Evo Boozy Scribbler

Last year I was struggling for blog material and inspiration, as is still the case nowadays. Then I heard that The Falcon in Willenhall was to close and also that the Robin Hood had new licensees so would need a re-visit, then suddenly the idea of a bird themed blog came to mind.

The Falcon Inn. Gomer Street West, Willenhall.

Class pub was this. Not just a permanent fixture in The Good Beer Guide but it’s place was cemented in. Me, Daz and Neil turned up a few days before it’s closure last May. We walked into the back room, totally unaware of the dartboard behind the door and almost walked into a match, bringing back memories of when I was about 8 and my brother chucked a dart that suck in my head. My forehead is somewhat bigger than a triple 20 so he didn’t need the aim of Michael Van Gerwen. Had I known I was entering a live sporting field of play I might have got naked first. I’ve always wanted to do a streak.

Anyway the pub was busy. We had a pint in each room and lamented this sad loss. The three of us then headed for The Robin Hood.

The Robin Hood. 54 The Crescent, Willenhall.

There was a quiz in progress as we approached. I’m generally shit at these but was on 2 points before I’d even got through the door. The pub was very busy for a Thursday evening. We squeezed into a corner and enjoyed fine ale and the quiz in general. Some of the team names were a bit risque with Quiz On My face being my favourite with Growlergate being another reflecting the big news story of the time about Angela Rayner apparently flashing her mott at Boris Johnson in the House Of Commons.

We did well on the quiz to be fair. Daz reckoned we were in second place on the questions we’d heard since arriving. There was then a round on Game Of Thrones. A few people protested they’d never watched it but the quiz master didn’t care. As a former presenter of quizzes myself you really shouldn’t do rounds where some teams don’t stand a chance of scoring any points. Each to their own though. This was a great visit. I gather the pub has been extended since so I need to go again. We finished our drinks, Daz and Neil went back To The Falcon, and I have no idea what I did next. I’m sure it would have involved a 529 then a pint.

The White Swan, 276 Bradford Street, Digbeth, Birmingham.

Daz and myself visited this place just before lockdown 1 in 2020 and were saddened to hear it was closing down. It reopened in 2021 though and I finally got around to going again in May 2022. Digbeth is just the best part of Birmingham for drinking and The White Swan is the stand out pub.

There were only a couple in when I arrived and they were clearly first timers as the man of the pair sought directions to the toilets from the very friendly barman. I finally had a pint of Fixed Wheel beer which was decent. I then needed the loo before departing.

Next to the toilet door was a poster for a retro gaming night, which I stopped to read. Whilst doing so I let out a pretty decent fart, thinking there is nobody about, the perfect crime. But as soon as the anal noise subsided the door behind me opened. It was the lady from the couple. She made a comment about the poster. I muttered an agreement, dashed into the loo and basically left her to it. I have visions of them on the night back in their local. “We went in this magnificent pub in Digbeth but there was this right dirty bastard…….”.

Anyway this a superb pub and I was going to end this report by saying that if you haven’t been, then you need to pretend you are in the band T-Rex as this is a White Swan that needs to be ridden. But unfortunately it closed again in November. Let’s hope it gets taken on again.

The one that flew away. The Dead Pigeon, 3787 High Street, Chatham.

You know how our phones are apparently listening to us? Well Josh called to talk about the best man suit fitting. Suddenly my Facebook feed was full of suit hire ads. I told Daz about this blog prior to our visit to The Falcon, and I then randomly on Facebook got an advert for The Dead Pigeon pub in Chatham. It had to be done.

I booked the train. I even splashed out £70 on a hotel, on the river and just 5 minutes walk from the pub in question. I am a bugger for staying in hotels miles from where I need to be to save money. I finally learned the error of my ways when I had a ticket to see Imagine Dragons in Manchester in 2015 but booked a b & b in Eccles to save money. There was a train strike that day and I didn’t fancy getting a taxi or the tram back from Manchester late at night so had a pub crawl of Eccles instead.

Anyway this trip didn’t happen as it was scuppered by the very first of the current wave of train srikes. Arse, I would still like to go one day though.

The Goose. Lichfield Street, Wolverhampton.

I’ve been trying to get the last tick for this blog for ages. The Eagle in Buxton, whilst a decent pub didn’t really glean much material and a couple of attempts to go to one in Solihull have failed so this Wednesday just gone me and Dave headed to Wolverhampton to revisit this place.

It took ages for a 529 to turn up in Walsall and then I kid you not, 5 of them arrived together. 3 went straight into not in service mode. Whilst waiting to depart, another one turned up. We then had a procession of 3 529’s all heading to Wolverhampton. It felt a bit Italian Job but without the gold although by the time we got to Wolvo I could have happily pushed one of the buses down a cliff. I ambled down the stairs casually. I was the last to get off the bus and the driver tried to shut the doors on me. “Ah, we know you love Walsall. We are taking you back there”. He did let me off though

This pub feels very much like a Wetherspoons but isn’t. The beer choice wasn’t up to much so I went for a Strongbow Dark Fruit. No Madri or Inch’s in a pub nowadays is poor form.

The decor and the lamps in here have a cheap motel feel, which is totally fine by me. There wasn’t many other customers although one of them had won so much on the fruit machine it took a good couple of minutes listening to that clanking noise as it paid out. There were two pool tables which excited Dave but made me yawn quite loudly. The only decent song was Stop by the Spice Girls, which to be fair is far from the top of the list of their best songs.

We only had one pint in here before heading to The Posada. On the way back to Walsall we stopped in Willenhall. Dave was quite eager to get in the Wetherspoons and ran down the stairs of bus, missing the bottom two and going flying causing everyone on the lower deck to point and either laugh or tut depending on their perspective. I again ambled casually down, arriving on the lower deck looking quite cool, causing everyone to point and mutter either “isn’t he hunky?” or “look at his cracking arse” depending on their perspective.

So that’s it for this edition. I’d love to do a volume 2 so if you know of a pub with a bird that I’ve not yet spotted in it’s name that’s easyish to get to from Walsall please let me know. I’m starting the next one in The Drunken Duck in Walsall Wood. See you there Chris and Mary.

16th December. 6.18 pm. My clock card was about to take its final dive into the machine of the week. Always a joyous moment. My phone rang. I clocked out and answered. It was Josh. “What are you doing later geezer?” he asked. I explained my plans and that I was out with Dave as we were popping our heads into the licensees of The Oak Inn’s 7th anniversary party, of them taking over the pub that is. I know not of their marital or not status.

