Author Topic: the old pubs of brum  (Read 928731 times)

Phil

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Re: the old pubs of brum
« Reply #1430 on: January 02, 2013, 02:01:47 PM »
Sorry Stella
 
I wouldn't have known him from those places, it's just that the name sounded familiar.
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

stellastar

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Re: the old pubs of brum
« Reply #1431 on: January 06, 2013, 06:23:54 PM »
Sueb
I wouldn't of known you at The Exchange then as I used it earlier but If you used Pollyanna's in the early 1970s I occasionally did the door there with John and Ash. It was on a strictly when needed agreement and Eddie would give me a shout if I was needed for some shifts. There were certain occasions when we knew things were going to kick off and as I had worked for the Fewtrells for some years I would be in Pollyanna's very occasionally Rebbecca's
  my dad used to work there around that time , he worked  in a  few of there pubs and clubs, the one club was on Bradford street, cant remember the name, i was only young, his name was Eddie Coyle.

Peter M

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Re: the old pubs of brum
« Reply #1432 on: February 13, 2013, 11:01:05 AM »
Hi everybody. I stumbled across this thread when I Googled the names of some old pubs and have managed to read through every page so far, really interesting and brings back some memories.

   I'm not a Brummie from up North, Cumbria but spent some years there from around 1976 to 1983 and remember drinking a lot of pints in some of the pubs mentioned and have happy memories of them.

  I first lived near the Dudley Road and The Lee Bridge Tavern was my local. Run by an Irish guy and his wife, great working man's pub and always full after work in the afternoon.

If you turned left from the Lee Bridge down Heath St , on the corner of Winson Green Rd there was a pub called The Shakespeare, another good old pub run by an Indian guy called Paul. Further on down the road nearly opposite the gates of H.M.  Winson Green Hotel was another pub whose name I can't remember.

  From City Rd if you turned right into Dudley Rd you came to (from memory) I think The Wheatsheaf on the corner which I think was mentioned earlier. Just off on a street to the right was a pub which I think was called the Bricklayers Arms. On the opposite side the Lee Bridge. Continuing further down towards the city I think on the right was another pub, maybe the Windmill, not sure and then still further down on the same side the Birmingham Arms. This was also run by an Irish guy at the time, an ex boxer, can't remember his name, maybe P.J something. On the wall in the back bar was a giant painting of the famous photo where Rocky Marciano lands a big right hand k.o punch on Jersey Joe Walcott.

On the other (left as you go towards the city), side was a pub which was a bit set back from the road, a quite big old building but can't remember the name.

When you got to the bottom of the hill on the left going into the city at the corner, I think, of  Spring Hill and Middleway was another pub, the name of which I can't remember. Quite a young crowd in there at the weekends.

From looking at the net I think the Lee Bridge, Shakespeare, Wheatsheaf, Birmingham Arms are all closed, don't know about the others.

Somebody mentioned the Woodcock earlier. A friend of mine and I used to walk from his place in Bartley Green to Woeley Castle and used to call in this pub for a refresher on the way. Would that be the Woodcock, near Cromwell Lane/Woodcock Lane area?





Phil

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Re: the old pubs of brum
« Reply #1433 on: February 13, 2013, 12:01:26 PM »
Hi Peter
 
Welcome to the forum, it doesn't make any difference where you originate from we have members living all over the world, some who have never even seen Birmingham.
 
I have sorted some of the pubs that you mention out for you, the one at the junction of Spring Hill and the Middleway (then Monument Rd) would have been The Turf. You will probably recognise the others, give me a day or two to work out the others and I will see if I have photos of those as well.
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

Peter M

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Re: the old pubs of brum
« Reply #1434 on: February 13, 2013, 01:12:13 PM »
Hi Phil, thanks.

  Yes, those are the pubs, the photos look as though they were taken long before I frequented the places.

The only one I'm not sure about is The Turf. I remember coming down the Dudley Rd  towards the city, past the hospital down Spring Hill and on the left at the lights at the bottom of the hill was a modernish pub.  I wish I could remember the name. I think it was on the corner of Icknield St. Maybe it was the Turf but I remember it looking a more modern building.

Peter M

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Re: the old pubs of brum
« Reply #1435 on: February 13, 2013, 01:38:24 PM »
Another area I used to drink in was Small Heath. Starting off from under the railway arch at the Digbeth end was a pub which I think was called The Adelphi. Not one of my regular haunts but have had a pint or two there.

My local in that area was The Dolphin just down the road. I don't know if anyone remembers but there was a Scottish landlord (maybe was called Don) at that time round about 1979/80.

