2014 - Day Out 7: Cats and Birmingham

Date: Saturday 20 September 2014

We couldn't wait for our annual trip to London to see a show, so we decided to have a local trip around the Black Country before making our way to Birmingham to see a musical.

The previous night was a late one for me, so I drearily make my way up to Wollaston and catch the 09:20am National Express West Midlands 276 into Stourbridge, along the way picking up Mr UKBuses, soon after we arrive at Stourbridge Interchange. Our next bus was due to arrive late, so I grab a bit of "fresh air" whilst waiting before making our way back inside the interchange where are late arriving WMSNT Service 240 arrives and we board. We make our way to our next destination and as we pass through Lye and Colley Gate, the driver has caught up his late running and we arrive on time at Cradley Heath Interchange. I have time for some "fresh air" whilst Mr UKBuses decides what bus to catch next on our "unplanned" day out around the Black Country, a Hanson's bus pulls into the interchange and we decide that this is the next bus to catch.

We make our way to the stand and board Service 208 which then takes us on a tour before getting to our final destination, we pass through Dudley Wood, Old Hill, Brickhouse Farm and Oakham before finally arriving and alighting at Dudley, at least we were kept warm on the bus. After alighting at Dudley, it is time to ensure that the coats are zipped up as the usual Dudley wind makes it really cold, I decide to take Mr UKBuses on a tour this time, with us going around Dudley via The Courthouse, The Three Crowns and The Griffin Inn, but we didn't get to sample anything as they were all closed, so we had a short walk around the corner and visited J D Wetherspoons "The Full Moon" to have a drink, a break and a warm. Doombars purchased, Mr UKBuses finds a table close to the front so we can watch the world go by, but Mr UKBuses only spots and keeps an eye on a female police officer who is standing outside, if only she turned around, she would have arrested him, meaning that the rest of my day would be full of peace and quiet!! We do have to make a move and also the police officer moved, so we make our way back into the Dudley cold and back to the bus station for our next journey.

Upon arrival at the bus station, we spot our next bus and board National Express West Midlands service 126 which will take us to Birmingham, or so we thought. As we are nearing Bearwood, we both need to make an urgent visit, the cold weather and pint we had in Dudley does not mix well, so we decide to alight the bus as it arrives at Bearwood bus station and make use of the public toilets at the station, but then disaster strikes as we find out that the toilets are closed, so I come up with a plan and we decide to cross the road and make use of the toilets in "The Kings Head", somehow it turns into my round again, as soon as we enter through the door Mr UKBuses makes his way to the toilets (well I think that is where he went, one minute he was there, the next he had gone!) leaving me at the bar. The drinks are purchased and table found with Mr UKBuses making his way back in time. Which leaves me to finally make a visit eventually finding the toilets after a tour of the pub (and loads of steps) to find them. After our visits, we quickly finish our drinks and make our way across the road back to Bearwood bus station, where we resume our journey (and Mr UKBuses getting run over by a pram before boarding), catching National Express West Midlands service 126 again to Birmingham.

We arrive in Birmingham and alight close to the Bull Ring where as we pass what was once the Bull Ring bus station, we spot a hole that we can look into and as we look we can see that nothing has been changed with the platforms where the stops situated still in-situ, bringing back memories of when we used to visit their years ago to purchase our Midland Red timetable booklets. With our trip down memory lane over we make our way towards the Birmingham Hippodrome, with me leading the way seeing as I know how to get to it. It is also time for lunch and also know that there is a J D Wetherspoons nearby, so we head for a warmth and lunch at "The Dragon Inn" which is quite busy, but we I do eventually find a table even though there was no sign of Mr D9 as I searched, whilst Mr UKBuses gets the round in. We rest our legs and warm up before ordering our food, with Mr UKBuses opting for a Tikka Masala, and I opt for something soft as I have a problem with my tooth, so opt for a bacon and cheese panini. The food doesn't take long to arrive and we devour it quickly giving it a few minutes to let it go down before we have to leave.