“I take it you’re celebrating the momentous Walsall FC news?” he further queried. I hesitated. I hadn’t heard any such news. Clearly something had occurred since I came off my break 3 hours earlier. I further paused as I tried to guess what this could be. Walsall FC only dabble in momentous news very sporadically and it usually doesn’t end well. If you don’t know, we owned our old ground Fellows Park, sold it, paid to clean the land up where Bescot sits and for the stadium to be built and ended up not owning it and having to pay rent on it for the next 32 years. The news was that we now owned the ground albeit with a mortgage but we would no longer pay rent to the much disliked former Chairman and owner of the club.

I dashed home. My head was spinning. We’d dreamed of this day for so long. To quote Pink, I was eager to Get The Party Started, so much so I even ordered a taxi to The Oak. It arrived quickly. Neither myself nor the driver tried to instigate conversation which I think suited both of us.

I strutted into the Oak. I’m unsure of the landlady’s name. I think it’s Annabelle but I’m willing to be wrong as I am about lots of things. Anyway she was behind the bar, I wished her happy anniversary which she thanked me for. I ordered a pint of Thatchers Cloudy Lemon Cider and she said it was on the house. This pleased me, especially as I was going to buy her one. Like the tables being turned in my favour.

I’d not taken a sip out of my pint when Adam the landlord, doing a stint behind the decks played the original Last Christmas. I’d gone out of Whamaggedon on day 1. Looking round the pub and nobody else reacted so I guessed they’d all been Whammed too or were not playing. I’d have been gutted to go out then though just after arriving in the pub and without even a mouthful of booze having passed my lips.

Adam played “Rockin’ All Over The Word” and this was Josh’s cue to arrive. He was chuffed this song was on as this was the first tune to be played at the Millenium Stadium after Tom Bennett lifted the trophy following our epic play off final win in 2001. It will always bring back great memories for us Saddlers this number.

Dave arrived, Josh departed after one drink and we headed to The Red Lion. We were greeted by a drag queen behind the bar with a mic which was a bit unusual but we liked it. He then played Thriller commenting “I don’t know why I’m playing this as it’s Christmas” although I’d had a similar thought when Heart 80’s played Ghostbusters at work a day earlier.

The music was good in here, song of the night occurred “Red Light Spells Danger” although I got annoyed when the drag queen talked all over the second half of it so I necked my pint and declared it was time to move on.

The plan was to re-tick off what used to be Harleys now called Memoirs Bar but as soon as we got outside a bouncer rushed over saying that the place is now only for private parties. How he knew we weren’t on this guest list is beyond me. I instructed Dave to book this for his 49th birthday and we moved on. It’s good that this place is back open though. There was an application to turn it into a gym not so long ago. Us Walsall folk don’t want gyms. We want booze and word must have reached the applicant as it didn’t happen.

We also wanted to re-tick off the former Colliseum which was reopening this evening. It was very possible that we were the first customers as the place was empty. It is now bottles only so there are no pulls on the bar which makes it look a bit odd. Selected drinks were half price and our two bottles came to about £7.50. Dave queried if this was half price and the barman after a bit of a conflab with coleagues confirmerd that it was. £7.50 for 2 bottles is reasonable to me but if that is the half price total I don’t think I’ll be rushing back when it’s full price.

Anyway back in the day it was The Colliseum downstairs and at the weekend there was an upstairs strip joint called Club X. I used to go in The Colliseum after work as it was cheap drinks. One night a workmate (who has asked not to be named) came as some of his friends wanted to try Club X. I’d only been upstairs once but agreed to show the group where the place was as it’s slightly out of the towns main drinking area. Upon walking in Angie the barmaid said “alright Evo? Pint of Carling?” My colleague shot me a right look and exclaimed “you said you’d only been in once you lying get”. I tried to explain that I knew Angie from drinking downstairs in the week but he was having none of it.

Anyway in Club X you’d buy your drinks and take a seat. The ladies would come up and start polite conversation in the hope that you would agree to a dance which they’d take you into the back room for. One time I had my jacket nicked while in said back room. On my last visit a nice lady came up and made the usual small talk. She was most put out though when I eventually pointed out that it was her colleague (who had a white bra on) that I wanted a dance with.

So back to the present day. The Colliseum part is now called Valesha’s and the Club X part is Savannah’s. I popped to the loo and noticed a poster for upstairs and it had the slogan “where fantasies become reality”. I wondered which of the various ladies of Walsall that I’m keen on would be waiting for me, but opted not to go up there.

We opted to move on. Now Dave has this very odd trait that when drinks are finished and you do the mutual “move on?” chat, he’ll try and stall the departure. Usually by going to the loo for half an hour or deciding now is the time to start striking up conversations with folk. He’d done both of these in The Oak (I could have had another pint while he was in the bog), and now on the way out he decided it was time to go back up the bar to query the prices again. This was answered quickly and clearly didn’t waste enough time as he then started chatting to everyone on the way out. I was still thirsty, hopeful of being home by midnight, and never really up for talking to people so I left him to it and started the walk to Flans.

He caught up with me on the market and we were soon in Flans. Wayne was dj-ing and Dave is proper obsessed with him for some reason so he darted into the dj booth to bother him. There was no room in the booth for me which bought a bit of a Mary and Joseph feel to the proceedings so I sat on a stool in front of a radiator and was quite happy. I started to make some notes for this blog, and then Dave leant out of the booth and said “put your phone away, they are all looking at you”. I glanced up. There was a small group of men and women dancing around in front of me but nobody was looking. I asked who was looking and why but neither of these questions gleaned an answer. I finished my notes and glanced up. Still nobody was looking. So I opened Wikipedia and started to read about the development and subsequent construction of the Elizabeth Line. I got a third of the way through and got bored. Still nobody was looking.

It had been a good night but it was home time. I finished my drink and departed. After 32 years Walsall FC now hold the deeds to Bescot Stadium. Fantasies become reality.

I’m in a group called Friends Of Highgate Brewery. We like to jump on a coach and visit other breweries. Normally we take the Dave Grohl approach to these visits “done, done and I’m onto the next one” but with Hydes it was different. They really liked us. At the end of our first visit they said “please come again next year”. So we did. And we’ve been every year since. Yesterdsay was our 25th visit.

Our first few visits were to the Victorian “Queens Brewery” in Moss Side. My favourite memory of this site was after a few hours drinking we all piled back onto the coach, said vehicle roared into life and headed to the gateway just as the first float from the Moss Side Carnival passed. The bossman of Hydes Paul Jeffries beckoned us back off the coach saying “this may take a while to pass. Come back in and I’ll reopen the bar”. We then had a very pleasant 45 minutes with beers watching the procession.

In 2012 Hydes moved from Moss Side to their present site The Beer Studio, Media City in Salford and that is where we headed to yesterday.

