The Shovel Inn, Stourbridge

Was looking forward to this one but it did its best to put us off. A whiffy sulpher smell on entering, not pleasant. Wood dividers throughout, though the horrid two-tone snot green paint was garish. Decent cask line-up, though my Dancing Duck was sightly musty (NBSS 2 – aspirator?). Of interest were the tables, made of old Singer sewing machines. My two companions were similarly unimpressed and we dumped our sub-standard beers and headed-off. Lye’s a tough place to love and the pubs seem to have a similar vibe. 5.5

Excellent selection of ten real ales and a couple of ciders on handpump in this semi-traditional alehouse, although the menu has an unexpected Southern / Mexican theme on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. The interior has a four-section layout, with the main part of the counter ahead of you as you enter, the main seating and darts area to the right and two dining areas to the left. I went for the 'house' (Enville) Shovelicious (£3.20), but the diverse range of other (mostly very local) beers was equally tempting. However, three gripes: no card payments accepted (which is very odd these days for a pub with a significant food offering), rather distant staff and getting moved from an unmarked 'reserved' table well after having said where I was sitting when ordering a meal...