and as you most likely know phil pic 2 is unusual in that it not only shows the original crown annd cushion but behind it is the 2nd crown and cushion built to replace the original..pic 3 shows it gone
why on earth no 2 was demolished only to build no 3 on the same spot i will never know...it never did any good and a couple of years back it was used for selling fruit and veg and take away food but its been totally closed for some time now
lyn
I lived in that area at the time, right near the junction with Wellington Road/Aston Lane. There was a lot of trouble at #2 with drugs - in wholesale quantities -and at one point someone was caught selling arms out the back of a car and the reason given for demolition was eradicate all that (similar to what happened with the Villa Cross pub inasmuch as they closed it down & reopened it as a job centre).
I think they had a grand idea of opening a much 'posher' pub in it's place, for an upmarket clientele, but that didn't work & shortly after the newest version opened the trouble started off again. I lived in the area until '94 and I think the newest version had been closed more times than open by even that point.