History of the Yorkshire Grey on Dudley Road at Winson Green in Birmingham in the county of Warwickshire.

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Some history of the Yorkshire Grey

Closed and boarded-up, this pub faced an uncertain future in 2008. I was concerned that such an important building would be pulled down. On visiting the premises in 2010, I found that, although its life as a public house was over, at least the building was being put to another use. It was being converted into a restaurant called Cashmere Palace [their spelling]. Builders were at work redesigning the interior and, as far as I could see from the pavement, the work could best be described as unsympathetic. I could no longer see the lovely mahogany back bar that incorporated an inlaid clock and yet I would have thought this piece of furniture would have been a fine feature of character under which waiters could attend to customers. By 2016 the business had changed its name to Lokman Sofrasi. In 2018, the last time I was outside the building, it had changed again - it was trading as Pasha, a Turkish Charcoal Grill Restaurant.

Birmingham : Former Yorkshire Grey on the corner of Dudley Road and Winson Street at Winson Green [2018]

The imposing corner edifice on Dudley Road and Winson Street was constructed between 1888-9 which is a something of a curiosity. This would mean that the original Yorkshire Grey, of which no pictures have emerged, was still a relatively young structure when demolished in order to make way for this ostentatious creation. But what of the old place? And how did the pub become to be known by this sign?

Birmingham : Inn Sign of the Yorkshire Grey at Winson Green [2002]

The Yorkshire Grey is a breed of shire horse. These massive animals can be traced back to medieval times when they were were used to carry knights wearing their heavy armour. Still, it is a curious name for a pub in Winson Green? However, I suspect it was probably named after a racehorse of this name that was particularly prominent in the mid-19th century. Public houses were often named after sporting stars of the track - the Why Not for example, although the name appeared in older times, it proliferated in urban areas after a horse of this name won the Grand National in 1894. Some public houses were even built with the winnings on a particular race or event. Although rather fanciful on my part, I wonder if the Yorkshire Grey was such an example?

Yorkshire Grey thorough-bred horse advertisement for stud [1864]

In 1858 a horse named Yorkshire Grey was a very popular winner of the Norfolk Handicap run at Yarmouth. With odds of 4-1, Yorkshire Grey won by a neck from Young Hopeful who, in turn was only a head in front of All's Lost. It was a thrilling climax to what was described as a "beautiful race." Yorkshire Grey went on to win many races of class, including the 1861 Liverpool Autumn Chase. By 1864, as can be seen from the newspaper cutting above, Yorkshire Grey was put out to stud and it would seem that the horse provided a lucrative income for its owner. Of course, it could be coincidence but Yorkshire Grey was repeatedly making the news at a time when a pub bearing that name opened on Dudley Road.

Widow Ann Harper was an early publican of the Yorkshire Grey. She had previously lived in Winson Green Road from where her husband traded as a coal merchant. The coal yard was a short distance from Bellefield House, a mansion occupied at that time by the retired merchant Edward Rabone. He had earlier lived at Smethwick Hall, the family home until its sale in the late 1850s to Joseph Gillott, the Birmingham steel-pen manufacturer. The house had become known as Rabone Hall and the land is commemorated by Rabone Lane. The hall was acquired by the hydraulic engineers Tangye Bros. & Price who demolished the house and erected the Cornwall Works. Edward Rabone had continued the business founded by his two uncles and traded from Broad Street. He died, aged 82, at Bellefield House in 1865.

The Yorkshire Grey was possibly built on land belong to the estate of Bellefield House for it was located an equal distance from the Dudley Road and Winson Green Road. Surprisingly, no photograph of Bellefield House seems to exist and yet its name survived in the locale, a street name and even a tavern!

