The Crown Joules, Wolverhampton

This is a nice Victorian pub with stone mullioned bay windows on the ground floor and decorative scrolled stone lintels on the first floor windows, it is a former M&B pub that has been recently acquired by the Stonegate pub company. The interior is now open plan but there are two distinct areas, on the right of the room as you enter is the public bar area, this is up a step or two and has an island bar counter protruding from the back wall, a dominating brick fire place in the right hand wall which is topped with a brick arch that almost reaches the ceiling, above the fire place is a large flat screen TV, some standard pub furniture with a couple of leather sofas, fake looking beams and various paintings on the walls. To the left of the main entrance is more of a quiet dining lounge area with more authentic looking beams, a lovely cast iron fire place with floral ceramic tile surround, green fabric bench seats and a hand full of more modern chairs, there is a second large flat screen TV on the wall near to the entrance. In the back right corner of the bar area is a door which leads out to a gravel area with a wooden band stand type construction and a half dozen picnic tables. I believe there is a function room at the back of the pub but I have not seen inside. Regular ales are Marston’s EPA, Banks’s Bitter and Mild with no changing guests although I was told that this selection will soon change now that Stonegate have bought the pub. The Mild on this visit was spot on but unfortunately judging by other recent visits the quality is variable. This is a decent family pub with a community feel, it’s a bit foody for my taste and there is better drinking pubs nearby, but I still pop in and have one occasionally for a change of scenery and the regulars are friendly enough.