Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: UK

  • West Midlands Metro : Birmingham to Wolverhampton

    West Midlands Metro : Birmingham to Wolverhampton

    I rather like light rail and tram solutions to public transport difficulties and thought that I’d spend the day going on the West Midlands Metro line which goes from Birmingham to Wolverhampton. An off-peak day pass cost £4.80 and it was easy enough to buy it on-line using the Metro’s app. There’s only the one line at the moment, but construction has started on additional lines given the popularity of the service.

    The timetable at a stop in Birmingham, although the trams seemed to run to an erratic schedule throughout the day. Sometimes there were fifteen minutes between them, sometimes three minutes, although the boards at stations were clear and accurate. It takes 45 minutes to get from Birmingham to Wolverhampton, although I got on and off the service numerous times on my journey to explore the highlights of the urban settlements between the two cities.

    Quite a sleek looking operation and there are 21 of these trams shuttling up and down the network

    The tram’s interior. I was surprised to see that they’re using a conductor and driver on every service, which isn’t a set-up that I’ve seen often on tram or light rail. It’s possible to buy tickets on board using cash or card, but the set-up that I had to show my ticket several times over the day seemed a bit labour intensive compared to other systems. Having written that though, it makes the service feel safer to have staff always available and they were helpful and friendly. The tram stops along the route are though all unstaffed and have limited facilities at them.

    It’s very hot at the moment and there’s no air conditioning other than in the driver’s cab. I know this as a customer commented to the conductor about the heat and he said they rely on opening windows to keep passengers cool, although the driver has air conditioning in his cab. The customer amused me by saying “as long as the staff are comfortable” in a manner that didn’t seem too rude. I didn’t think that the temperature on board was too bad though and the trams were clean and tidy. There were free Metro newspapers for those who want them, which is a handy coincidence given the name. There’s not a huge amount of seating on board the tram, but there are numerous places to stand, and most passengers aren’t on the service for too long.

    As a transportation option, I thought that this was well used, easy to use and clearly popular, so I’m glad that it is being extended. I’m sure that there are many more similar projects that could be brought in across the country, especially if it allows for the re-opening of closed rail lines. There is sometimes talk, although unfortunately rarely serious, of a tram network in Norwich, which is something that I suspect would be very successful if the up-front cost could somehow be subsidised. Unfortunately, that up-front cost is huge and so I can’t imagine that it will ever happen.

    There’s more about the planned extensions at https://metroalliance.co.uk/.

  • Wednesbury – The Bellwether

    Wednesbury – The Bellwether

    Whilst meandering around the area, I noticed that this JD Wetherspoon outlet was listed in the Good Beer Guide, so I thought it sensible to pop in quickly. If I’m being honest the pub looked a complete dump when I entered it in terms of the cleanliness, although in all fairness, by the time I left the staff had cleaned it all so it looked much more presentable. The building has been used as a pub since the middle of the nineteenth century, when it was opened as the Bell Inn, but it closed in the late twentieth century before JD Wetherspoon renovated it.

    The real ale selection wasn’t hugely inspiring, there was only one to order really, the Backyard Blonde.

    And there it is, it’s from The Backyard Brewhouse in nearby Walsall, so credit to JD Wetherspoon for making an effort to purchase from local breweries. There was a slight citrus flavour, nothing exceptional, but still drinkable.

    I thought I’d get a quick snack whilst I was here, so here’s my standard southern fried chicken wrap option. The service was polite enough, nothing exactly to write home about, but nothing for me to comment negatively about either.

    And my go to drink when ordering the deli deal, this is the always reliable Brewdog Punk IPA.

    I didn’t experience any problems, although the reviews for the pub aren’t as high as they perhaps could be. Mostly about cleanliness, although I was impressed at how the staff had managed to let this be served…..

    As an aside, located opposite the pub is this former Gaumont cinema, built in 1938, which was meant to be being brought back into usage by the local independent chain Picturedrome Cinemas, but not much seems to have happened yet. Unfortunately, some irresponsible urban explorers have trashed the place over recent years and lots has been stolen, but apparently the renovation will still go ahead. An urban explorer report, which seems to have been from someone responsible, is at https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/the-odeon-cinema-aka-gaumount-wednesbury-march-2014.88794/. I think it’s a different cinema, but there’s an interesting article on Wikipedia about the Wednesbury Unreasonableness.

    Anyway, all rather perfectly acceptable, although for a Good Beer Guide listed pub, the beer choice was a little weak.

