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Pubs of Adderley Street Birmingham

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The Adderley family owned an extensive tract of land around this part of Birmingham and this street is named after them. Charles Adderley, who would later become the first Lord Norton, owned much of the area to the north at Duddeston and Vauxhall. Indeed, he donated the land for Birmingham’s first public park in 1856. The ancestral home of the Adderley family was Hams Hall near Coleshill. The first Charles Adderley bought the original hall, an equerry to King Charles I. Following a major fire in 1890, the hall was demolished and rebuilt in the village of Coates in Gloucestershire at the whim of the shipping magnate, Oswald Harrison.


 
Adderley-Arms-Inn  

Named in honour of the Adderley family who owned large tracts of land in this area, the Adderley Arms Inn opened in the late 1840's. There was another Adderley Arms in Saltley's High Street. This building was on the corner of Watery Lane. A ratebook compiled in 1876 detailed the Adderley Arms Inn as a licensed public house, brewhouse, malthouse, stables, loft and premises. The recorded owner of the property was the executors of the late Thomas Minor. A former shoeing smith, he was born in Stratford-on-Avon around 1801 and, together with his wife Elizabeth, was the former publican of the King's Head Inn on Bordesley High Street. He was probably the man to open the fully licensed Adderley Arms Inn. He was the licensee in 1850 and he and Elizabeth had four children living on the premises. In the late 1850's, although retaining ownership of the Adderley Arms Inn, the family moved a few doors away where Thomas and Elizabeth Minor traded as a grocers. George Harris succeeded Thomas Minor as licensee of the pub.

George and Sarah Harris lived on the premises with six children and employed Worcester-born Martha Harris as a servant. The extract from the Birmingham licence register shows that ownership passed to John Jones at some stage. He was a beer retailer at both Green Lane and Garrison Lane before moving to the Yardley Arms Hotel in the mid-1890's. The Adderley Arms Inn later became part of the Mitchell's and Butler's empire. However, the pub fell victim to wartime shortages and closed in 1941. The licence was not extinguished and was held in suspense until 1953 when it was transferred to the temporary building erected for The Fordrough in West Heath. The licence was later removed to the Merritts Brook in Northfield's Bell Holloway.

 
Bricklayer's-Arms  

Richard Turner was an early publican of this beer house located on the corner of Liverpool Street. He kept the Bricklayer's Arms with his wife Ann. Three years younger than her Brummie husband, she was born in the Warwickshire village of Corley in 1793. James and Clara Mason were mine hosts in the early 1860's. Clara Mason later took over the nearby Waggon and Horses where she married for the second time. More details on this beer house to follow....

 
Queen  

This beer house was located on the corner of Lower Trinity Street. The pub's name may indicate a date for the opening of this boozer. Certainly William Smith was trading here as a retail brewer in 1839, two years after Queen Victoria was crowned. One of the reasons for Queen Victoria being so popular on urban pubs and beer houses is because they first opened during her reign. Queen Victoria was the only child of King George III's fourth son, Edward, Duke of Kent, and Victoria Maria Louisa of Saxe-Coburg, sister of Leopold, King of the Belgians. Born in Kensington Palace, she was crowned following the death of her uncle William IV in 1837. She married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Goth in 1840. They had nine children. Well, what else is there to do in Balmoral when it's raining? When William and Elizabeth Smith were running The Queen during the early 1840's Sarah Forth was trading as a beer retailer on the opposite corner of Lower Trinity Street. However, by 1845 Daniel Quin was using the premises as a shop.

David Edge was recorded as a retail brewer, suggesting that that homebrewed ales were enjoyed by patrons of The Queen. Born in Rowley Regis in 1825, David Edge spent his teenage years living next to the Gunbarrel Works in Hayseech near Haden Hill. He kept The Queen with his wife Elizabeth. The couple employed Kingsbury-born Catherine Mills as a servant. A rate book compiled in 1876 recorded Zenas Dunn as the publican of the beer house and that the property was owned by Robin Ebenezer. Zenas Dunn was born in the Black Country town of Netherton in 1852. He kept The Queen with his wife Elizabeth who was a Brummie. The Dunn family had previously lived in Sandy Lane where Zenas had worked as a French polisher. After their spell in Adderley Street, Zenas and Elizabeth moved to the Roebuck Inn on Hurst Street. Thomas Bickley was also recorded as a retail brewer at The Queen during the early 1890's. The Leicestershire-born publican kept the corner boozer with his wife Emma. The former metal roller remained at the beer house following her death but was helped by daughters Elizabeth and Gertrude who worked as barmaids. A 1912 rate book records Henry Day as the occupier of The Queen, a property owned by Ebenezer Piercy. The annual rates for the building was £6.8s.2d.