The plan was to get up early and head to Wetherspoons for breakfast, especially as they now have eggs back on the menu, but after a week of going into work an hour early every day I was knackered and lay in bed instead. I eventually got up in time just to head to McDonalds albeit cutting it a bit fine.

Yet again a lady approached the counter when my number was called out. Shortly after she got her order which was just a hot drink. No wonder she was so keen on mine, which also consisted of a drink but with the additional nutritional goodness of a hash brown and double sausage and egg McMuffin.

I made the coach on time but was the last to arrive. Standard. As I made my way up the coach the top lad Ernie Harris told me off for being late and said I’d get detention and lines. I politely pointed out that I arrived bang on 9.30, but as I sat down I noticed that the digital clock at the front said 10.15. Going by that I was horrendously late. I will write out “I must not go to McDonalds when I have a coach to catch” 1000 times as soon as I get the time. So never then.

We hit the M6 and soon enough were pulling into Sandbach Services. Whilst we were heading to Salford, 100’s of my fellow Walsall FC fans were on the same road going to our match at Tranmere. I bumped into some mates in the toilets. Stewart, Sam, Dan and Kev Paddock. Me and Kev had a quick chat and a hug. I’ve never had a hug in a service station toilet before but what a top lad to have the first one with.

At Hydes we were all patiently waiting outside, then the automatic shutter door rose up majestically. It was like we were being let into Willy Wonka’s factory. Up in the bar there were 6 cask ales on, 2 keg and another 2 keg ones downstairs that we could just go and help our selves too. It was ace. As well as providing booze they also put on a cracking buffet. I’ve kind of lost my way a bit of late with sausage rolls but the ones here were thick and bloody tasty.

Hydes support the Manchester Children’s Hospice as their charity and as per usual Bob put a tin on the bar for us to put donations in. This raised £480 which was a nice total although when I stored this in notes I input it it as £4.80 which wouldn’t have been quite as good.

On the way back to Walsall we stopped at The Holy Inadequate pub in Stoke. A cracking pub and very much Good Beer Guide recognised. Unfortunately the toilets only have 3 urinals and 1 cubicle so when a coach full of people with several hours drinking under their belts descends then there was an initial decent queue to empty the bladders. I got to urinal no 1 (I always prefer number 2 but couldn’t wait for that to become free), mid flow and a bloke came barging out of the cubicle. Obviously eager to get to the bar after a wait in the queue but on passing he gave me a right kick to the left foot. I tell you what it doesn’t half break your concentration. Not quite in the style of Pulp Fiction but still. However despite this I still didn’t miss aim and I was soon up the bar myself ordering an Inadequate Citra. Despite the brewery name there was nothing inadequate about it.

Odd incident of the day was when a man came into the pub with a lit torch. After a couple of minutes he turned and I got a couple of full beams to the face. Sue on the opposite table thought I was going to be interrogated. “Ok, I confess. It was me who farted in the MD’s office at work yesterday”. He switched the beam to flashing for the last minute before turning it off.

Back in Walsall I popped into the Black Country Arms. There was a beer I’d not had before from Shiny Brewery called Rocky on pull no 1. I had that and it was ace but a beer called Rocky IMO should have been on pull no 4 as a nod to one of the best films of the 1980’s. I also had a cheese and black pudding cob which was devine.

Back home it was straight on with the Radio X Indie Night and this is where song of the day occurred. We Are Scientists “Nobody Move Nobody Get Hurt” was the first song on and what a delight it is. Within 20 minutes I was in bed with a mossiv mug of tea listening to Nick Abbott on LBC.

Superb day. Thanks to Bob for organising and to Hydes for the excellent hospitality.

I wasn’t really feeling Friday night. My back was hurting and I felt rubbish. One female colleague had commented on the day that I looked awful and another chipped in that I looked like death warmed up. But the first Friday of January is always what we call the quiz team night out. We’ve not been a quiz team since 2011, but we keep this tradition up and the 4 lads I was meeting up with easily go into the top 10 list of my longest standing friends, we don’t see each other often enough so despite feeling crap. I wasn’t missing this.

As is standard procedure upon leaving work the music went straight on and the first song was “Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine” by The Killers. Talk about needing an anthem to start the weekend and getting one. I stopped by McDonald’s for a toffee latte and upon leaving opted against putting said drink on the floor to use the nearby cashpoints and hurting my back picking it up again. I generally allow myself 3 mistakes a year. This was to be number 1 of 2023.

The bus to Aldridge arrived and I was soon there. Now for some cash. I wandered round to Lloyds. Now closed (for good, not the night). Arse. It was still open when I last attended rehearsal in November. I checked my wallet. I had a fiver. Phew. Enough for a pint. I’m not one for paying by card. I know where I stand with cash and I don’t want the bank manager and government knowing where I spend my hard earned.

I headed to The Turtles Head, Aldridge’s micro pub. There were a few people in along with 4 dogs. I’m rubbish with dogs so don’t ask what makes they were but I think one was a bulldog. They had Thornbridge “Brother Rabbit” on so that was motion carried straight away. They were having trouble with the till, furious repairs were in action and when complete the tray shot out as if it was on Open All Hours, causing one barmaid to jump out of her skin.

Anyway the dogs were all friendly, one of them to the extent that he’d wrapped his rather long lead around my legs, causing issues with walking away with my pint. It took some coaxing from his owner before he unravelled and I could escape. The music was standard 80’s fare, the highlight being Heartache Avenue by The Maisonettes. Whenever I hear this I always have to turn to the side to sing the backing vocals like the ladies in the video. Thankfully nobody spotted me doing this.

It was time to meet the others. I walked back to the main street. HSBC was across the road. Nah, I’ll go Natwest opposite the Wetherspoons. I did and the cashpoint was out of order. I miserably trudged all the way back to HSBC. The 1st cashpoint? Out of order. You have got to be kidding me. 2nd one thankfully was playing nicely.

I needed paracetamol so went to the Lifestyle Express. I noticed two bottles of Prime behind the counter. Fully aware that people have been fighting over these in Aldi then buying them and flogging them at hugely inflated prices on E-Bay I considered buying one. However I’m a lover (I wish) not a fighter and I’d already wasted enough drinking time hunting for cash so I didn’t really have the minutes for fistycuffs.

I made it to The Avion, the Aldridge Wetherspoons. Naturally I was last to arrive. Swill, Morty, Mark and Al were already there and had been joined by Laura and Pezza who were enjoying a child free night. Laura was straight over. “What do you want to drink?”. I’m crap at being put on the spot, panicked and said “Carling”, which she rushed off to purchase for me. It was soon Swill’s round. I again requested Carling. He sent Mark up the bar and shortly afterwards I went up to help carry them. It was then I saw “Danish Dynamite” by Stonehenge Brewery on the bar. I love Stonehenge and their brewery is an amazing place to visit. I’m no beer snob though and enjoyed my Carlings but made a note to always check the menu before ordering.

