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Lea Tavern, Lea Village

jukebox

jukebox

Engineer Brummie
Unidentified_Pub.jpg

Among the photographs I inherited from my Grandparents is the attached picture of a public house. Unfortunately there is no identification on it other than ‘Fred Smith’s Ales’, but I suspect it is Lea Tavern, Lea Village as my Great Aunt lived there, and was presumably licensee, between 1925 and 1938. I would be pleased if anyone could confirm whether or not it is Lea Tavern. One odd thing however – I found a photo marked Lea Tavern on the internet about a year ago. Unfortunately it was protected and copywrited so I am unable to reproduce it, but it showed a much larger building, the centre part of which was identical to my photo. However, I have not been able to find this picture again! Was the building perhaps reduced in size at some time (or extended after my photo was taken) or were a number of pubs built with the same basic design? Any info would be great, especially if anyone has a picture of the larger building. John.
 
Hi Jukebox

Though there are many similarities I don't think your photo is of the Lee Tavern, although the only thing I base this statement on is this photo of the Lee Tavern taken in 1937 which is inclusive in the dates that you quoted.

Phil

LeaHallLeeTavern1937.jpg
 
I would agree with Phil that it is probably not the Lea Tavern, but one of a lot of somewhat similar pubs built after WW1.The chimneys are different and , as you say, if it is the same then it has been expanded. Then they were less wasteful, and didn't pull down and rebuild as much as nowadays, The picture below i would think was 1900-1913, and is obviously a completely different building (though it is Fred Smiths Ales), and i would think it unliekly that a second rebuild would be undertaken so soon after the replacement of this
I will add though, that I speak, I'm afraid, with little actual knowledge of Lea Hall
Mike
PS Below are the pic from post 1 and the one from this post
lea20hall20tavern201880s.jpg


leahalltavernearly20thcentposs.jpg
 
postie said:
I found this one.
Click to expand...
This is the Lea Tavern as i remember it from the 1950`s until its demolition, a relative of that time on certain dates would drink a large number of Starbright bottled beer which was bought from the outdoor, the Lea Tavern had a bad reputation. Len
 
Last edited:
Len, your memory never ceases to amaze me, I had a little chuckle when I read it.
Of course I remember her well!!!!
 
Jukebox,
I was born at the Lea Hall Tavern in 1953 and lived there with my sister until I was 8. My Mom and Dad ran the pub. William (Bill) and Ellen Day. My Gran and Granddad ran it before them, George and Fransis Day. My Dad lived there with his brothers George and Jack. Dad and George died but Jack is still alive and well in the USA. He moved there when he was in his 20's.
I haven'g got exact dates when Granddad took the pub over but can easily get in touch with Jack and find out.
 
Forgot to say. Mike is right. That picture is not the Lea Tavern but the other ones certainly are. I have the same photo (somewhere) and also pictures of my Gran on the flat roof which was a later addition to the original building (over the Assembly Room).
 
hi len ;
in the fifties it was not so bad ;well kept ; in and out until the beginning o the sixties then the rot started to move in up from
the mannor house on station rd the iron horse was a good family pub well run by the gather he ran a very tight ship ; and thats the way you do it ;
start as you mean to go on give them no leave way ; that what my motto was astonian
 
Photo *1 this pub reminds me of the one at Honily on the A4177 on the way from Balsall Common to Warwick right now I cannot remember its name .Dek
 
Do you mean the 'Honiley Boot' Dek now renamed 'Brook Honiley Court' and much larger?
 
Yes Bernie the Boot thanks I haven,t been that way for 20 years so the memories of it are not so good. I did some work at Hatton I think it was a Mental Hospital that has now closed down.Dek
 
Hi Dilys. Many thanks for the info. My great aunt and uncle Thomas and Clara Hirst were the licencees from around 1925 to around 1938. It would certainly be interesting to find out when your grandparents moved there as they may well have taken over directly after Thomas and Clara left. Thomas died in 1940 when he would have been 65, so I don't know whether he was still there at the time or whether he had retired. Regards, John
 
No it's not the Boot. That building is parallel to the road whereas in my photo the road runs at an angle. Further suggestions would be very welcome as I am still puzzled as to where it is and why it's in with the family photos!
 
John,
I think you photo probably is the Lea Hall Tavern. I have been talking to my sister, who is older than me, and we remember how the living accomodation was on different levels. Two or three steps into different
parts of the house which seems to suggest alterations. It certainly had been extended at the rear when we lived there, but that had been done in more recent times. George and Fransis were the licensee's during the war so most probably took over from
your Aunt. I will call Jack over the weekend and see what information he can give me. Also I will have a look through the hundreds of disorganised photo's I have in a big box to see if I can dig out my picture.
Will be back in touch next week.
When we lived there it was a great pub. The customers were 'salt of the earth' and didn't let any trouble makers spoil there watering hole!
Jeannie
 
hi dily ;
that is most def; the pub; in its hay day ; well kept and well run by is parents afew years on it became a notoriuos pub ; and you would not have liked to go in there at any cost and unless you wore a crash helmet the pub its self from building wise got left to rott and became a dirty shack ;inside and out side all the years i had known it it never got a make over
the paint work was never painted ;well thats a lie it was only ever painted once ib the early 70; no one would ever go in there
out side the pub its self it was like a council tip the cark park was never swept and broken glass every day and all day long seven days aweek
but when is family ran it was good but afterwards down hill very rapid for many years to come and the best thing to knock it down ;
the area as change dramicicaly now by the sense of its population which is bad than ever with the gangs of youths nd druggs and crime the police most cerainly have there hands full over that neck of the woods ; best wishes astonian
 
