Cottage Spring, Balls Hill, West Bromwich

Very basic estate pub that has definitely seen better days. The bar at the front has a limited amount of furniture, a pool table and dartboard. Given the size of the place, there must be further rooms further back but these seem to be out of use. There are only two small banks of keg taps plus a solitary handpump which, much to my surprise, had an Indian Brewery IPA clip. Slightly less surprisingly, this turned out to be temporarily off, but at least they seem to be trying, and I took a pint of Banks's Original (£2.50) as a consolation. I would also add that they were getting a couple of tables ready for a cribbage league match, so it's obviously still performing a community function.

This is a detached 1960s pub with a bench outside, build along with the neighbouring houses on the site of the former Witton Lane and Crookhay collierys and iron works. The pub is of course, as most are of the period, dull. It is a house, with a steep pitch roof on one side, that has dormer windows. The rest of the pub is in two colours of brick. The interior has a couple of rooms, but only the bar was open. It is in white with crimson painted wood panel and has pool and darts, as well as a TV showing general programmes. The service was OK, and a few locals were in. There are no real pictures, it is a basic kind of place, as shwon by the fact that there was no real ale and just a few keg taps - i had a shandy. Nothing for the real ale fan - one for the locals.