 Check the tiny car park! 
It Really Is A Lads Pub!
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Recommendation added: 09/07/2006 23:38
By: dewberry (YSUK rating +700)dewberry has been thanked 4 times for this contribution
"I popped out for a drink at lunchtime today and ended up in one of the oldest pubs in Birmingham, The Lad in the Lane. Ale has been served on this site for over 600 years and although the name of the pub has changed many times, the original pub building has remained in part.
The Lad in the Lane is purely a pub, it doesn't serve food apart from a few crusty ready made cobs over the counter so don't imagine you're going to visit and eat a three course meal because you'll go home disappointed. But as a pub it's great. It has a predominantly male clientele – in fact today I was the only woman in the place apart from the barmaids! The atmosphere in here is great; it gets a bit rowdy, which is no bad thing, and a CD player behind the bar provides a good selection of music at a louder-than-your-average-pub volume. There's also a large TV which is generally tuned to one of the movie or sports channels, and usually with the sound muted unless there's anything notable happening on either a sports or news channel. I remember drinking in here the day after 9/11 and Sky News was on throughout the day with everyone wrapped up in the coverage.
The inside of the Lad in the Lane is lovely. Because of the age of the pub there are loads of original beams, complete with notices of authentication advising the various landlords through the ages not to nail into them or use them to drape wires over! It gives the pub a real historical feel when you're sitting inside and this is added to by the furniture used, heavy old wooden tables and chairs which compliment the beams perfectly.
This is a very comfortable pub to sit in for a few hours, the tables are widely spaced meaning there's some privacy when you're sitting down to have a chat and the chairs and wonderfully springy and comfy – I'm sure after a few too many at the Lad in the Lane I could easily fall asleep!
There's a good selection of lager, branded spirits and ales available in the Lad in the Lane, although the alcopops shelf is (thankfully) empty. Fosters lager seems to be the most heavily promoted with lots of posters and beer mats advertising it, if you're not brand specific when you order lager then you'll probably get this. There's also a pretty decent selection of bottled beers including Stella, Budweiser and Kronenburg all at very reasonable prices compared to other pubs in the area. In fact all the prices in this pub are brilliant with selected double shorts (Baileys, vodka, whiskey and gin) costing just £2 for a very generous measure.
If you come over peckish in the Lad in the Lane you can choose from an assortment of crisps, nuts (including Nobbys!) or the cobs I mentioned earlier. The cobs are just called for after a couple of beers; they're deliciously crusty and usually come in a variety of fillings including tuna, cheese & onion and ham salad. These cost a bargain £1 and are worth every penny.
Staff in this pub are friendly and fast. It gets quite busy in here on a Saturday night but I've never had to wait for more than a couple of minutes at the bar. Despite the fact that there is an obvious group of regular drinkers, there's never any favouritism at the bar which is a definite bonus in these kind of pubs!
Access is ideal for disabled visitors thanks to the wide doors, level flooring and wide spaces between the tables. The only thing which would make life difficult for people with mobility problems is the ultra tiny car park at the front of the pub. This is the only aspect which lets the Lad in the Lane down for me; the car park can literally hold six cars and soon fills up once the pub opens. I've always been lucky and copped a space, but if I ever visited and there were no spaces then I'd have to go to another pub as there's simply nowhere else close enough to park.
When we visit the Lad in the Lane we usually spend around two hours in here, and this will cost somewhere in the region of £25 which I think is cheap for two people to drink in such a nice little pub. At night you'll sometimes get a bloke come in selling prawns or mussels in little polystyrene pots, or 'the sweet lady' who sells bags of Dolly Mixtures and the like for £1 per biggish bag. A rose seller will occasionally visit but I think the wall to wall scene of men with no women to buy for puts him off!
To visit the Lad in the Lane by car, you need to follow the signs to North Birmingham. The M6 motorway will be the closest, if you get off at the Sutton Coldfield exit then you're practically there. Coming from Birmingham City Centre follow the A38 Suffolk Street Queensway, then continue through the Queensway Underpass which is signposted Lichfield. Carry on driving straight down several more roads IN A STRAIGHT LINE and you'll eventually get to the A4040 Bromford Lane. The pub is located roughly 400 yards down this road on your left.
The nearest train station is Gravelly Hill which is on the Redditch to Lichfield line, this is nearly a mile away however so be prepared for a bit of a walk if using this method of transport. Likewise the bus routes aren't very reliable in this area , your best bet is the number 11 as you can catch it at various places throughout the city and it'll drop you within walking distance of the pub.
Lad in the Lane
22 Bromford Lane
Erdington
Birmingham
B24 8BU
Tel: 0121 377 7471"
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