22/10/15 - Two CAMRA Heritage Pubs in Worcester

What did you say the Cardinal Did?

So, I found my old CAMRA Book - Heritage Pubs of the Midlands. I plotted the West Midlands and Worcestershire sections into Google Maps. Do you want to be heartbroken? I estimate 25% are permanently closed.

I need to work fast in ticking them off.

A day in Worcester - finishing the Wild About Worcester Way at 11:30am, left me 3 hours to kill before the next bus home. I admired architecture. I waited until midday for the Eagle Vaults to slide the bolt. Contrary to google maps, I could have entered any time after 9am. The apologetic bar staff explained how hard it is to get Google to update business information.

From the side

From the front

The guidebook rattles on about the fine tiling, the dates (1740; tiling added 1890), the Victorian bar, and knocked out walls. Further information is available elsewhere.  Previously known as Young's Mug House and then the Volunteer in 1815, it was the first pub in Worcester to serve women. Right on!

It's not a pub I chose to use - ordinary Marstons belying its beauty. And the Guinness is well over £5. That documentary on NetFlix is not going to pay for itself. 

Certainly worthy of a visit.

Can just make out the Victorian clock backed bar.

More to investigate down the Tudor-building-lined Friar Street. The Cardinal's Hat is my quarry—once a ahead-of-its-time German Bier Keller and now the sister pub to one of my all-time favourites, Nigel's Fleece Inn in Bretforton.

Where Court meets Street

This is a multi-roomer dating from 1760. A narrow corridor leads to a front bar, a sparsely decorated snug room and the destination rear room. Complete with a log burner and wood paneling. 

Best seat in the House

My local is a Wye Valley house, and I can declare that the Butty Bach here is up there with the best.

I thought about announcing it and tagging them on their socials, but I couldn't stop laughing at what the Cardinal had been up to.

Does he want a prize?

22/10/25 - Wild About Worcester, Part 2

The Tallest Building in Worcester

I'm here to finish off the Wild About Worcester Way. A 12 mile walk through the green spaces that surround the City.

The bus fare demands more. I have reviewed my CAMRA Heritage Pubs book and also come up with the brainwave of investigating a single building in the City. How do you get through the week?

The walk is as expected, with woodlands left surrounding the endless Warndon housing estates. Through Nunnery Woods for even more trees. Through Red Hill and along Duck Brook to the River, where the walk gets a little more interesting.

My Day mainly chasing these green discs in Worcester

Crossing Diglis Footbridge - the Malverns in the Distance

Lunch Opposite the Cathedral

I declare the Wild About Worcester Way complete at the bridge. Well signposted in the main, although things get a little sketchy around the hospital. Lives up to the Wild in its name. I'm not sure I passed a pub. There was a dodgy-looking Chinese restaurant, where the windows looked like they were about to fall out. If I wanted to unleash my true anorak, I could have downloaded and printed out a tick-list of 75 wooden carvings on route. On review, I may well repeat the exercise. When I get a new printer.

Onto my building to investigate - St Andrews Church or the Glovers' Needle. The tallest building in the City.

After feeding the swans, I'm heading over there. St Andrew’s Church...

St Andrew’s Church in Worcester, once a modest medieval parish church on Deansway, now stands only as a solitary spired tower known locally as the Glover’s Needle. The nickname comes from Worcester’s historic glove-making industry and the spire’s remarkably slender shape and sharp taper, resembling a needle. The church itself dated back to before the Norman Conquest and originally served a small, impoverished parish. Over time, industrialisation and the clearance of nearby housing in the early 20th century led to a steep decline in local congregation numbers. By the 1940s, the church had fallen into disrepair; the city council accepted the Bishop of Worcester’s offer to demolish the dilapidated structure. In 1949, the church was pulled down, leaving only its 245‑foot tower and spire intact, preserved as a landmark and now standing within St Andrew’s Gardens as a poignant reminder of Worcester’s past.

The park hosts the original (or possibly a facsimile) spire top. The gardens make a nice space for tramps to enjoy their jazz cigarettes. I particularly admired the single hiking boot hanging from the window frame.

More deets

Spire Top

Under the Spire

Enough architecture—the pubs could be open.

Walk Details

Distance - 6 Miles

Walk Inspiration 

Geocaches - 2

Part 1

21/10/25 - West Midlands Way - Stage 10 - Rugeley to Lichfield

Borrow, Cope and Hill

This walk will not be troubling the 2026 "Best of" awards ceremony. Let me count the things that are missing: Geocaches. Pubs. Open Churches. Places of interest.

Even getting out of Rugeley station is a ball-ache. New-build estates, with no means of escape, force double-backs and rerouting. The countryside, when picked up at Chetwynd's coppice, is reasonable, as it winds its way through Upper Longford (pub opens in 6 hours), Farewell (church all locked up) and Elmhurst (no visible evidence of the manor house).

