• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

the beehive pub soho hill

ok judy...look forward to anymore little snippets of info you may turn up..all adds to the history of the pub

lyn:)
 
I've just had a quick browse through the 1841 census for Handsworth with Soho - District 2, which covers Soho Street and Soho Hill, but I can't see any pub or drinking establishment mentioned so I guess your 1845-1849 estimate for it being built is right.

I've attached the enumeration district information. Hope it comes out ok as its the first time I've added a photo on this new set-up :)

Judy
 

Attachments

  • 1841 District 2 Handsworth.jpg
    1841 District 2 Handsworth.jpg
    496.6 KB · Views: 11
thanks judy i agree with you about the date the beehive was built...thats that one sorted:)
 
BEEHIVE SOHO HILL 23.4.17 010.JPG BEEHIVE SOHO HILL 23.4.17 001.JPG BEEHIVE SOHO HILL 23.4.17 005.JPG well it had to happen...still standing a few days ago..today its gone pic 2 with what used to be dennisons watch co to the left and to the right what used to be rusty lees restaurant..pic 3 close up of rusty lees restaurant..for years i was hoping to get the beehive that was affixed to the front of the pub quite high up but it was not to be...still never mind i did come away with a brick..im happy with that:D
 
Last edited:
View attachment 113925 View attachment 113923 View attachment 113924 well it had to happen...still standing a few days ago..today its gone pic 2 with what used to be dennisons watch co to the left and to the right what used to be rusty lees restaurant..pic 3 close up of rusty lees restaurant..for years i was hoping to get the beehive that was affixed to the front of the pub quite high up but it was not to be...still never mind i did come away with a brick..im happy with that:D

Thank you for those sad photos Lyn. The Beehive (as it used to be) was my Dad's local and part of my growing up as it was at the bottom of my road (Soho Avenue) and opposite my school (Soho College). I never saw Rusty Lee's restaurant as we left Handsworth in 1956, but I did have a friend who lived in one of that row of houses by the surname of Bennett. Often used to cut through the side of the Beehive, and through a Court of houses into Terrace Road, as a short cut into Villa Road. Sad to see your memories go, but after the arson last year I guess there was no other option.
 
yes judy always sad to see a bit of our history going...i think the old dennisons factory will be next to go along with that row of buildings (that you friend lived in) what is worrying to me is the building to the right of them dated 1826..seen here on street view..i am going to do some research on that building to see if the year is correct and will post about that on the soho hill thread

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.5...4!1sMcclSdqT-HBSDrPxvUbjNw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
 
Don't know if this is any help. From Pigott Smith map of (supposedly) 1828, showing that area. hasn't joined very well, but shows buildings and positions

soho hill pigott smith c1828.jpg
 
Very sad news. I used to live there, when my father Edward (Ted) Lloyd held the license. Probably around 1960 - 2 ish. My parents ran several pubs but this was the only pub we had which had a garden! It was an interesting place, with a mix of cultures and none of them mixed. My mum asked the West Indians what they liked to eat and the answer was goat. So she 'invented' curried kid sandwiches and sold loads and loads of them!
 
thanks for your post macqueen and yes it is very sad news especially as the pub was a part of your life..

lyn
 
As someone who also lived there through happy childhood years, may I echo the sentiments expressed now the building has been demolished and will be no more. I fully understand change has to happen and many public houses have suffered a similar fate or had a different change of use, but it is almost cruel in the manner with which whoever owns the property, left it to become derelict and unviable as a business premises. As has been said "very sad". Allanbrum
 
View attachment 113925View attachment 113923View attachment 113924 well it had to happen...still standing a few days ago..today its gone pic 2 with what used to be dennisons watch co to the left and to the right what used to be rusty lees restaurant..pic 3 close up of rusty lees restaurant..for years i was hoping to get the beehive that was affixed to the front of the pub quite high up but it was not to be...still never mind i did come away with a brick..im happy with that:D
That cream coloured house next door was the home from around the 1840s of William Dowler, whose family business was mostly held on Great Charles Street. They were bell hangers, brassfounders, Military ornament makers, button, and whistle makers (my interest) from as early as the 18th century.
 
thanks for that info pete nice edition to this thread..having seen the cream coloured house close up and the state its in i just cant see it lasting much longer

all the best

lyn
 
Thanks Lyn. This pic has been posted previously, showing the Beehive and next door, probably 1930s.View attachment 130141
1546201166131.png
Most threads open up at the most recent post, but now and again some open at post 1#. This is one of them.
I noticed the skep high up on the upper wall (left side). A nice touch. I guess it was easier to install that the more familiar wooden type hive.
 

