Have You Been Drinking Thwaites Beer? I Can See Flying Elephants

Back street local boozers on the outskirts of Solihull are always far better than any pub in Solihull and that has always been the case. Back in the eighties and nineties and my youthful drinking days then Olton, Shirley, Knowle Elmdon Heath, Cheswick Green, Maypole, Solihull Lodge and Yardley were all a better bet for…

A Week In Olton: Part 1

As tension builds ahead of the grand pub free for all / drinking frenzy, reopening on Saturday I thought it was a good idea to plan a holiday. No ordinary vacation of course but another in the series of “A week in…” which this time heads to my home town of Olton to spend a…

Seasons Greetings From Solihull

Solihull often comes in for a bit of stick on this blog so don’t assume this post will be any different. Many an evening in my youth was spent in Rosie’s Nightclub or The Snooty Fox/Mason’s Arms/Byron’s or Shades Wine Bar, none of which have particularly pubby credentials. Actually, that’s unfair The Masons Arms is…

Quintessential Britain: Hampton In Arden

You left me at a pukka pub in Etwall as I completed the quartet of boozers in this Derbyshire suburb. Derby and its surrounding villages are often ‘overpubbed’ which is a rarity in 2019 and very often contain some old school crackers that are well worth making the effort. Contrast that with Solihull and you…