The Globe Inn

 I don’t know what it is about The Globe but for some reason I’ve never really liked it and as a result of this it’s one of the town centre pubs that I rarely use. There’s nothing particularly wrong with it but it’s no surprise that it isn’t one of the nine pubs selected on the excellent CAMRA Tamworth Ale Trail it is a ‘try also’. Not that being on a the substitute’s bench is an indication of quality of course, how about when Brian Johnson replaced Bon Scott in AC/DC for example or possibly better than that, the ultimate super sub Obafemi Martins who came off the bench to score the winner for Birmingham City in their 2011 Carling Cup triumph?!! Okay, okay I know this is supposed to be a pub blog, I’ll behave myself now !!

A glance through the pub’s website confirms it was built in the late Victorian era and the pub has had some notable licensees, I was particularly interested in the couple that had it in the late 1860’s and early 1870’s namely The Mellots, William and Fanny….please make up your own jokes at this point !! 

The pub has been fairly recently refurbed which is a good job really as the decor used to be like the memory of a typical villa fan i.e. still stuck in 1982 !! 

It now boasts 18 en-suite rooms starting from a budget friendly £50 a night, Debbie from Dosthill would be putty in your hands if you brought her here for ‘an overnight stay.’ !!

There is also a function room which can either be used for conferences or the usual weddings, christenings, birthdays etc. Be warned though if you want Jive Bunny, Ooops Upside Your Head, Cha Cha Slide and other tunes that get the party started the Resident DJ is £150…I’d want Fat Boy Slim for that not some bloke with a lap top, some flashing lights who will undoubtedly love the sound of his own voice !!

The buffets are ranked like medals in the Olympic Games, bronze, silver and gold. For gold as well as including buffet essentials like sausage rolls, pork pies and scotch eggs (seemingly a nod to Tamworth’s links with the formation of the police force) there is also topside beef, turkey crown and gammon. A standard of buffet that good Spandau Ballet wrote a song about it !!

My recent visit was a brief but nevertheless pleasant one. Being a Wednesday night the place was pretty empty..

Bizarrely though the few punters that were in there all left not long after I arrived. I’m not sure whether this was down to my Lynx Africa or the fact that the pub’s sound system (not the £150 Resident DJ) was playing songs by Coldplay. 

My fellow pub blogger Britain Beermat has been promising to visit the Ancient Capital of Mercia for sometime. When he does The Globe is definitely a place I’ll take him to as it serves a great pint of his favourite tipple the criminally underrated Bass. 

I got myself a pint of Bass and was then spoilt for choice, should I sit down and study the form for the 5.15 from Kempton?…

…or instead should I watch Wimbledon and ponder on that unanswered question about Andy Murray, no, not how he managed to comeback after extensive surgery on his hip, the big question is how he managed to pull his wife, talk about punching !!

I opted for the horse racing ensuring I didn’t not interrupt the relative quiet of the pub with a My Fair Lady style moment when watching the closing stages of the race !!

Bizarrely me and my mate Alan used to watch England games in major tournaments at this pub and used to stand in front of a tv screen not much bigger than a computer monitor..

We stopped watching England at The Globe after Euro 2016 blaming England’s defeat to Iceland on the pub !!

I noticed that in a couple of months £10 will get you a ticket for the visit of psychic medium Craig Morris to the pub. Where Craig will undoubtedly rub his furrowed brow and enquire if anyone in the room knows a John. There was contact details on the poster advertising the event maybe I should’ve asked him for the winner of the 5.15 at Kempton !!

I left after a quick pint (Craig Morris knew I would) agreeing with CAMRA’s view that The Globe is worthy of a try but not at the expense of the better ones in the town centre.