 
Waggon-and-Horses

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This pub seems to have drifted in and out of the single "G" and double "GG" spelling so to avoid confusion I'll stick to the traditional double "GG" Waggon and Horses. The building is one of the oldest surviving public houses in Bordesley. Many of the neighbouring taverns in this part of Birmingham were completely rebuilt but the Waggon and Horses is one of the originals. Remodelled rather than rebuilt, it shares some of the characteristics of another survivor - the Spotted Dog in Meriden Street. It is a common misperception to think of the Waggon and Horses as a Digbeth pub - it has always been a Bordesley location and, historically therefore, the building was part of Aston and not Birmingham. During the 19th century the borough of Birmingham took chunks away from Aston which remained outside the city's jurisdiction. During this period it was governed by the Aston Manor Local Board. However, it had become an Urban District by 1903 and was finally absorbed into Birmingham in 1911. The Waggon and Horses is a slightly later building than the aforementioned Spotted Dog but this is simply because it is a little further from the centre of Birmingham. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries Birmingham gradually “moved out” during the march of the industrial revolution. It may be hard to imagine today but this area was completely rural up until this period. Anglo-Saxon in origin, Deritend is derived from "Der-yet-end", the end of the town near the deer-gate. Indeed, not too far from the pub stands one of the old farmhouses. Built in 1601, Stratford House was the home of Ambrose and Bridget Rotton who farmed an estate of 20 acres on which they kept sheep, oxen, cows and pigs.

The estate remained as a farm until the Victorian age when, in 1838, a railway was built through the middle of the land. Midland Railway constructed a goods station on Camp Hill in 1840 - just a few years after the opening of the Waggon and Horses as a public house. An early recorded licensee of the Waggon and Horses is John Muddyman, a coal and corn dealer turned brewer who produced homebrewed ales in the pub's back yard. In the 19th century it was difficult for publicans to make a living solely from sales of beer and most had a second trade. In this case, the business not only formed part of the Muddyman family’s income but also provided the name of the pub. The sign of the Waggon and Horses was fairly common as they were the principal means of transportation before the advent of the railways. Many pubs and inns acted as agents and all manner of goods could be left there where they would either be forwarded or collected by locals to whom they were addressed.

By 1845 a small brewery had been established in Adderley Street and it is possible that John Muddyman opted to buy in a more consistent ale for his customers. George Jones, who later moved the business to Watery Lane owned the Kingston Brewery, which was founded just along the road from the pub. Ironically, Watery Lane was the location from which the second licensee of the Waggon and Horses moved. Builder and brickmaker Henry Jackaman took over the pub following the death of John Muddyman. Widow Sarah Muddyman moved along the road to continue trading as a carter. Born in Bury St Edmunds in 1812, Henry Jackaman kept the Waggon and Horses with his wife Elizabeth who hailed from the Kent village of Farningham. The couple employed Sarah Sharp as a cook and Walsall-born Fanny Cook as general servant. Sarah Sharp was also from Farningham - a relative perhaps? It would appear that homebrewed ales were still being sold at the Waggon and Horses as Henry Jackaman was recorded as a retail brewer in the 1851 census. He and his wife later moved to the Great Western Inn at nearby Allcock Street. Subsequent licensees tended to be listed as publicans or innkeepers, suggesting that brewing on the premises had ceased. This was the case with Birmingham-born George North, a man possibly related to James North, a retail brewer based in Deritend High Street. The 1861 census records that 45 year-old George North lived here his aunt Jane Woolley, a 56 year-old widow who was born in Minworth. George North also employed his niece Sophia Gallow as a general servant. She was born in Harvington, Worcestershire in 1842. George North later moved to run the Malt Shovel Inn at Selly Oak.

Clara Mason was the licensee of the Waggon and Horses in the mid-late 1860's. Along with her maltster husband James, she had previously kept the neighbouring Bricklayer's Arms. Following a second marriage, her husband, former Japanner George Stainton took over the licence. The couple lived on the premises with her four children Clara, Florence, William and Nelly. The Stainton's also employed 18 year-old Maria Goodman as a general servant so it was a fair house full. The family later moved to a large property on Moseley Road from which George Stainton worked as a photographic artist. The Waggon and Horses became a relatively early target for the emerging large brewery concerns and in the 1870’s Showell's Brewery moved in to secure the pub for themselves. Beating local rivals like Ansell's and the Holt Brewery to the Waggon and Horses represented something of a scoop for Showell's. They were based at the Crosswells Brewery at Langley near Oldbury. The company also had a brewery at Stockport and also operated some pubs in London though these were later sold to Reffell’s Bexley Brewery Ltd.