Ann Harper was born around 1818 in the Yorkshire market town of Richmond. This makes me wonder if the Yorkshire Grey is connected with her native town or county? Her husband Thomas originated from the Tenbury area of Worcestershire so this suggests some early Victorian social mobility for them to meet and marry. The couple had four children living with them at Winson Green Road : William, Emma, Thomas and Edmund. Whilst Thomas was working as a coal merchant, Ann managed a shop. Did Thomas use a shire horse to haul coal around the locality - another possible reason for the pub's inn sign. The Yorkshire Grey started life as a beer house but Ann Harper was determined to secure a higher status for the house. She first applied for a full licence in August 1866 but was seemingly not successful until the following year when her application, supported by Mr. Fitter, stated that the house had stabling for four horses and that the nearest public house was 350 yards distant. She was back in front of the magistrates in August 1869 when applying for a music licence. It can also be learned from a newspaper article, in which some of Ann Harper's chickens were stolen, that the Yorkshire Grey also had a skittles alley in the 1860s.

The licence of the Yorkshire Grey was transferred from Ann Harper to Stephen Thorp in January 1872. There was some continuity in the fact that the Oxfordshire-born publican had also worked as a coal dealer. After moving to Birmingham as a railway clark, he married Harriet Harrison, daughter of the locksmith Henry Harrison. Given his trade, it is no surprise to learn that she hailed from Willenhall in the Black Country.

Coal dealer Stephen Thorp had no sooner took over at the Yorkshire Grey when he found himself at a meeting in the Great Western Hotel in Birmingham in order to appease his creditors and drum up a repayment plan to recover his situation. At the meeting Mr. W. N. Fisher, accountant, who had been appointed the receiver, presided. The statement of Stephen Thorp's affairs were as follows: Unsecured creditors, £1,141.19s.0d.; creditors partly secured, £210.19s.9d.; estimated value of securities, £90., giving a deficiency of £120.19s.9d.; other liabilities, £100.; creditors for rent etc., payable in full, £83.16s.4d.; liabilities on bills discounted, £20; total liabilities, £1,382.18s.9d. The publican's assets were as follows: Stock-in-trade at Icknield Port Road, £172.3s.0d.; estimated to produce £155; book debts, about £232.13s.1d., estimated to produce £47.15s..6d.; stock-in-trade, furniture etc. at the Yorkshire Grey, and about three acres of grass, as per valuation, £214.17s.0d., estimated to produce £193.; making the total assets £395.15s.6d., but after deducting £83.16s.4d. for creditors payable in full, the net assets were £311.19s.2d. The deficiency was therefore £1,070.19s.7d. The Chairman stated that when the petition was filed he was appointed the receiver, and took immediate possession of the debtor's premises. Since he had been in possession the business had yielded £34.12s.5d., and it had all been exhausted is carrying on the business, by payment of wages, keeping of horses etc. During the four years commencing 1867 the Stephen Thorp had lost at least £300 on some land he had leased. Since the year 1864 he had also sustained a loss of about £250 on account of horses, cows, and pigs dying. He had also experienced other losses. Mr. Jelf, Stephen Thorp's solicitor, offered, a composition of 4s. in the pound, payable in two and four months, unsecured. This was objected to by the Chairman, without security. After some discussion, Mr. Jelf consulted with Stephen Thorp and then stated that the last instalment could only be secured. The offer was eventually accepted and Mr. Fisher was appointed the trustee.

Birmingham : Sale Notice for the Yorkshire Grey on the corner of Dudley Road and Winson Street at Winson Green [1873]

Straddled with debt, Stephen and Harriet continued as tenants of the Yorkshire Grey. The freehold of the public house went on the market in 1873, an auction to be held on April 1st at the Acorn Hotel in Temple Street. The property was described as being opposite the Rotton Park Building Estate, suggesting that development was taking place along Algernon Road and Cavendish Road, two of the earliest roads to be laid out on the fields to the south of the pub.

I have no idea if his financial state-of-affairs led to his early death in January 1875, but widowed Harriet Thorp was seemingly determined to hang on to her role as landlady and, accordingly, the licence of the Yorkshire Grey passed to her. She must have had her hands full because she had five children living with her at the house. She did however employ Ellen Haines as a domestic servant.

