please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
2nd visit in 3 years. All perfectly described here.
Only thing to add is the landlord of 28 years (!) is retiring soon.
Things do change.
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I first went to this pub back in 1978 with my brother-in-law who had moved to Brierley hill with his job.
I next visited in 2012.
I could not discern any change - apart from the fact i had less hair and a better taste in clothes.
This place is marvellous.
And the beer aint three bad either..
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The beer is wonderful, the place itself is completely, magnificently unspoilt. There's nothing else you need to say about it - this is one of the great authentic British drinking experiences. If you have any interest in beer or pubs, it's a place of pilgrimage.
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One of the best - Batham's brewery tap with their superb bitter which is one of my favourites. Sit in the "public bar" and watch the comings-and-goings or relax in the lounge (which I think was once the brewery office). The actual brewery is out the back and there is another room at the rear. I will always head for this pub when I am in the area (take a bus to Merry Hill Shopping centre and it's a short walk from there or an X96 will get you even closer). This is a classic pub and should not be missed.
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Went in on Saturday afternoon in December and the place was busy showing how popular it is. The pub has a public bar on the right and comfortable lounge on the left as you enter. Further back behind the bar is a club room too. Tried the Bathams - Mild & Bitter on my visit. Recomend the Mild. My friend also had a homemade Pork Pie which he said was delicious.
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Why is this not nearer to home? Excellent beer, friendly people, a cracker.
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It must have been nearly 20 years since I was here last. But it is fairly unchanged. Traditional Bathams pub with 2 or 3 Bathams ales on. The cider is Westons Stowford Press. Only the front bar to the right as you enter has full access to the bar. Although a serving hatch in the corridor serves the other rooms. The bar itself was busy on my lunchtime visit today. The lounge to the left as you enter was much quieter. I believe there is also a third room to the rear. The highlight of any Delph crawl. The locals are pretty friendly.
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A classic pub with various rooms, very popular at Midday on a Thursday! Pies are their speciality, hearty food, faggots & gravy, that sort of thing. Beer is cheap and great, I had the Batham's Mild, lots of beer tourists and locals alike.
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Good old boozer. 2 nice beers bitter and mild. Lots of pies.
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This has been one of my all-time favourite pubs for over 30 years and it is utterly fabulous. Pity some of the current staff seem intent on turning surly grumpiness into an art form.
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This is the sort of pub you wished you lived next to!
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A quick stop-off following the rigours of the Delph locks allowed us to pop in to the B 'n' B for a couple, after a long trudge up the hill ignoring other pubs which may have been satisfactory for all we knew, but it was the Bathams brewery tap we were after.
Only 2 of the maximum 3 Bathams on - the Mild and the Best - but nowt wrong with that as both were found to be in fine fettle. Our by-then customary round of 7 beers were ordered and I honestly thought the barmaid's arm would snap as she was painfully thin, but this belied her fitness as she pumped each one up with vigour, and with top-ups to boot!
The pub is deceptively large and houses many drinking areas, and at the rear there is a covered area and generous garden for drier days. The front parlour is adorned with interesting old newspaper articles about the pub and the local beer landscape in days gone by. It has a rich history with the brewery dating back to the 1870s.
The pies and baguettes looked superb - like so much pub grub in this region, simple but highly effective and good value. That said I omitted to sample it, although one of the crew did so and was most pleased. Unfortunately, due to a serious hygiene issue of one of the regulars, we had to decamp to the garden - a friendly enough chap but really, if he carries on like that he could lose the pub some business!
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Batham's Best bitter @ � 2.30 a pint tastes as good as it gets - try their pork pies @ � 1.00 each you will not be disapointted with some Colman's mustard - best pub on the Delph run !
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Fantastic pub, great atmosphere and really good beer. Definately worth making the trip to visit
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Good lunchtime snacks are available at lunchtimes including sandwiches, samosas and good old faggots were on the menu too! They've a good range of scratchings too.
The pub's called the vine though is known locally as the 'Bull and Bladder' after the butchers shop that used to be next door.
