The Great Western, Wolverhampton

Set in the shadow of Wolverhampton station and named after a former station that stood nearby, this revered pub is a classic example of a well run back street alehouse. The pub won the CAMRA National Pub of the Year award all the way back in 1991, but by all accounts the ale range and quality has been maintained over the intervening years. There was certainly a good selection on handpull during my recent visit, with options comprising Holden’s Bitter, Special, Old Ale and Golden Glow plus Salopian Holly Bush and Kelham Island Pale Rider. Sadly, partly as a result of getting lost trying to find the pub, I only had time to sample one beer, and opted for a pint of the Pale Rider, which was on fine form and served to me by a friendly barmaid. I believe a real cider was also available, but I neglected to note what it was. You enter into the tile floored main bar and are immediately faced with the dark wood servery with its seemingly modern, and not particularly attractive, bar back. Banquette and low stool seating works its way around the front walls under some heavy floral patterned curtains and to the right there is a fridge full of Holden’s beers and a few mainstream options. To the right of the bar, a step leads up into a laminate floor room with banquettes and a coal effect fire on the rear wall. Various old pictures, mostly relating to the railways, adorn the walls and a large train signal arm is suspended from the ceiling. A passageway behind the bar links this area to the left hand side of the pub which runs a long way to the rear of the building. A lengthy stretch of banquette extends down the left hand wall with a drinking ledge and high stools opposite. More train memorabilia is on show here, including a sign for Cardiff Queen Street station. Lots more old photos line the walls alongside newspaper clippings, a TV showing 24 hour news and some items of pub merchandise. The room eventually opens out into a rear conservatory-style dining room, which has seating split over two levels and a second bar. All of the signs throughout the pub (‘Toilets’, ‘Private’, ‘Dining Area Only’ etc…) are former railway signs put to new use, which helps give the pub a satisfying unified theme. This is a real destination pub and one that can easily be incorporated into a visit to the city thanks to its proximity to the station. I’d love to visit this place again with a little more time on my hands, as it is one of those places that I suspect rewards repeat visits and as such this will be my first port of call the next time I’m in town.

This is a pub that I have visited on many occasions but not for over ten years. When I first came here they sold just Holden's Mild, Bitter and Special plus Batham's Best. Today they had the four regular Holden's ales, Batham's Best and two "foreign" guests Thornbridge Jaipur IPA and a Blue Monkey beer (Ape Ale I think). This seemed an odd choice of guests until it occurred to me that both breweries have their own pubs so maybe they are doing swaps. Sadly my Saturday early evening visit was on a Wolves match day so it was a bit mental and not as enjoyable as it could be. I went for just the Holden's beers, the mild (£2.40), Golden Glow (£2.65) and Special (£2.80). All were in good nick. This remains one of my top ten pubs of all time.

You can count me as another admirer of The Great Western. Entering the pub at the front door, there's a couple of small-ish rooms, one with a warming fire. One of these leads to a long room heading out to the back where there's a conservatory and outside seating for smokers. The pub seems to specialise in railway memorabilia (I suppose that, given the name, I should have expected this). At the bar, Holdens, Bathams and a few guests are offered and they're very reasonably priced (by the standards I'm used to). It's an enjoyable place to while away a few hours. Oh, finally, like jaqptio, I struggled to find the route from the station so: From the station exit, turn right and look for the Transport Police office - opposite that is a sign 'Subway'. Head down a triple flight of steps (I think that's right - there's definitely a lot), pass under the station, then turn right at the bottom, through the colonnade and keep going. Exit station to pint ordering shouldn't take much more than 5 minutes.