Harriet Thorp remained at the helm until October 1882 and, on her deciding to give the house up, a new lease of the Yorkshire Grey was advertised in the Birmingham press. Described as an important spirit vaults with a large trade, the term of the lease was 21 years with an incoming payment of £650. Samuel White was the new incumbent. He moved into the Yorkshire Grey towards the end of 1882 and was granted the licence in January 1883. I am not going into great detail here about this brewing legend of Winson Green because I will provide more details for him on the page devoted to the Bellefield Inn, the pub for which he became noted. Briefly, he is said to have made a considerable amount of money in the jewellery trade which enabled him to acquire the lease of the Yorkshire Grey. His father, also named Samuel, a former tool maker, was already running The Oak, a beer house in Lansdowne Street where he was documented as a retail brewer. Father and son were running both pubs at the same in the 1880s.


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Samuel White did make some alterations to the old Yorkshire Grey in April 1887, suggesting that he still had a long-term plan for the building. However, it sounds as though he got an offer he couldn't refuse. The result was that the Yorkshire Grey became part of Henry Mitchell's estate of pubs long before the merger with William Butler's Crown Brewery Ltd. Paying the sum of £4,400.0s.0d. to Samuel White on June 13th 1887, the company signed a lease for the property. This was an extraordinary sum of money at the time, particularly for a lease rather than the freehold.

One can only assume that a prominent corner site just up from the brewery at Cape Hill was the reason Henry Mitchell so badly wanted to take over the Yorkshire Grey. Samuel White pocketed his profit and went off to establish another pub and brewery along Winson Street. I am surprised that Henry Mitchell & Co. Ltd. did not make the former jeweller sign some form of agreement that he would not trade within a certain radius of the Yorkshire Grey.

Birmingham : Building Plan by Henry Naden for the Yorkshire Grey on the corner of Dudley Road and Winson Street at Winson Green [1888]

The new publican for Henry Mitchell & Co. Ltd. was Henry Sawyer who was granted the licence in August 1887. Born in Lichfield in 1860, he had grown up near the Greyhound Inn from where his father worked as a provision merchant. I am not sure what happened to Henry Sawyer but in 1911 he and his wife Sarah were listed at a house in Nineveh Road. Henry Sawyer was recorded as a invalid and former publican. He had a fragmented time of it at the Yorkshire Grey because no sooner had the ink dried on the lease agreement, the brewery decided to completely rebuild the premises. The new Yorkshire Grey was the work of the eminent architect Henry Naden, the man responsible for some of Birmingham's finest public houses, notably the Woodman Inn on Easy Row. But perhaps this is the reason for such a grand building - it possibly acted as a flagship for Henry Mitchell's brewery, just across the boundary at Cape Hill and a relatively short distance from the front door of the property. Moreover, the old boozer had quite a reputation for violent and unruly behaviour [see newspaper articles] so a new construction really was wiping the slate clean and starting all over again.

Birmingham : The Yorkshire Grey on the corner of Dudley Road and Winson Street at Winson Green [c.1905]

The original postcard from which this image is based is in very poor condition. It would take an age to restore it in Photoshop. However, it is such a great image of the Yorkshire Grey I simply have to roll it out for you to see. The image dates from around 1905 and shows the imposing character of the building on the corner site. This is amplified by the wooden bargeboards advertising Mitchell's and Butler's Ales, a popular addition to many a public house at this time. In some respects the simplicity and clean lines of the building are its genius. It is a pub that pre-dates the tile and terracotta decorative style of the late Victorian and early Edwardian periods.

Inside the Yorkshire Grey, two sections of the ground floor plan had outdoor departments, suggesting that a key component of the trade was via off sales, perhaps to the heavy industrical works to the north. There were three distinct areas in the liquor vaults serviced by an L-shaped counter. The rear smoke room was accessed via a vestibule and hall on the Winson Street frontage. From the hall a staircase led to a club room over the smoke room, and a billiards room over the front bars. There was sufficient room for two full-sized tables, the floor being strengthened by cast-iron supports from the cellars upwards. These upstairs rooms brought a great deal of respectability to the house and a great number of social gatherings and meetings were held at the Yorkshire Grey, resulting in the pub selling more than 1,200 barrels of beer per annum.

