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costermonger pub

philbee

birmingham born and bred
Could someone enlighten as to the whereabouts of a pub called the costermonger i have a memory of it being in the snow hill area behind the gaumont and i seem to remember pictures of horse racing painted on the interior walls ,or is my memory playing tricks on me.
phil
 
That sounds like The Brown Derby. Which was in the underpass opposite the Gaumont.

Only Costermonger I remember was in the shops behind Oasis.
 
If I remember correctly the Costermonger's entrance was about where the red mark is below

map_c_1970_showing_approx_position_of_Costermonger_pub.jpg
 
Hi philbee
the costamonger pub was within the corporation square market entrance
just up from dale end you would walk up to the old lewis store but before you would reach there the entrance to the market square would be on your left and just turn into it and the first door you came to was the old costa mongers
i used to go there myself regular and the place was full of the dezigned hawkers wheel barrows as tables around the room ;
a year or two later they done away with them and put proper tables and chairs in
i think the old road was up the side of bull street before they redezign the city and put a load of bus stops there
this would be in the seventy -to eightys but i was there long before that ; andseen the decline in the pub ;
because a couple of years down the line it changed to a rockers pub ; and that what done its decline then the riff started to come in ;[ meaning druggies ] the biggest reason as well across the rd was lewisis; but when it closed down and they turned it into a weatherspon pub that finised the old cosamonger ;;
best wishes astonian;;
 
A pub I never used, so I cant say very much about it other than this photo of the entrance is not a very good advertisement,
 

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  • City The Costermonger.jpg
    City The Costermonger.jpg
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I used it early 80's and remember playing the early space invader games machine in there, one night one of the charity collectors came round and I tried to ignore him as I was playing the game, he then stood on my foot to get my attention!
 
I went in the Costermonger a few times, years ago.

It's not off Union Street (as shown on Mikegee's map) but the other side of Lower Bull Street in the area of Martineaux Square and as fatfingers said, sort of behind Oasis.

I can't really recollect what it was like inside now.
 
I started dinking in there 76/77 on Friday nights, 4 pint of Double Diamond for a pound, those were the days, heaven't been there since the mid eighties.
 
I cant remember much about the pub only the decor the Brown Derby sounds familiar but the pub i remember seemed to be by the big insurance company building coming up from st chads up snow hill , any photos of the brown derby to jog my memory .
phil
 
Only went there twice, early 70's, not sure if that was the good time or towards the end, but I thought it was okay/good inside then. They had a shuffle puck type of game (unless my brains pickling with age) where you played like a mini game of kurling using small round discs about the size of a jam jar lid, on an iced table about 8 foot long. Not sure how long it lasted tho. They had a similar one in the Grapes close to the old Futurist Cinema at roughtly the same time.
 
I remember the shuffle puck game, so your brains not going off just yet !! The jukebox was also one of the best around if you liked proper music (Rock) !!
 
i also used costers in the very early 70s...that was in my wild days...ive calmed down a bit since then lol..

lyn
 
I only went in there a couple of times. Didn't they used to have a full size cart inside, I suppose a costermonger's cart? Seem to remember I didn't particularly like the place. And yes it was in Martineau Sq, modern place. Viv.
 
Used Costers in the early 80's, bit of a dive, but drinks were cheap and dwilly, that charity collector was a regular and used the trick of standing on your toes frequently - he gave up with us when e told him we were poor student nurses lol!
Last time I went in there would have been mid nineties, when I met my 2nd (current) hubby, he took me there and I'm sure the decor hadn't changed in 15 years.
Sue
 
Philbee, are you thinking of the West End Bar - that was in the area you are saying and hubby informs me they had pics of horses on the walls.
His other question for any of you is what was the name of the scooter boys pub, between the West End Bar and Lloyd House - I am assuming he knows the answer and is just testing you!
Sue
 
Reason I thought of The Brown Derby was it was decorated with a horseracing theme. Also iirc, had one wall which was all mirror,
 
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