The VillaTalk Good Pub Guide

[sidcow]

11 minutes ago, Xela said:

Another one bites the dust @sidcow

Shame as its in the perfect location for when HS2 is completed, but the lack of trade during the work has took its toll. I hope the building survives, but no doubt it'll be flattened like the Eagle & Tun was; a crying shame as that was part of Birmingham's musical history.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/last-orders-woodman-bids-farewell-24717090

Shuts this Friday. 

Yeah, I saw that. 

It is listed so it will be difficult to knock it down. 

I'm sure someone will take it on and eventually once HS2 opens it will become a thriving boozer again. It is in a bit of a wasteland there currently. 

[Xela]

20 hours ago, sidcow said:

Yeah, I saw that. 

It is listed so it will be difficult to knock it down. 

I'm sure someone will take it on and eventually once HS2 opens it will become a thriving boozer again. It is in a bit of a wasteland there currently. 

Hopefully it gets a new life when the station opens. 

Lovely bit of James & Lister Lea architecture. They did a lot of pubs in Brum, most notably the Bartons Arms.

[Mark Albrighton]

Could easily have gone in the pointless trivia thread.

As someone in the replies notes, Charlie 2 should take some honorary points for the Royal Oak and James number 1 should have some for the Red Lion (but would have to share them with John of Gaunt).

 

Edit - and maybe the kings head for Charlie 1 

Edited August 30, 2022 by Mark Albrighton

[Xela]

22 hours ago, Mark Albrighton said:

Could easily have gone in the pointless trivia thread.

As someone in the replies notes, Charlie 2 should take some honorary points for the Royal Oak and James number 1 should have some for the Red Lion (but would have to share them with John of Gaunt).

 

Edit - and maybe the kings head for Charlie 1 

The White Hart owes it all to Richard II

I'm surprised there aren't many Henry VIII pubs, as I would imagine he is probably the most famous/infamous monarch of all (all a matter of opinion I guess). 

[Xela]

Although, you could argue The King's Head is Henry VIII, as he is the most visually recognisable one. 

Edited August 31, 2022 by Xela

[Mark Albrighton]

I was walking part of the Silkin Way yesterday. The bit I walked was a five mile route Telford centre down to Coalport.

My aim was to have a drink at The Shakespeare before the return journey, but typically it wasn’t open. A bit further along I stopped by The Woodbridge, before walking back. I stumbled across some signs for the “historic” All Nations Inn. Not having visited before, I set out in the name of research.

Apparently it’s historic because by 1971 it was one of just four remaining Brew houses left in England. Something to do with the beerhouse act 1830, basically trying to encourage people to drink beer rather than spirits. This was one of those pubs formed.

Brief history lesson over, the pub is fine. Quite a nice beer garden, and inside a fair amount of understated character, fairly cosy. Still appears to produce some of its own brew. You’re not going to find a fruit machine or a jukebox in here. If you’re walking by, it’s worth popping in.

[Xela]

Some potentially good news for real ale fans

Quote

The new landlord of an iconic Birmingham boozer has revealed plans to restore the venue to its former glory. Sheldon Inns took over the Prince of Wales in Moseley earlier this month.

Martin Cartwright, CEO in charge of 25 pubs across the Midlands, confirmed plans to 'sensitively refurbish' the Alcester Road site inside and out and reinstate it as a traditional real ale pub. He said the pub must first undergo extensive repair works to bring the building up to scratch.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/new-landlord-take-historic-prince-25074160

[sidcow]

1 hour ago, Xela said:

Some potentially good news for real ale fans

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/new-landlord-take-historic-prince-25074160

Best news I've heard all week. 

