Geocaches - 3
Pubs - 3
The Netherton Tunnel may not be the longest canal tunnel in the UK, but when you are half way along its 1.7m length, it certainly feels like it. Two pinpricks of light at either end, strange noises that aren't the dripping water that makes you think the whole thing is coming down and surprisingly deep puddles.
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| Southern Portal |
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| Little White Dot is the Destination - Move towards the Light |
What could make a man undertake such a futile endeavour? Along with the promise of a classic Black Country Pub - there was this Tweet from the King of Beer.
BREAKING: CHAMPION WINTER BEER OF BRITAIN:— Roger Protz (@RogerProtzBeer) February 4, 2020
GOLD @FixedWheelBrew Stout,
SILVER @EllandBrewery 1872 Porter,
BRONZE @HawksheadBrewer Brodie's Prime Export.
Congratulations!
Fixed Wheel Brewery wins the Champion Winter Beer of Britain? I'm sure there's an entry in the Bible for their Micro Pub.... a check and there is. Only it doesn't correlate with with Goggle Maps, which has different locations. Still, the Black Country is confusing. Who knows when Rowley Regis ends and Mouse Sweet begins?
We'll come back to award winning beers later - but first, Ma Pardoes.
The Old Swan, Netherton, Ma Pardoes Original
This is a must visit, old world Black Country Tavern. Hard to take a decent external shot - with a racetrack of a road and a narrow pavement but a peek through the window should provide the necessary inspiration to cross the threshold.
We'll come back to award winning beers later - but first, Ma Pardoes.
The Old Swan, Netherton, Ma Pardoes Original
This is a must visit, old world Black Country Tavern. Hard to take a decent external shot - with a racetrack of a road and a narrow pavement but a peek through the window should provide the necessary inspiration to cross the threshold.
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| Purest in the Borough |
Stand at the top bar and you will be met with little service until the man sees you for the tourist you are and directs you to the bottom bar. Here, you can stare forlornly at the unlabelled pumps - offering no clue at all as to what is on offer. My advice - if your eyes are up to the task - is look at the back board chalk menu - 10ft away and in about a 16 point font are the wares.
I made out original and didn't regret my choice. It was £2.50
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| Advice 1 - Ignore that bar. Advice 2 - Order Original |
A lengthy downhill walk past an area that is genuinely labelled Mouse Sweet on the OS Map and I'm not in Lye. The GBG 2020 - only five months old - has the Wheelie Thirsty at 11 High Street, Lye.
Put Wheelie Thirsty into Google Maps and you get Halesowen Road, Old Hill.
They have moved locations - which means I am unsure on etiquette as to whether I can claim a moved pub as tick number #466. One for the Twitter Panel of Ancient Froth Blowers to decide.
Regardless - here we have a micro pub of the brightest variety serving the Fixed Wheel Breweries wares - including the Champion Beer of Winter.
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| Guiding Beacon of Old Hill |
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| Award Winning Blackheath Stout - Lovely Stuff |
The Plough and Harrow, 82 Congreaves Road, Ossett Brewery Excelcius
No doubting the veracity of the final venue in today's ramble. This community pub, in the middle of endless light industrial estates, is a definite tick.
I can call it a community pub, as nearly everyone is playing darts.
Super friendly landlady inquires where I am from, after I tell her I will be having something different to Butty Bach or HPA as these are ever presents in my local. When I explain Worcestershire, she asks how I've ended up here.No doubting the veracity of the final venue in today's ramble. This community pub, in the middle of endless light industrial estates, is a definite tick.
I can call it a community pub, as nearly everyone is playing darts.
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| Darts Players in the Window, wondering who is taking photos |
I tell I have walked the Netherton Tunnel.
Simultaneous amusement and confusion is a beautiful look.
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