ONE PUB ONLY? Bartons Arms and walk on to the ground CRAWLING FROM RAILWAY STATION TO THE GROUND? Wellington to Old Joint Stock (See Birmingham), then Bull and Bartons Arms SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT? The Wellington                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Black Eagle 16 Factory Rd, Hockley, B18 5JU   T 0121 523 4008   W http://www.blackeaglepub.co.uk/ G  Tony Lewis   F Excellent home-cooked traditional English fayre 12 to 2.30, 5.30 to 9.30 (Bar),  7.30 to 9.30 (Restaurant). No food Sun eves.   SP   BM   D O 11.30 to 3, 5.30 to 11 Mon - Thu, 11 to 11 Fri, 12 to 3, 7 to 11 Sat, 12 to 3 only Sun          Geoff Clarke and the London branch of the Baggies supporters club recommended the Black Eagle as a place to have a good pint and food before taking the metro to the Hawthorns. How right they were when they talked of high quality beer in a beautiful local. The pub is positively warm. The design is traditional and the décor distinctively well cared for, down to the flowers on the mantle piece and gleaming mirrors and clocks among the Victoriana. The pub is not overly-ornate but has features that make it stand out from the normal back-street boozer one expects to find in this workaday suburb. Tony has a theatrical past and it is no wonder this is so much loved by the throngs of office workers who come to lunch and impress. Frequented by baggies on a Saturday, it never loses its classiness.           I had a very pleasant lunchtime sat in the sun-lit front bar. The tone is set by Radio 2 which subtly invites a reflective and peaceful attitude to drinking here. It meets the needs of foodies, drinkers and couples merely chatting, equally well. It is recommended to book for food in the rear restaurant-lounge. I would be perfectly content to hog a corner in one of the two bars for a long session. BWV 18. 11 .05:  Ansells Bitter, Mild,  Batham Best Bitter,  Burton Bridge Stairway to Heaven,  Hadrian and Border Reiver’s IPA,  Marston’s Pedigree,  Timothy Taylor Landlord Black Eagle (update)          A bit further out from Birmingham city centre than the Church Inn, the Black Eagle is a continuing triumphant freehouse for former actor Tony. He has developed into the comprehensively excellent pub he’s been running for some years. It’s certainly his stage with so much good stuff to enjoy: one of the better pub quizzes on alternate Mondays, courtesy of Gwyn. I write as a former runner-up team member, proving that it’s of the not-too-daunting variety. And that would be accompanied by a few pints chosen from 4 regular and 3 guest beers, or even Freedom organic lager, a mere 4.8%. More can be sampled at the beer festivals Tony holds over a July weekend. The food is varied and interesting with tempting casseroles alongside standard pub fare. Food is important here, winning the Evening Mail’s Best Pub Grub award in 2006. Sunday roasts, in two sittings, a good idea as it’s all freshly cooked for the 2.30 one, should be booked in advance. A meal could provide a tasty prelude to a Sky-induced fixture rearrangement. The pub is well worth the metro journey from Birmingham Snow Hill to Soho Benson Road, followed by only a few yards’ walk. The area is not prepossessing, with much industrial dereliction in evidence, but this is a true oasis, down to the pleasantly laid out garden. Football fans have long been familiar with the Eagle, e.g. London Baggies on the metro to the Hawthorns. As with most Birmingham pubs this will serve a visit to any of the local teams. BWV 18.5.07: Timothy Taylor Landlord, Ansells Bitter and Mild, Marstons Pedigree (always); Bathams Best Bitter, Acorn Barnsley Bitter, Abbeydale Devotion (guest) Mick Escott Bartons  Arms 144 High St, Aston, B6 4UP   T 0121 333 5988  W www.bartons-arms.co.uk   G Stuart Wright  F Thai food 12 to 2.30, 5.30 to 10   SP   BM   D   O 12 to 11, 11 to 11 Sat, 11 to 10 Sun Food: Thai Noon – 2.30 & 5.30 – 10pm  Mon – Sat, Noon – 8pm   Sun Opening: Noon – 2.30 & 5.30 – late Mon – Fri, 11 – late Sat, Noon – 10.30 Sun           The Bartons Arms’ Victorian splendour is famous well beyond Birmingham, but for decades, the pub was a keg-only has-been, in an area most folk only passed through to get to somewhere else.  Then, just over a hundred years’ on from its original opening, Oakham Ales took this neglected landmark pub and restored it to former glories.  The carved wood, ornate tiling, and stained glass interior that made this one of England’s finest examples of high Victorian luxury have been lovingly restored, and the pub is now both an awe-inspiring piece of history, as well as a pleasant and comfortable pub for the 21st century.            The beer list just gets better, with guests now outnumbering the Oakham regulars.  In such a large, impressive, pub, there is naturally a choice of room, each with its own character.  