White Lion, Walsallback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
What a shock. We returned to a once favourite haunt to find it almost empty and in a miserable state.
A few years ago, we’d often visit the White Lion on a Saturday night, having had many enjoyable evenings there. Back then, the Lounge was comfortable with a decent juke box for those who wanted it. The public bar would be fairly full, with occasional bands or other acts playing on a tiny stage area to one end. How things have changed.
Arriving early Friday evening, we headed for the Lounge only to find every table set for food – but not a single diner there. A pool table (also empty) had appeared at the far end, rarely an improvement to any pub. As non-diners, we felt obliged to head to the next-door public bar. The barman was playing darts with what appeared to be the only customer. He broke away from his darts match to serve us, only to return to his game afterwards. This is a pet hate of ours, bar staff who are busy with their mates/laptop/accounts, as the customers then feels like a disturbance to their routine.
The beer range was Wye Valley IPA, Adnam's Southwold Bitter and Marston's Pedigree. With the latter almost always a disappointment, we opted for the Adnams which proved fairly dull. I was glad we’d only ordered halves, whereas my partners regretted not walking out.
A large, old TV had been dumped at one end of the public bar, presumably to entertain the bored staff, but killing any chance of atmosphere or conversation as a result. The cook, in the absence of any customers, kept appearing to sit down and watch it. We could smell the kitchen’s deep fat fryer heating in the hope of some customers, but this didn't smell very nice. My partner visited the ladies toilet to find a large bin full to bursting with what she guessed was well over a week’s worth of waste, something you might have expected the bored staff to have dealt with. The ‘Specials Board’ listed Chilli, Cottage Pie, Ploughman's & Steak Salad, leaving us wondering just how more basic the standard menu could have been.
Asking locally, it seems the owners we fondly remembered left a few years ago. Since then, the PubCo has changed, and several new landlords have passed through in quick succession. The latest crew are rumoured to be just holding the place whilst a ‘Change of Use’ planning application is made, presumably to change it away from its pub history forever. CAMRA are said to be fighting this, but I have to say things don't look optimistic. The phrase ‘running down to close’ was used by one local, and based on our visit, that seems spot on.
Roy22 - 10 Aug 2014 19:54 |
A decent local with 4 well kept cask ales and a friendly landlady. It's only a 15 minute or so walk from the Park Inn, by Bescot Stadium station, where I was staying. Worth a visit if you are doing likewise!
alexw - 15 Jan 2013 16:38 |
It must be something about after match drinkers as this pub is a couple of mile from Walsall ground but I like others ended up there after a game - to be fair I have been in this pub before (too many years ago to mention here) and thought I would give it a go. Well worth it I would say with a few real ales and a very mixed clientele (arty types mixed with footie fans). I get told off for saying it too often but it really is an oasis in the middle of a run down area of Walsall (Caldmore if you know the area).
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Friendly staff and customers make this a must visit on a match day as this is by far the best pub near to the Bescot Stadium. Great range of beers and even better pickled eggs. The bar has a sloping floor which is a bit strange on your first visit. Well worth seeking out.
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Great backstreet pub with a very knowledgable landlady and some well-kept beers. Our visit coincided with the aftermatch of a beer festival which meant that the remaining ales - indcluding some belters like Sarah Hughes' dark ruby, were on offer for two quid a pint. The landlord and brewer of the Price of Wales' Feathers and Castor Ales was also present in the deep end and appeared suitably impressed. Will definitely look forward to another visit.
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Great pub. Very friendly, charming, bright and musically talented landlady with six or so ales. From a Cambridge point of view GK IPA, GK Abbott Ale and Adnams Bitter and TT's Landlord are a bit 'expected'. Many of those ales are easily found in Cambridge so the guest ales at the White Lion were very welcome. (n.b. I am not slating the ales mentioned, just disappointed to seem them so 'far' from home).