Birmingham : Map showing the Yorkshire Grey on the corner of Dudley Road and Heath Street at Winson Green [1889]

I have placed a map here in order to show the location of the pub, along with adjacent properties as these can be seen in the Edwardian postcard above. Although the street numbering changed in the 19th century, the Yorkshire Grey became No.381 by 1890 and retained this number thereafter. This side of the road was all odd numbers - the shop that can be seen at No.379 was occupied by the tobacconist Mrs. Eliza Cox. This was a relatively new enterprise as a few years before the premises acted as the retail outlet of the dairyman and poulterer Frederick Noakes. He probably tended to the livestock and perhaps made local deliveries, leaving the shop to be run by his wife Eva.

Birmingham : Thomas and Winifred Bailey' greengrocery shop on Dudley Road at Winson Green [c.1905]

I may not have a photograph of Eliza Cox's emporium but I do have an image of the shop two doors away at No.375 Dudley Road. In 1905 this was occupied by the Bailey family. Thomas Bailey was born in Swindon, Wiltshire around 1871. His wife Winifred originated from Ross in Herefordshire. The couple had two sons Thomas and Christopher but only one boy can be seen in the photograph stood in front of the vegetables. The boy looks around six or seven years old which dates the photograph to around 1905. In 1915 the shop was straddled by the milliner Harry Hall and the aforementioned tobacconist's shop was operated by Frederick Collins.

Football Team

Now, most people, even non-football fans, have heard of Aston Villa and Birmingham City. But few have heard of Birmingham St. George's F.C. And yet this team were one of the main footballing sides of Birmingham during the period when professional football was being organised into leagues.

The Yorkshire Grey, or the club room of the public house, became the headquarters of club. The team were once two separate sides until 1881 when Mitchell's F.C. and St. George's merged to form Mitchell' St. George's F.C. They entered the F.A. Cup for the 1881-2 season. Games were played on the Cape Hill brewery's sports field as both Henry Mitchell and his son Henry were financial backers of the club in the 1880s.

The name was changed to Birmingham St George's F.C. and, under this title, they were founder members of the Combination, a league that was formed in 1888. Henry Mitchell served as President of The Combination. However, it was disbanded after just one season and so Birmingham St George's F.C. applied to join the newly-formed Football League. However, although receiving a large number of votes they were not elected at the meeting in which Sunderland were successful with their application.

Birmingham St George's F.C. joined the rival Football Alliance which featured teams like Manchester City, who were then called Ardwick, Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City who then played under the name of Small Heath Alliance. St. George's really were in football's big time - the team even reached the quarter-finals of the F.A. Cup. As can be seen from newspaper articles, money was a constant issue, the club struggling to pay and retain top players. When the Alliance merged with the Football League in 1892, St. George's were the only club not to be accepted. The other Birmingham teams of Aston Villa and Small Heath Alliance emerged as the big two and St. George's folded in 1892. A case of what could have been? Oh, I must point out that the above photograph is a generic image taken from the many old postcards I have of football teams. I do not know of an image of Birmingham St George's F.C. If one appeared on an auction site it would cause a sensation in the world of football memorabilia!

Birmingham : The Yorkshire Grey on the corner of Dudley Road and Winson Street at Winson Green [1962]

James Nicholls was licensee of the Yorkshire Grey during the 1890s and was succeeded by Edwin Rice. He had once kept the Queen's Arms on Broad Street. He kept the Yorkshire Grey with his wife Eliza. They were helped by two employees of the brewery, James Smith and Annie Griffith. The Rice couple would later move to Small Heath where Edwin would find work as a gun engraver, almost certainly at the B.S.A.

Samuel Wedgbury was manager in the mid-Edwardian period. For some years the building had hotel status in name but I have not seen any evidence that the house offered overnight accommodation. Not that there was any space when the Wedgbury family were in residence. Samuel and Kate had four children and shared the upper floors with two brewery employees, Edward Hunt and Daniel Jeavons. The couple's daughters, Ethel and Florence, also worked behind the bar.

