The Brook, Woodsetton, Dudley

Curious place, with a bow-windowed frontage housing a lounge with a dartboard (and the toilets) but the bar and main seating area is set much lower (with quite a few steps in between), but both parts refurbished. There was also quite a smell of bleach, so not quite sure what was going on there, and the drinks selection was much reduced. Nothing doing on the solitary handpump, and the M&B Mild was one of several missing items on the keg taps, so it was a quick pint of Worthington's (£2.60) before moving on.

A detached Banks's pub that is bigger than it looks from the undressed brick frontage, with bay windows containing some coloured glass. It has a great beer garden to the side, one served by a little bridge it seems. The front entrance takes you into a games room. It is in white and wood panelled walls and white ceiling, with a green painted cornice. The room and the carpet are a little tired now and there are no real pictures, but it does have a pool table and dart board. A few steps will take you down to the green-tiled serving bar, which faces you, and the lounge. This room is in cream (with red patterned) wallpaper and plain red. Some general prints and an old bottle collection decorate the room and there is a TV above the little Banks's tiled fireplace, which had general TV on. The service was fine and the few regulars sat in the lounge area. The music was at a soft level and general in nature. Beer; usual tap stuff, with Banks's MILD. There was one handpull, with Marston's Old Father Time on, which was well kept. I liked this pub, a decent real-ale, games area and different in design. Worth popping into.