[mjmooney]

As mentioned in the weather thread, we've been in the peak district all week, staying with a bunch of friends in a nice cottage in Wardlow, Derbyshire. We've been there before, but on the previous visit didn't get around to checking out the notorious local, The Three Stags' Heads. The cottage information book advised giving it a very wide berth, so we had a look at the reviews on Tripadvisor, the following being a few choice extracts: 

----------

"The landlord who sat on his perch by the fire, was thoroughly unpleasant. One of the hunting dogs came to us and weed a massive puddle on the floor, which we cleaned up in the end. On leaving, one of our party held the door for the one remaining, and the landlord not realising that there was still one to come loudly called him a word, which is not even allowed to be implied on trip advisor" 

"If you like having the lights out, in a place that smells of cow/sheep/dog poo then this is the pub in the middle of nowhere for you!" 

"We found the staff drunk and very unfriendly, broken toilets and aggressive customers. An unpleasant episode a year or two ago had occurred when one of the regulars at the bar had produced a knife after some friends had not fully understood ' the rules' that the bar staff have about mobile phones. We put this down to a one off and returned this week. A miserable greeting awaited with the door locked when we arrived well before closing time. Having gone inside for a drink a man then threatened members of our party almost starting an all out brawl. For the staff this appeared to be a fairly common occurrence and they appeared to have no interest in resolving the situation. We left quickly. Awful, dangerous pub. I will certainly not be returning"

"Last night a local who seemed well known to the barman and landlord was grossly offensive to use. Matters rapidly escalated to physical violence from him to one of our group. Thankfully we restrained him and quickly departed. Even though his action lead to a lot of broken glasses and nearly broken bones for us the barman and landlord didn't seem to give two hoots.
We had heard, and dismissed rumours that this can be a dangerous place. Be warned; the rumours are true. Avoid. We won't be back!" 

"Be warned. The lunatics are in danger of taking over the asylum. We had to leave sharpish as we received several extremely rude comments from the locals which are not repeatable in this forum. We ignored all the threatening comments but the physical threats got more apparent. I didn't want to believe the other bad reviews as i suspected they could have been looking for trouble. I was wrong. If you go, just don't step out of line" 

"A little pub with absolutely no frills or adornments and full of 'old inn character' but on a Sunday at 2.00pm also full of local farm hands discussing their illegal fox hunting activities.

I sat on the one available seat in the one tiny room - it only holds about 10 people. I was then told by a newly arrived local that I was sitting in his seat and that I'd have to move. The landlord, himself a similar local, acquiesced to this behaviour without comment.

The only food appeared to be 'a' pork pie. Whether I would be expected to share this with the locals or that it was someone else's pie, was unclear.

This could be a wonderful time warp drinking experience but sadly the locals seem to regard the place as their own and do not take kindly to 'others' even though the landlord is willing to take their money" 

"From the outside the place looks derelict and abandoned. Step inside and it quickly becomes clear that this is a locals pub, and they don't like outsiders. I politely asked a local several times to please move their chair so I could go through the door to the toilet, eventually with much huffing, puffing and glaring they allowed me through. A good choice of ale, only soft drink option was room temperature lemonade. Stuffed animals everywhere and general grubbiness"

"I have never felt so unwelcome anywhere in my life. Sat down to order food and drinks and got dirty looks as soon as we walked in. Waited for 10 minutes and ended up leaving. They do not like tourists" 

--------------

My mate and I were sufficiently intrigued to want to investigate, but discovered that it was only open two nights a week, and we'd missed our chance. So, on our return this week we were determined to put this right. To be fair, the Tripadvisor reviews had improved considerably since our previous visit, and it was said to have a new landlord. Anyway, we went down there last night. 

Walked into the (tiny) bar to find something that looked like it had barely changed since the 19th Century (actually, a good thing in my eyes) - bare floorboards, crude wooden furniture, roaring log fire - and several angry looking locals, one of whom immediately snarled at me for not latching the door properly. The landlord seemed friendly enough, and we'd already been warned that it was 'cash only', so we were prepared. The beer was pretty good (my mate had the 7.2% stout that was apparently brewed specially for that pub), and we sat down and kept our voices down. No trouble occurred, but the atmosphere was definitely somewhat edgy. @tonyh29 would have loved the sign at the bar that read "Don't ask for lager, as a smack in the gob often offends". I'd love to have taken a picture, but I think it would have been potentially suicidal. 

