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comet pub hodge hill

R

rlg1965

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Hi I'm a newbie I live near the recently closed Comet pub Collingbourne Avenue Hodge Hill ( sometimes Bromford is the district used ) I'm fairly new to the area and I am interested in any info on the pub mainly to verify the info I've be given for example I've been told the pub was on a golf course which was used by Edward the VIII and he stayed at the Comet when it was also a Hostelery so confirmation of that would be appreciated I've also been told that the person who has bought it can not demolish it or alter certain parts of the interior as parts of it are of historical interest if anyone can help with the history of this pub it would be much appreciated
 
Sorry, I dont know anything about the Comet pub but just wanted to say hello & that I used to live by there as well.......Ventnor Avenue. I'll watch this thread with interest as I'd love to know more about it too.:)
 
I remember seeing Trevor Hockey ( Blues player) there in the early 70's with his velvet covered Triumph Herald parked outside.:)
 
WELCOME RIGI, i know the area, my son in laws family lived around there ill find out what i can if anything,
 
Welcome RIGI I know the area too used to live on Bromford Road and Chattock Close and also attended Hodge Hill Girls School.
 
I lived in Collingbourne Avenue for a time in the late 60s. The Birmingham racecourse occupied what was to become the Bromford Bridge estate until it closed in the mid-sixties. It was a nice area. At the top of the road near Bromford Road the Blues (and later Villa) player Geoff Vowden lived there. Another player who spent most of his career at Blues before a spell at Villa was Malcolm Beard he lived in Standlake Avenue, which is off Collingbourne, at the same time.
 
shavedfish49 said:
I lived in Collingbourne Avenue for a time in the late 60s. The Birmingham racecourse occupied what was to become the Bromford Bridge estate until it closed in the mid-sixties. It was a nice area. At the top of the road near Bromford Road the Blues (and later Villa) player Geoff Vowden lived there. Another player who spent most of his career at Blues before a spell at Villa was Malcolm Beard he lived in Standlake Avenue, which is off Collingbourne, at the same time.
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The Comet is no more. I went past it on Friday and it is now a field of weeds.
 
Another slice of history bites the dust and another piece of my memory jigsaw puzzle is consigned to lost files. Progress?
 
shavedfish49 said:
Another slice of history bites the dust and another piece of my memory jigsaw puzzle is consigned to lost files. Progress?
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There are many that would say it is progress, I would say it isn't. I now live in Telford, a place that when it was created swept away much of its history when it was given new town status in 1968 and as a result is soul less and yearns for its lost history.

There was a lot of history in The Comet, a place I spent many a good time and also the pub my father bought me my first "legal" pint when I was 18!! (I was drinking at the Parrot/Navigation prior to that).

My father went to the last race meeting at the old Bromford Race Course and just a few years later my parents bought a house in Standlake Avenue, (where they still live today) no more than 3 or 4 minutes from the Comet, he was a regular there. I am visiting at the end of this month, I shall have a last walk round just to have a look at the site and remember how it used to be.

Sad!
 
When I moved to the Bromford Estate in 1967, we used to walk up to Comet for a drink, it was a nice pub then and had a thriving bowls club, we went to have a look at it about two years ago and it was all boarded up, so sad.
 
I remember seeing a date on one of the beams inside and it was 1300 and something, can't remember exact date. It was only demolished recently but i wonder what happened to the beams etc?.
 
I have an 1834 OS map which shows Hay Hall to be in the same location as the Comet. As a kid we used to play in and around the grounds of what later became the Comet, except that it was semi-derelict and had a brick garden wall all round the garden, which had fallen down in places, and allowed us to get into the orchard and scrump apples.
Just below the building was a pond which was a water hazard of the golf course which was proved when we swam in it, as we found many golf balls , which must ahve been hit into the pond before the war. So that confitms that the building may well have been the Club House, and if it is true that Royalty stayed there, my surmise that it was probably Hay Hall could be correct.
John Robbins
 
I lived in Collingbourne ave,in the 70s and have great memories of this pub. Lots of Blues footballers were locals, and one or 2 played Bowls there, and were regular patrons, and even ATTENDED LOCK INS.
the Bowls club was great,names Gordon Bird who had the shop opposite, Roy Swann, and other Swanns,Jimmy Cummins,Ray Pitt,John James,Johnny Bowran, Norman Scott, Pip Wallis ,
I also remeember the singing Dustmen, whose nstruments were hand made, brronsticks, wooden crates etc,great fun. I also remember a Tug of war held on Hodge Hill Common, something to do with te comet?
hay House Grove was over the road from the Comet, I remeber Roy Jones and jean lived there,Roy was another character.
Sad its gone as there was history in that place.
Happy Days
Nina
 
We lived in Primley Avenue & two of my oldest friends had their wedding reception at the Comet in the very early 70s. Sadly, she died last year, but her husband still lives in the area.
Trever Hockey had one of the first flats on Castle Vale on the top floor of a tower block (can´t remember which one, but remember going there & being terrified of the height)
 
I lived down on the Firs in Dreghorn Road from around 1969 to 1976/77, I went Hodge Hill School and my best mates Sister was the barmaid there. It was our regular stop for a pint on our way home during our last year at school. Great pub and a great Juke box !
 
I remember as a kid there was a slide on the hill behind the Comet. It was huge, never saw one that big. Wouldnt be allowed now due to elf n safety.
 
I remember that slide, it overlooked the Bromford estate, I went down it one night in the early sixties, after visiting the pub with some mates and someone had taken the bottom section away had a lucky escape from injury
 
i spent all of my late teenage years and most of my twenties in the comet pub. great place for a drink, and i played for comet rangers f.c. moved onto the bromford when it was first built in 1967 and i still live here although ,not my dads house anymore . i do live at the bottom of the hill that the comet pub over looked , goodwood close.
the pub went right down hill before it was closed for good. dave howells the gaffa that had the pub when i first started drinking in there would have broke down in tears if had seen what they did to it! such a shame!
 
janeshka said:
I lived in Collingbourne ave,in the 70s and have great memories of this pub. Lots of Blues footballers were locals, and one or 2 played Bowls there, and were regular patrons, and even ATTENDED LOCK INS.
the Bowls club was great,names Gordon Bird who had the shop opposite, Roy Swann, and other Swanns,Jimmy Cummins,Ray Pitt,John James,Johnny Bowran, Norman Scott, Pip Wallis ,.......
Nina
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Although I grew up in Handsworth, I knew Gordon Bird - his daughter, Jaqui, was a close friend at school, and I often used to visit their flat above the shop. I can remember how hard working (and very beautiful) Mrs. Bird was, and that Mr. Bird enjoyed a pint! I know Jaqui went away to university, became an air stewardess, and then a teacher, but we lost touch many years ago. Does anyone know what happened to them?
 
Hi BrynMeurig
I lived in Collingbourne Avenue till about 1977, and Gordons' wives name was Dot, my dad used the comet quite a bit, his name was Jimmy Kelly, we all remember Ray Pittaway, Ray Last, John James, Jimmy cummings, Arthur & Josie Webb.Memories!!!!
 
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