White House, Hockley, Birmingham

Blimey. What a survivor. I've got a book of photos of the old East End of London and this building reminded me of that. Two road systems look like they have cut it off from whatever architecture it used to sit aside. Its now in complete isolation. Lack of lights on, barred windows and seemingly shut doors give the place a very closed feel but luckily, I timed it when two workmen were exiting. After I had completed two complete tours of the building to gain access. Inside, its neat and tidy - with continuous rooms around a central bar. Vague Irish feel to the decoration. Old photos of the pub and that classic shot of New York workmen having their skyrise lunch. Beerwise - this is where it gets bizarre/interesting. I should have noted that my other two pre-midday drinkers were on Carling. In cans. That's a first. There was a handpull - Holdens Mild - but that was off. So a tied brewery pub with none of the breweries cask on. There was some holdens keg and guinness which was chosen, decent and cheap. £3.40? Bit of an end of days feel - but cheery staff. Maybe to go the same way as some other Holdens that are marked on Google Maps as permanently closed.

Official site of White House - www.holdensthewhitehousehockley.co.uk

Official site of White House - www.holdensthewhitehousehockley.co.uk

Traditional - if now geographically isolated - two-bar pub, with just a slightly widened opening between the two parts being the only obvious layout change. Smaller and busier public bar at the front and a slightly more spacious lounge further back. Basic furniture and decor on both sides. Disappointingly, just Holden's Mild (£2.10) available from the three handpumps, and that ran out part-way through the pour, but the resulting fresh pint was well worth the wait.

This detached building is Holden's most easterly outlet and the closest one to Birmingham itself. It's an odd place as it seems to be completely isolated from any housing other than some blocks of flats some way past the main road, As I approached it at around 11:30 on a Saturday Morning I felt sure it was not going to be open but it was and the landlady told me that they were open from 09:00am until 02:00am on a Saturday! Inside it's something of a time warp with a long narrow lino clad public bar and a carpeted saloon behind dominated by a pool table. The public bar has the leaded windows all along it and there were a few old boys in with cloth caps adding to the time warp impression. On the bar there were two hand pumps clipped with Holden's Mild and Bitter. Surprisingly the Bitter was not available so I went for the Mild (£2.10). This was a trifle on the warm side but fine apart from that. It is 50p a pint cheaper than their flagship Great Western in Wolverhampton. Despite the limited beer choice this place is well worth a visit just to see what many pubs used to be like.