Definitely going back. By the way, great bingo site I found. wwwbingotime.co.uk
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The Shakespeare quotation boldly written across the top of the building is often remarked on, but for many visitors it is the lower inscription that brings them here. This reads "Batham's Genuine Home Brewed Mild & Bitter Beers", and that is exactly what you get - usually just two beers on handpump, Best Bitter and Mild, but two of the best brews in the country (and splendid value at only �2.15 for a pint). Inside, there is small, busy public bar and larger, quieter lounge bar - separated by a serving hatch - on the right-hand side of the corridor; with a dining room and another small room (doubling up as a kitchen annex during the busy lunchtime period) to the left. There is also a patio out back, next door to the tall brewery building. With a great atmosphere, and full of friendly regulars as well as Bathams pilgrims, this is to many (me included) pub heaven.
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Brierley Hill in the Black Country has an extra-ordinary reputation in the UK. Alongside the road is a famous stretch of canal with a series of nine locks allowing barges to climb (or descend) the hill. But it is the five pubs along the road that attract the interest of drinkers. And the one that has acquired an almost legendary status is the one named The Vine but always known as The Bull and Bladder. It carries an inscription from Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona across its exterior: "Blessings of Your Heart, You Brew Good Ale." This pub is the brew-tap for the Batham brewery - family owned since 1877 - and the best place (one of only 26) to sample Batham's Best Bitter. This is a refreshing and very smooth bitter - very much in the Northern England style of bitter. A crisp hop aroma and a good fruity body. Fresh and tasty though it is I am not a fan of smooth frothy bitters and so didn't rate it highly. However the old style pub with it's maze of small rooms had a wonderful atmosphere.
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The bull and bladder continues to be classic example of an old fashioned black country boozer.
The pub is always busy, and the landlord Mel and his staff provide good quality beer and good value weekday luncheon food.
A real classic, not to be missed if in the area.
Note; Bathams pubs do not serve guest ales, but the house Bitter, Mild and if you are lucky in the winter the xxx are all great beers.
Boing Boing!
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I shall be visiting this fine establishment next saturday, i've never had a bad pint of bathams bitter in this pub and i also understand the mild is top notch, the cobs and pork pies are also very nice and very reasonably priced.
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The Vine ( or The Bull and Bladder as it's more generally known ) is one of the most famous of all Black Country pubs and is the Bathams Brewery tap. The Delph Brewery describes itself as "the birthplace of genuine beer" and was established in 1877.
As you stand outside the pub on the other side of the road, note the inscription high up on the wall - "Blessing of Your Heart - You Brew Good Ale" - which is attributed to Shakespeare. I was however somewhat less impressed with the large West Bromwich Albion F C flag flying from the roof !
The pub is much larger than it looks from the outside. There's 4 rooms in total, 2 either side of a tiled corridor which leads to an outside concreted patio. The first bar on the right is the public bar, basic, but lively and the haunt of regulars. On the left is a larger, comfortable lounge which, as long ago as 1996, won a CAMRA award for its sensitive refurbishment. Behind this bar, accessed from the corridor, is a smallish room which appears to be used occasionally by a Lodge of the Royal Antidiluvian Order of Buffaloes, whoever they may be. There's another large lounge on the right hand side of the corridor behind the public bar.
There's a disproportionately large pub car park across the road, reflecting the fame and popularity of the pub. It's a popular venue for coach trips of beer / pub tourists, thankfully absent during my visit.
For the uniniated, Bathams Best Bitter is a typically sweetish Midlands bitter, pale in colour, and priced here at � 2.15p. It's an enjoyable pint and was in good form on my visit. The pub is a GBG regular.
The Bull and Bladder is a splendid establishment - a West Midlands institution - and you should try to get there. Combine it with a stroll up the well known flight of locks, Delph Locks, if you have time.
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They certainly don't make pubs like this anymore. Even the locals inside are pleasant and not the usual uncivilized bunch.
Beer is superb. A pint of the mild is exceptional especially accompanied by one of their good value cobs ( a sarnie to non residents ). Best boozer for miles and is next to Merry Hill shopping too so the wife remains happy.
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A few years ago i was a regular, this pub is an institution( of the best kind ).
