Harvester The Wheatsheaf, Birmingham

Fairly typical Harvester, very much geared towards food but with a decent drinking area. Still got Doom Bar and Atlantic on. OK to pop in for one but not really worth going out of the way for unless you are eating!

Extended and given the Harvester treatment but still recognisably a pub. It also has a fair-sized two-part bar as well as the various main dining areas, plus a large (and very busy, on a warm summer evening) beer garden. Just Doom Bar (£1.65, half) on the three handpumps, with Sharp's Atlantic being readied on another, but at least it does do real ale.

Official site of Harvester The Wheatsheaf - www.harvester.co.uk

Official site of Harvester The Wheatsheaf - www.harvester.co.uk

This is the former Wheatsheaf Inn, now a harvester, with a patio area. The core of the building contains some 17th century timbers, and it has been a pub certainly since the Victorian period. It is irregular in plan, and has grown organically, with the second storey being a dormer range. The interior is mostly for the carvery, although there is a lounge area, with sofas and comfy seats, bistro art and a kid's grabbing machine. The décor is red, coffee and brown artexy walls, with some brick - including a hearth feature. The service was fine and the clientele seemed to be locals - although I can't understand why you would come here just to drink. The music was charty, but at a decent level and I didn't note a TV. Beer; no real ale, but there is a wide choice of keg drinks - the Guinness being fine. A dull place really, one where you go for food rather than to drink. Sad to see what has become of it from when I visited a bit back in the 80s.