The Horse & Jockey, Bilston

This is a red brick community pub which is owned by Punch Taverns, its location is a little unusual as the front of the building is below the level of the main road and it is flanked by large trees, so it is entirely possible to miss the pub from the road. The interior has two rooms, a public bar at the front and a large dining lounge at the back. The main entrance leads into a short corridor with the public bar immediately on the right, this has a small dark wood bar counter in the back right wall, a large brick fire place with an authentic looking cast iron cooking stove in the right hand wall, between the counter and the fire place is a flat screen TV which was showing football results on the BBC, brown leather bench seating and booths across the front wall opposite the counter, a dart board in the back left hand corner near the entrance and various pictures of horse racing on the walls. At the end of the short corridor is the larger lounge which has a cream painted bar counter in the front right wall (directly behind the public bar counter), a classic Victorian cast iron fire place and nice mantle piece in the front left wall, several tables intended for dining with dark red bench seats and brown leather comfy arm chairs. In front of the counter and the fire place the floor is bare floor boards with carpet towards the back of the room. At the back of the lounge are double doors which lead out to a gravel area with garden furniture and there is a small car park on the right of the building. Regular ales are currently Banks’s Mild, Greene King Abbots Ale and St Austell Tribute with three changing guest beers which on this occasion were Hobson’s Town Crier, Caledonian Deuchars IPA and Young’s Bitter (GBG 2012 and Cask Marque). I tried the Mild, Tribute and Town Crier and found all to be in excellent condition. Note that the beer choice is split between the two rooms. A great local’s pub which has an effective blend of fairly traditional public bar and a more modern family orientated dining lounge. The pub has been refurbished and slightly modernised in recent years but has retained some nice traditional features, I felt most comfortable in the public bar and the beer was very good, I will return.

An excellent example of how an Estate pub should be. There is a nice clean bar and more formal lounge/dining area, seems to cater for all, beer drinkers in the bar, foodies and people wanting to sit comfortably in the lounge. There is a plasma screen in the bar & it has soft benches and carpeted whilst the lounge is much bigger and split with shelving to form different areas. 6 real ales, starting with the standard Banks Mild, moving to staples like Abbot Ale to more unusual choices, like Hobsons Town Crier. Tries to cater for all tastes, as needed in an area such as this, and does it very well. Altogether a good pub.

The Horse and Jockey is set below road level and it is in the hurst hill area. I went in the bar which was comfortable enough and fairly busy and there were four real ales on the bar i had a drink of Batemans Valliant and this was very nice the other beers were Banks's Original/mild, St Austell Dark and Deuchars IPA. I thought this was a decent pub and i was happy enough having a drink in here. Pub visited 17/5/2008

A large detached brick build in a dip from as seen from the road, with a beer garden The interior is a mixture of the modern and traditional. The bar has darts and leather perimeter seating, with a TV, sadly showing American Idol, and is in brown, green and white, with horse racing pictures. There is a nice wood bar and a nice brick fireplace, with a Victorian stove. The lounge is foody based, with the comfy type of chairs. The background music was quiet, the place tidy and clean. The service was fine and the clientele more mature. Beer; tap stuff, with a good Banks’s MILD on handpull, with Pedigree and Bass. St Austell Tribute and Abbot were about to, or had just been on, or indeed were still on in the lounge, but I didn’t notice the board until I sat down A good visit, decent beer, with a good enough mix of modern and traditional to please both camps. I would return