  • Birmingham – Tim Hortons

    Birmingham – Tim Hortons

    I’ve never been to a Tim Hortons outlet, or at least if I did when I was in Canada, then I’ve forgotten. And what I can’t remember doesn’t count, so I thought I’d experience this little piece of Canadian fast food. There are just shy of 5,000 locations around the world, with 25 or so of those in the UK, where the chain expanded to in 2017. They’re on an expansion plan to put a Tim Horton in every UK city, so there might be a fair few more of them soon.

    The chain is known for coffee and doughnuts, something similar to Dunkin Donuts, another chain from the American continent which has started to expand in the UK. There are self-service kiosks that customers can order from if they don’t want to order at the counter, which I decided to use as I didn’t know the menu options. The staff member compiling my order was friendly enough, making conversation whilst he was doing it, so no problems with the customer service.

    There’s plenty of seating upstairs and it was a little busier than I had expected. The photo shows the quiet bit of the upstairs as there was a group of older teens engaged in a prayer meeting, which I thought was something a little different. It was clean enough in the seating area and I liked that there were plenty of power points, as well as free wi-fi.

    I opted for the chicken strips, potato wedges and the mango & passionfruit cooler as a drink. Although it was after 21:00 when I visited, it was still too bloody hot in Birmingham, so that frozen drink was very delightful. The food was fine, although nothing overly exciting with the chicken strips not being that big and the potato wedges were slightly soggy. But it was still all pleasant enough, although at just over £7 it was a little more than some of their rivals.

    I might pop to another outlet at some point in the future to try the doughnuts and coffee, since that’s what the chain is better known for. Although this was something different, I’m not sure that it was sufficiently exciting for me to want to rush back. I was very pleased with the drink though, that was a refreshing and slightly decadent way to finish the meal off.

  • Birmingham – Craven Arms

    Birmingham – Craven Arms

    I am very reliant on the Good Beer Guide to find me decent pubs in areas that I don’t know and this was another excellent suggestion from the book (or app in my case) in central Birmingham. As is evident from the above signage, this was once a Holders pub and the building dates from the mid-nineteenth century. It’s now operated by Black Country Ales who have a small chain of pubs, most of which are located in the Midlands.

    There’s a mixture of old and new in terms of the decoration, with a traditional feel to the pub’s interior, but with a wide range of different beers on. You could never really design a new pub to look like this with that wallpaper and carpet combination, but I like it in this building.

    Service was friendly, engaging and warm, with the beers clearly visible on the front bar. There were also monitors in the pub which showed what beers were available and I noticed a couple of other options that I would have liked. It’s always good in my view to leave a pub thinking that there was more to try, it encourages me to want to go back.

    I went for two of the pub’s staple beers from Black Country Ales, the Pig on the Wall on the left and the Fireside Bitter on the right. Both were well-kept, at the appropriate temperature and had some flavours of note to them. I accidentally ordered some Mini Cheddars to go with them, which I felt complemented the taste of the beers perfectly.

    The pub gets very good reviews on-line and most are along the theme of this being a hidden gem that it’s worth the walk from the city centre to get to. I thought that this was a well-run pub which I had expected to be a little busier, but these are challenging times. The service was friendly, the pub was spotlessly clean, the environment was relaxing and there were plenty of beers to choose from. All rather lovely and I’m very definitely pleased that this is in the Good Beer Guide.

  • Birmingham – The Shakespeare

    Birmingham – The Shakespeare

    This Nicholson’s pub is located next to the Ibis Styles hotel that I’m staying in, so it seemed polite to pop in to see what it was like.

    There’s a selection of what I would consider to be quite generic beers, although the Mad Goose from Purity is something a little different. At least there’s a selection though, it’s be churlish not to acknowledge that.

    It’s a comfortable enough environment and it feels strange to order at the bar again. I could have ordered at the table and saved 25p by using the app, but that would have been a bit awkward given I was welcomed on arrival into the bar and asked what I would like. The service here was personable and friendly, so it was an inviting location to visit and my first impressions were positive. The pub serves food throughout the day and judging from the reviews, this is well delivered.

    I ordered the Mad Goose from Purity Brewing and it was, well, pretty tasteless. Slightly under-poured and lacking in any particular flavour, I couldn’t get the “zesty finish” that the brewery think this beer has.

    Anyway, this was a perfectly good pub for those who like Nicholson’s and it is well reviewed because of its friendly atmosphere. I also thought that the environment was clean and comfortable, with many of the customers clearly being regulars. For me, the beer range isn’t innovative enough to really make me want to visit again, there’s something unfortunately quite bland about the Nicholson’s offering in that regard. Incidentally, there is another pub with a similar name in Birmingham, with some customers merrily leaving reviews on-line for the wrong location….