The Greenway has already been mentioned and I've had many a pint in there and remember it well. Another good pub which had already been demolished before I left in '83. Can't remember the landlord's name but I think he was Irish.

Up the hill further up Coventry Rd I think the pub was called the Wrexham but maybe I'm wrong. Another old pub across the road but can't remember the name.

Someone else mentioned the The Nest. I remember that pub, really good atmosphere and also an Irish landlord with a really pretty daughter too I remember.

The Barrel has also been mentioned and I have drunk in there too.

There was another pub somewhere in the area behind Watery Lane bounded by Coventry Rd and Muntz St, round the back streets somewhere  where on an afternoon after closing you could knock on the window and if they knew you  they'd let you in so you could continue the session.
  Just remember that it was a small pub, white on the outside with a red front door. Don't know if anyone can remember it or what it was called.

Someone earlier mentioned a pub at the back of Yates's Wine Lodge but wasn't sure of the name, it was definitely The Windsor....ah the memories, those were the days.

Phil

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Re: the old pubs of brum
« Reply #1436 on: February 13, 2013, 06:18:51 PM »
Peter
 
The only three pubs on Spring Hill on the left going downhill between the hospital and the library were the Guild, the Old College Inn and the Coach & Horses. Though the only one at the junction of the Middleway was the Turf.
 
All the other pubs you mention in Small Heath I knew and have used at one time or another. I think the pub which name you can't remember by the Dolphin would be the Clements Arms.
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

Peter M

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Re: the old pubs of brum
« Reply #1437 on: February 14, 2013, 10:43:51 AM »
Thanks for putting up those photos Phil.
   Some of the names are familiar. I remember coming down Spring Hill and at the bottom ( I think on the corner of Middleway) was a shopping precinct and a pub. I imagine the pub would have been built in the 60's but I can't remember the name, maybe it was one of the ones you mentioned, or maybe it's still there .

   I'm trying to get my bearings right. If you came out of the Dolphin and turned left away from Digbeth you went down a bit of a hill and I think the pub on the other side was the Clements, maybe I'm wrong as I'm going from memory.

  If you went past the Greenway along Coventry road away from the city was the next pub up the hill on the same side the Wrexham?  The pub whose name I couldn't remember was pretty much opposite the Wrexham if that's the one I'm thinking of. It's been a while so my memories may  not be so accurate.

Round about what years did you drink in the Dolphin Phil? If it was around '79 - '82 we may have known some of the same people.

I'm still on dial up but was looking at Google satellite maps in the internet shop and was aghast at how much of the old Small Heath  has been knocked down and replaced with shopping centres and warehouses and worse, how many of the old pubs have gone.

 I often thought that maybe if I ever got back to Brum I may take a tour of all the old pubs but it looks like most of the ones I knew are gone. Such a shame

Phil

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Re: the old pubs of brum
« Reply #1438 on: February 14, 2013, 11:14:19 AM »
Peter
 
I thought you meant on the same side as the Dolphin, the Clements was on the corner before the Dolphin. As for the other pub you are probably talking about the Old Lodge or if it was later than that there was a new pub for a while the Watering Hole I think it was called.
 
As for the Wrexham I used it occasionally as my mate had a café opposite and he used it regularly and I occasionally went there with him. The pub across the road might have been  the Coach & Horses but it was more likely the Old Gate. I used both of those as well.
 
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

Peter M

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Re: the old pubs of brum
« Reply #1439 on: February 14, 2013, 12:51:37 PM »
 Hi Phil, yes the Old Lodge is the one I was thinking of on the other side from the Dolphin. Not my regular pub but have drunk in there.
 
  The Old Gate rings a bell, I think that's the pub I was thinking off opposite the Wrexham.

  So when you first came under the railway arch off Digbeth the first pub on the left was the Clements and then on the next corner was the Dolphin? Thanks for refreshing my memory.

Around the time I was around Small Heath in the late 70's early 80's  my mate was called Lenny Cottrell (not the famous author) and his brother Mick Cottrell. Other local Small Heath guys I knew were Billy Costello, Neil Cherry, Kenny Berry another guy called   Brian (I think) Dawney or Dorney and quite a few more whose names escape me at the moment.
   Don't know if you ran into any of them on your travels.
   Thanks again for jogging my memory about the names of the old pubs.
 

Phil

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Re: the old pubs of brum
« Reply #1440 on: February 14, 2013, 03:39:20 PM »
Peter
 
I'm sorry but none of those names are familiar to me, but Small Heath wasn't my preferred place for having a drink. It was only somewhere I travelled to on occasion with my mate Alf. We do have other members on this forum with more of a Small Heath background than myself, perhaps one of them will recognise one of them.
Phil died in 2020. RIP.


 

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