The Bolebridge

 

Okay, I understand that because this is a Spoons it might not to be everyone's taste, but what's not to like about an establishment that is unpretentious, sells good quality beer at budget friendly prices, and where your eardrums aren't subjected to the likes of Drake, Ne-Yo, Usher or anything else that young folk refer to as music these days. Have I turned into my Dad?!!

Already a big pub The Bolebridge was recently extended to incorporate an orangery (whatever one of those is?!!) and to quote the late great Eric Morecambe you can't see the join. 

The clientele is mixed, granted you get your archetypal Wetherspoons customers, pensioners continue to irritate punters by painstakingly counting out their coins at the bar to pay for their customary pints of Ruddles or mugs of refillable coffee. Meanwhile youngsters pre load on Friday and Saturday nights and cause long queues at the bar by ordering Sex on the Beach which I believe is a cocktail rather than a romp in the sand with Tracey from Stonydelph. 

A few things differentiate customers at The Bolebridge however from those at other Wetherspoons pubs. Firstly the pub is a miscued defensive clearance away from The Lamb, the home ground of Tamworth FC. Tamworth currently ply their trade in the Southern League Premier Division Central so, although away fans are banned from the pub, you may still stumble across the occasional Biggleswade Town supporter who has managed to sneak their way past the pub's crack security team for a pre match pint. 

Secondly The Bolebridge is a couple of miles away from the award winning Drayton Manor Theme Park. Yes the local attraction was the winner of the prestigious Family Favourites Best Value Family Day Out in the UK 2019. So unsurprisingly families come from far and wide to visit the award winner with many choosing to locate themselves at the Tamworth Travelodge which is virtually across the road from the pub. As a result the pub is regularly filled with children weary from the excitement of experiencing the Flying Dutchman which to clarify is a nautical themed flying ship rather than a description of Tony Van Mierlo the pacy winger from Holland who played for Birmingham City in the early 1980's.

Finally the close proximity of budget hotel Travelodge means that weeknights in The Bolebridge can often contain tradesmen from the length and breadth of the UK. You will hear Scousers, Cockneys, Geordies, Welsh and Scots to name but a few, at times it can be like a modern day Tower of Babel. Bar staff must get fed up of the standard request for 8 pints of Carling with a receipt made out for Food !! 

As is the case in most Spoons the toilets are in a different postcode to the rest of the pub though unscrupulous patrons wait for the staff to turn their back and sneakily pop into the downstairs tardis sized disabled toilet. Apologies I believe the term is accessible toilet, as the kids say nowadays, my bad !! 

The pub is situated in the town centre so there is naturally no shortage of fast food establishments in the vicinity of The Bolebridge on the assumption that the standard Spoons offering of brie & smoky chilli jam burger doesn't tickle your fancy. I will confess on numerous occasions I have stumbled out of the pub's side entrance straight into Joba's takeaway where the temptation of dirty kebab meat and chips have proved too much to bear. The taxi rank is literally outside of Joba's so you are able to fall into a cab whilst clutching your gourmet meal and utter the standard questions 'Have you been busy mate?' followed by 'What time are you working til?'

Should you require food from another continent then exit from the pub's back entrance and you will discover The Miah Indian restaurant and it's next door neighbour China Dong which is a Chinese takeway and not either the CEO of Birmingham City or an adult movie star from the Far East !! 

The Bolebridge (unlike Drayton Manor) is never going to win any awards but like any good Spoons it's worth visiting as you know what you're getting and it does exactly what is says on the tin.