The Old Contemptibles, Birmingham

This brilliant traditional red brick Victorian pub is part of the Nicholson’s (M&B) chain, the current building was built around 1880 and was originally named the Albion Hotel until it was renamed by Mitchells and Butlers in 1953 to honour veterans of the Great War who regularly met at the pub. The pubs name is a nick name which was adopted by the British army regulars who made up the British Expeditionary Force that was sent to France in 1914, allegedly Kaiser Bill (Wilhelm II) of Germany ordered his generals to “exterminate Britain’s contemptible little army”, remarkably the comparatively small BEF actually helped to slow down and eventually halt the massive German armies advance at Mons in Belgium, Le Cateau and the Marne and the Aisne river areas in France. The pubs sign is in the shape of the Mons Star medal which was awarded to all the survivors of these initial battles. The interior is very traditional with two rooms, a main public bar area across the front of the building and a smaller snug in the back left corner, there are two entrances, one in the middle of the front of the building and one in the front right corner. The public bar has a lovely dark wood bar counter and elaborate bar back across the back wall with Great War murals painted on the wall above the bar. Opposite the counter in the front wall is a large marble fire place and in the far left wall is a smaller marble fire place which is hidden by tables and chairs, the floor is mostly natural wood, the walls are half wood panel with Victorian print wallpaper, nice stained glass windows and there is burgundy leather bench seating throughout. There is a large wooden staircase in the middle of the back wall to the left of the bar counter which leads to the toilets. To the left of the stairs is the entrance to the snug which has full wood panel walls and various old maps for decoration. Regular ales are currently Timothy Taylor Landlord, Purity Ubu, Marston’s Pedigree and Nicholson’s (St Austell) Pale Ale with up to four changing guest beers which on this occasion were Sharp’s Doom bar, Hop Back Taiphoon and Entire Stout (GBG 2012 and Cask Marque). I tried the Ubu and Stout which were both decent. You can find some really unusual beers in here at times and there often seems to be a beer from Hop Back brewery so I’m guessing the landlord must like them. A great traditional pub with a bit of character and a fantastic historic name, the pub sign is a really nice touch which I think deserves an extra point, I’m a little bit bias towards this pub due to my blatant interest in British military history. The beer selection is sufficiently varied with some national and more unusual beers to suit all tastes and the quality is normally good. I usually pop in here as I quite often use Snow Hill station which is right opposite the pub and there are several good pubs nearby, I shall continue to visit when in the area.