We visit Wolverhampton pub that's been given a new lease of life after undergoing extensive refurbishment following years of closure

The Fox and Goose had once been a popular pub, set alongside the busy Penn Road in a busy retail area, but closed as a pub in 2007.

It had gained a new life in 2017 as the Carriba, a Caribbean restaurant and cocktail lounge, but closed during the Covid-19 pandemic and had laid dormant for several years.

However, it is set to gain a brand new life as a hybrid cafe and pub after being taken over by Liz and Steve Evans, who are well known in the Penn area after 25 years at the Barley Mow pub on Penn Common.

The pub had a soft launch on August 2 and officially opened its doors on Wednesday, while the cafe will open for the first time on Tuesday, August 12.

Since taking over, Steve and Liz have worked to completely rebuild the inside of the pub, creating two separate areas for the cafe, which will run from 9am to 3.30pm from Tuesday to Saturday and until 2pm on Sundays when it opens, and the pub, which will be open from mid-afternoon until late Monday to Friday and through the afternoon and evening at weekends.

Steve Evans said he had lived in the area his whole life and had been aware of the Fox and Goose and had seen the potential in it.

He said: "I saw the potential as I've lived in Penn my whole life and I was just aware that this pub was probably the best in Penn, but it had shut down for some reason and had just laid dormant and derelict.

"I've got a background in pubs and we had finished last year at the Barley Mow, but I've driven past this place loads of times and thought I could do something with it.

"We decided to look into a cafe and pub because we didn't want to just be a pub and this place is massive."

The pub is a freehold, meaning that the landlords can stock any drinks they want on the hand pulls, with popular ales such as HPA and Enville Ale, while the cafe will become a place to enjoy breakfasts and a range of hot drinks

Mr Evans said the plan was to create a cafe culture during the day and a pub culture at night, which would help bring more focus on the pub scene in Penn, an area rich with pubs, as well as add a new twist on the cafe scene.

He said: "We're doing something we haven't done before and while we did do breakfasts at the Barley Mow, and they went down really well, this is a step further as we've literally split the venue in two, so you get a traditional pub and a modern cafe together.

"It's a unique twist and I don't think it's a bad thing that something is opening up again as the pub trade gets such a bad press, with a focus on pubs closing down, and while they do, there are just as many opening up and I think that can only be good for the area."

Mr Evans said a lot of work had gone into the renovation of the pub as he and his team had found when they opened the doors for the first time in August 2024, but it had been worth the effort to create the new look pub and cafe, and he said he was looking forward to welcoming people in.

He said: "It was an absolute shell of its former self, with the windows all being breeze blocked and upstairs being a mess, plus all the floors were up and there was a hole in the floor of where the cafe now is, so it was an absolute wreck.

"It's taken a long time because we've been doing everything pretty much ourselves, bringing in some local builders to help us, but we're in budget and the place looks and feels new as a result.

"We want this place to be a success as this is a new idea, doing a cafe and pub together, so it's going to take a bit of time and compromise, but we want it to be a success as it's good for the local area."