Malabar was the curry house of choice for the evening, one that I’ve not been in before. Everyone knows my views on unlicensed curry houses so there was some banter coming my way that this was one of those. I protested but Pezza checked online and confirmed that it sold booze but you could take your own too. I really don’t get that. Be like taking your own prostitute to a knocking shop. Upon walking in there was the glorious sight of bottles of Cobra behind the bar. Beautiful. It was only 8.30 but the place was very busy, which was a good sign.

This place has an upmarket feel to it. The starters are called entrees and my usual one of choice the delightful Nargis Kebab has the name Nargis Kofta. I don’t normally order baltis as I just like meat and sauce and can’t be arsed to ask for this dish to have it’s tomato and onions removed but I was feeling brave now (enough to go back to Lifestyle Express to fight, maybe over a bottle of gin though) so ordered this dish for a change.

The food arrived quickly. The Nargis was divine. Standard but the balti sans all the shit that normally comes in it was also great. I wolfed the lot down. The toilets are upstairs and outside the door was a table with 3 chairs along the wall on one side. Made it look like sometimes you have to pass an interview before you get to use the facilities.

Back at the table the waiter tried to swipe my glass which still had a good mouthful of Cobra left in it. We have a DPD driver come into work who always comments about how slow I move. I wish he’d been there to see how quickly I reacted to that.

So it was a great night with superb people. After one last pint back in Wetherspoons, Alan gave us all a lift home like the top bloke that he is.

Sorry the blog has been dormant for a while. I’ve been struggling with it but will try and get back to normal service soon. Cheers for reading and happy new year.

This week I have mostly spent with my am dram fam as Aldridge Musical Comedy Society (AMCS) have been performing Musicals that Rock at The Prince Of Wales theatre in Cannock.

I was on a 2 show break, having done everyone since joining the society in 2014, but having been blown away by the performance of Sister Act and then seeing the set list for Musicals That Rock, containing epic Green Day and Meatloaf numbers along with my favourite Celine Dion song the name of which currently escapes me, oh hang on It’s All Coming Back To Me Now, I decided to end the break early and return.

Six months hard work learning songs and dances leads to show week. Said week begins on Sunday with band call. This started at 10am. I was late. The main part of Walsall Bus Station was closed for repairs, although this appeared to be just one man scraping away at a stanchion. Not sure why this required the whole section to be closed but this stanchion was in a bad way. All the others are resplendent red while this one looked like it had been raised after spending a decade at the bottom of the North Sea, and I always gave it a wide berth whilst passing.

Anyway a bus didn’t turn up then the next one went on a crazy diversion to avoid Lichfield Road. Think walking from McDonalds on Park Street to the Black Country Arms but going past the Arboretum boathouse and you have the gist of it.

Band call went smoothly and finished just before 3pm and we then had a 3 hour gap until rehearsal on the evening. I needed margarine for my sandwiches for work the next day, it’s not all glamour this stage lark, so I dashed off to Mozza’s. I grabbed said marge and then noticed the cafe was still open, and until 4pm. Ideal. I perused the menu for a good 4 minutes and headed to the counter. “Sausage egg chips and beans please.” “Oh, we stop taking orders at 3.30”. I checked my phone. It was 3.32. What a load of old shit. I decamped to The Crown, which to be fair had been plan A. Some of the cast were in there and I caused a kerfuffle as they left their cosy booth to join me at a normal table.

The rehearsal on the night went well and I finally got the start position for Bohemian Rhapsody correct at the millionth time of asking, which was a big relief for me, the people I was meant to be walking on with, and more so the ones that I wasn’t.

Monday was our last rehearsal at our normal base in Aldridge. I got a bit excited and shouted out at the wrong point in a song, then I tripped over a box. We Will Rock You is the opening number to act 2 and during this our Musical Director beckoned at us to sing louder. I couldn’t comply at this juncture as my mouth was full of birthday cake.

On Tuesday I was a couple of minutes late leaving work but I knew this would make a difference with catching the train to Cannock. I had to run down Station Street. Thankfully it was dark as nobody wants to see that. I pulled into the station at the same time as the train. Big relief.

In Cannock I headed to Mozza’s for food. Again I would be disappoiinted. Appreciate that it was after 6 but there was only 2 sandwiches left, both containing brie. I’ve never had that and didn’t fancy it now, so I just grabbed lots of shit instead.

I got to The Prince Of Wales Theatre and headed round the back as we have to enter that way. I gave the lift at the top of the ramp a nervous glance. I always fear outside lifts. Maybe I spent too long playing Double Dragon as a kid but outside lifts always make me think the doors will open and people carrying whips and baseball bats will emerge. Thankfully this didn’t happen and I made it into the theatre without a beating.

First night in the theatre is always unsettling as you have to adjust to the change of dynamic. Beng correct side of the stage to walk on, in the wings at the right time etc as you can’t just walk across the floor as in the normal rehearsal room. Naturally I had to mess around a bit and when on top of the scaffolding for American Idiot, I instructed everyone on stage below to look at me, which they all did. It’s a good job I hate being the centre of attention or I’d have lapped that up.

The rehearsal went smoothly although I had one concern. Right at the end of the show everyone has to walk backwards, but where I was there was also a massive speaker on a tripod which I could see me tripping over, pulling the thing down with me and taking out half the cast in a move that would have had the directors of Final Destination pondering “why didn’t we think of that?”

Afterwards I went for my first piss in the theatre and declaring that this meant that show week was now definitely underway.

On Wednesday I was out of work an hour early which was nice. This time Mozza’s had goodies available so I grabbed hot chicken and a sandwich, yeah I’m a greedy sod but those dance moves require energy. Whilst there I used the facilities and they absolutely stunk. If only there was somewhere nearby that sold air freshener.

I got to the dressing room and was demolishing the chicken until I chocked on it. Will and Matthew were concerned and that was without me being extra dramatic as I usually am in these situations. I manged to dislodge the piece so there was no need for the Heimlich Manouevre which would have been interesting for anyone walking in during its performance.

This rehearsal went well with just two snags. During Radio Gaga I now had to get up on a box during the last part. Others had been doing this for months but this was a new instruction for me and Sarah and it went wrong. I couldn’t just step up onto it and had to kind of clamber aboard it and missed most of the moves in that section. During the break Sarah had me practice getting up on it, which was easier with using the scaffolding to lever myself up. God I hate being a short arse. The other issue was I’d had to run for my train at the end of the night before so missed a bit of resetting of the final song, so I was in the wrong place during this. Will had to drag me into position and I trod on our fabulous choreographer Sarah’s foot during this. Sorry Sarah.

