The Bartons Arms, Birmingham

A palatial showpiece Victorian pub, still as described below and on various websites including their own. Sitting in the sun streaming through the large windows in the midst of such classical pub architecture was a very pleasant experience, quite apart from the excellent beer (I went for a well-conditioned brew from Frothblowers on this occasion) and a very tasty Thai sausage! Nowadays it is not in the most exciting of surroundings but it is definitely worth the trip out of town.

This fantastic-looking pub has been on my radar since purchasing Camra's real heritage pubs guide to the Midlands and my visit to Birmingham to do a Digbeth crawl provided me with an opportunity. It's easily reached from the city centre by the frequent 51 bus service (my Plus Bus ticket obtained with my train tickets made the journey a cheap one, too). The pub is well described below and in the Camra publication (and website) referred to, so I'll concentrate on the beer. There are numerous hand pumps scattered around the large central bar, most of the beers being from Oakham. My half of Bishops Farewell was in good nick, but not the best I've ever had. Nevertheless, it was a pleasure to be here and I hope to get the opportunity for a return visit before too long. Date of visit: 11th July 2018