The Swan Inn, Walsall

Basic, single-bar pub with the falling down exterior signage hardly raising confidence... Once inside, you find a single bar plus a side room (with a pool table) featuring a limited amount of tatty semi-modern furniture in the former and more traditional tables in the other. The unusually high counter is made from rough timber panels which may have been reclaimed from elsewhere, as might the bar-back? Not really expecting to find any real ale, the AJ'S Ruby (£3.20) available from one of the pair of handpumps proved surprisingly drinkable.