The Dudley pub that's a well-known music venue for local bands to show their talents

Ye Olde Foundry in Dudley is widely known for being a musical venue where rock bands from the surrounding area showcase their talents and play regularly.

The pub has been owned for the past nine years by David Singh and run by Chrissie Love who has managed the venue since 2016.

Chrissie has a nice backstory with the pub, as her first ever job as an adult was at Ye Olde Foundry in 1999 as a barmaid. After life took her elsewhere, she returned to the business in 2016, this time taking over as manager.

Speaking about coming back 17 years after she first started at the venue, Chrissie says: "This is the first time I've done management in the pub trade, but it was nice to come back round full circle to the place I first worked.

"I have loved it though. It certainly is challenging and not the role I was used to but Dave has been brilliant to work with. He has been doing it since he was 18, and he has coached me so well.

"It was a big learning curve for me, as there is so much going on when running a pub and even more so as we are a music venue too - but I wouldn't have been able to do it without him. We work so well together."

The pub is located on King Street, Dudley, and it has become very popular for the regular live entertainment, and live bands playing there every weekend, along with a lot of guest DJs and artists.

Chrissie says this is what makes the place special, as they give local artists the chance and platform to showcase their music, and it is greatly appreciated all round, and some artists that first played their music at Ye Olde Foundry have gone on to do great things in their musical careers.

She added: "We do lots of live entertainment here, but mainly alternative music like rock, metal, punk, and it's a very popular music venue. It's nice to give the platform to artists to showcase their music.

"We do a free jukebox on Tuesdays too which is really popular as customers enjoy the music whilst having a drink, playing pool and darts."

The building underwent a large refurbishment during the Covid pandemic in 2020, when the floors and walls were redecorated, and a personal touch was added to the dance floor in the venue as the logo of the business was installed.

During that refurbishment, a lounge room was created and it is named the Victoria Lounge, which is a nod to the former name of the pub. The pub has a rich history dating back to the 1930s, where it was first called The Coach and Horses, but in recent history, it has had a nickname called 'The Vic' and in a nod to that nickname, the lounge was named after that.

Like all pubs across the Black Country and the country as a whole, Ye Olde Foundry has suffered as a result of the pandemic and now the cost of living crisis, but one thing they are grateful for, is simply still existing.

Chrissie explains: "It has been really difficult during that time, and some weeks more than others, but we are are still here.

"So many pubs have not been able to make it through this tough time, and so we are very grateful to still be here today, that is the main thing.

"When we did the refurbishment during Covid, we had the kitchen built where we started serving food, but we have recently stopped it due to the rising costs to run it, but we are hoping to start up again next year.

"We have a great set of loyal customers that come here and support us, and especially in the tough times.

"The regulars are great, and most of them come on the weekends to see the live music, which is where most our trade comes from but we also have the regulars in the week too, which all helps.

"It is nice to have the music venue part, as as well as the loyal customers, we even have people come from afar that travel to see bands, which all helps.

"And we have a really large range of drinks on offer from draughts, real cask ales, lagers, bitters, all which are really popular here."