Yard Of Ale, Birmingham

Undergorund pub in central Birmingham, there are lots of fake black beams here, but I think it works is is a little different to the other pubs in the City Centre. Comfortable and usually 3 real ales on its worth a try. If the beer quality and choice continues to improve it could end up a very good pub.

An underground pub in the bustle of New Street near the train station. Don't be fooled by the name, they don't serve any ale never mind yards of it, it's all keg. Nice looking bar though that concentrates quite heavily on food. They advertise live sports on Sky and there are about 6-8 TV screens dotted around so you should always be able to see one. They could probably do with having the ability to split coverage between two channels though, we went in to watch the Eng v West Indies cricket and every screen was showing Aus v SA tri-nations rugby. Not one to make a special visit for but handy for the train station.

Situated in the basement of a rather dull modern shop and office block, it is easy to walk past. The interior is a decent enough attempt to recreate a Ye Olde Worlde pub using black gnarled beams and pillars that are either very good reproductions or salvaged from some other now demolished building of considerable age. They work well against the white walls and the modern brickwork also blends in to good effect. Despite the attempts at tradition, they fall a bit short of the mark when it comes to actual delivery. No Real Ales on offer and not even a token Yard of Ale glass on display. There are multiple screens for footie watching and various fruit / quiz machines are dotted about. I have certainly experienced far worse places and with its snugs and well planned layout, it is actually quite cosy. With a few proper beers this could be a fairly decent pub and given the apparent lack of competition in the immediate area, the place is certainly worth knowing about. One sad fact is that in 1974 when it was known as the Tavern In The Town, it was a target for IRA bombers and 11 people lost their lives here. Have a pint for them.

I used go in there in my younger days. Underground pub and best remembered for events in 1974. Gets very cramped and you may experience long waiting service for your order. Definitely not for faint heartened and wheelchairs users. The reason I stopped going there is I grew tired of waiting for my turn and far too cramped.

Underground pub, with fakey beams etc, accessed by a flight of stairs from New St. and useful for a quick stop off before the train. A visit will make you appreciate the horror of 1974. Used to pop in a fair bit - even had a work leaving do here once, but they took the MILD out and i couldnt be bothered anymore. A first visit in a while saw a few real ales on, one of which was a stronger MILD, Merrie Monk, which was decent enough. I think it may reappear on the stop off list again.

City centre basement pub on New St. Became famous for all the wrong reasons in 1970's when known as 'The Tavern in the Town'. Not a very nice place then and it hasn't changed.