We now make our way to the theatre to see our show, "Cats", and we only have a short walk until we arrive at the Birmingham Hippodrome, with the front of the cinema completely changed since we last came. Mr UKBuses hands me my ticket and we make our way inside, but before we make our way to our seats we do decide to take precautions and make a visit. We then take our seats and at 2.30pm prompt, the show kicks off, but must admit that the late night before had caught up with me and dozed off for the first ten-fifteen minutes of the show. The first half is finished and we make our way outside for some "fresh air" and a quick drink at the bar during the break, but after paying £4 for a pint, it should be drunk more slowly! With the bitter tasting pint finished we make our way back inside and take our seats for the second half and can confirm that I was awake for the whole of the second half and what a good show it was, but with the show finished we do have to make our way outside.

We make our way through Birmingham and past the bull ring to arrive at Birmingham Moor Street station where at just before 6.00pm, we board our London Midland train which takes us back to Stourbridge Junction where we change onto "The Dodger" to takes us back to Stourbridge Town, which is where I say goodnight to Mr UKBuses, who gets his National Express West Midlands service 276, whilst I have a nightcap at the third and final J D Wetherspoons of the day, "The Chequers Inn" before finally making my way back home after catching National Express West Midlands service X96 back to Wollaston arriving back home to get back and have a warmth.

Even though the temperatures weren't high, a good day was had and it was also nice to visit the Hippodrome for the first time since I was at primary school.

2013 - Day Out 02: Wollaston

Date: Saturday 09 March 2013

Normally at this time of the year, this blog post is all about my five mile of torture, sorry run around the streets (and hills) of Dudley. I didn't take part this year, but along with Mr WME, we took part in some training for a different type of run, the Enville Street run.

Before the run and before meeting Mr WME I decide to get some fuel, so head into Stourbridge first for a J D Wetherspoons traditional breakfast at "The Chequers Inn". After a devouring my fodder, I let it go down for a few minutes and then I catch Hanson's Local Bus Service 250 to Wollaston Farm where upon arrival, contact is made with Mr WME stating his location. Luckily I know the way he is heading and know the shortcut to meet him, well I thought I did, but get confused as to where the entrance to the footpath is but I eventually find it and Mr WME who is basically at the entrance to the footpath from the canal. As we meet, we walk around to the Kingsway shops and decide to make a start on the run, so to get to the starting position, we decide to conserve energy and catch National Express West Midlands service X96 to the stop in Bridle Road, but I misjudge the location of the bus stop and we alight as the bus turns into Bridgnorth Road. We have a little walk up hill to get us to the start of "The Enville Street Run", a locally known pub-goers paradise with a good number of public houses along the road between Wollaston and Stourbridge.

We get to the starting position and we are off and enter the first port of call, The Foresters Arms, a public house which is located on the border of the West Midlands and Staffordshire and this is the first time that Mr WME gets to sample the inside of the place. The time is just after 1pm and as we enter, we struggle to find a seat as there is a healthy number of customers already sampling the pleasant nature of this hostelry, and we start off with a pleasant Young's Bitter, and manage to squeeze into a seat with a sleeping dog (well a painting) keeping a weary eye over us. The Enville Street Run has got off to a good start and we leave the starting blocks, and one of my favourite Wollaston pubs and head downhill towards Stourbridge and the second port of call is The Plough and as we enter, the lounge / restaurant area is looking full, so we decide to sample the bar area at the back of the pub and we get a seat  around the pool table area to avoid the flying darts from a few customers playing. In this establishment, we sample Everard's Tiger Ale, and it was an enjoyable pint to drink too. I am still full from my late Traditional Breakfast, but Mr WME has got some empty space to fill in his stomach and samples a pork pie with Black Pudding included within the meat. For £2, it was a generous portion of pie that Mr WME soon devoured.