I had Rough Justice by Burton Bridge and Ruby Mild by New Inn(?) and both were excellent. Free Wi-Fi was also useful. As was the fact that this place was open all day, unlike somewhere else I also review in Walsall...
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Good beer, even better service. Beer garden has been improved as well. Decent cobs on at a reasonable price during the day
Was in here before the first home game of the season, had a pint of Abbot sitting on our table while I finished my previous pint , Landlord came over to our table saying the Abbot ale looked a bit off and gave me a fresh pint.
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Time for an update: A fantastic exterior to this place. A large brick corner pub, with etched windows, mouldin around doors and windows and timber framed gables.
The interior has two rooms, bar and lounge. The bar has a sloping floor, dart board, various memorabilia and is decked out in green and white. Service is great - we returned a couple of pints that were on the turn and the were replaced after a new barrel attached and served to our table. Clientele is mixed and its often busy, seldom quiet.
Beer; some tap stuff, but Highgate MILD (always a MILD on, not always Highgate), Toll End Bitter, Sharpe's Doombar, GK IPA, Abbot's Ale and Kinver Light Railway were on last night.
A must - only drawback, the loo is pungent and can be detected from the entrance!
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A really excellent pub. Described by Camra as a �community pub�, this really is justified. Young people, middle aged couples, older/retired people too, they all happily coexist in this friendly place.
The bar staff are very prompt (expect to be asked by about three different staff if you�re being served whilst the fourth pulls your pint) and genuinely pleasant. No sullen skulkers behind the bar here.
There�s plenty of lunchtime food, live bands some nights and a jukebox (moderate volume) which can lead to some amiable music wars some nights. But you�re as likely to hear 60s/70s being played as something current, and the charm of the place is the happy way the White Lion has captured such a broad and satisfied age group.
Beerwise, I have to say we are thoroughly impressed. Highgate Dark Mild is permanently on, always good and sometimes exceptional (well, it doesn�t have far to travel). Other regulars like the Doom Bar are superb, and the changing guest beer is often astonishingly good too. Really a place where you struggle to decide what to have next, and leave feeling like you belong there. A busy, sociable pub with superb real ales, The White Lion shows the others how it should be done.
Roy22 - 20 Jul 2008 14:35 |
A place of true quality to partake in the medicinal waters. Highgate Mild is class and JB agreed the Doom Bar was majestic.
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I specifically wanted to visit this pub on my 4 July night out with the Archivist. Why? 'cause I'd read it did Hobgoblin and that seems to be rare on tap anywhere. However, when we went in, there was no Hobgoblin! So, what did I think of this pub? The Highgate Dark Mild was the very best we tasted during our evening. The Doom Bar was majestic. The pub has an excellent atmosphere and the building is fantastic. So, despite my initial disappointment, I give this pub a 9/10 rating. I will be back!
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Wonderful Victorian pub with good beer, friendly staff, good atmosphere.
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Owning company has now invested in the White Lion and the place has really livened up. The beer is excellent and it's well worth making a detour for, especially on a Tuesday evening when there is live folk/country
anonymous - 17 Aug 2007 21:14 |
Large Victorian pub with loads of character, (birthplace of actress Sue Nicholls from Coronation St), good choice of real ales but desperately in need of some investment by the brewery.
Decent walking distance from Bescot Stadium to enjoy a pre-match pint without the risk of any hooligan-type bother
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Fairly typical of Black Country - large friendly and decent beer, not sure if it warrants lavish CAMRA praise
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In at the Shallow end then down to the Deep end for a pint of Highgate Dark MILD. The floor in this place is amazing the slope is as steep as in the baths, hence Deep & Shallow ends. Very friendly place even the lager & bitter drinkers are sociable with us MILD liberation front activists. One of the 12 pubs on this years Walsall MILD TRAIL. Last night was pulled an excellent pint of Highgate Dark MILD which was on a par with the Ansells MILD they had not so long back.
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