Royal Exchange, Stourbridge

Another Batham’s pub over two separate rooms accessed via a side corridor. Traditional interior with cream and dark brown colour scheme with red bench seating. Various old paintings and maps on the walls and beams which have an extensive collection of foreign currency pinned to them. Tidy rear courtyard. I tried the house Bitter (NBSS 4) and Mild (4). Great place, we wanted to stay for longer but it was chucking-out time and one of the party was also starting to talk in tongues, though we did manage to stuff a cob in his maw to keep him quiet. Why this hasn’t made GBG'23 is a mystery to me, it’s miles better than some of the other local picks.

Classic Batham's pub with superb bitter. Can't add much else really! There was a small group of regulars in the bar who made us feel very welcome on our afternoon visit. Well worth the short stroll from town.

This pub has been very well described by previous reviewers, which leaves me with the simple task of saying "me too". An excellent locals pub just outside the town centre, with one of the best bitters in the country, Bathams Best, in tip top condition. In fact it was so good when I was here on the Saturday before the Hatters game at the Hawthorns, that I came back again on the Tuesday after a session at the Camra winter festival in Birmingham. I wasn't disappointed.