Nigel Barker runs The Wellington on Bennetts Hill with full air conditioning but slams 'government scaremongerers' for making people 'too scared to go out to enjoy themselves like they would if they were abroad on holiday'

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If there's one thing guaranteed to get one of Birmingham's leading pub bosses hot under the collar in his air-conditioned real ale palace it's government interference. And so when the call went out this week warning people to stay indoors during the heatwave he was ready to blow a gasket.

Nigel Barker, who runs The Wellington on Bennetts Hill, said at the start of business on what promised to be the hottest day of the year: "Scaremongerers are trying to frighten people to death - they're making it sound like if you dare to go outside you are going to die.

"Well it was baking hot yesterday and I had far fewer customers in what is a very cool, air conditioned pub, so thanks very much. The rail strikes the other week cost me ten grand, now this on top of Covid and everything else.

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"The way the government is - and with everybody else is pandering to tiny minorities about what you can or can't do - it's almost as if they'd rather every single pub in the country close down for issues from how hot it is to who can use which toilet.

"It's not just me who is affected, either. I popped into the Wetherspoon Briar Rose yesterday as well and I've never seen it so quiet in the afternoon. Here, I've got no idea if we are going to get lots of customers coming in for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games to make up the or not. Not a clue - but it would be nice if they did.

"We can assure them of a very 'cool' welcome in our downstairs bar and a warmer welcome on our beautiful upstairs terrace outside at the back. So we have the perfect choice - sitting out in the fresh air or being in the air-conditioned bar which we've had now for the best part of a decade.

"I go out in all weathers and have been drinking beer for 45 and I'm still here, regardless of that stupid survey last week about how much you should have before you turn 40 and how much after that.

"When fewer people came in yesterday, I went out at lunchtime and enjoyed half an hour in the sunshine in Cathedral Square, but it was so quiet there, too. If I drop dead tomorrow, so be it, but I'll have had a great time talking to lots of customers over the years while drinking a million pints.

"It's lovely and cool in here. Yesterday was very disappointing. It was obvious that it would be very hot outside, but we've got a choice for people. We've got the downstairs here which is beautifully air-conditioned as you can see.

"We also have a superb rooftop terrace if you are like me and prefer to be out in the sun as much as you can, but neither of those seem to appeal. I think the government has just overdone it with scaremongering."

Asked if he felt we were becoming 'soft in this country', Nigel said: "Absolutely. I'm old enough to remember the summer of 1976 and there was none of this malarkey. People just enjoyed it.

"People would rather pay a fortune and go through all the palaver of going through their airport disruption instead of coming to sit on our roof terrace for nothing and enjoying some good, cool English beer."

A weekly Wellington regular called Ian told BirminghamLive: "It's lovely and cool here in the summer and in winter, when the fire is on, lovely and warm. And you've got the terrace upstairs as well if you want it."

On what was set to be the warmest day of 2022 in Brum on Tuesday - but perhaps not quite the hottest ever in the city - workers looked like they were enjoying walking to work in light clothing without the need to carry extra layers in case of a cold wind picking up or rain developing.

There was a light-hearted carefree atmosphere, with one man sunbathing in just a pair of red shorts in Victoria Square as early as 9.40am.

Elsewhere it was business as usual for many. Those tasked with doing things for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games which would open in just nine days and ten hours (at the time of walking around) were working outdoors regardless.

Teams were setting up giant screens in Victoria Square and working on a scaffolding erection close to Colmore Row - though the good-humoured security guard claimed he didn't know whether it was for the finishing line of the four marathon races on Saturday, July 30.

High above ground, abseilers were at the very top of 103 Colmore Row erecting another giant banner to promote the Games. The side facing Paradise already has one banner and the new one being installed was facing over towards New Street.

Everywhere you went, in typical Birmingham fashion, you could hear the sound of men working with power tools. Some things never change...

Shopfitters were hard at work inside the forthcoming Yakinori restaurant at the top end of New Street as well as inside the former Jack Wills store at the corner of Cannon Street and New Street - soon to become a Wellgosh men's fashion store.

Inside a courtyard garden on Edmund Street workers were using an angle grinder to cut solid materials. Other heavy-duty work was going on next to the Copthorne Hotel.

Here, demolition men were working in semi-darkness below an adjacent mass of concrete that is one of the last remnants of the failed original Paradise concept. Again, the noise would be deafening without ear defenders.

At least one man in an orange hi-vis outfit was hosing the area to keep the spread of dust to a minimum. But with his back to the sun and being almost underground facing into darkness, it still didn't look to be the most fun job of the day as necessary as it clearly was.

Down in New Street, the shade of the Victorian thoroughfare provided some respite from the more open areas of Victoria Square and Centenary Square. But workers were still going about their daily business in all manner of ways, from litter pickers to cooking oil delivery drivers and hotel linen collectors.

I asked the driver of the latter truck if he couldn't have been given the day off. "No such luck - I wish," he said with beaded brow, climbing back into his driver's seat. It appeared to be the wrong time to expect a sense of humour.

Further along close to the Tesco supermarket, two armed police officers were sitting in a black car keeping watch on everything before them. But even with the engine on and aircon no doubt running inside, one of them couldn't resist an open-mouthed yawn. No attempt was made to even stifle it.

Seconds later, three officers on foot patrol walked down New Street followed by their short shadows thanks to the pre-10am sun already being so high in the sky. Wait three-and-a-half months until November and we'll all be complaining about shivering on the Birmingham German Christmas Market again, eh!

Down Lower Temple Street, several men were busy giving the giant planters a colour-coded look - though with four of them across the street they are not only going to be vehicle mitigation barriers, but will restrict the movement of pedestrians, too, on the busiest days of the Games. At least they might make cyclists dismount, though.

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