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Matador pub
- Thread starter Claribel
- Start date
Phil
Gone, but not forgotten.
The Matedor at the top of the ramp above Oswald Baileys next door to the Witzy Doo restaurant and the entrance to the shopping centre. I always found it a strange pub with most of the first floor being taken up by the staircase up to the second floor, a lot like the other pub at the other end of the shopping centre the Wandering Minstrel. I don't think a lot of thought went into any of that generation of pubs in the Bull Ring.
Attachments
View attachment 85932The Matador
paul stacey
master brummie
I remember the Matador, Bernie, I am sure that it was the place, I ordered my very first whisky. Paul
Key Hill Brian
Proud Brummie
Bernie,
The Matador did have a function room - I know it was used by a Model Soldier Society pretty well up until was demolished.
Brian
The Matador did have a function room - I know it was used by a Model Soldier Society pretty well up until was demolished.
Brian
Certainly is a blast Lyn. Never went in the Matador, but went past it several times a week using that exit from the Indoor Bull Ring and down the curling ramp.
Viv.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Viv.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
The Matador interior in the 1960s. Viv.
Hi Astoness,
My mate & me used to go in the Matador at lunchtime as we both worked in Woolies Bull Ring (Saturday restaurant staff), both underage a miracle we ever got served but, must admit we enjoyed one or two in there. Brew yer own, music to my ears been doing it now for over 35 years, a proper hobby with a deserving reward at the end cheers,
Lozellian.
Williamstreeter
master brummie
Saturday Afternoon the good lady and I would go there for the last half hour or so on the dinnertime , inside if it was chilly outside on the porch/veranda in the sun very impersonal though
BuriedBrumBen
New Member
Hi everyone
It's particularly fascinating for me, having only moved to Birmingham 5 years ago, to hear about what was on the bullring site before the modern one was built.
A friend of mine and I are actually currently working on an art project about the area, talking to and recording people who have interesting memories of buildings in the Bullring and markets area that are no longer there and hopefully creating a kind of walking tour out of it.
If anyone would be interested please let me know. Buildings like the Matador, the Mayfair suite, and any other shops or streets that no longer exist are of particular interest to us.
Thanks all!
Ben
It's particularly fascinating for me, having only moved to Birmingham 5 years ago, to hear about what was on the bullring site before the modern one was built.
A friend of mine and I are actually currently working on an art project about the area, talking to and recording people who have interesting memories of buildings in the Bullring and markets area that are no longer there and hopefully creating a kind of walking tour out of it.
If anyone would be interested please let me know. Buildings like the Matador, the Mayfair suite, and any other shops or streets that no longer exist are of particular interest to us.
Thanks all!
Ben
Hi Ben,
Welcome on behalf of the BHF, you should certainly find a wealth of information / knowledge from a wide variety of members; I wish you all the best with your art project.
Lozellian.
Williamstreeter
master brummie
Hello Ben welcome , I used The Matador many Saturday afternoons in the 70's . Beneath that and too the right were Oswald Bailey's from where I bought my first pair of regular Levi's priced at £4.19s. 11d in 1965 . a couple of years later I used to buy my all leather Jodhpur boots £14.19.11 the first pair cost . Moving on I then used The Toreador pub around the corner in Edgbaston St near the Midland red bus depot . Great days all of them
Toni62
master brummie
My brother dated a mixed race Asian girl from that wollies, she worked on cigarette kiosk I think. Her name was Rose. Wow her name just came to me.
I remember the Matador !! the firm I worked for had a cigarette machine in there , up the stairs. I used to fill it up each week. Went one week and it had gone !!! It would have taken 3 men to have got it downstairs,, it never came back again. I bet this was an inside job LOL
JohnJames
master brummie
It was a strange sort of pub. One you maybe had a quick pint in after getting off the bus before going in to town. Maybe it was designed for Bullring shoppers but due to the then archaic pub opening hours, it wouldn't have been much benefit to a daytime crowd. Seemed even more pointless after 6pm.
JohnJames
master brummie
Oswald Baileys. The go to place for Jods and Levis, when you had saved enough! Bought my first pair of Jods there and put them on in the shop under my turned up Levis. Great times..
