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The Foxholes, KIDDERMINSTER, DY10 2QR

This narrow and steep service road, off Stourbridge Road, gives access to these houses, which are at a much higher level than most of the properties in Stourbridge Road.

This little postbox serves Springfield Lane and adjoining streets.

A twentieth century estate pub, facing onto the busy Stourbridge Road which is also the A451. The name is a bit of a mystery. There is no New Bear pub around here. In 2012, the building became a Tesco Express convenience store. Image Image

This public house was closed and boarded up for many months. Then some months ago it suddenly re-opened, with a big banner proclaiming "Under new management". Today the banner has gone, but there is a sign outside saying "Run this pub", with a contact number. The pub remains open and it has potential because it's on a busy road and has car parks at both ends. After another period of closure, the pub was converted into a Tesco Express convenience store, which opened in 2012. Image Image

Recently re-opened after being closed for many months, The Old Bear is on Stourbridge Road (A451). It faces a lot of competition from several pubs that are fairly near, and the brewery are now seeking a new person to run it. Update (August 2012) - following a further period of closure, the building became a Tesco Express convenience store in 2012. Image Image

This was a Banks pub and, like most of them,it has a pub sign with the Banks lion and the name of the pub at the top. There would have been a Banks nameplate at the bottom but this has been removed. Banks is now owned by Marstons, so possibly the pub is going to be re-branded. In 2012, following many months of closure, the building became a Tesco Express convenience store. Image Image

The pub has closed and re-opened a number of times in the past few years but now it has closed permanently as a pub. It was purchased by Spencer Taverns in May 2011, but they re-considered the use of the premises because of the present economic climate. Planning permission was granted to convert the building to retail use in 2011, which involves substantial alterations. In February 2012, when this photograph was taken, the conversion work to change it into a shop was well underway. It seems that the pub replaced an earlier pub of the same name. Photographs of the pub when open:- Image Image Image Image Update (August 2012) - the building is now in use as a Tesco Express convenience store. See:- Image

This shop opened in 2012 in the building which was formerly the Old Bear public house. Because of its floor size it is not affected by the Sunday trading restrictions, so it is open from 6am to 11pm on seven days a week. It joins several other Tesco Express stores in the town, and is at least the second public house to become a shop. It follows in the footsteps of Jacksons which recently became a Spar store. The Old Bear had gone through difficult times in recent years, and it is likely that the store gets far more customers through its door in a day than the pub did in a week. Image Image