We visited a West Midlands pub with a traditional feel which has given new life to a historic and atmospheric building

When businesses close down, the buildings they called home may stay empty and decaying for years, while others end up being demolished after outliving their usefulness.

Some, however, do get a second chance, being converted into new businesses and serving new purposes, which is exactly what happened to the building occupied by the Real Ale Tavern in Bewdley.

The building, which has stood in the north Worcestershire town for 250 years, had lived a number of lives, but had most recently been a Barclays bank which closed a decade ago and was then subsequently bought by Black Country Ales and converted into the Real Ale Tavern, opening to the public in November 2017.

It is currently run and managed by Jack Haycox, who took over the running of the pub two years ago having worked at numerous pubs around Bewdley over the years.

He said: "I've always been in the pub trade and I've lived in Bewdley all my life, working in and around different pubs in town and starting to manage a few of them along the way for other people.

"The opportunity then came up to take over the running of this pub and it was also my first bank as well, so it became a real opportunity for me.

"I knew that the previous manager had done a good job with the pub and he was leaving to take on another pub closer to where his partner lived, so it was the perfect opportunity to come in and take on the running of it."

The Real Ale Tavern carries the familiar Black Country Ales pub look, conveying a sense of history and atmosphere as one area leads into another into the depths of the pub, where the old bank vault door is still to be seen on display, albeit not in its original position. 

In winter the open fire keeps the front lounge area warm, with comfy sofas to relax on, while the roof terrace, with tables and sun shades, doubles as the smoking area and is accessible from a door near the WCs, up a flight of external steps.

Mr Haycox said it already had a cellar when Black Country Ales took it over and he hadn't made many changes to the pub since taking over, apart from introducing some sporting teams.

He said: "We've introduced a darts team and a cribbage team, which is something that really helps when the colder weather comes in and you want to stay indoors.

"We will have the Black Country Ales staples on hand-pulls, so you'll always get BFG, Pig on the Wall and Fireside, as well as six guest ales and three guest ciders, working with local breweries like Holdens and Kinver and Bewdley, as we love to keep it local.

"We also have a lot of local gins from Wyre Forest, who are based in Bewdley, and we've also got Wild Jack, which is brewed up the road - and the managing director comes in here a lot."

While the pub doesn't do a big selection of food, it will provide a selection of cobs, including ham salad, cheese and onion and ham and cheese, and sell pork pies made nearby.

Mr Haycox said that the Real Ale Tavern was all about community and while roadworks in the last few years had been a struggle, it was a pub which always drew a crowd.

He said: "People just get to see friendly faces and while it's been a struggle because of the bridge being shut [for flood defence upgrades], then reopening, then shutting again, we've somehow managed to increase trade year-on-year.

"Bewdley is still a very good tourist destination and we obviously get a lot of people from the Black Country and Birmingham and from the Severn Valley Railway, plus a lot of people come down for the fishing, so we do get a good crowd."