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Woodland Cottages, Penn Road, WOLVERHAMPTON, WV4 4DG

Formerly the Fox and Goose, this former friendly local pub is still closed following misguided refurbishment and change of name and character. Image] March 2010: Now look at it! Image

This secluded little cul-de-sac off the A449 Penn Road, by the former Fox and Goose public house includes several attractive old cottages.

This secluded little cul-de-sac off the A449 Penn Road, by the former Fox and Goose public house, includes several attractive old cottages.

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.

The former pub so well described by Roger Kidd in Image and Image has changed little since 2008, except that there's now a Birmingham estate agent's For Sale sign on the wall, offering the place for the princely sum of £275,000. On the face of it, that would sound like a relatively good deal, but the place's historical problems over the last 10 years, so well documented by Roger, may well be enough to put potential purchasers off the idea.

Oh dear; what have they done to the Fox and Goose? Looks like the "peppermint custard" we used to get at primary school in Sidcup! The former pub (then curry house) is now a Caribbean restaurant and cocktail lounge.

Oh dear; what have they done to the Fox and Goose by Penn Road? Looks like the "peppermint custard" we used to get at primary school in Sidcup! The former pub (then curry house) is now a Caribbean restaurant and cocktail lounge.

The former Fox and Goose pub by the Penn Road is now a Caribbean restaurant and cocktail lounge, which opened in the early autumn of 2017. Image] Image]

This is by the A449 Penn road about two miles from Wolverhampton city centre. Formerly the Fox and Goose, and the Fox at Penn, and Kiran's Fusion Exclusive Cuisine, and The Sitar Classical Indian Restaurant; this building is now The Caribba Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge. Image]

This is by the A449 Penn road about two miles from Wolverhampton city centre. Formerly the Fox and Goose, and the Fox at Penn, and Kiran's Fusion Exclusive Cuisine, and The Sitar Classical Indian Restaurant; this building is now The Caribba Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge. Image]