Taking A Gamble And Adding A New Feature To A Waterside Pub Has Proved That Doing Something Correctly And Well Can Pay Off Handsomely
I live in the Black Country, the area of the Midlands which was nicknamed thus by Andrew Carnegie, the great American steel tycoon, on a visit to the region and who was amazed that everything was covered in carbon dust from the thousands of furnaces which were being used to smelt iron-ore, manufacture steel, cast iron, glass, chains and power the engines that powered the mines that dug out the coal to burn in the furnaces.
Because the industrial revolution occurred here, we have a significant complex of canals that criss-cross the region connecting the Midlands to the rest of the country. As a result, one of the important attractions to tourists coming is to enjoy some time on a canal boat out on the water, working their way along the old routes that moved the goods fabricated here to the world. Such people have amazingly included Harrison Ford and his wife Calista Flockhart a couple of years ago.
And where there are canals, there will be pubs. And where there is a waterside pub, there should be a barbeque if the brewery has any sense. During the summer the bbq is an important part of the business accounting figures for anywhere that has one. A place close to here is famed for the food that comes off the charcoal grills and on a warm summer evening and during the weekend from lunchtime onwards the grounds are packed.
The inside of the pub has a restaurant area with the expected a la carte menu and specials board, but the bbq area is separate and operates as a stand alone restaurant offering steaks, burgers, ribs and sausages etc which can be ordered with home made marinades or plain. A fryer sits next to the charcoal grills turning out a regular stream of chips and next to of that somebody is employed making salads and dressings. It is a superb operation that must have needed a deep breath before building the shack in which is housed sits and wouldn’t have been cheap.
One of the nicest ways to waste a couple of hours on a sunny afternoon is to sit by the lock with a glass of beer and a barbeque steak and watch the boats rise and fall as people make their way to and from Wolverhampton and Kidderminster as the perfumed smoke from the bbq blows across the garden. You can really see the effect it has on the people on the boats who often moor up as near as they can and come backlmake their way along the towpath and indulge themselves.
It’s another superb example of making the most of what there is and more as when the present team took it over it was, unbelievably, a failing business. This may have had a bit to do with the fact that it always closed on a Sunday afternoon which, for a country pub on the road to the local beauty spots and popular walkway was complete insanity. Many is the occasion on a sunny afternoon when I worked at the local electricity board office I’d get a phone call closed to four o’clock and it would normally be somebody suggesting we all go for a drink by the canal. And it’s rude to say no. But now it is once again thriving, and giving meat lovers a barbeque treat as well as a super place to stop for a couple of hours.