  • Berwick-upon-Tweed – Keeping Cool

    Berwick-upon-Tweed – Keeping Cool

    I’m currently in Birmingham, where it is very much too hot. This therefore seems an appropriate time to post this “keeping cool” plaque (clicking on it makes it easier to read) I took a photo of a couple of weeks ago on Bank Hill in Berwick-upon-Tweed.

    In short, this is an ice house and it’s one of the largest that was constructed in Berwick-upon-Tweed to keep fish cool by ensure it remained in ice. Around 1,600 tonnes of ice was needed to fill the ice houses in the town, some of which was collected from the River Tweed during the winter, the rest was from the ‘stanks’, which were specially flooded containers. In really bad years, the town purchased ice from as far away as America and Scandinavia to ensure that the fish, mostly salmon, were kept cool.

    The ice house is Grade II listed and this heritage record notes:

    “This ice house is built into the hillside with a covering of earth acting as an insulating layer. Tapered retaining walls of coursed sandstone with ashlar copings flank the wide approach to the entrance arch with large voissoirs; a modern iron gate has been inserted here.

    The entrance tunnel with barrel vaulted sandstone roof and sandstone rubble walls leads directly to the main chamber; this is 11m long and 7.4m wide with a barrel vaulted roof 7.6m high. Although the tunnel indicates there were at least two doorways, there is currently no surviving evidence of the placement of further doors, which would have acted as an insulating airlock. There are, however, five simple metal hooks on the far end of the tunnel to the right, where bags of straw would have been hung.

    The floor is understood to be cobbled throughout, although the majority was covered with silt at the time of inspection. There is a doorway on either end of the main chamber near the ceiling, however, shadowing is all that remains of the staircases that once led to them. There are small brick partitions projecting from the end wall, presumably relating to its later use as a cellar.”

    I like that this has survived and no-one has converted into a cellar or something, it’s a little bit of the town’s fishing heritage that remains as a reminder of the fishing heritage of Berwick-upon-Tweed. And, given how hot is now, I wouldn’t mind standing next to some ice at the moment…

  • Gateshead – The Tilley Stone

    Gateshead – The Tilley Stone

    This is from a visit I made a couple of weeks ago (my posting out of order does make it all a little confusing) when I was in Gateshead. I did look at visiting a Good Beer Guide pub there, but there is only one which was the Station East and that was shut. So, without too much disappointment, I headed instead to the JD Wetherspoon outlet that is The Tilley Stone. It’s an interesting name, with JD Wetherspoon explaining their pub is named after two coal seams:

    “Tyneside and coal went hand in hand for centuries, with many mines in and around Gateshead. The ‘Five Quarter’ seam was worked at the Derwent and Gateshead Fell pits and the ‘Three Quarter’ at Dunston Colliery. The ‘Tilley’ and ‘Stone’ seams were also worked at Dunston. The wooden staithes at Dunston were built in 1893 for loading coal onto ships and continued to be used until the 1970s. Now restored and a listed monument, they form reputedly the largest wooden structure in Europe and a reminder of the busy days of the ‘Coaly Tyne’.”

    The beer options here were really rather impressive. There’s the pint of Brewdog Punk IPA which came with the chicken wrap, that was of the usual perfectly acceptable standard. In the photo to the left of the Punk IPA is Maximus from Maxim Brewing, a well above average ale. But it was the Raspberry Porter, also from Maxim Brewing, that I thought was particularly notable (it’s the second photo, of the beer on its own). It was a drinkable and creamy stout, with a strong flavour of raspberry running through it, both as an initial hit and as an aftertaste. For a beer that cost me £1 for half a pint, I thought that this was exceptional.

    Just for completeness (and for no other reason really), a photo of the southern fried chicken wrap….. The reviews of this pub are mixed, as they usually are for JD Wetherspoon outlets. Some are judgemental such as “was a decent pub when it first opened. Now it just seems to attract the dregs of society“, but most are about slow service or average food.

    As a pub, this was a sufficiently well-run location for my requirements with several real ales available, as well as numerous craft beers. Service was efficient, the pub was relatively clean and everything seemed organised. Based on this experience, I’d say that this is an omission from the Good Beer Guide, especially as so many JD Wetherspoon outlets are listed.

  • London – Islington (Borough of) – Grave of Joseph Grimaldi

    London – Islington (Borough of) – Grave of Joseph Grimaldi

    I came across this grave by chance at the weekend in what is now known as Joseph Grimaldi Park, but which was once the burial ground of St. James’s Church. For anyone interested in visiting, it’s about a ten minute walk from King’s Cross St Pancras railway station, just walk along Pentonville Road.

