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Submitted on Friday, 4^th April 2025
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The Great Western, Wolverhampton

Sun Street
Wolverhampton
WV10 0DJ

Phone: 01902351090

Correct details

Served areas

Wolverhampton Central, Heath Town

Reviews of The Great Western (Average Rating: 9 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Will Larter left this review about The Great Western

My final pub of the day in Wolverhampton with a group of beer tourists, and also the busiest, which accounts for not having sufficient elbow room to photgraph the hand pumps. Suffice to say that I drank halves of Bathams Best Bitter and two from Holdens, the bitter and the mild. All were in the region of NBSS 4 to 4.5, easily the best beer of the day (though I only drank one beer in the Wheatsheaf, which was also a 4, so it's possible that the others there were also as good). I think my previous visits here were on football days, when it can get pretty busy, so it was good to see it at a slightly quieter period (4:30pm on a Thursday) when I was able to appreciate it as a pleasant pub, and the best of our day. (I remembered reaching this pub previously via an arcaded walkway under the north side of the station, but found out that this is closed now; the way to go back to the station is along Corn Hill, under the railway bridge and through the car park.)

On 4^th April 2025 - rating: 8
[User has posted 4273 recommendations about 3935 pubs]

Quinno _ left this review about The Great Western

Has had a scrub and it has lost a bit of the old charm (along with Bathams Bitter and other guest offerings, it seems - certainly none were in evidence on my December visit, anyway). No arguments about the GBG quality of my Holdens Mild (NBSS 4) but it did just seem a bit too stark inside; maybe in five years time it’ll feel as lived-in as it used to do. Still an essential Wolves visit but not the Top 20 UK pub it used to be. 8.5

November 2012
Sublime boozer located in the cobbled backstreets behind Wolverhampton BR (face the current station entrance and head for the left hand side, then turn right). The pub doesn’t necessarily look the largest from the outside but there is a large sympathetically extended interior within, covered in railway memorabilia (with a bit of WWFC thrown in for good measure). On entering there’s a small tiled public bar area with some seating and a darts room off to the right. Beyond the bar is a long rectangular room (almost a corridor) with banquette seating which in turn opens out onto a conservatory area. There’s a number of real fires on the go during the colder months, which makes for a lovely sooty-smelling atmosphere. Owned by Holdens brewery so at least three of their ales - often including the mild - are on the go, usually supplemented by Bathams and other interesting guests (check the chalkboard for forthcoming beers), six in total. In addition there is a proper cider available and keg Murphys, which you don’t see very often nowadays. Quality is always very high and prices are usually pretty low – a perfect combination. There’s always plenty of customers and a good buzz about the place which is impressive given an obvious lack of passing trade. Large signs above the bar advertise competitively-priced grub and I can recommend the hot pork bap as an absolute winner. An analogue hanging timepiece keeps you abreast of the time of your train (leave 10 minutes before departure to be safe, you’ll need it). Toilets are clean, despite the large, ahem, footfall. A lot of love and care makes this the outstanding pub in Wolverhampton and, in my humble opinion, one of the best in the UK I have so far visited. The line in a review below; “this place isn’t a pub, it’s an experience”, sums it up perfectly. A must-visit. Rated 10

On 2^nd April 2025 - rating: 8
[User has posted 5552 recommendations about 5533 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Graham Coombs left this review about The Great Western

A well-visited classic, so popular that it has lost some of its charm but it is still a cracking good pub and well worth the detour round the back of the station. The original front part is the best area, with the extension behind feeling too open and modern despite their best efforts. The place also lacks the guest ale selection of the past, but personally I am quite happy with a full range from one decent brewer (plus the Bathams of course) and the mild was excellent.

On 10^th February 2024 - rating: 8
[User has posted 3641 recommendations about 3576 pubs]

View more reviews of The Great Western (22)

This pub features in the following crawls:
Wolverhampton City Centre Crawl by Ale Monster
Midland Metro Pub Crawl by Andy Ven
Stourbridge to Wolverhampton by Andy Ven
Brum-Oakengates-Walsall by train man

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