28/04/18 - Birmingham Canal Walk and Good Beer Guide Ticking

Distance - 6 Miles
Geocaches - 1
Pubs - 3
Walk Inspiration - Discovery Walks in BRM and the Black Country - Walk 2


I've failed at not mentioning in this blog the cliche that Birmingham has more miles of canals than Venice.  This may be a fact but I've been to both and Venice's are nicer.

Nope it's a matter of fact

Not that this little urban safari is not without its grim aesthetic pleasures.

Birmingham Canal's in its glory

It won't surprise you to know that I am here on a pub ticking mission.  Slowly, the 2nd City entries are getting filled up.  I'm here chiefly for the Barton Arms which opens at 12pm.  At 11pm, I am less than a mile away so pop into the Two Towers, Gunmakers Arms for a revisit and to talk to the early boozing Villa Fans making their way to the last regular home game of the season. 

I leave them at 11:45 and have a frankly terrifying walk up through Newtown.  I'm dressed as a full on rambler.  The gangs are dressed in regulation hoodies and are surely far too old to be "playing" street football.   It's times like these when looking an oddball has its benefits.  I am left alone.

And into the safety of the Barton Arms.  By god it doesn't disappoint.

So So from the Outside

This is in the CAMRA Heritage pubs guide as an outstanding example of Fin-de-Siecle architecture.  What does this mean to my blogfans?  More than the normal amount of photos.

The Opulent Staircase

The Palace of Varieties

The 1901 Stained Glass Window - surviving 117 Years in Newtown 

Snob Screens not seen outside of London

A living, breathing museum that when you check in on Facebook, nominates itself as Birmingham's best kept secret.

It seems almost churlish to walk about their wares but it's an Oakham tied house that on this weekend had a beer festival offering 20+ gravity fed beers from a racking system.  I stuck to the hand pulled JHB.

The Thai menu looked amazing.   Simply no chance that I won't be returning - but next time, it will be by taxi and not on foot.

So, how you going to top that Architectural gem in Aston then Mappiman?  All I can bring you is a photo of the house where Ozzy Osbourne grew up and a look at Brum's skyline.

He has moved up in the world

Birmingham Skyline and the reassuring presence of a Police Helicopter

The walk back town is back along a different canal, picked up at Rocky Lane, Aston.  Emerge from a long tunnel to find another new pub tick, the Eagle and Ball.

More Canals

Not been (or indeed heard of) the Eagle and Ball.  Its from the 1840s, grade II listed, sympathetically incorporated into the Univeristy Buildings and suffers from pub tickers curse by being closed at 1:30pm on a Saturday afternoon.

Maybe the Students don't get up that early.

Not sure what language this is in?  Belgian?

I may return.  There was an offer on Pizza.

So this leaves the Woodman.  A pub in a neglected part of town that is surely going to see its fortunes change massively when HS2 rolls into Curzon Street opposite.

Invest now.

The Woodman

Another Victorian classic in the Heritage Guide for pub interiors.

I originally thought it was a golfer etched on the light fitting

No Carling, Darling

Lovely pub but on today's visit, I have to pronounce that the food was much better than the beer.  The New York Burger for a bargain £6.50 easily top trumped my pedestrian Castle Rock Harvest Pale.