Actually there was a 3rd snag. I totally messed up the instructions for American Idiot and Wake Me Up When September Ends. We were up on the scaffolding for these and I thought I was meant to just lean against the barrier looking cool and angsty for the first one then totally rock out for the second one. Which I did. Except I was on my own for the second one and I felt a bit of a nob. Turned out it was rock out during the first one and disappear for the second. Oh well, at least I made the second song all about me and I got mentions during the end of night debrief so all worth it. Plus the big speaker and tripod had been moved so I was now confident of not injuring other cast members. Other than foot treading.

Thursdays snags were standing on Gaynor’s foot due to being in the wrong place and trying to put it right. Sorry Gaynor. But the biggies was still being in the dressing room, fannying around on Facebook when American Idiot started. Becky who was passing through was like “er Mikee, it’s American Idiot”. I had to run out the dressing room, down the stairs, past dancers, onto the scaffolding past fellow performers and across the top to my spot. Talk about an English Idiot during American Idiot.

Friday was opening night of Musicals That Rock. The show was the idea of directors Ashley and Gaynor and they picked all the songs. Delayed by Covid it was great to finally bring it to life.

I was off work on the Friday and as per normal I was a bit peckish. I headed to McDonalds. A quick glance at the boards revealed no special offers. The Black Friday bollocks clearly wasn’t happening in this franchise. I ordered my food and patiently awaited my number (34) to be called out. Which it soon was. And a lady marched up to the counter and grabbed the bag. I approached and gave her a quizzical look. Her friend said “isn’t your number 38?” and the bag was put down on the counter (after she’d inspected the contents).

I got my food, ran for the train and upon sitting down on it I discovered an extra portion of fries in there. Black Friday you are forgiven.

The Friday night performance went well. One small error, I stayed in the middle as opposed to moving to the right during I’d Do Any Thing For Love but the audience wouldn’t have known that and the Saturday performance I got bang on. At the end I doubled back onto stage and gave the audience an extra bow. I like to be last off stage.

It’s always sad when a show ends. The week is long and tiring but we get each other through it. There is always lurgy going around but the cast are great and we get on well but the live shows are over so quickly but it’s so worth it.

I’m not from a theatre background so most shows I don’t know any of the songs beforehand and they take some learning but discovering new ones to sing is always good. The final number of act 1 was a medley of songs from a show called Come From Away which I’d never heard of and the first time we did this in rehearsal I thought “what is this load of bollocks?” but by show week I absolutely loved it and had the biggest smile on my face while performing it.

Anyway it was a tough show to bring to life but we did it and I hope we did Ashley, Gaynor and Musical Director Mark and Choreographer Sarah proud. We nailed the show and all the songs were performed well and the audiences loved them which is good. Tough as it was I bloody loved it though. Thanks to everyone involved. I don’t know when I’ll be on stage again but I have memories and show gifts to look back on in the meantime. To my AMCS buddies I love you all, the laughs and support you provide are invaluable.

Thanks to Tony, Keith and Alan for lifts home this week. With a train strike on the Saturday I was panicking about having to get a taxi back from Cannock. I mean I’d do anything for AMCS, but I won’t do that (if possible).

Last Saturday started out beautifully lazily. I’d worked the previous 2 Saturday mornings so this one was all about being in bed with a mug of tea listening to Andrew Castle on LBC.

I started to get peckish but this didn’t bother me. During the week there had been light hearted mentions of my delightful colleague Shelley coming to my house on this morning, letting herself in and bringing me a sausage and egg McMuffin in bed. By half nine though there was no sign of her so I deduced she was sleeping off the effects of going to a Madness tribute band the night before.

I needed food though as Craig was coming round on the afternoon for a light drinking session so I headed to Brewers Fayre. My usual table was occupied and the place was full of kids but they were all sedate and not running around so that was good.

I found an alternate table and waited for a couple of people to depart from the cereal bar. Mainly because I didn’t want anyone to witness my usual trick of combining Rice Crispies and Cocoa Pops. I appreciate that I have probably gone down in all of your estimations with this disclosure but I care not.

Anyway, spoons do not come as standard on Brewers Fayre breakfast tables. I couldn’t remember where I got one from last time and a quick hunt around didn’t reveal any. Undeterred I went for a latte, and there were no spoons there either. So no sugar in drink. No stirring of it either. I wondered if they have to cover all bases in case the character from the Big Train sketch with the spoons phobia comes in.

I eventually acquired a spoon and breakfast was good. I headed home, Craig arrived, let himself in but didn’t bring a sausage and egg McMuffin to present to me in bed. Boooo.

We set off as bowling was on the agenda. As we hit the top of Park Street I noticed that Pure Gym had closed down. I explained to Craig how we’d welcome this as Walsall is the fat capital of the country and we don’t want gyms. We want places to eat. This point was reinforced nicely as we got to the Crown Wharf Retail Park and noticed that a unit that has been empty for a while is now being turned into a Burger King.

The bowling alley was busy. Seriously busy. We were told it would be 10 o’clock before we could have a bowl, and this place has 20 lanes. It was currently approaching 4.30. We declined this. I’m glad the place is proving popular though. I decided to use the facilities whilst there. As I passed the cubicle I noticed a Budweiser bottle on the floor next to the loo. Full respect to that bloke, refusing to waste drinking time whilst having a dump. There was also a pink balloon in there, the back story of how that got there still intrigues me.

We had a go on the epic Space Invaders machine to make the visit worthwhile and then departed. We headed to Brewers Fayre. It felt a bit odd visiting a place twice in one day, and the same staff were on but I’d changed outfits and they didn’t clock me so all good. I could have done with one more latte from my free refills on the morning but opted for a Strongbow Dark Fruit instead.

The quiz machine was not working so we grabbed a seat and watched scores coming in. Walsall were drawing 0-0 at Carlisle. On the way down Craig had got some stats on his phone. Apparently we’d had 20 attacks, 2 of which were dangerous. Typical Walsall FC that, playing a beatable team but fannying around with 18 undangerous attacks.

From there we went to The Oak Inn. The music in here was REM, The Killers, The Cure, The Clash and others of this ilk. I needed this. The day before at 3pm a work colleague had changed the radio station so that last 3 hours of the day was just thud thud scratchy scratchy music. It felt like God was saying “yeah, yesterday was just a test. You passed, this music is your reward”. Cheers God. I won’t get into heaven because I’m a twat, so I’ll take any rewards from him while I’m still here.

