We went to the ‘notorious’ Erdington pub to see if it was all that bad after negative comments online

It’s the self-proclaimed ‘madhouse’ pub that’s more often than not pumping with tunes and all-round good vibes – even on a midweek afternoon. It’s The Church Tavern on Erdington High Street, formerly The Acorn, with the owner this week responding to fierce criticism following an anonymous Facebook post which asked a very simple question: What’s it like for a drink in The Church Tavern?

A host of negative comments were fired at the high street boozer, to which popular landlady Traci Ann replied: “How dare people slate the Church Tavern, a place they know nothing about. We have no incidents here – ask local police. We do not let shoplifters in either. We always have a bad reputation because of its past and children are only allowed in until 6pm, unlike other places around here where they let the parents get really drunk and take their children home – so get your facts right and don’t judge what you know nothing about!”

According to Google, its opening hours are 8am to 11pm daily and, given its bad reputation, we decided to pop in to form our own verdict. Now, a quick scan of some online videos from the Church Tavern show everything from chilli-eating competitions to Boy George tribute acts. There’s also a private Facebook group for Church Tavern locals which is aptly-named Madhouse; let the insanity begin, which is run by landlady Traci.

Now I’m a sucker for a spit-n-sawdust pub where you’ll get a pint for about three-and-half quid. It’s more than double that in some places up town now, would you believe. It’s a pub that’s long had a reputation given its location on one of Birmingham’s most-intimidating high streets while, on most days, it’s often booming with regulars.

It’s about 11.30am on a Wednesday and, after walking past a couple of smokers outside, in I went to order a nice cold Carling for £3.40. There were about a dozen punters already in enjoying the women’s World Cup with England beating Australia. I found a free high table and I sat near to a couple of blokes to watch the football. Happy days.

Yes, it smelt a little musty and the pub was a little rundown but this was a proper little boozer with every pint perfectly placed on top of square cardboard beer mats.

Despite being a non-regular, I was soon approached by a bloke behind me, who said, ‘How long do they have between the halves?’ in reference to the footy. ‘Fifteen minutes,’ I replied, before we started a conversation about the prospect of Sunday’s final.

Then, after around 15 minutes of eavesdropping on some hilarious conversations, I was approached by a lad similar to my age. ‘Fancy a game of pool?’, ‘Yeah, go on then…’

For the next half-hour I made friends with Jord, a proper sound lad as we battled it out on the pool table before I eventually won 2-1. ‘Great game, Ash,’ he said, before he offered me a drink.

We then watched Australia equalise and chatted some more about the women’s footy. ‘I might pop back tomorrow,’ I thought to myself, thinking that the Church Tavern was pretty sound if you’re after a pint and a chin-wag. I was in the Tavern for about an hour and, in that time, I was made to feel like a local.

There was a real sense of community as friends – and strangers – chatted away in what’s, let’s face it, a bit of a rarity in today’s world. For all of the stick that’s been labelled at The Church Tavern this week and in the past, my experience was a really good one. It’s a proper pub with proper people.