Astonian said:
hi len ;
in the fifties it was not so bad ;well kept ; in and out until the beginning o the sixties then the rot started to move in up from
the mannor house on station rd the iron horse was a good family pub well run by the gather he ran a very tight ship ; and thats the way you do it ;
start as you mean to go on give them no leave way ; that what my motto was astonian
Click to expand...
Hi Astonian, The Bulls Head, Stetchford, later name changed to The Manor House is now demolished, The Iron Horse has been refurbished and is still going strong. Len.
 
Hi all, the picture in Postie's post is definitely Leahall Tavern, I called my cousin Peter who lived directly opposite on the corner of Hurstcroft Road and Lea Village. The pub had it's name changed to Tavern On The Green before it actually closed. My old Uncle John Dowling (known as Whippet for reason) and Peter were regulars in there for many years.
 
Hi folks,I remember the Lea Hall Tavern very well from my Mom and Dad drinking there it was their
for over fifty odd years, they were Walter and Maggie Coney.
 
mikejee said:
I would agree with Phil that it is probably not the Lea Tavern, but one of a lot of somewhat similar pubs built after WW1.The chimneys are different and , as you say, if it is the same then it has been expanded. Then they were less wasteful, and didn't pull down and rebuild as much as nowadays, The picture below i would think was 1900-1913, and is obviously a completely different building (though it is Fred Smiths Ales), and i would think it unliekly that a second rebuild would be undertaken so soon after the replacement of this
I will add though, that I speak, I'm afraid, with little actual knowledge of Lea Hall
Mike
PS Below are the pic from post 1 and the one from this post
Click to expand...

What we have to remember that in the very early days of Lea Village being settled, the Lea Tavern wasn't just a place to drink for the locals but was also somewhere for travellers to stay the night as you're passing through, hence it was also known as a travellers inn.

If this picture (top one) is from 1900-1913 then it may well be the picture we're looking for. I know from when my dad was alive (he drank many drinks in there) he was always telling me that things had been added to the pub over the years, this of course will change it's appearance.
 
Jukebox, this is indeed an early photo of the Lea Tavern, before the extra additions were made. Do you know the year of this photo?
 
Here is a map of the Lea Village area in 1888, I suspect the picture in post #1 is dated around this time due to the lack of buildings at the back of the pub. I have an earlier map somewhere which shows the Tavern more or less on it's own with just cottages dotted around the place.
leavillage1888.jpg
 
jukebox said:
View attachment 75671

Dating this photo maybe easier than we think. The trimmings are tied to the pub and up to the road, this is obviously for a celebration of some sort such as a Royal occassion. Whenever it was taken it was definately before 1933 when the new estate was built as there are no buildings on Hurstcroft Road. Again, I suspect either late 1800's or very early 1900's due to the lack of modernisation.
Click to expand...
 
To mizzyjo - a while ago (I think sometime in 2011?) the website was hacked and all the photos were lost. Some members have restored lost pictures but unfortunately many are still missing and only the 'placeholders' are shown. However in this thread you should be able to see photos in posts 1, 2, 3 and 4.

To everyone else who has posted in this thread - many thanks for your help. For some reason I didn't receive any notification of new posts for over a year (until #34) so I was unaware that so many had contributed.

I now suspect that my original photo (post #1) is not Lea Village Tavern. The main part of the building is obviously similar to pictures which have identification on them but I think the ground to the right of the photo slopes away more than in the named photo. From the quality of my photo I would guess it was taken in the 1930s or 1940s.

So I'm still no wiser as to where the building was or why the photo was in my grandfather's collection. Maybe he helped to put the bunting up!
 
jukebox said:
View attachment 75671

Among the photographs I inherited from my Grandparents is the attached picture of a public house. Unfortunately there is no identification on it other than ‘Fred Smith’s Ales’, but I suspect it is Lea Tavern, Lea Village as my Great Aunt lived there, and was presumably licensee, between 1925 and 1938. I would be pleased if anyone could confirm whether or not it is Lea Tavern. One odd thing however – I found a photo marked Lea Tavern on the internet about a year ago. Unfortunately it was protected and copywrited so I am unable to reproduce it, but it showed a much larger building, the centre part of which was identical to my photo. However, I have not been able to find this picture again! Was the building perhaps reduced in size at some time (or extended after my photo was taken) or were a number of pubs built with the same basic design? Any info would be great, especially if anyone has a picture of the larger building. John.
Click to expand...
*it looks like old photo of The Lad in the Lane.....!!!!
 
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