I wanted Quavers so asked for a packet, Adam the landlord produced a full box of them and asked if I wanted that. I can eat crisps like sweets but didn’t fancy carrying a box round all night or having to sneak it past the bouncers at The Registry.

From there we visited The Registry, purely because I needed a pint of Inch’s.

In Katz it was retro gaming as per normal. We played something called Back Street Soccer. Craig battered me in the first game. My keeper made save after save after save. It was like my outfield players had joined the Winter Of Discontent and gone on strike. I couldn’t even muster an undangerous attack. Then as injury time started my keeper launched the ball long, straight to my striker who blasted home. Proper route one. John Beck would have been very impressed. With that totally undeserved victory in the bag the pressure was off for the second game which I won 3-1.

We switched to Ms Pac-Man and my Ms was seriously hungry, gobbling up ghosts like they were a bowl of Cocoa Pops and Rice Crispies and ran up two hefty scores.

From there we headed to what was Blue Ginger on Bridge Street, now called Gurkha Bhojan. There were a few people in so Craig queried how long we would have to wait, thinking if it was going to be an hour we could just grab a take away from elsewhere. I wouldn’t have minded waiting an hour had I got that box of Quavers to keep me ticking over but the waiter reassured us that we wouldn’t have to wait long and so it proved. The place is now licensed which wasn’t the case last time Craig was here so we didn’t go that night. The food was good. It’s dearer than Blue Ginger was but still worth a visit.

From here we headed back to mine. It was a great day to be fair. Anyway, thanks for reading. Sorry the blog has been quiet of late. I would write more but I have a closed gym to walk past on my way to Burger King.

Me and Dave know a top lad called Dean. Dean’s sister is the lead singer in a band. The band were playing a gig at The Wheatsheaf, the closest pub to my house but one that I don’t visit often enough as none of my friends live near it. So this gig had to be done.

Dave came to mine for a bit and we left the house and stepped into the rain. Oh the rain. It was like God had thought “here you are everyone, have some rain. And while we’re at it, have some more rain on top”.

It took about 10 minutes to get to the pub although a good 2 of these were spent waiting for a car to decide if it wanted to turn into the road we were trying to cross. I shouted “today please George”, he got the message and turned. I’m usually quite patient but not when it is the back of my neck rather than my throat that’s getting wet.

We made the pub and there was a decent turn out which was good to see. Dave found out that his coat wasn’t as waterproof as he thought it was. If they had been holding a wet t-shirt contest in there he would have been straight onto the final ballot without the need of support from 100 Tory MP’s. My beanie hat was 4 times heavier than when I put it on. I should have weighed myself before and after removing it and taken pictures of the scales. Lavish me with Slimmer Of The Week awards.

The band are called Vibrant Ducks, they impressed at a recent open mic night in the pub and were booked to play a full gig off the back of that. They were playing Red Hot Chili Peppers as we arrived, this gave way to a marvellous rendition of The Cure’s Boys Don’t Cry which was followed up by a bit of 2 Door Cinema Club (I think). The male guitarist instructed folks to go up the bar, buy drinks, get drunk then come up the front to dance. I can cope with these kind of instructions.

The Wheatsheaf is a real ale pub and I alternated between the Wye Valley H P A and the AJ’s Ales S P A. It was a shame they didn’t have Fuller’s E S B on as then I could have had a game of Countdown with my beers.

The music continued and it was great to hear female vocals performing songs like Ed Sheeran’s Castle On The Hill, and Sam Fender’s Hypersonic Missiles. Even a dog turned up in time for the latter.

The band took a break and I noticed that the settee by the fire was vacant. Knackered following a busy week at work I lured Dave over to it. After a short while Dave said “the band are starting up again”. “I’m staying here for a bit longer. I can still hear them so that’ll do” I replied. The band were clearly having none of this and launched into A Certain Romance by Artic Monkeys. Well there was no way I was sitting down for that. It’s such a great song. Is it my favourite of theirs? Hard to say. Being asked what your favourite Arctic Monkeys song is, is like being asked what’s your favourite bacon? Anyway the song went down an absolute storm and rightly got the loudest cheers of the night.

Other highlights were Naive by The Kooks and Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis. The latter going down so well it was repeated as the final song after the audience were invited to nominate what they wanted to hear again. A few shouts of Sex On Fire were ignored.

This was a superb night, totally my kind of music all evening. It was like listening to Absolute Radio’s playlist with a female vocalist. If you want to see Vibrant Ducks they are next on stage at The Station in Cannock on October 30th in a gig raising money for Prostrate cancer.

Right, as I’ve still got A Certain Romance in my head I’m gonna make a cup of tea and then blast that out. And the good news is that my beanie hat is nearly dry.

At the end of September I had a text from my former SciChem work mate Madels saying that him and his wife Pammy wanted to come to Walsall soon for an Indian buffet again and they’d be bringing another former colleague Sean and his partner Sammy. Soon turned into about a week.

A week last Thursday was the day. I was let out of work early, because I’d done everything I had to not because I was going to eat I must point out. With a bit of time to kill I broke up the arduous pilgrimage from Queen Street to Katz by stopping at The Registry for a pint of Inch’s.

I reached Katz and was soon joined by the others. I haven’t seen any of them for a while so there was catching up to be done, but I think the main basis of conversation in there was me talking about me. A situation I am totally comfortable with.

We moved onto Golden Moments. It went unlicenced during the pandemic so I’ve not been in since but I heard recently that it had started serving booze again and I was delighted to find that this was true.

It was buffet night so up we went. Everyone else went straight in going for starters and mains but I played it light to start with and just had a boiled egg, 2 fish pakoras and two onion bhajis. Schoolboy error. Problem with this approach is my plate was very quickly empty whilst everybody else still had lots of grub to demolish, so I had to go up again. I was very wary that everyone in the restaurant could be thinking “he’s only just been up and he’s going again already the greedy git”. I expected my return journey (this time armed with both curries and rice) to be greeted with people tutting, pointing and pelting me with spare fish pakoras.

It was very pleasant in there, the food was amazing and we all had a great time. Then the desert menus came out. I never do puddings in curry houses for some reason so declined this time but Madels, and the ladies dived in. Sammy went for the Ferrero Rocher ice cream but couldn’t eat it all. There was naan bread left on the table. Sean wondered if ice crem would go with naan bread. He tried it and said it really did. He invited me to try it. I declined this offer. I don’t mind experimenting with food but this just seemed gross. The Express & Star could have messaged me at this point saying “we know you like putting your investigative journalist head on. We’re doing an article called ice cream on naan bread, does it work? Could you find out please? and it would have still been a no. And then I thought what the hell and dived in. And it was really good. Next time I have naan bread in the house, rather than stick bacon on it, or going proper old school and having it with curry, some of that lemon meringue ice cream I’ve got in the freezer is going on it.

