A four-square, white-painted pub tucked away down a cul-de-sac in the northern suburbs of Walsall and backing on to the Daw End Branch of the Rushall Canal. It features on CAMRA’s National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors and claims to originally date from the 12th century, although the present building is mostly 18th century. The track past the pub takes you to the Park Lime Pits country park.
The highlight is the unspoilt public bar on the left with handpumps installed against the back wall and no bar counter as such. There’s also a central corridor with serving hatch, a smoke room on the right with bench seating and quarry tiles, and a plainer, modern lounge to the rear. The pub also has an extensive beer garden overlooking the canal, and so is an ideal spot for a summer weekend lunchtime.
Once an M&B house, it has now passed into the hands of Banks’s/Marston’s, with a beer range of Banks’s Mild and Bitter plus four changing guests from the Marston’s range. It has been reported as serving lunches in the past, but on my recent visit had a sign saying “kitchen now closed” – I’m not sure how permanent that is.