Mitchell's and Butler's Ales, leaseholders of the Yorkshire Grey Hotel since 1887, finally secured the freehold of the property in 1916 when the estate of James Davenport was broken up and sold by his executors. Most of the auction held at the Grand Hotel was for shops and residential properties but did include public houses such as the Bridge Tavern in Hunters Lane.


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Related Newspaper Articles

"Thomas Suffolk [22], 6, James's Buildings, Icknield Port Road, was charged with stealing two chickens, value 2s.6d. from the premises of Ann Harper, Yorkshire Grey, Dudley Road. Mr. Outlet defended the prisoner. On Saturday evening the prisoner was drinking at prosecutrix's house. He expressed a desire to see her chickens, and to change some. The birds were in a loft at the back of the premises, and prosecutrix did not give him permission to see them as they bad gone to roost. The prisoner went out into the skittle alley. He came in once to fetch some beer, and prosecutrix saw no more of him. On Sunday morning she found that two of her chickens had been stolen. Information was given to the police, and Police Constable Stanley went to to prisoner's house, where he found the stolen birds. He was committed for a month."
"Stealing Chickens"
Birmingham Daily Post : August 24th 1869 Page 4

"Samuel James Mason, alias Fish, no fixed residence, and James Bailey, alias Feather, Gosta Green, both betting men were charged with attempting to obtain 10s. by means of a trick known "ringing the changes." Inspector Hall said both of them had been charged with a similar charge before. Samuel White, the landlord of the Yorkshire Grey public house, Dudley Road, said the prisoners came into his bar on Saturday night and bought and paid for some drink. Bailey then asked him for half a sovereign exchange for ten shillings' worth of silver. Witness gave him half a sovereign, and received the silver in his hand. All in a moment the prisoner threw the half sovereign into the hand with the silver, saying, "Give us a sovereign." Witness replied, "Not for my own half sovereign back." Prisoners then finished their drink and went out. Shortly afterwards a policeman came in and said that the prisoners had been trying to ring the changes at another place. Mason did nothing but stand by. At the conclusion of Mr. White's evidence Bailey said, "It was all an oversight." The Clerk [Mr. J. B. Hebbert] I dare say it was. [Laughter.] Prisoners afterwards went to the Windmill Inn and tried the trick on again, but were unsuccessful. Not long after leaving here they were arrested by Police Constable Henry Bennett in Spring Hill. Bailey was committed to the Sessions, and the charge against Mason was dismissed."
"An Old Trick"
Birmingham Mail : September 1st 1884 Page 3

"Arthur Marriott, living in Coplow Street, was charged on a warrant with assaulting Joseph Smith, Thomas Wilson, and Samuel White. On Saturday night the prosecutor Smith came out of the Yorkshire Grey public house, Dudley Road, and on getting into the street saw the prisoner striking a man with a belt. Smith interfered, and prisoner then struck him with the buckles. Evidence was given of the several assaults. Prisoner said that he was drunk, and did not know what he was doing. He was sent to gaol for one month's hard labour for each assault, the terms to run consecutively."
"Assault With Buckles"
Birmingham Daily Post : February 3rd 1887 Page 3

"William Parkes, living at Winson Green, was charged, on a warrant, with assaulting a man named Smith. On the 5th inst. the prisoner took part in a general melée near the Yorkshire Grey Inn, Dudley Road, and in the course of the fracas struck the prosecutor several times. In connection with the assault one man has already hen sentenced to three months' imprisonment. The imposed a fine of 56 shillings, including costs, or in default two months' imprisonment."
"Unprovoked Assault"
Birmingham Daily Post : February 24th 1887 Page 3

