30/4/23 - The Hanbury Turn - following the Black Country Ales blueprint

 An adventurous Pub Walk along Britain's longest flight of canal locks

There's no finishing the Good Beer Guide. I managed to "green" Worcestershire last year. The new edition is released and there are 8 new entries.

The Hanbury Turn, Stoke Heath, becomes the penultimate tick before Worcestershire is green again.  And a chance to blog about Black County Ales - never has a brand had such a blueprint for expansion and identity.

The Hanbury Turn

Black Country Ales

First the walk - Adventurous in distance only.  Nine miles of easy canal and countryside walking, taking in the 30 locks that make up the Tardebigge Flight. The longest in Britain, it takes boaters most of the day to navigate the 2.75 miles, climbing a massive 220 feet.

Quicker on foot.

First of the Tardebigge Locks

Tardebigge Church, marking turning pint of the walk

The Black Country Ales Blueprint. There are expanding at a significant rate, with 47 pubs now in the group chain. Having found one in Tenbury Wells - distinctly not Black County - I hear rumours that they have presence in Hereford. Visit 25 between March and May and win a hoody.

They take over tired community pubs and refit in identical style, injecting a new lease of life. Inside, its impossible to tell them apart - clean, tidy, classically pubby.

Front bar of the Hanbury Turn

The Hanbury Turn Bar

They like couples to run the pubs, who become self employed, paid through a percentage of the takings. In a move that Humphrey Smith would class as anachronistic, this bounty is paid in cash on a Sunday. A condition of the insurance is that they live on site and rent is included in the deal.  Pensions and sick pay are not.

Drinks wise - they brew their own Pig On the Wall (usually the wifi password), BFG, Fireside and Chain Ale.  But the landlords are allowed to select other, often independent, breweries from a laminated A4 folder. Titanic and Salopian are likely to be the only breweries you have heard of. My pint on this occasion - Geneva IPA from Printworks Brewery. Well kept, delicious, previously unknown to me.  

Although not noticed here - there is a tendency for the landlords to go mad and have far too many cask offerings to match the demand. I spent an hour in the Prince of Wales, Birmingham, faced with a choice of a dozen but able to take my time selecting as I was the only punter.

They are also a good bet for ciders - either on handpull or from bag in a box around the back. Some eye-watering ABVs, proving the most cost effective bang for your buck.

And you are usually guaranteed a good cob or pork pie from a chiller cabinet. The Hanbury Turn providing a salad bar that would not be out of place in a Harvester.

The model is a success. I am grateful to have one as a local.  

Always busy, always welcoming.  

Walk Details

Distance - 9 Miles

Geocaches - 4 and an Adventure Lab Cache

Good Beer Guide Tick - #835

Walk Inspiration - Adventurous Pub Walks in Worcestershire - Walk 13