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What a great town pub! Wish a few more were like this! Batham�s is heaven in a pint glass. Did not try the pork pies as we had just eaten elsewhere � next time eh? This pub was recommended to me by �The Antique�, who knows a few around here and who I met coming up the Hatton Flight.
Oakie - 22 Feb 2009 18:57 |
One of the dying breed of 'Real Pubs'
Bathams Bitter and Mild are two drinks definately not to be missed.
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mmhhhhhh bathams. Visited the Bull and Bladder on Sat, for a couple before a party at the waterfront. was looking forward to visitin after readig the reviews and enjoying bathams at the lord clifden, hockley. is now easily my favorite beer, that I have tried so far...and this pub was brilliant puring 2 perfect pints while chatted to some locals. Gud friendly service as well, cheers
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Always a delight to come here and sup Bathams. They also do a pretty good pork pie. .
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Another superb Black Country offering, this Batham's brewery tap is a classic, unspoiled pub with various rooms leading off a long central corridor.
The 1920's stylings of the bar are a delight, as is the beer (assuming you like Bathams!).
Again, another worthy visit.
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Cracking pub - try not to get run down crossing the busy road to get to those nice Bathams beers. Bit of a labyrinth in there but partly because it's part way through the pub crawl and things are little blurry. Pork pies should not be missed.
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Nectar of the Gods. "Blessing of your heart, you brew good ale" says the Shakespeare quote on the front of the building. The Two Gentlemen Of Verona knew their ale.A fitting tribute to one of the finest pints in the Midlands. Leave the kids at Merry Hell Shopping Centre and partake of the Bathams.Good food, great beers. Simple but brilliant. I don't care if the landlord's an Albion fan. And now you can buy the polo shirt too.Just do it.
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HaHa! Don't ever let Mel hear you call him a Wolves fan! He's a Baggie!!! Superb beer, consistently the best pint in the Midlands, if not the universe. Great spread at lunch time as well.
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Yeah and Mel the gaffer ( a well-known Brummie ) supports the Wolves...
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Wonderful beer (I stuck to the mild) lovely old pub very cosey and welcoming.
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A Black Country institution. Superb quality beer, and tasty and excellent food, very reasonably priced. The perfect pub. Long may it flourish!
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Bathams brewery tap and a real gem. I prefer the front 2 rooms to the back, but no matter this is topnotch. Excellent
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This is a pub that any lover of good beer and classic pubs must visit. Quite simply it's a gem - both beer and food are excellent value. Only downer for me was the toerag who parked a 4 x 4 in front, preventing me from getting a decent photo!
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The busiest pub on our Delph run tonight. Excellent pint of Bathams MILD. Sat out in the back courtyard for a change, this is a brilliant pub with several very different drinking areas. In tonights heat a fair few customers were standing out the front.
Returned later after drinking in the "Tenth Lock", skipping the smooth pour in the "Dock & Iron" and ogling the barmaid in the "Black Horse". All in all a very good night out on the Delph, just need to start out earlier next time.
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A proper pub full of proper people all there for the beer. BATHAMS MILD is brewed here and is an excellent pint. Been a few weeks since my last visit but will be calling in again, that is as soon as I have completed the "MILD in MAY" - "Walsall MILD Trail".
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Pubby pub full of pubness. A real find, and possibly one of England's finest boozers.
anonymous - 26 Sep 2005 14:19 |
anyone who considers this Bathams beer flat is obviously a lager drinker, as for expensive, it doesnt come any cheaper than here.
Chav?
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I wouldn't trust this place - my mate had his wallet stolen in here by some chavs. The beer is expensive and flat, its not worth the rating it has got.
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this is a little gem.
perfect ale. & today 3 of us had food;
beef roll, faggots & peas, steak pie & chips;
under �6-00! why go to posh places with fancy waiters?
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Brilliant Good food beer excellent, a real find pubs as they should be.
9.5/10
Bob Godsalve - 18 Jul 2004 17:36 |
Brilliant
Jimbo Smith - 7 May 2004 19:24 |
The brewery tap for Bathams. An unspoilt gem of a pub with all the beers in absolutely perfect condition. The extension into the former butcher's next door won it an award in 1996. Excellent value bar snacks too. Definitely worth a visit.
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