West Midlands village pubs up for sale at auction
Two village pubs are to go under the hammer at a forthcoming auction.
The Manchester Inn in Romsley, near Halesowen, and The Swan Inn, in Armitage, near Rugeley, are included in the 103 properties up for sale in Birmingham.
They are among four pubs being auctioned in CPBigwood's property sale.
The Manchester Inn, in Bromsgrove Road, is currently closed.
It has a guide price of more than £185,000, while the Swan Inn, Rugeley Road – which was reopened by Enterprise Inns in June – has a guide price of £120,000.
The Romsley pub has a 25-space car park opposite and a bar, lounge and catering kitchen.
According to the Campaign for Real Ale, pubs across the country are closing at the rate of 29 a week.
Many are being bought for conversion for other uses, often as supermarkets.
The Summer House, in Sedgley Road West, Woodsetton, is the latest Black Country watering hole at risk of become a Co-op store, with plans set for approval by Dudley Council at a planning committee meeting next week.
Other pubs targeted for supermarkets in recent months include The Maypole in Halesowen, the Haden Cross in Cradley Heath and the Seven Stars in Sedgley.
West Midlands MEP Bill Etheridge has been a vocal critic of the closure of pubs and campaigned across the region to try to save Black Country alehouses.
Mr Etheridge has called the closure of pubs 'a depressing trend' and said it represents 'the homogenisation of society'.
A campaign was launched in August which aims to save 3,000 pubs from demolition or conversion by getting them listed as Assets of Community Value under the 2011 Localism Act, which offers them protection should their owners wish to sell.
Among the other lots up for sale is Jasmine Cottage, 63 Bromsgrove Road in Romsley, which is on offer at £190,000 to £210,000.
The auction takes place in the Holte Suite at Aston Villa's Villa Park ground on Thursday, October 22.
