#095 The Shakespeare, Birmingham : 1999 to 2012

This is my 100th entry on this blog, although I've only listed 95 pubs so far! 

I'm not entirely sure when I paid my first visit to The Shakespeare, but the first time we went there on a canal trip was on Saturday 28th August 1999.

Obviously an evening stop, but I don't remember too much about it. At the time it was a fairly unremarkable corner pub, but one that had a nice room at the back.

Our next visit was on the evening of Tuesday 27th August 2003 at the end of a trip that had taken us to Leicester.

From this angle it is difficult to see whether there had been any changes, but if there were any they were only minor.

We were back again the next year, this time a lunchtime stop on Sunday 30th May 2004.

No real changes...and no food at lunchtime in those days, especially as it was a Sunday.

We then visited every year after that until 2008.

 Thursday 1st September 2005.

Saturday 3rd June 2006

Thursday 6th September 2007

 Saturday 24th May 2008

Over these years, the pub essentially changed very little, but was made much more presentable inside. This was probably a direct result of its proximity to the headquarters of Mitchells & Butlers which are next door. At that time it was an unbranded pub.

Our next visit was on Thursday 9th September 2010 and still there were no more changes.

In 2011, we paid two visits to The Shakespeare, which had now been branded as part of M&B's Nicholson's group of pubs.

This was on Thursday 2nd June 2011. The outside decoration was now in the black and gold livery of the Nicholson's brand and the hanging signs had been replaced. Inside, the overall feel and look had changed subtly, but as it was something of a classic inside before, there wasn't much that needed to be done to improve it.

And we were back on Thursday 6th September 2011. The Shakespeare had become a more regular watering hole as it is the nearest pub to the best curry restaurant in Birmingham, the Raj Doot, that had moved across town a few years earlier.

My final photo was taken this year as I was walking through the area to get shots of some of the Birmingham pubs to keep this blog up-to-date.

This was taken on Tuesday 28th August 2012. The Shakespeare is now our regular stopping off point prior to visiting the Raj Doot and I'll be there tonight!

At the start of this post I said that The Shakespeare was somewhat unremarkable, and so it was for 1999 as there were plenty of reasonably well appointed street corner boozers around. Now in 2012, with some refurbishment, The Shakespeare has become a more stand-out establishment in a world where so many other pubs have disappeared.