For such a modestly proportioned rural village, Studley (pronounced stud-lee, and not stude-lee as I mistakenly said to the bus driver!) has an awful lot going for it. On an unseasonally hot early Spring afternoon recently, a wander around the village revealed a newish speciality beer and cider off licence, a terrific little brewery tap, a former Mad O'Rourke's 'Little' pub (ask your parents), and that rarest of rare things, a very nice pint of Guinness in a pub that has one of the last remaining Skittle Alleys in the area.I could have visited several more pubs in the immediate vicinity, had a Crusty Cob from the Butcher's Wife's Kitchen (regrets, I have a few...), and if staying over for the night, finished things off with something spicy and Himalayan from the local Nepalese Restaurant. As it was I caught the bus back to nearby Alcester for the night, a pretty decent village itself, though no pubs with skittle alleys as far as I can tell...
Of course the main reason I'd hopped on a bus to Studley was to visit the Swan Inn and its aforementioned skittle alley. This part of the Midlands is at the very edge of a skittles tradition which extends across to Wales and down through the whole of the West Country, but the closer you get to the urban sprawl of Birmingham, the harder it is to find pubs with any kind of skittles play.Darts and Pool are alive and well in the area, as is that most traditional of all pub games, Cribbage. In fact I've seen more afternoon games of Cribbage in progress in this part of the country than anywhere else I can think of. But it doesn't take a lot of digging to find that Skittles was just as popular at one time, with alleys dotted throughout the West Midlands, including much of what now constitutes the wider metropolitan area of Birmingham. Of these, only a handful remain in Birmingham itself, including one that's already featured on this blog at the Selly Park Tavern. It would seem that modern day Birmingham is just too cosmopolitan for the humble game of skittles, but not so Studley.
The skittle alley at the Swan may be one of the last in the area, but it's not for want of patronage. It helps that the actual alley is just a small part of a good-size function room at the pub. Well-appointed and with its own bar, and of course it comes with the option of a friendly game of skittles.
The main reason the alley is in such regular use, is that in common with some club leagues such as the one in Coventry, the Swan is home to its own league of ten teams who play 'home' and 'away' at the pub. There also seems to be some overlap with play in the nearby Redditch League which means there's league play at the Swan Inn most weekday evenings. This represents important regular custom for a pub like the Swan which majors on the more traditional aspects of the trade like pub games and televised sport.
6 comments:
Great pics.
The only GBG pub there now is the Weatheroak Tap House, which is rather plain (I'll leave it there).
https://retiredmartin.com/2018/03/08/studleys-beer-guide-library/
I remember O'Rourkes, in fact I was sure the Desperate Dan pie still lived on in Bewdley and Brierley Hill (near Merry Hill centre).
Martin
I’d very much like to do a long weekend tour of all the old Little Pubs, most of which we went to back in the early 90’s and are still there as far as I can tell. The Lark at Studley was one I’d never been to, though I’d read its newspaper plenty of times, so was very keen to visit. Very nice pub actually, probably the best in the village.
Another exciting episode for your anorak skittle mate in Dorset. Great to see Mark; I've looked up Studley on the map and am delighted to see the game here. I look forward to seeing what you can discover now in a Southerly direction and across the Cotswolds plus East of those great skittling centres of Cheltenham and Gloucester.
Keep up the great work.
Never-ending task John, luckily there’s usually sufficient refreshment available on the journey...
What a great pub! Studley is another Brum overspill like Tamworth and Redditch but more like eighties Brum ...glad to see it thriving
Britain Beermat
In a village of maybe half a dozen pubs/clubs, there still seems to be room for the one that doesn't major on beer or food, but the more 'blokey' staples of televised sport, pub games, and beer drinking. It's these pubs that generally attract me as there's more chance of pub games and casual conversation. It's all about there being a place in the village for everyone. Sadly, in too many small villages with just one or two pubs, they see their future as up-market food venues which leave little space for anything else. It may make sense for the pub and 'some' villagers, but removes choice and can effectively exclude other from the simple pleasures of a social pint.
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