The Lord Clifden

We were well into our late November pub crawl with Shelley's brother Craig and sister in law Maria. We had called in at The Railway, the German market, The OC's and next stop was The Lord Clifden.

There's a press cutting on the wall in the corridor at The Lord Clifden, I think it's from The Birmingham Post, listing what it believes to be the top twenty Birmingham pubs, The Lord Clifden, quite rightly in my view, makes it into the top five.

The pub is living proof that turds can indeed be polished and I think even Mr Sheene would be impressed with how the place has been transformed. Okay it has cost pub owners (Urban Art Bar) almost half a million pounds to turn what was once a run down old man's dive into a very popular place with the 'in crowd' (does such a term still exist) but it is money well spent with the beer garden being one of the best you will ever visit in a city centre pub. Unfortunately this photo doesn't do it justice...

...so you will have to take my word for it, but a place with four large HD tv's, two bars a table tennis table, a bar b q and even some art work from my mate Roy takes some beating.

Although we were well wrapped up..

..it was still an enjoyable experience in the beer garden however the place really comes alive in the summer as the garden is a sun trap. Unfortunately its' fame has spread far and wide and what was once a hidden gem in the Jewellery Quarter has now become its' crown jewels. Wow, jewellery references galore !!

The pub is also famous (and Good Beer Guide listed) for stocking a vast array of different drinks, Shelley and Maria were on the Th*tcher's Gold icy cider, a cider with the consistency of a slush puppy which is cider perfection on a hot summer's afternoon. Hereford resident Craig and myself were on Wye Valley HPA (Hereford Pale Ale), Craig felt very much at home as this is his normal tipple.

Earlier on we decided against the £4.50 charge for a hot dog at the German market so Craig suggested that we ate at the 'icy cider pub' as the pub has got a very good reputation for the quality of its' food but foolishly I talked him out of it, assuring him that we'd get something later.......(NB We didn't !!).

I had been building this pub up to Craig and Maria for some time so I was relieved when they enjoyed it as much as they did.

The Lord Clifden really is a diamond in the rough.