The Tipton pub with a name fit for a King on the coronation weekend
The Kings Arms in Tipton will be having a 'Royal knees-up' on Saturday, where people are welcomed to take part and enjoy their celebration for the King's Coronation.
Charles III and Camilla will be crowned in a historic event at Westminster Abbey on May 6, just one month shy of the 70th anniversary of Elizabeth II's coronation in June 1953.
To celebrate the historic event, people across the country will be partying and taking part in celebrations to mark the occasion, including pubs such as the Kings Arms, which will be decorated in red, white and blue with bunting hanging.
The Kings Arms, which is aptly named, considering the weekend's historic event, will be hosting a big celebration for their regulars, locals and families all around.
Landlady Jenny Witter has turned it into a popular spot for family events, and this weekend will be no different with an outdoor kids' disco, bouncy castle, face painting and a barbecue.
The following afternoon, there will be a themed party for adults. Those attending are being encouraged to don fancy dress in a competition for the king and queen costumes, with the winners securing a £30 price.
The event is free to attend, and Jenny said she is expected a lot of people to turn up, as her family events are always popular.
Jenny, 48, has run the pub since February 2022 after working in the care industry for 17 years but now she is living her lifelong ambition of running her own pub.
She said: "I worked as a care support worker for 17 years but I always wanted to run my own pub since I was a child, so during the Covid pandemic I started doing some courses and training, took my personal license qualification and then began looking at pubs I could take over and thankfully I found the Kings Arms.
"I finally found my calling and my dream job, so yeah, you could say I'm living the dream.
"I jokingly say that I'm still caring for people but it's just my customers now, but that is one thing I love about the job, the social aspect, meeting new people and the conversations you get to have."
The pub will open its doors from 10am on Saturday for the King's coronation where hot drinks will be served along with breakfasts, and the event will be shown on the screens in the pub.
Speaking about what the transition was like moving from the care sector to the hospitality industry, and during a testing time following the pandemic and now the cost-of-living crisis, Jenny added: "The move was fine.
"I'm originally from Birmingham, and so at first it took people a little time to take to me but after some hard work I've got the locals on my side now, I have been able to win them over, and now we get on like a house on fire and they're like my family.
"I also look after my dad here too, but overall I've received great support from the locals and regulars.
"It has been quiet during the weekdays but I think that things are slowly picking up following Covid and now the cost of living.
"Weekends are of course the busier days, and to help, I'm going to start serving my own food.
"Marstons took their food options out, and so it is a wet-led pub at the moment with just cobs and snacks but I've served a few curries and homemade scotch eggs and the customers are loving them, and so I will be launching my own menu within the next month.
"What has helped us as a pub too is by hosting these big events for families and also serving cocktails, which has brought on a lot of younger customers.
"Firstly, I love doing events for kids, and it goes back to the family-feel of the pub which is nice to have.
"I recently did an Easter hunt event for the kids, with breakfast with the Easter bunny which was thoroughly enjoyed.
"And for Christmas we had a big grotto for the kids, with Santa giving out presents and Christmas stalls in the area, it was all really nice and they are very popular, and so that is why this weekend I of course wanted to do a special things for adults for the coronation, but also for the kids too.
"Families feel safe coming here and bringing their children, locals say they can't believe how much I've changed the pub around.
"And as a single lady, I've managed to turn it around on my own which gives me a sense of pride and makes me happy.
"We also serve cocktails here which are really popular, and it helps getting younger customers in as they enjoy drinking the cocktails rather than the traditional beers and drinks
"So especially with the warmer weather approaching, we tend to sell a lot of cocktails, and Anton the cocktail maker does a great job at the bar."