    Here’s the church from 100 years ago, but that’s now gone (demolished in the 1980s) and the churchyard has been turned into a park which seemed to be a sea of litter when I visited. A few graves remain, most notably that of Joseph Grimaldi who is considered to be one of the people who has most influenced the clown and their performance methods. There is also an artwork in the park where apparently if you dance, then it’ll play some music or something. I didn’t fancy giving that a go to be honest….

    At least the renaming of the former churchyard in honour of Joseph Grimaldi means that his grave isn’t forgotten, although sadly many of the other graves here have now become rather neglected.

  • London – Hackney (Borough of) – Brewdog Dalston

    London – Hackney (Borough of) – Brewdog Dalston

    This is Brewdog Dalston and my visit here on Sunday evening means that I’ve now been to every location that this chain operates in London. Richard was down again for another one of his decadent business trips, so I dragged him along with me. This bar is Brewdog’s first vegan only outlet, which I thought made it quite an innovative and intriguing place to visit to see how that played out.

    It wasn’t busy in the bar, let’s just say that. The welcome was friendly and prompt and we could sit anywhere in this nicely air conditioned interior.

    This is the downstairs bar, which wasn’t needed during our visit.

    The decor is, as usual, quirky which is part of Brewdog’s style. It’s hard for chains to pull that off without it feeling formulaic, but there is an on-trend feel to the arrangement which isn’t forced.

    Richard wasn’t thrilled with the vegan menu, but I had eaten which meant I didn’t have any challenges in this regard.

    I went through five different beers, all served as thirds as I’m not that decadent to buy things in pints or halves. The second image above is the Made For Us by Yonder Brewing and that was my favourite drink of the evening. I’m now very much into sours and this was certainly that, but it had such a rich raspberry taste, aroma and feel that it packed quite a powerful first punch. In the background, there was violet, meaning that the aftertaste was effectively Parma Violets. That combination worked very well for me, a merging of two very different flavours and this is a drink that I’d merrily have again (despite my tendency to always want to try new beers).

    The service was always polite, but it lacked the engagement that we’ve seen from some other Brewdogs in the city. No real conversation about the beer or attempts to make recommendations, but, as I’ve noted before, some Brewdog outlets set the bar so high that it’s hard for others to match them. Nothing negative though, we were always made welcome and the bar environment was clean, comfortable and relaxed.

    The reviews are all pretty positive, although there are a few complaints that it’s not clear that the bar is vegan only. They take bookings for Wings Wednesday which I can see adds to the confusion, as they offer a vegan version of unlimited chicken wings. Other complaints include:

    “Not welcome here! Dalston is about independent businesses and this is just some more chain homogenised rubbish with no vibe.”

    I’ve met very few pub owners who go with this line of logic, although I’m sure that there are some. Like the rather lovely craft beer bar in Newcastle that I went to a couple of weeks ago next to a Wetherspoons, the large chain can drive customers to their smaller neighbours. Brewdog can set the stage for other craft beer bars to open and improve the options available in the locality. An area can become known for having excellent craft beer which benefits those who like chains and those who like independents. I like both types, they offer different experiences and one isn’t always better than the other, but they can work together really rather well.

    It’s handy that we visited when we did, as the bar announced yesterday that it was temporarily closing. I think a combination of Covid factors have caused that, it has also meant I can’t visit the Birmingham Brewdog this week as that’s closed as well. Challenging times for the hospitality industry….. Anyway, the vegan only situation didn’t negatively impact on the beer range and I liked that some real thought had gone into the food menu to ensure it was still a destination that people would go and get food at. Something of a shame that my tour of Brewdog bars in London has come to an end, hopefully they’ll open some more.

  • Birmingham – A Diversity Monument by Luke Perry

    Birmingham – A Diversity Monument by Luke Perry

    This rather lovely sculpture has only been in Victoria Square in Birmingham for a couple of weeks and the signage notes that it has been commissioned for a television series which will be launched later this year. There are 25 different steel figures who are together all pulling the city of Birmingham’s crest, a different way of looking at diversity and inclusion. It was designed by Luke Perry and the steel fabrication was completed at a metalworks factory in Cradley Heath.

    I liked the key messages of the sculpture, namely “No-one is here without a struggle” and “We all came here from somewhere”. I’m rather engaged with this sculpture as although the message behind the artwork is clear, individuals can interpret it as they wish as everyone has their own struggles and challenges. Apparently this is a temporary artwork, but I hope that it goes somewhere else in the public realm so that it can be seen for a longer period of time.

    There are more artworks from Luke Perry’s company, Industrial Heritage Stronghold at https://www.ihsartworks.com/.