Click here to view the 1878 Building Plans for this pub

Showell's initiated improvements to the newly-acquired Waggon and Horses and, in September 1878, the brewery commissioned William Jenkins, an architect and surveyor based at 34 Bennett's Hill to draw up plans to improve the existing building. Birmingham-based breweries such as Ansell's had already committed themselves to rebuilding many of their pubs but thankfully Showell's opted to retain the old Waggon and Horses. William Jenkins worked quickly and the plans were approved by William Hill, Borough Surveyor on October 25th 1878. The proposals included the restructuring of the floor space, the installation of larger windows, the creation of a rear smoke room and an outdoor department. This jug counter was accessed by its own door and was a key part of the pub’s business. The men working the furnaces in local factories would send a "runner" to the pub to fetch essential liquid refreshment. The yard was also adapted to incorporate a "new-fangled" pub addition - the toilet. The original "before-and-after" designs help to identify the key changes to the building. James Beard was the licensed victualler in charge of the Waggon and Horses for much of the 1880's. Born in the Worcestershire village of Peopleton in 1847, he kept the pub with his wife Emma. Four years younger, she hailed from the carpet-making town of Kidderminster.

By the time of the 1891 census 34 year-old licensed victualler John Hunt was the licensee. The son of a lock maker lived here with his Birmingham-born wife Georgina, 29, and their 4 year-old daughter Theresa. The couple employed 16 year-old Alice Butlin as a general servant. Enjoying inn status, the pub had a visitor on the night of the survey. George Edmunds, a metal roller, was possibly helping to impart his skills at a nearby firm. The Hunt family later moved to the Royal Mint on Icknield Street, another pub operated by Showell's so perhaps the move was an internal decision within the company. The Langley-based brewery installed 51 year-old Henry McCann as manager just before the 1901 census. He was born in Bermondsey, London but had moved to Birmingham when his father found employment in the Jewellery Quarter. He kept the Waggon and Horses with his wife Brummie-born wife Elizabeth. The couple lived here with their eight children - Florence, Louis, Alice, Dorothy, Frederick, Sidney, Lily and George. Herbert Pickering was the incumbent detailed in a 1912 rate book for Adderley Street in which the pub was listed as a licensed public house with shopping and stables. The ground rent on the property was £87.0s.0d. per annum. The rates of £11.17s.3d were paid in full. Samuel Allsopp Ltd. of Burton-on-Trent acquired Showell's Brewery and its estate of 194 tied houses in 1914. This brought the Waggon and Horses under the ownership of a truly historic brewery. However, the company, founded in the 1740’s, went through a difficult period before merging with Ind Coope in June 1934. The pub can be seen in this company's livery in the 1967 photograph above. The Waggon and Horses was subject to a discussion in a board meeting held at London’s Victoria House and chaired by Lt.Col.Kingsmill DSO OBE MC on Thursday December 3rd 1953. Michael Sperling reported that “a further review of the uneconomic houses in Birmingham had been made and that the pub had been placed before the Committee of Management of Ind Coope & Allsopp Ltd. with a view to disposal”. Trade was reported to be two converted barrels per week and the “property was in an area where on account of redevelopment proposals and other changes in the character of the locality, the trade was declining rapidly”. The board resolved to “authorise the sale of this uneconomic property at a price to be approved”. The pub was also discussed in 1954. However, on this occasion it was to agree a lease on an adjoining petrol station, on land that the brewery also owned. Somerset House Garage [Birmingham] Ltd. leased the property from Ind Coope on a five-year lease expiring on the 25th December 1959 at a rent of £175 per annum. This was renewed but at the higher rent of £200 per annum. Ind Coope did not sell the Waggon and Horses but a solution was found in 1961. In that year Ansell's merged with Ind Coope & Allsopp and Tetley Walker to form Allied Breweries in 1961. The pub was quickly changed to sell the local brew and the fortunes of the Waggon and Horses were reversed. Many of the old factories closed and much of the housing cleared but the pub remained a popular haunt of the nearby bus garage. Ansell's brewery was closed in 1981 and their range of beer's brewed at Burton-on-Trent, became a subsidiary of the Carlsberg Tetley Group. In another industry shake-up, the Waggon and Horses was sold in 1986 to Robert and Theresa MacKay who used the first floor function room as a jazz club. Being located in Adderley Street, changing the name of the pub to The Cannonball proved irresistible. A member of the Miles Davis Quintet in the late 1950’s, Julian “Cannonball” Adderley was one of the great saxophonists of his generation. The Cannonball enjoyed early success but suffered as a result of Ronnie Scott's opening in Broad Street. The MacKay's sold the pub to June and James Nye who restored the old Waggon and Horses name. Barbara and Derek Rivitt took over as custodians of one of Birmingham’s truly old pubs on June 29th 2001.

 

 

 

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