The Old Contemptibles, Birmingham

Massive old Victorian pile of a pub, that was packed at 7pm on a Saturday evening. Decent beer, but the locals out on the lash somewhat spoilt the place, especially the idiot who thought it was a real laugh to urinate in the toilet wash hand basin!! Won't be rushing back.

Another of Birmingham’s impressive pubs under the Nicholson stable and we headed here in hope of being fed after not getting into the dining area of the Old Joint stock. The pub is well described by PSM below and fortunately we managed to get a seat in the aforementioned dining area to the left of the pub when one of the serving staff allowed us to utilise a table that was booked for later on in the evening on the presence that we would be done and dusted before it was needed, immediately accelerating him into ‘top bloke’ category by my reckoning. Decent enough pint of St Austell’s Proper job and the two pies we had off the standard Nicholson menu hit the spot as well.. Nice pub this, liked it here..

Ornate Nicholson's pub with quite a dark interior. 8 real ales and food served.

Another of Birmingham's Nicholson's outlets, the Old Contemptibles takes its name from the nickname given to the British Expeditionary Force and is handily located to the side of Snow Hill station. It's a large, sprawling pub that has undergone recent refurbishment and was packed on my Saturday evening visit with lots of people who looked like they were off to a rock concert. You enter through the corner door into a bare boarded bar area with plush banquettes on both side, including some on a slightly raised section to the right. The windows along the front are huge and have decorative obscured glasswork. The servery runs along the back wall with what I assumed was a section of original gantry with an arm that extended out into the room, acting as part of an old doorway and partitioning wall, now lined with hops. There are large paintings of the aforementioned armed forces in action behind the bar, extending up to the very high ceiling which is painted in a dark shade with a gold frieze running beneath and hung with some suitably grand chandeliers. The mid section of the pub is much the same, but has some round copper topped tables in front of a hop lined cabinet that has beer books, bottles and tankards on display. The left side of the pub has a mix of banquette and tub chair seating to the front and high tables and stools closer to the bar. There is an excellent photo montage on the left hand wall which pays homage to the pub's war time tenants and is well worth a look. There are more impressive chandeliers here, each set into a decorative ceiling rose, although these have been lost somewhat under the dark paint they've been covered with. The room extends to the rear on this side, into what could be described as the dining area which has some nice wood panelling, lots of standard tables and chairs and old photos of the local area on display. Nicholson's usual decent ale range was available here with the handpulls dispensing Nicholson's Pale Ale, Stewart's Dakota, Sharps Doom Bar and Atlantic, Purity Ubu and Saddler's JPA, plus two real ciders. The JPA was in pretty good shape and served by one of the well drilled bar team who handled the large crowd very well. This is another good Nicholson's pub with some interesting features and a reliable ale range. It's very handy for a quick pint before leaving from Snow Hill station and a good solid option to include on any crawl around the city.