The Britannia, Upper Gornal, Dudley

Very busy on our Friday eve visit, which was expected. We got the No 1 bus up to Upper Gornal and the stop was just at the pub. Have to say the pub did look stunning when lit up in the dark. We didn't have much of a wait getting served in the front bar, in spite of it being mobbed. To my disappointment again no mild on, still the bitter was superb. Managed to have a look round, but it was slow and difficult, even the beer garden was busy. If on a return visit, I will call a lot earlier.

This excellent Bathams pub was the most popular of those we called in yesterday, the garden at the rear was full. It serves both the Best Bitter and Mild, and we were told the mild was on the way out and if it wasn't right she would change it, and she did - no quibble. In the 2012 Good Beer Guide and shouldn't be missed off any tour of the area. Lovely interior.

This is a fantastic traditional pub owned by Batham’s Brewery, the building dates from the 1780’s but it has been used as a pub since the 1830’s and is a former brew house. The interior has three small rooms, a public bar at the front, a snug in the back left of the building and a sports room on the far right. The main entrance leads straight into the public bar which has a tiny bar counter on the left with a Bathams tiled bar back and large mirror, in the right hand wall is a cast iron coal fire place that is often used in the colder months and creates a lovely cosy atmosphere, this has a nice wooden mantle piece and mirror above, there are burgundy bench seats and old local photos on the walls. Opposite the entrance is a doorway which leads to a corridor that runs across the back of the building, immediately on the left is where you will find the snug which is listed on CAMRA’s historic pub interiors web site, this is mainly due to the 1920’s large fitted sideboard on the right hand wall which has four hand pulls built into it, so there is no actual serving counter as such. The snug also has a brick fire place with cast grate, green leather bench seats and old tools mounted on the walls. At the other end of the corridor on the right of the building is a small room with a dart board and an old TV on a high shelf in the corner. The corridor also leads to a nice beer garden behind the pub. Regular ales are Bathams Bitter and Mild with no changing guests, the quality is always very good as with all Bathams pubs (GBG 2011). The antique hand pulls in the back room are actually used, but only on Friday nights when a member of staff is available. I love this pub. This is my idea of heaven, consistently great beer served in a very traditional pub with bucket loads of character and a real coal fire. The food is simple, you won’t find anything other than cobs, pork pies and scratchings in here. This is one of those pubs that is definitely worth travelling for, it’s a local gem and there are other excellent pubs nearby.