We needed a team photo so decided to grab one on the way out. I nipped to the toilet, standard behaviour on my part and as I emerged back out Madels exclaimed “here he is the future Mayor of Walsall, keeping everyone waiting as usual”. The waiter who had been collared to take the photo said “future Mayor of Walsall? More like the Bruce Willis of Walsall”. Now I get called Matt Lucas and Phill Mitchell all the time but Bruce Willis is a new one on me. I’ll take it though. I must remember to buy a white vest, wrangle an invite to a Christmas Eve party in a tower block and see what occurs.

On the Saturday it was work on the morning, followed by an hour doing absolutely nothing on the settee (where You Tube auto played song of the day Wet Dream by Wet Leg) and then it was a power walk down to Bescot.

I passed the Fullbrook. Work is still ongoing on this but I am slowly starting to think the that the July of this year reopening which was first mooted isn’t going to happen, although it was good to see that the new roof is now complete. It must be the same people that took decades to rebuild Pleck Bridge that are working on it. Please hurry up and reopen Fullbrook. We need you.

I made it to the ground for abut 2.55. I glanced into the bar as I passed but pressed on which now means that 3 home games in a row I’ve been in my seat and alcohol free for kick off. My life is just an array of grim statistics but this is one that really needs nipping in the bud post haste. Anyway, I saw the opening goal, and some fans were seriously shocked that I saw it and they didn’t (hi Andy, Mark and Daz).

Wimbledon equalised and it all went a bit flat. Their fans started singing “is this a library?” which was a bit harsh. We aint had a lot to sing about of late. I missed our second goal due to Madri commitments but was in the stand for the 3rd one, and the fans were back in full voice for that.

It was joyous in the Bescot Bar afterwards. It had been a bit muted in there after the Northampton win which was our first in 12 games as I think everyone was just relived (and most people were tucking into £1 pies in there after that game) but this time everyone was loving it. Anyway if Bescot Stadium is a library then my God, I want to read every book in the place.

Swill and I got a taxi after a couple of pints. This time it was my turn to have trouble with the door. It said on the door “pull and slide”. Well I’m shit at pulling but sliding? I can Cha Cha Slide along with the best of them. Anyway I couldn’t get the door open and Swill did it with ease, avenging the time recently when he couldn’t do it and I took the piss by humming The Crystal Maze theme.

The taxi got to by St Matts Hall, and Swill couldn’t get the door open. “Push the button” the driver shouted repeatedly. I helped by singing the Sugababes classic of the same name. Eventually he got it open and we headed in to Wetherspoons. We’d certainly earned a pint after those taxi door exploits.

From there we headed to Katz where we met Matt Whelan and Goughy then ended up in The Walsall Arms to round off a great day.

Friday was only my 3rd day of annual leave from my new job in 6 months, so it had to be a god one. I mean there is no such thing as bad time off work but this one needed to be epic. Craig headed up from Coventry and I announced that before we did the pubs we would be trying the new bowling alley that opened this week on the Crown Wharf retail park.

It was pissing down so we called a taxi. They sent a minibus which I thought was a bit excessive. maybe we’d need one for the return journey when we’d impressed all the ladies in the bowling alley with our skills but not now. The driver took a right at the bottom of my road instead of the left which is the usual way to town and promptly got us caught up in the traffic for the local primary school.

It was just over £6 per person for a game of bowls and I think it gets cheaper if you book more. We opted for one game, bought some booze and headed to the lane. I always thought I was decent at bowling but not this time. My first 6 balls all went into the gutter. I then had the humiliation of Craig putting the buffers up for my shots. He then got a strike. Yep, another strike to add to this Winter of discontent.

Craig wiped the floor with me on the bowling. For some reason all my shots veered to the left. To the left to the left. Bloody hell. I must be turning into Beyonce. At least now I can buy those sparkly gold hot pants that I’ve had my eye on.

We had a bit of a mooch around afterwards. The massive Space Invaders machine was ace, and we also had a go on a Pac-Man based basketball game. I didn’t quite get the Pac-Man relevance but it was great fun. Although one of my shots bounced out the court and hit Craig on the head causing me much hilarity. I didn’t need the buffers up for that bit of accuracy.

I’m a bit of a Monopoly geek so I had a go on a spinning wheel type of game. For my quid I got one spin, landed on Leicester Square and got 40 tokens. I wasn’t impressed. I handed the tokens to Craig and announced I was off for a piss and he could give the tokens to someone nice.

It’s a good set up in this place, there is a laser quest type thing there, karaoke pods (which I was all over until I saw it was £20) and escape rooms. I like the idea of the escape rooms but I’d need one with a toilet in it just in case I was incredibly crap at it and got trapped in there. I wonder if they could personalise the escape room to try and make it harder. I mean stick Patsy Kensit in there wearing just a white bra and pants and I’d make no effort to escape.

We moved onto Brewers Fayre and cleaned up on the quiz machine before hitting The Oak Inn. By now I was getting the munchies so while Craig headed into The Red Lion to get the round in, I “popped” to McDonalds. Jesus, the whole world and their mom was in there. My order was no 18 and after a good few minutes of waiting they called out number 5.

Eventually I got my food and stood in the rain eating it. Craig however was having less fun. The music on entry into The Lion had been Basement Jaxx then Bizarre Inc. which he approved of Then on came a UB40 song. And another one. And another one. And another one. Upon the 5th one coming one he came out and basically told me to hurry up, as if he was having to suffer this music then I should have too as well. I went in and we quickly drank and departed as the 7th UB40 song in a row started.

We met up with Dan Gilbert and Coxy and explained why we had had left The Lion only for Dan to exclaim that he loves UB40. Which made me laugh. We headed to The Wharf Bar. There was karaoke. I was urged to have a go and despite it being free as opposed to the £20 in the bowling alley I wasn’t feeling it. There wasn’t many people in and I like a good sized baying audience when I perform. Song of the night Seven Nation Army came on in here and was followed by the classic Gangsta’s Paradise. RIP Coolio.

We left, Coxy and Dan went into The Lion which was still playing UB40 whilst Craig and I hit The Registry. Dan and Coxy arrived in there not long after so must have not really felt the music after all. Finally we went to Katz where we played Pleasure Goal on the retro arcade machine. I came from 2 down to win a game 5-4 then Craig turned into prime 1970’s Brazil and got revenge wiyh some aplomb.

With Blue Ginger now gone we grabbed kebabs and headed back to mine. The day was indeed epic and I can’t wait to go bowling again.