We got out in one piece, but it was an interesting experience. 

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 

Edited October 14, 2022 by mjmooney

[tonyh29]

I like to live in the edge , I’d have asked for a lager shandy

 

[sidcow]

2 hours ago, mjmooney said:

As mentioned in the weather thread, we've been in the peak district all week, staying with a bunch of friends in a nice cottage in Wardlow, Derbyshire. We've been there before, but on the previous visit didn't get around to checking out the notorious local, The Three Stags' Heads. The cottage information book advised giving it a very wide berth, so we had a look at the reviews on Tripadvisor, the following being a few choice extracts: 

----------

"The landlord who sat on his perch by the fire, was thoroughly unpleasant. One of the hunting dogs came to us and weed a massive puddle on the floor, which we cleaned up in the end. On leaving, one of our party held the door for the one remaining, and the landlord not realising that there was still one to come loudly called him a word, which is not even allowed to be implied on trip advisor" 

"If you like having the lights out, in a place that smells of cow/sheep/dog poo then this is the pub in the middle of nowhere for you!" 

"We found the staff drunk and very unfriendly, broken toilets and aggressive customers. An unpleasant episode a year or two ago had occurred when one of the regulars at the bar had produced a knife after some friends had not fully understood ' the rules' that the bar staff have about mobile phones. We put this down to a one off and returned this week. A miserable greeting awaited with the door locked when we arrived well before closing time. Having gone inside for a drink a man then threatened members of our party almost starting an all out brawl. For the staff this appeared to be a fairly common occurrence and they appeared to have no interest in resolving the situation. We left quickly. Awful, dangerous pub. I will certainly not be returning"

"Last night a local who seemed well known to the barman and landlord was grossly offensive to use. Matters rapidly escalated to physical violence from him to one of our group. Thankfully we restrained him and quickly departed. Even though his action lead to a lot of broken glasses and nearly broken bones for us the barman and landlord didn't seem to give two hoots.
We had heard, and dismissed rumours that this can be a dangerous place. Be warned; the rumours are true. Avoid. We won't be back!" 

"Be warned. The lunatics are in danger of taking over the asylum. We had to leave sharpish as we received several extremely rude comments from the locals which are not repeatable in this forum. We ignored all the threatening comments but the physical threats got more apparent. I didn't want to believe the other bad reviews as i suspected they could have been looking for trouble. I was wrong. If you go, just don't step out of line" 

"A little pub with absolutely no frills or adornments and full of 'old inn character' but on a Sunday at 2.00pm also full of local farm hands discussing their illegal fox hunting activities.

I sat on the one available seat in the one tiny room - it only holds about 10 people. I was then told by a newly arrived local that I was sitting in his seat and that I'd have to move. The landlord, himself a similar local, acquiesced to this behaviour without comment.

The only food appeared to be 'a' pork pie. Whether I would be expected to share this with the locals or that it was someone else's pie, was unclear.

This could be a wonderful time warp drinking experience but sadly the locals seem to regard the place as their own and do not take kindly to 'others' even though the landlord is willing to take their money" 

"From the outside the place looks derelict and abandoned. Step inside and it quickly becomes clear that this is a locals pub, and they don't like outsiders. I politely asked a local several times to please move their chair so I could go through the door to the toilet, eventually with much huffing, puffing and glaring they allowed me through. A good choice of ale, only soft drink option was room temperature lemonade. Stuffed animals everywhere and general grubbiness"

"I have never felt so unwelcome anywhere in my life. Sat down to order food and drinks and got dirty looks as soon as we walked in. Waited for 10 minutes and ended up leaving. They do not like tourists" 

--------------

My mate and I were sufficiently intrigued to want to investigate, but discovered that it was only open two nights a week, and we'd missed our chance. So, on our return this week we were determined to put this right. To be fair, the Tripadvisor reviews had improved considerably since our previous visit, and it was said to have a new landlord. Anyway, we went down there last night. 

