't a bad average, really!) and so we headed out into the damp Stirchley night for the trek to the British Oak. (Actually, we just crossed the Pershore Road!)

 I hadn't noticed how much drizzle had got onto the lens until I downloaded the photos (but this was the best I managed - couldn't possibly have anything to do with the drink, surely!).

Anyway, after taking a cloudy pint of Wainwright back (it tasted OK, but I didn't want to risk it) it was changed without demur for a pint of Wye Valley HPA. I then asked for a pint of something else (don't remember what) which I only managed to down half before I started to feel unwell.

A visit to the loo to release some of the pressure had a temporary effect, but within a few minutes I realised that I didn't have the strength/energy to walk the ¼ mile home. Whilst waiting for the taxi, my friends grew more concerned about my condition, particularly Julie who is a nurse. (I thought I'd be fine after a good sleep and a dump...not necessarily in that order!)

So, an ambulance was called and after being checked over the crew thought it best to take me into the Queen Elizabeth Hospital A&E. At least I got my first ever ride in an ambulance as a patient!

Fortunately, and somewhat amazingly for a Saturday night the A&E wasn't particularly packed out, but it was still going to be a 2½ - 3 hour wait to get assessed. If I'd been on my own, I would probably have checked myself out and gone home, but my friend Tim who accompanied me in the ambulance was adamant that I should stay and get checked out (especially at "my age"!).

I hung around, trying to doze off, but it isn't the most comfoprtable seating. Waking from one of my brief, micro dozes, I looked up to see a nurse standing over me at first not recognising Helen (Julie's daughter) who works in the QE. We had a chat as she was on her break and apparently, the night before there'd been over 100 people there (there are only about 40 seats!) so I was thankful that it was a quiet night.

I was finally seen by a doctor after 3 hours, they couldn't find anything seriously wrong with me and so I was discharged and finally got home at 6:50 am, not quite 12 hours since I'd set out.

At least there weren't the dramas of Citra's heart attack(s) (blogpost here), but it does highlight the perils of getting old.

After a good long sleep (till 4:30 pm) I let everyone know that I was still here and discovered that Julie had also felt quite unwell. The only thing that we'd consumed in common (that was different to our other friends) was the Wheat Beer and she'd only had a half.

So, a slightly more eventful than normal Saturday night out...I'm just hoping that I'll be 'fit' enough for a lunchtime pint (or two) at The Wellington in town on Monday (Today in fact!)