Last Saturday was roughly planned out. Do stuff in the house, go and watch Walsall Rugby Club then head to Cannock to work at the beer festival. Naturally stuff over ran so I didn’t make the rugby (Walsall beat Malvern 42-0 but knowing me I’d have missed 40 of the points) but following the cancellation of the train strikes I was on platform 1 bang on time and ready to head to Staffordshire.

Cannock Chase CAMRA were holding their beer festival at The Prince Of Wales Theatre although it should surely be renamed King Charles III centre in light of recent events.

My first jobs at the festival was to collect empty glasses and also rubbish on tables. Perfect. There were lots of people there that I know so this was an ideal way to work the room and get some hellos in. The glasses were gone in one sweep and as I started the round with the bin bag, the band came on. So I headed to the front tables. Everyone would be looking at the band during the opening numbers so I thought it would be rude not to let them see me as well.

Whilst on litter patrol I collected a half can of foreign beer that had been abandoned. I headed to the toilets to dispose of the liquid down a sink, and I was confronted whist doing so. “What you doing man? Can’t you take your beer?” “Excuse me?” “Why are you pouring your beer away? Can’t you drink?” I explained that it wasn’t mine and that I was collecting rubbish, even showing him the bin bag to try and back up my story but he wasn’t having it. Odd moment but it made me smile.

It was a nice hour ambling around the tables. People I don’t know recognised me from working at Walsall Beer Festival and some good conversations came from that. I was asked if that event would be returning and I said I really hoped it would but it not coming back already is one of the numerous reasons as to why I’m stepping down as Walsall Branch Chairman in a couple of weeks.

A short while later I was asked if I wanted to work the bar. Hell yeah. Confidence has never been a friend of mine but stick me behind the bar at a beer festival and I can talk to the whole world. Even women. Although it does help massively that they have to talk to me also.

A customer came up and asked “what’s the haziest thing you’ve got”? My memory was the first thing that popped up in my head but I don’t think he’d have wanted to drink that.

The band were class. There was a guy rocking a double bass which bought back memories of Leslie Nielsen in Airplane. The highlights were I Saw Her Standing There and Twist & Shout. The latter being almost as good as the Ferris Bueller and Chaka Demus & Pliers versions.

It was nice to be able to watch the band on stage in between customers. I’ve performed on that stage many times so it was good to be in the audience for once. I’ll be back on that stage on November 25th & 26th for the AMCS show Musicals That Rock. Tickets still available https://boxoffice.wlct.org/event_description.aspx?eventid=1151&fbclid=IwAR0i3UdrQOtDoHFSR89umDMsfDDR3MkY7i9t0o63p3r3JIGICYUyF4mjaMI

As my time drew to a close a couple of lads came up the bar. “What do you want?” asked the one. His friend looked at him and replied “I just want a bag of crisps”. We all have that feeling every now and again.

I said my goodbyes and made my way down the stairs. As I did I burst into a rendition of the chorus to I Saw Her Standing There. Well I can’t visit that theatre without singing. The people following me down the stairs joined in which I really enjoyed.

It was a great event and very well done to Cannock Chase CAMRA and all of the volunteers who made it happen.

Back in Walsall I was ambling up Bridge Street and my favourite taxi driver saw me, did a u turn and pulled up alongside me offering me a lift home, which I declined. I was heading to the Walsall Arms for a night cap and I could manage that pilgrimage on foot.

In the pub, a singer was on and he rounded his set off with a selection of Oasis songs. I sat back and relaxed after a hectic and busy week. This was nice. The Importance Of Being Idle in the Walsall Arms.

On the Sunday it was a trip to Brownhills to present The Jiggers Whistle with the Walsall CAMRA Cider Pub Of The Year award. The wind was blowing and the carrier back containing the certificate nearly had an altercation with a couple of lampposts but it made it to town unscathed.

I’d been fannying around all morning and hadn’t eaten so I was up for a Geggs Steak Bake. Unfortunately, the queue was out of the door. I considered doing a Philip Schofield but opted not to. I don’t want any bad headlines before I become Mayor of Walsall. There will be plenty of time to accrue those once I’m in office.

I headed to the CO-OP instead for meal deal action. As is standard behaviour for me I chose carefully to ensure I got the most expensive item in each category thus getting £7.55 worth of goods for £4. Job done.

The Jiggers Whistle is a great pub. They always have good ales on along with a fridge full of boxes of ciders. Colin and Teresa are always welcoming and the award was well deserved.

Myself and fellow Walsall CAMRA member Dennis had a very pleasant hour and half but it was soon time for the bus. I wanted a souvenir of the visit so opted for a bottle of 1985. I love 1985. It’s the year of Back To The Future, a great song by Bowling For Soup and it was also the year that I had the deep joy of leaving my bastard hole of a primary school. This happiness was cut short 6 weeks later when I had to start going to my bastard hole of a secondary school. 1985 is also a great lager from of my favourite breweries Wye Valley so this was a perfect take away bottle.

The no 10 bus is shit. My friends Chris, Mary and Matt always have issues with it and now it was my turn. It didn’t show and Dennis (who got to stay in the pub for an additional 10 minutes waiting for his bus) got something on his phone which showed that the next one would be 10 minutes later than scheduled. He suggested I got on his, the 937A to Aldridge.

I’ve never got on the 937(with or without the A) and I appreciate that I’m sad and got absolutely no life but getting on a bus route for the first time always excites me. What would I do in Aldridge? Turtles Head for a pint? Chicken wings in The Avion? Suddenly it hit me. The Crown. Oh yes. A massive carvery. I sat back and dreamt of roast potatoes.

I was soon in Aldridge and marched into The Crown. A quick glance at the menu and carveries are no more in there. Rubbish. One thing caught my eye but my heart was set on a carvery. I waited until the bar staff were distracted and snook out.

I went to Brewers Fayre in Walsall and had their carvery. It was epic and so nice to eat a good meal. I don’t eat properly nowadays, mainly just snacking so a big dinner went down a storm. I then won £5 on the Pointless quiz game.

My mate Kimbo was in town so I joined him for a pint in St Matts Hall then I headed to the Walsall Arms which was very busy. At 8 o’clock the pub went from loud Mark Morrison “Return Of The Mack” to total quietness for the minutes silence for the passing of The Queen. I’ve done minutes silences in football grounds loads of times but never in a pub before. It was perfectly observed and the music resumed at the end. I remained silent until a couple of songs later when “The Love I Lost” West End Featuring Sybil came on, which I gave portions to.

I had a couple more beers and headed home where I had a pack of Crispy Bacon What Crunchies whilst hoping the lad from the beer festival managed to get some crisps of his own.