On Saturday lunchtime, many people were taking advantage of the extensive Thai food menu in the large back room with the fireplace, while others favoured the busier front room, whose huge windows bring in lots of natural light.  Even on a winter’s day, the pub’s greenhouse effect makes you feel you are in Majorca rather than a grey wind-swept area of ugly concrete and roaring traffic. On my most recent visit, the pub didn’t get so crowded as to become uncomfortable, and there was a happy mix of home and away fans in colours, including families.  The front room filled early, but with ninety minutes to kick off there were still seats available in the back.           Villa Park is walkable from the pub, situated on the A34 and well served by buses on the Birmingham-Walsall route. For a pre or post match session of beer, food, and architecture, you’ll do well to find a better pub in the area.  And if you do find a better one let us know. BWV 6.10.07: Abbeydale Matins, Beowulf Dragon Smok, Burton Bridge XL Mild, Howard Town Monk’s Gold, Oakham Bishop’s Farewell, Haka, JHB, White Dwarf Wheat Beer, Quartz Leofric Weston’s Bounds Brand cider Chris Ackrill      Bull 1 Price Street, Aston, Birmingham B4 6JU Tel: 0121 333 6757 W thebull-pricestreet.co.uk G Rose McCann F Traditional, with Irish flavour 12-9.30 Mon to Sat Parking: street parking - meters Music: none Pub games: dominoes, cards Disabled access: two entrances but narrow disabled toilets Open: 12–11 Mon to Sat            This is a city centre pub, just down from the law courts near the A34/inner ring road roundabout and at the southernmost tip of ‘Aston’. Civilized Villa followers (and, betimes, Blues and Baggies fans) compare prospects and reflect upon outcomes here, and are advised to try one of Rose’s helpings of Irish coddle, among a variety of specials, alongside the three regular and one guest beers. On this day the pints of Acorn were just right; the policy is to choose a floater of less than 4%. Many make a session of it at the Bull. With a history all the way back to 1729, this is a two room inn, with added bits. The more open bar, with television, is kitted out with benches just as suitable for drinking as for coddle devouring. Next door there is a snug section with armchairs, and a restful yard, adjacent to which is a new ‘conservatory’ answering all the requirements for a smoking space. It also has a disabled toilet, It’s a Punch Inn, on a lease, but has a completely independent, welcoming character, Rose having been around since 1993. Some of her clientele is well established and it’s easy to get into conversation in this intimate setting. There is an abundance of teapots and jugs aloft, and even higher, rooms to rent. I heard that the breakfast was excellent. Besuited drinkers from the legal and medical professions quaff here.                There is a wide cross section of mature, discerning customers. It has appealed to independent observers, in winning various awards. In 1996, when it was still the Bull’s Head, the Birmingham Society awarded it ‘Best Birmingham pub’; in 2006 the Shine award for customer experience. No surprise there. BWV 19.5.07: Marstons Pedigree, Ansells Mild, Adnams Broadside, Acorn Barnsley Bitter Mick Escott  UPDATE 28.6.09 Marstons Pedigree, Ansells Mild, Adnams Broadside, St Austell Tinners The Church Inn NOW CLOSED 22 Great Hampton St, Hockley, B18 6AQ   T 0121 515 1851   S G Ray Wilkes   F Good, honest, traditional pub food, with large helpings   12 to 2, 6 to 9   Throughout   MP   TV   JB 11 to 11 Mon -  Thu, 11 to 3, 6 to 11 Sat, closed all day Sun          The Church Inn is a fantastic boozer in a rather neglected part of rapidly-regenerating Birmingham. What it lacks in location it makes up for in massive meals of high quality and a no-nonsense attitude to good ales. As local lad Ian said “You have got to come here, it’s pucka! The food is awesome and the company just great” In a change to the normal pattern, it is the evening that brings out the professionals, using the pub as somewhere very different to the traditional town haunt. On matchdays the pub is heaving, whoever is playing in town. I enter it in the Baggies page but it could equally be a base before visiting Villa or the Blues.          