I swear, the entire route was uphill

Dark Lane, closed to traffic around 2010 and reclaimed by nature

Coming into Farewell

Farewell Church - Doors Locked

The guide book, rather foolishly, suggests ending the walk at Whittington, bypassing Lichfield completely. This is stupid. Public transport is needed to return home. And grim mysteries are hiding in plain sight.

City Shield on the Railway Bridge, showing the 3 Slain Kings, Borrow, Cope and Hill

According to local legend, Lichfield takes its name from a grisly episode in early Mercian history — the slaying of three Christian kings named Borrow, Cope, and Hill. The story tells that they were martyred near the site of the present city during the conversion of Mercia, their blood consecrating the ground that became known as Lyccidfelth — the “field of the dead.”

Ooooh... mystery and death! I use YouTube for inspiration on which sites to visit during my couple of hours. They hooked me with "haunted pub".

A walk through the Market—scene of the last burning at the stake in England—on the way to Bird Street and its ghouls.

Dodgy photo, dodging market stalls

The King's Head is the oldest coaching house in Lichfield, dating back to 1408. It is proud of its military history, having acted as a recruiting post during the English Civil War and later as the home of the Staffordshire Regiment. Military memorials and paraphernalia adorn the walls.

The Kings Head, Bird Street

 

My YouTube video discusses three ghosts - George, who lives in the cellar. A young girl killed in a fire, seen at the window, along with flickering flames and the laughing Cavalier. Hacked to bits by Roundheads outside the pub. I was too scared to go in. It is a Marstons house and only sells Hobgoblin.

Instead, I celebrated the end of another stage of the West Midlands way in the ever reliable Horse and Jockey. A Good Beer Guide Regular. I could have lost my Bathams Mild virginity, but had no complaints. The Holdens Golden Glow was in exceptional condition.

Lets not mention the Elephant on the room

Liquid Bliss

There’s a whole world left to explore in Lichfield—not least Borrowcop Hill to the south, supposedly the burial place of the slain kings: Borrow, Cope, and Hill.

I think the locals are playing us.

Walk Details

Distance - 11 Miles

Geocaches - 5

Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6 (Part 1), Stage 6 (Part 2), Stage 7, Stage 8, Stage 9

16/10/25 - Wild about Worcester, Part 1

Doors Closed in the Royal City 

It was whilst completing the Rail Walk between Worcester and Droitwich that I noticed new way-marker posts.

Well Signed

The Wild About Worcester Way is a 12-mile circular walking route created by the Worcester Environmental Group (WEG) in partnership with Worcester City Council and local conservation volunteers. Officially launched in May 2023, the path links together many of the city’s green and wild spaces – from Worcester Woods Country Park and Gheluvelt Park to Laugherne Brook Nature Reserve – creating a continuous wildlife corridor around the city. Designed to encourage people to explore local nature, boost wellbeing, and promote biodiversity, the trail is fully way-marked and highlights the best of Worcester’s riverside, parkland, and community conservation projects.

Of course I was going to walk it. But twelve miles? I can easily squeeze two day trips out of that and maybe investigate a few other things on my ever-growing list.

I start at the river bridge, finding the first marker at Pitchcroft - through parkland, canals and nature reserves.

Looking out across Pitchcroft to Worcester spires

Worcester - Birmingham Canal

The unspoiled, unchanged St Nicholas Church at Warndon is more or less half way and seems a fitting place to stop – austere inside and out, with an oak-timbered tower containing bells cast in the 1400s. The heptagonal font is rumoured to be fashioned from a hollowed-out Roman pillar.

A rare, unmodified original

Sectioned Pews that wouldn't disgrace Belfast's Crown Liquor Stores

The walking done, the 34 back to town.

My first port of call is the Guild Hall. A recent walk told the story of the only Worcestershire Policeman to be killed on active duty. His assailant, was hanged at Worcester Jail. Which resides in the basement of this building. I attempted to determine when the public could gain access. The Tourist Information Centre told me to go to opposite reception. The opposite reception told me to go to the TIC. Eventually, I was told about organised walks. One for another day.

Guildhall, low on information

Pub time. The Cocky Anchor is a new micro pub, optimistically housed directly opposite the city's last remaining Wetherspoons. I've been before and it's OK - hard for me to justify the double price per pint. Plus, if I am in 'Spoons, I am looking at the lovely building, a former artists residence. If I am the cocky anchor, I am looking at thrifty daytime boozers and the ghost of Mappiman present and future.

The Sliver that is the Cocky Anchor

So why attempt a return? Right at the top, there is a rooftop terrace, promising unparalleled views over the City. It comes with a list of caveats. Only open Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons. You cannot take the cask from the downstairs bar. Five flights of stairs, health and safety fans.

So this - I'll go to Worcester's best Traditional. Always a wonderful selection of LocALE bitters in the Plough. Today, this includes a wonderful Cotswold Lion Top Tup. 

Nowhere better in Worcester for the traditionalist

I'll be back next week to see what other places I cannot get into.

Walk Details

Distance - 6 Miles

Walk Inspiration 

Geocaches - 2