Plough & Harrow, Stourbridge

This is a former Holt Plant & Deakin pub with lot's of their signage. For those who are unaware, this was a cynical marketing ploy by Allied Breweries back in 1984 to boost their underperforming (mostly) Ansell's pubs in the Black Country. They decorated them to make them look more "Olde Worlde", added some "real" fires and started a new microbrewery in Langley near Oldbury to provide the beer. I sat by an example of their handiwork from the 1980s which was a frosted glass window with a plastic transfer sheet over it to make it look like it was a leaded stained glass window! The trouble is after all that time not only was the window cracked but the transfer was peeling away. I suspect that this pub is not owned by Craddock's but leased from one of the big pubcos. The brewery web site makes a big play on the fact that they bought the Duke William from Marston's but little mention of here. The said pub is top of my list for the next time I visit Stourbridge. Having said all that, it's not a bad place at all. It does have a traditional pub feel to it despite the old Allied Brewery bodges. I missed the other two pumps, but on the three I saw there were Purity UBU, Taylor's Landlord and Craddock's Saxon Gold. The Saxon Gold was a decent pint in good condition but at £3.05 was the most expensive pint on my visit to the West Midlands. Of course this simply reinforces my theory about the large pubco ownership of the place. It could be a lot better out of their hands.

This is an end terraced cottage styled pub with a side patio area. It is in white render with red apintwork and has a small central entrace flanked by bay windows, with lovely etched Holts Brewery windows. The interior has a U-shaped room around the central bar that faces you on entry. The decor has red and yellow split walls with a yellow ceiling and a mix of patterned carpet, wood and stone flag floor. There is a brick chimney and three firplaces in all. There is nice bench seating. There is no much electic fun in here, a paino, waterpump, old radio, with lots of prints, plates and old photos on the walls. There is a dart board, though there is a table in the way, so play at quiet times i think! The service was fine and the clientele locals mainly, though a group of 20 bikers came in the other day - that would be mature cyclists by the way! Beer; usual tap stuff with 5 handpulls, some served from the back of the bar. There was Timothy Taylor Landlord, Wye Valley HPA, Purity UBU and Craddock's Goat Herder Stout and Billy the Kid. The HPA was excellent. Another Stourbridge winner. A great pub served by a bloke that looks like a Viking warrior. It was busy on my first visit, but idyllic on my second. Class.