The pub has three bars, the most interesting being the secluded back bar, a bit of a secret den for those who like a bit of privacy! I guess the “£28 Honey Monster grill” is really for 7 people to share, rather than the challenge of get it free if you do the impossible and eat it within a single session. It rightly proclaims itself as a heritage inn; the design is quirkily charming, down to the gingham table cloths that dress every table. Carol behind the bar is a bit of a real ale fans’ legend. She alone was identified by others as a reason to go to the pub. Others talked of the legendary whisky selection. For me it was a long-lasting pint and a short trip to the local metro station before the hop back home from Snow Hill. BWV 19.11.05:  Batham Best Bitter,  Greene King IPA Church Inn (update) G N Singh Open: 11.30am to 11pm Mon to Sat, closed Sun and bank holidays           On the A41 on the fringe of the Jewellery Quarter, and accessible to all the local stadia, the Church is recommended as the only pub in the second city regularly providing Bathams and for its vast dishes of nosh. May I point out The Honey Monster Grill, a snip at £30 as it is officially intended to fill four bellies, but including, for example, 3lb chips, a sirloin steak, pork and lamb chops, and gammon, to list only part, has defeated many a party. Regulars of many football persuasions contribute to the 95% real ale consumption and dent the stock of ‘dinners’ as listed on the menu. It’s reasonably priced here, busy on match days. The bar is u-shaped and there’s plenty to look at – a sewing machine above the bar, dolls on the mantel piece and other drinkers through the hatch adorned with voluminous packets of crisps. On the subject of Bathams (22 x 18 gallons sold per week), you can carry out crates of bottles of it. This is what the bell ringers do on their evenings. The police choir and fantasy football participants can also be found in a corner otherwise occupied in turn by Premiership attenders with varied affiliations. When they all come together it’s Bedlam, said Martin, the long standing barman. Like the Bull, the Church is a Heritage inn sporting a plaque with the words of John Ashby on its history. This area may be run down now but testifies to Brum’s status as the city of a thousand trades. They included pearl button makers and glass toy cutters in the next street. Now there are some regulars and an increasing younger clientele, to extend the traditional customer base. It also has a good selection of malt whiskies. Speaking of spirits it should be mentioned that there is reputed to be a ghost in residence. BWV 18.5.07: Bathams Best Bitter, Banks Original, aiming to provide a third Mick Escott Wellington 37 Bennets Hill, B2 5SN  T 0121 2003115  W http://www.thewellingtonrealale.co.uk/ G Nigel Barker   MP   D   O 10 to 12, 11 to midnight Sun           Fancy a fiver on the Wellington being CAMRA pub of the year in the next few years? This is the sort of acclaim that has come to the Wellington, and it is not yet a year old. The pub was a must-visit as soon as recommendations for new pubs came my way. 2,200 beers in a year, all different! A stock that changes as you move along the bar. The turnover is such that drinking by numbers is literally the order of the day. The Wellington is a single bar in a great location, that stretches deep to the back where a non-smoking section is found. An impressive frontage belies its former night-club past, but it is the landlord’s dream of quality ale in a city-centre street that we should all appreciate.. No music, no fruit machines, etc. Have you heard that before? In the Wellington you wouldn’t want them. It is though, a real pub. Frequented by fans of all clubs in the Midlands, the talk is typically self-deprecating. Arsenal fans paid it high regard on their latest visit. Lets hope the dour predictions do not mean it is lost to the Premiership next year. Surely not! BWV 9.11.05 (RS):  Black Country BFG,  Fireside, Pig on the Wall,  Cairngorm Blessed Thistle,  Craftsman Eel Catcher,  Downton Light Fantastic,  Fullmash Vamp,  Hampshire Pendragon,  Kelham Island Brown Ale,  Milk Street Autumn Moon,  Pictish Samhain Stout,  St. Austell Tinners,  Saddlers Stumbling Badger,  Salopian Hop Devil,  Scatter Rock Proper Job,  Working Mary’s Brown Ale  Saxon Purple Haze Cider,  Sheppy Kingsston Black Cider, Barkers Upsy Daisy Perry  28.6.09 taken from their website 1 Wye Valley HPA 4% 2 Black Country BFG 4.2% 3 4 Milestone Light House Bitter 4.8% 5 Purity Mad Goose 4.2% 6 Hook Norton Old Hooky 4.6% 7 Burton Bridge Dover Dynamo 4.5% 8 R.C.H. Old Slug Porter 4.5% 9 10 Wheal Maiden Ginger Beer 5.5% 11 Thorne Best Bitter 3.9% 12 Wem All Seasons 4.2% 13 Warwickshire Market Ale 4.9% 14 Harwich Town Bathside Bitter 4.2% 15 Purity UBU 4.5% 16 Purity Pure Gold 3.8% BIRMINGHAM CAMRA VILLA PARK    WETHERSPOONS The Square Peg  115 Corporation Street  Birmingham  B4 6PH  Opening Times:  Sun-Thu 9am-midnight; Fri/Sat 9am-1am  The Briar Rose  25 Bennetts Hill  Birmingham  B2 5RE  Opening Times:  Mon-Thu 7am-midnight; Fri 7am-1am; Sat 8am-1am; Sun 8-midnight  Wetherspoons  Unit 31, Paradise Place  Birmingham  B3 3HJ  Opening Times:  Sun-Thu 9am-midnight; Fri/Sat 9am-1am  The Dragon Inn  Hurst Street  Birmingham  West Midlands  B5 4TD  Opening Times:  Mon-Thu 8am-midnight; Fri 8am-1am; Sat 9am-1am; Sun 9am-midnight  The Soloman Cutler  Regency Wharf  Broad Street  Birmingham  B1 2DS  Opening Times:  Mon-Wed 9am-2am; Thu-Sun 9am-3am