"The annual general meeting of Mitchell's St. George's Football Club was held last evening at the Yorkshire Grey, Dudley Road, Mr. Henry Mitchell jun. [the president] in the chair. Mr. C. Dryland [the hon. secretary] read the report, which congratulated the members upon a very successful season. The club had played thirty-nine matches, being defeated sixteen times, winning nineteen times, and drawing four matches. Eighty-six goals were scored for the club and seventy-six against. In spite of very heavy expenses the balance sheet showed an account on the right side. The report was adopted. The officers were then elected, Mr. H. Mitchell, jun, being re-elected to the position of president and Mr. C. Dryland as hon. sec. At the close of the meeting, Mr. Frank Stevenson, on behalf of the players, presentod Mr. Mitchell with a handsome cigarette case, in recognition of the interest he had manifested in the club and as a testimony to the good feeling which had existed between Mr. Mitchell and the members of the club."
"Mitchell' St. George's Football Club"
Birmingham Mail : August 31st 1887 Page 4

"The adjourned meeting of the members of the above club was held last night, at the Yorkshire Grey Inn, Dudley Road, for the purpose of considering the proposed conversion of the club into a limited company. Mr. H. Mitchell, jun., who presided, reported that as a result of their appeal shares representing £320 had been taken up, and he suggested that the whole of the money should go towards the acquisition of the players and to improve the position of the club. They could not issue debentures unless they had the club registered, and the legal expenses would be about £60. He therefore advised them to proceed on the same lines as Notts Forest, Notts County, or Small Heath clubs. After some discussion, Mr. Mitchell proposed and Mr. Curtis seconded, "That the resolution passed at the last meeting forming the club into a limited company be rescinded." The resolution was carried. The Chairman next moved "That a fund be raised for the purpose of obtaining players and taking other steps for improving the playing status of the club, subscribers of £1 and upwards to be entitled to free admission to the ground for periods corresponding with the amount of their subscriptions." This was seconded by Mr. White, and carried unanimously."
"St. George's Football Club"
Birmingham Daily Post : February 11th 1891

"Last night the annual meeting of the St. George's Football Club was held at the Yorkshire Grey Hotel, Cape Hill. Mr. E. Underhill presided over a numerous attendance. Mr. J. White presented the report of the committee, which showed that during the past season the first team played 42 matches, of which 18 were won, 19 lost, and 5 were drawn. They scored 101 goals, compared with 106 against them. The Chairman said the St. George's Football Club from that date started upon a new era. So far as the brewery interest went in connection with the club, it was at an end. Messrs. H. Mitchell, sen., and H. Mitchell, jun., severed their connection with the club. They would, however, personally continue to take an interest in the club as long as it was conducted on proper lines. He was instructed to say that the club would be allowed the free use of the ground at Cape Hill, and in addition to that Messrs. H. Mitchell, sen., and H. Mitchell, jun., would subscribe £50 each per annum. [Applause.] They had been successful with the refreshment department in past seasons, and from that source they derived £40 a year, and that made up £140 which they might consider guaranteed. But that sum would not be sufficient to keep the team together. If they were to be more successful they must have men who would make up their minds to win matches. [Hear, hear.] In their present financial position they could not afford to pay higher rates for their players. They literally had no money. Certain men had signed for one or more seasons, but it was necessary that they should obtain some money at once, as there were several of the men who had not yet signed, and it was essential that they should do so as soon as possible. Mr. Stansbie, the secretary, having resigned, Mr. Hobson was nominated, the meeting then adjourned. It was understood that the statement of accounts would be presented at a future meeting, when other officers will also be elected."
"Football"
Birmingham Daily Post : June 20th 1891

"Henry C. Whincop, 142, Sycamore Road, Cape Hill, was summoned for refusing to pay his fare whilst travelling on the Midland. Tramway Company's line. On Monday night last the defendant travelled by a car from Windmill Lane, Cape Hill. He paid a penny, and the conductor told him he could only go as far as the Yorkshire Grey public house for that amount. Defendant remained on the car, and, after passing the penny stage the conductor demanded another fare, which the defendant refused to pay, because he said the company had altered the fares from a penny to two-pence, and they had no right to do this without permission from the Board of Trade. He at first refused to give his name and address, but on going to the police station he yielded. It was stated that the defendant knew of the alteration of the fares, and had seen the notices posted up in the cars. The solicitor for the defence submitted that the ticket which was given to the defendant was a written contract, and on it was "Windmill Lane to Aberdeen Street, ld." Consequently the defendant was justified in going the whole of the journey for the penny. The Stipendiary said no doubt the defendant thought he was right, but it would be better for him to apologise to the company. This was done, and the summons was withdrawn."
"A Wrong Impression"
Birmingham Daily Post : July 13th 1892