Mr SBI in The Unicorn

Mr WME in The Princess

 A good start to the run and we are picking up speed now as we head into Wollaston Village, we head to another popular public house owned by Batham's Brewery, The Unicorn, a public house that we have visited a couple of times before. As we enter, the bar and small back room are full but this does not put us off and we sample a pint of Batham's finest Bitter and we take a seat out in the back area, but I spot that a few people are leaving and we have a little run inside the pub to grab the now vacant table in the main bar area. A chance for a couple of photographs and this is where disaster strikes for me, my camera decides that it doesn't want to play any more, it was expected as it was playing up on my trip to London the camera was refusing to take photographs and was also seeming to overheat in the area where the flash was, luckily I have backup and have to use the camera on my phone. Mr WME likes The Unicorn and is tempted to stay for another pint of Bathams Bitter, but we do have the rest of the run to go and we move to the next one, not to far away is The Princess.

The Princess, which was renamed in 1998 from The Alexandra following the death of Princess Diana, is located in the village on the corner of Cobden Street and we sample Holden's Golden Glow. We take a seat at the back of the pub quite close to the big screen TV showing a West Bromwich Albion match which means that we don't stay here that long. We head from The Princess onto the main straight as we pass the big traffic island in Wollaston and into proper run mode as we actually start walking along Enville Street. We pass what was The Waterloo, which has now been turned into an Indian restaurant and our next port of call is Graham's Place, which was once known until a few years ago as The Cottage Spring. This pub is a haven for real ale lovers with plenty of pumps available dispensing proper beer. We decide to opt for the Angel Ale and as we take our seats it is where Mr Keith Lemon joins us for a "Bang Tidy" pint. We are now hallway through the run and as we finish off our drinks in Grahams Place, I work out who will be buying the cheapest round of the day as my local knowledge knows which pub will be the cheapest and it won't be me that purchases it.

Having a "Bang Tidy" Pint in Graham's Place.

We make our way down the hill with Keith Lemon in tow giving a thumbs up to the passing traffic and enter one of my favourite pubs, Katie Fitzgerald's, a pub which is now host to a Irish theme and host to live music each week. Keith orders the round and Mr WME opts for a Wood's Wonderful Bitter and myself for a pint of Tribute. We take our seats and get talking to one of the regulars, Pete, with our topic for discussion of Mario Lanza beermats which I spot hanging by the bar, from the discussion, the identity was still not revealed and have been a victim of the mysterious beermat leaver from my time working behind the bar at The Bell and The Talbot in Stourbridge. Pints supped, we say our goodbyes to Pete and now over the halfway point we head along even further of Enville Street and up a slight hill to get us to the next pub.

Ooosh From Katie Fitzgerald's

The next pub on the run is The Somerset House, once becoming famous for pints sticking to the wall, but sadly the pub is now a shadow of it's former self and as we enter there are only a couple other customers in the pub. After purchasing Bank's Bitter, we head to the dart board and after three games and breaking the flight on one of the darts, I am victorious after winning 2-1 against Mr WME. We head to the penultimate pub on the run and it is literally a few steps taken to get there as The Queens Head is right next door (Once known as The Queensbury when I did a couple of shifts there back in the late 1990's), and Mr WME gets his revenge by purchasing two pints of Joule's Pale Ale which comes in at a wallet-busting £3.20, the revenge is short lived when Mr WME finds out that Wolves have lost 3-1 at Nottingham Forest. We enjoy our cheap pints before heading to the final pub of the run.

Not Celebrating The Cheapest Round!

It is time to visit another Batham's and the final pub situated along Enville Street before hitting Stourbridge Ring Road, and as we enter the finishing line (otherwise known as the bar), we make up for another lost pub at the end of the run, which would have been The Cottage Spring, by having two final pints in Batham's The Royal Exchange and we sample the brewery's own beer again by having a pint of Bitter and a pint of Mild. Keith makes an appearance in the bar again much to the amusement of other customers in the area (one who I saw the following day who asked where Keith was), and it was a cracking end to the afternoon and a good pub to end the Enville Street Run.

A good afternoon out and even though I was flagging at the end of an exhausting long run, I totally enjoyed it even though I did not get the cheapest round of the day. Now that I have done it from Wollaston towards Stourbridge with great ease, it is time to start training to do it in the opposite direction, all uphill.