The Fountain, Walsall

A survivor surrounded by dereliction in a grotty (and if you know Walsall, you’ll know what that means) backwater area. Slightly wonky looking exterior (subsidence?). Interior consists of two rooms either side of the long central bar through a porch (descriptions of the left hand side as a snug are somewhat liberal with the term). Colour scheme is green in the right and purple in the left with décor of a relatively upmarket and arty bent. A nice laid-back atmosphere with live sax music on the go during our Friday afternoon visit along with a hearty coal fires. Also spotted a piano and some pub cats (both alive and in wooden sculpture form). GBG listed, there were seven cask and two ciders available in totality, pints of Titanic Carpathia (NBSS 3) and Pentrich Land of Chocolate (4) gave us a really positive impression, though sadly a return following evening found a fairly lacklustre Silhill Superstar (2). There were no Backyard Brewery beers available as the brewery went into liquidation in May 2023, which I hadn’t realised. A good place, overall.

Fine traditional pub - that again, I probably chose at the wrong time. Three other punters on a Saturday lunch. The porch/front door leads to a choice of left (snug) and right (taproom). I went right, where the life was. Different handpulls on either side of the central bar, so you need to peruse the chalk writing on the bar side thats on. I may have panicked but I only noticed beers from other breweries. Must have been me not reading probably. It is the taproom for the Backyard Brewery. Decent abbeydale pint.