"The Liberal Unionists of polling districts 10 and 10a, of Rotton Park Ward, held a most successful smoking concert, at the Yorkshire Grey Hotel, Dudley Road, on Friday evening. Mr. W. Farrow, of the Liberal Unionist offices, presided ever a crowded and enthusiastic attendance, and was supported by Dr. Hallwright, Councillor Jephcott, Messrs. C. Burgess, W. Gibson, and other gentlemen. A capital programme was contributed by the Gwalior Welsh Choir, under the conductorship of Mr. J. Davies, and interspersed with songs by Messrs. D. Thomas, T. Baugh, J. Hall, and others. Just before the meeting broke up, a telegram was read announcing the relief of Mafeking. A scene of the wildest enthusiasm ensued. Cheers were given for Baden-Powell and his gallant band. Then the National Anthem was sung, and the crowded assembly dispersed amid vociferous cheers for the Queen."
"Liberal Unionist Smoking Concert"
Birmingham Daily Post : May 21st 1900

"The Summerfield Bowling Club held their inaugural meeting, which took the form of a smoking concert, at the Yorkshire Grey Hotel, Dudley Road, Birmingham, last evening. The club has a membership of over 50 - an increase on that of last year, but new members are wanted. A series of matches and handicaps has been arranged for the coming season. There was a large attendance at the concert, over which Mr. J. Smith presided. The opening was performed by Mr. E. Grimley. A capital musical programme was contributed by the following: Messrs. G. Swaffield, W. Green, H. Parnell, D. Luck, H. Hinton, W. Taylor, and T. A. Truan [pianist]."
"Summerfield Bowling Club"
Birmingham Daily Gazette : April 17th 1924 Page 8


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Birmingham : The Yorkshire Grey on the corner of Dudley Road and Winson Street at Winson Green [2002]

Licensees of this pub

1865 - 1872 Ann Harper
1872 - 1875 Stephen Thorp
1875 - 1883 Harriet Thorp
1883 - 1887 Samuel White
1887 - 1893 Henry Sawyer
1893 - James Nicholls
1899 - Edwin Rice
1905 - Samuel Albert Wedgbury
1917 - Joseph Harrison
1931 - 1942 John Frederick Harris
1942 - Albert John Williams
1946 - William Henry Williams
1951 - 1962 John Richard Wood
1962 - 1963 John Maurice Davis
1963 - 1965 Charles Thomas Moss
1965 - 1967 Malcolm James Hughes
1967 - 1970 Hubert Arthur Leeson
1970 - 1975 John Harold Poppitt
1975 - 1977 Allan Ernest Clarke
1977 - 1978 Michael George Granger
1978 - 1981 Roger Thomas Steventon
1981 - 1982 Raymond Jones
1982 - 1983 William Bostock
1983 - 1985 John Frederick Bowater
1985 - 1987 Jaghar Singh Dulai
1987 - 1994 Sara Tranter
1994 - 1994 Patrick Gerard Meates
1994 - 1995 Valerie June Curtis
1995 - 2000 Maureen Gumbs
2000 - Osbourne George Daley
Note : this is not a complete list of licensees for this pub.

Mitchells's and Butler's

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Birmingham : Bar of the Yorkshire Grey on the corner of Dudley Road and Winson Street at Winson Green [2002]

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"I am glad that I visited the Yorkshire Grey just before it closed for good as a public house. The pub was at the fag end of its life but the atmosphere inside was boisterous because a good old-fashioned game of dominoes was being played by a group of old Jamaican guys. The Windrush generation brought a new dimension to this pub game. The action is really animated, particularly when the last domino goes down with a tremendous slam on the table and the celebrations begin. Absolutely brilliant."
Kieron, Webmaster

Brummagem Boozers

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