Richard Dye
master brummie
Loved that store. Bought my 2 man/person tent there and my climbing boots with Vibram soles there!
So the Matador was located here:
Google Maps
The front was facing towards the Rotunda, with the circular walkway directly beneath it. In between was the Bull Ring open market, the one with Woolies facing it.
The pub entrance on the ground floor led you directly into a small bar. This is the bar you see in the black and white photos.
Also on the ground floor was the entrance to the patio. This patio/terrace was directly facing the church St Martins In The Bull Ring. Inbetween the pub and the church was a ramp going up hill from right to left. This ramp was used to ferry fruit and veg from the Smithfields Whole Market to the stalls in the mentioned open market.
As soon as you walked into the Matador on the left hand side there was a flight of stairs. These led up to another bar and function room.
The toilets were directly infront at the top of the stairs. You now have to turn 90 degrees right. You would now see the entrance to the function room which would be another 90 degree turn to the right. Go through into the fuction room and at the end it would give a panoramic view on the circular walkway, open market, Woolies and the Rotunda. You can see this fuction room in photos above the entrance to The Matador. You can also see the reflection of The Rotunda in the photos.
The bar at the top was after the entrance to the function room, along the right hand side. Once you reached the bar, there was an alcove that had a window that would allow you to see out onto Simthfields Wholesale market, with Edgbaston Street directly below you.
From recollection, the fuction room served food to weekend shoppers in the afternoon. In the evening it was mainly market stallholders in either bars.
Google Maps
The front was facing towards the Rotunda, with the circular walkway directly beneath it. In between was the Bull Ring open market, the one with Woolies facing it.
The pub entrance on the ground floor led you directly into a small bar. This is the bar you see in the black and white photos.
Also on the ground floor was the entrance to the patio. This patio/terrace was directly facing the church St Martins In The Bull Ring. Inbetween the pub and the church was a ramp going up hill from right to left. This ramp was used to ferry fruit and veg from the Smithfields Whole Market to the stalls in the mentioned open market.
As soon as you walked into the Matador on the left hand side there was a flight of stairs. These led up to another bar and function room.
The toilets were directly infront at the top of the stairs. You now have to turn 90 degrees right. You would now see the entrance to the function room which would be another 90 degree turn to the right. Go through into the fuction room and at the end it would give a panoramic view on the circular walkway, open market, Woolies and the Rotunda. You can see this fuction room in photos above the entrance to The Matador. You can also see the reflection of The Rotunda in the photos.
The bar at the top was after the entrance to the function room, along the right hand side. Once you reached the bar, there was an alcove that had a window that would allow you to see out onto Simthfields Wholesale market, with Edgbaston Street directly below you.
From recollection, the fuction room served food to weekend shoppers in the afternoon. In the evening it was mainly market stallholders in either bars.
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If the pub was still there then this link would show you directly looking at it's entrance/frontage and Oswald Bailey below it.
Woolies would be on your right shoulder, the Rotunda behind you, and the market on your left shoulder.
This link shows you looking directly at the side of the Matador with the terrace or patio area directly above you.
Smithfield Whole Market would be to you left. St Martins church is behind you. This is the ramp from the Wholesale market to the open air market. Barrow boys and forklifts would pack this area out first thing in the mornings.
On a Saturday morning/afternoon this area would be crammed with shoppers.
This link would be showing you the back of the Matador.
Woolies would be on your right shoulder, the Rotunda behind you, and the market on your left shoulder.
This link shows you looking directly at the side of the Matador with the terrace or patio area directly above you.
Smithfield Whole Market would be to you left. St Martins church is behind you. This is the ramp from the Wholesale market to the open air market. Barrow boys and forklifts would pack this area out first thing in the mornings.
On a Saturday morning/afternoon this area would be crammed with shoppers.
This link would be showing you the back of the Matador.
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I have a vague memory of going in here for a drink after shopping in the 70s. It was nice and quiet after the hustle and bustle of the markets.
What pubs? We went to most of them when me and my friend were old enough! Didn't like the Parisian, there used to be fights and smashed glasses.