The Fox and Goose, Penn Road, Wolverhampton

Image: © Roger D Kidd Taken: 30 Jan 2008

Closed until further notice. This pub, renamed the "Fox at Penn" recently by people who ought to have known better, now appears to be another in the long list of main road pubs which are closing down. In the 70s, through to the early 90s it was a thriving and busy "local" with a popular lounge, and even more popular public bar, serving Ansell's ales. The landlady was the highly respected (and late) Muriel Kavanagh, and the pub was almost entirely family run despite being a tenancy. She was refused renewal of her tenancy on reaching normal retirement age in the late eighties (the date, not her age!); no doubt the brewery could get a much higher rent from a new "younger" tenant with a new tenancy agreement. The usual "renovations" destroying the lounge/public bar format caused this former friendly local pub to go downhill from then on, and since 2000, rapidly so. Misguided attempts to turn it into a curry house/bar called the "Fox at Penn" were the last straw, it seems. Successful pubs depend on the charisma and efficiency of the landlord/landlady, and top quality real ale in addition to all the other usual drinks, and appropriately priced good quality food - not necessarily pretentious. Serving food here was always a struggle; kitchen facilities were very restricted. The private living quarters upstairs are also surprisingly limited.

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