Before my drinking days sadly .... how I wish I could have gone into the pub when it was furnished with bamboo around the walls and the jukebox had 50 reggae singles installed. It would have been great to witness the Jamaican-style dominoes! Man, the players are so animated in this game. Last time I witnessed a slam-dom was in the Yorkshire Grey in Winson Green - nearly had my pint over!
 
For a period I knew the landlord and his wife in the late 1960s. I remember it like this. the first time I went in there I felt a little out of place there, bu that soon changed. It was a great pub
 
mike i was still living in villa st then...did not realise that you knew the pub...sadly another one i did not get to visit:(

lyn
 
My Dad’s local back in the 40s/50s and the Outdoor is where we kids used to take the pop bottles back to get our pennies. Mr and Mrs Pope were the licensees back in those days.
 
Oh that's sad! It was home to me and my sister Diane in the early 60's when Mum and Dad (Ted and Dorn Lloyd) ran it. Mum made a fortune selling 'curried kid' sarnies. The place needed redecorating when we moved in and I was allowed to choose my own wallpaper. I'll have to go and see if I can see any trace of it and pick up a brick!! Moving out from central Brum, this was the only pub we had which had a garden. It was once a lovely place to be!
 
Oh that's sad! It was home to me and my sister Diane in the early 60's when Mum and Dad (Ted and Dorn Lloyd) ran it. Mum made a fortune selling 'curried kid' sarnies. The place needed redecorating when we moved in and I was allowed to choose my own wallpaper. I'll have to go and see if I can see any trace of it and pick up a brick!! Moving out from central Brum, this was the only pub we had which had a garden. It was once a lovely place to be!
Have you got a pic of them for use on my website please? Did they run any other pubs? Cheers, Kieron
 
Hi
sorry I wish I did have a photo of them at the Beehive.
The list of pubs is as follows:
The White Horse, Macdonald Street
The Ivy Green, Edward Street
The Navigation, Summer Row
The Beehive, Soho Hill
The Summerhill Tavern (aka the Free House), Summerhill Road. (STILL standing - a Chinese Restaurant)

then CIU clubs (another story ....).

Dawn
ps. I challenge you to find photos of the White Swan and also the Navigation ( I cant!). Both long since gone!
 
Oops (got interrupted!) . Yes the White Horse stood on the corner of MacDonald Street and Rea Street. I have one picture but its not a good one.
Dawn
 
Hi
sorry I wish I did have a photo of them at the Beehive.
The list of pubs is as follows:
The White Horse, Macdonald Street
The Ivy Green, Edward Street
The Navigation, Summer Row
The Beehive, Soho Hill
The Summerhill Tavern (aka the Free House), Summerhill Road. (STILL standing - a Chinese Restaurant)

then CIU clubs (another story ....).

Dawn
ps. I challenge you to find photos of the White Swan and also the Navigation ( I cant!). Both long since gone!

Hi Dawn
Many thanks for the list - the White Horse was a Dare's house and I always wonder what their beers were like? Any old photo of your parents together would be smashing, doesn't have to be in the Beehive. Maybe a short biog of them - I might then tackle each pub's history - though I now have a backlog of pubs linked with Lyn's Villa Tavern!
Cheers, Kieron
 
I always thought it was Rea Street but will certainly bow to someone who knows better as I was very young when we moved in (about1953).
The license was in Mum's name and Dad, I believe, still drove a (horse-led) milk cart. It was a Dare's house and I know from what mum told me that it was a 'working' family firm with regular pub contact. She never found either Ansells or M&B to have the same attitude towards its managers.
I will go picture-hunting tomorrow!
 
Hi Dawn
Many thanks for the list - the White Horse was a Dare's house and I always wonder what their beers were like? Any old photo of your parents together would be smashing, doesn't have to be in the Beehive. Maybe a short biog of them - I might then tackle each pub's history - though I now have a backlog of pubs linked with Lyn's Villa Tavern!
Cheers, Kieron

Any old photo? - here is one. I can't verify which pub but it definitely isn't the Navvie or the Free House (layout is wrong). It might be the Beehive or the Ivy Green. I have given a list of the relevant pubs. Dad also 'relieved' many of the pubs between the City Centre and Dudley for Dares, Ansells and M&B in his time.
I come from a long history of local licensees and one day I hope to find time to start to pull the info together.
 

Attachments

  • mum and dad poss.Beehive 001.jpg
    mum and dad poss.Beehive 001.jpg
    203.9 KB · Views: 25
Back
Top