Fox & Grapes, Pensnett, Dudley

Typical, traditional Bathams Pub - although not done out in the external colouring of their others. Main bar has a (loud) TV at the far end, dartboard at the other. Plush red leather bench seating. Typical wares - Bathams Best Bitter and Mild - Massive Cobs. If you like what they offer, you will love it.

Pensnett is a strange area. Although this pub is in the "High Street" the road itself is nothing more than a busy suburban main road with just a few run-down terraced shops, this pub and across the road going back towards Dudley a hospital the size of a major shopping centre. The pub itself once belonged to Allied Breweries as a Holt Deakin & Plant house that was presumably Ansell's prior to that. I could see no evidence around the red brick exterior for any previous ownership. Batham's bought it at the end of the last century to replace the Holly Bush around the corner. Inside there is an island bar with three separate areas off it, a smallish garden to the rear and a terrace at the front. I settled for the carpeted back area where there is a dartboard but it is obstructed by a table and chairs. On the bar there were three Batham's beers the Mild, Best and the Xmas XXX. I went for the XXX (£3.20) which was in fine condition. It's an improvement on their original pub the Holly Bush which was quite a dull modern affair. While it's not one of their classic pubs it's still well worth the effort to get to and an enjoyable pub to visit. NB: It doesn't open until 13:00 on Monday to Saturday.

This is a detached Batham's pub with beer garden and patio areas. The pub goes back to the 1820s at least, but was rebuilt (keeping the same name) in the 1930s. It is an interesting building, being in undressed brick, with projecting entrance, it has large Romanesque windows that actually form the windows on both storeys. There are Batham's etched windows. The interior has a U-shaped room, which is divided into two halfs. One side is the bar, which is in cream and brick. It has a brick fireplace, with a burner fire, red lino floor and a couple of incongruous TVs showing a B-western film. A few sporting pictures and prints are on the walls. There was no music. The other side is the lounge. It is in cream patterned wallpaper, with a part dividing brick hearth feature and a dart board. It had classier prints on the walls. There are nice cobs available. The service was very good and the clientele consisted of a few locals - but busier when I returned on a later visit. Beer; usual tap stuff, with Murphy's. On handpull there is the Bitter (excellent) and MILD (decent). A strange sort of Bathams pub, with the TVs, but never-the-less, still one that needs to be visited - it is Bathams after all!

Visited September 2009 Purpose built Bathams pub a couple of miles outside Dudley on a main road and close to the absolutely massive Russells Hall Hospital. It's a single U shaped bar, but with distinct areas. The public bar part is traditionally furnished and, on my recent Sunday lunchtime visit, 2 largish TV's were showing the last England - Australia one day cricket international ( the one that England won !). On the walls are limited edition prints of both West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Clubs, together with a signed photo of Cassius Clay, plus several Elvis pictures. The lounge bar part at the back was quieter, but still traditional and cosy. There's some seats at the front for watching the busy main road traffic rush by and a grassy outside area at the back with a smokers shelter. Both the Bathams Best Bitter and the Mild ( £ 2.15p and £ 1.95p respectively ) were in good nick, as befits a pub that has been GBG listed for several years. GBG stickers are proudly displayed in the front window. Also worhy of note were the substantial plates of free "nibbles" on the bar - a Sunday lunchtime tradition that sadly seems to be dying out in these current times when pubs are regarded more as "profit centres" than places to sell beer and serve the local community. This is not a must visit pub, but worth calling in if passing by

Official page of the Fox & Grapes - www.bathams.co.uk

Official page of the Fox & Grapes - www.bathams.co.uk