Walked into the (tiny) bar to find something that looked like it had barely changed since the 19th Century (actually, a good thing in my eyes) - bare floorboards, crude wooden furniture, roaring log fire - and several angry looking locals, one of whom immediately snarled at me for not latching the door properly. The landlord seemed friendly enough, and we'd already been warned that it was 'cash only', so we were prepared. The beer was pretty good (my mate had the 7.2% stout that was apparently brewed specially for that pub), and we sat down and kept our voices down. No trouble occurred, but the atmosphere was definitely somewhat edgy. @tonyh29 would have loved the sign at the bar that read "Don't ask for lager, as a smack in the gob often offends". I'd love to have taken a picture, but I think it would have been potentially suicidal. 

We got out in one piece, but it was an interesting experience. 

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 

OK, trumped me 

[mikeyp102]

The Church in JQ has now gone to a “fine dining” gutted. It was a good boozer as it was, and even had the Villa on a hooky channel out the back. Too many pubs are going fine dining and moving away from just a good boozer 

[sidcow]

3 hours ago, mikeyp102 said:

The Church in JQ has now gone to a “fine dining” gutted. It was a good boozer as it was, and even had the Villa on a hooky channel out the back. Too many pubs are going fine dining and moving away from just a good boozer 

Unfortunately that's where the money is, Wet pubs just don't seem to be a viable business any more. 

[Villa87]

8 hours ago, mikeyp102 said:

The Church in JQ has now gone to a “fine dining” gutted. It was a good boozer as it was, and even had the Villa on a hooky channel out the back. Too many pubs are going fine dining and moving away from just a good boozer 

Used to drink there a lot - good friends lived in the block of flats opposite. Haven’t been in at least 8 years. Shame to hear this. 

[Mark Albrighton]

8 hours ago, mikeyp102 said:

The Church in JQ has now gone to a “fine dining” gutted. It was a good boozer as it was, and even had the Villa on a hooky channel out the back. Too many pubs are going fine dining and moving away from just a good boozer 

The whole venue is now a restaurant? I know the back bit was basically for food but there’s the front bar area and the roof terrace both of which seemed like they were more drinking centric areas.

I did prefer how it used to be. It’s a bit too clean and clinical now. On a pub crawl it was a must visit, handily between the Rose Villa and the Clifden. It’s not been an essential stop for a while now.

[Xela]

Been a few years since i've been to the Church, but always used to like it. Like @Mark Albrighton says, its always done food... specialised in creole/cajun food I think a few years back, and there was the room at the back you could hire. Roof terrace was a good size. Always preferred it to the Lord Clifden, which I never enjoyed as it was always ridiculously busy every time I went. The sort of busy that makes it unenjoyable. 

[sidcow]

Is anyone else just grateful that @mjmooney didn't ask the locals what the 5 pointed star on the wall was for?

[HKP90]

For anyone in my neck of the woods in South Shropshire, took the family to The Fighting Cocks in Stottesden last night. Really good little country pub with very good hosts, a roaring open fire and very nice food (simple pub grub but very tasty). Would recommend.

[HKP90]

On 30/08/2022 at 22:03, Mark Albrighton said:

Could easily have gone in the pointless trivia thread.

As someone in the replies notes, Charlie 2 should take some honorary points for the Royal Oak and James number 1 should have some for the Red Lion (but would have to share them with John of Gaunt).

 

Edit - and maybe the kings head for Charlie 1 

I just want to have a pint in the Sewyn Forkbeard. Sounds like a pub with some chest hair. 

[mjmooney]

10 hours ago, sidcow said:

Is anyone else just grateful that @mjmooney didn't ask the locals what the 5 pointed star on the wall was for?

It was remarkably reminiscent of 'The Slaughtered Lamb' scene in An American Werewolf in London.