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Davenports

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Highgate Brewery goes into administration but insists beer will still be made. With Thanks to the Birmingham Mail. Len.
Sep 23 2009 by Tom Scotney
A HISTORIC Midland brewery today insisted it will carry on making its famous beers – even though the company has collapsed with unpaid debts of more than £1 million.
Highgate Brewery in Walsall, which makes Highgate Dark Mild as well as the Davenports range of ales, went into administration last week, and was immediately snapped up by two property developers.
But managing director Bob Norton said he had been promised by the new owners that the flow of beer would not be interrupted.
The brewery, in Sandy Mount Road, Walsall has been making beer since 1899.
Its Highgate Dark Mild is one of the best-known beers in the region. And in 2002 it revived the famous Davenports brand. The Birmingham beer used to be known for its television jingle of “beer at home means Davenports”, but had disappeared from pubs in 1986 when the brewery on Bath Row, Birmingham was closed.
Highgate Brewery has collapsed after getting into severe financial difficulties, including unpaid excise duty of more than £1 million. After going into administration it was bought by property developers Simon Toon and David Dindol for just £80,000.
Mr Norton said it was “inevitable” there would be redundancies among the 25-strong workforce at the brewery, and he was not sure if he would be staying himself. But he said the directors had told him drinkers would still be able to get Highgate and Davenports beers for years to come.
“It’s business as usual,” he said. “The current orders are being met and their intention is to carry on brewing.”
He said the effects of the recession on spending, the smoking ban and the rise in beer duty had left the brewery with no option but to go into administration.
Highgate used to be owned by Birmingham pub giant Mitchells & Butlers. It came close to closure in 1995 when its owners decided they wanted to close what was then the smallest brewery in their company.
It was saved by a management buyout, and was later bought by the Global Star pub group.
The brewery was also linked with about a dozen pubs around Birmingham, including the City Tavern near Five Ways – the only untouched Victorian pub in the city centre and the only pub still to carry the Davenports brand.
The pubs were owned by a different part of the company, and are not included in the purchase of the brewery.
 
  • End of the road for Davenports beer. With Thanks to the Birmingham Mail. Len.
Jun 16 2010 by Tom Scotney, Birmingham Mail





highgate-brewery-267970333.jpg

BIRMINGHAM’S famous Davenports beer is set to disappear after the Midland brewery which made it shut down.
Walsall’s Highgate brewery, which first opened in 1898, has gone into liquidation, costing 20 jobs, after hitting its second financial crisis in ten months.
Highgate, which operated from a Grade two listed building on Sandy Mount Road, Walsall, bought the Birmingham beers after the Davenports brewery on Bath Row in the city centre ground to a halt in 1987.
Two Midland pubs run under the Highgate & Davenport name.
The City Tavern on Bishopsgate Street, Five Ways, and the Elms in Church Road, Wolverhampton, will continue to trade.
City Tavern landlord Chris Evans said he was seeking clarification about how the development would affect the future of the pub.
“I’ve been told not to worry but I’m not quite sure what’s happening at the moment,” said Chris, who took over the pub only a few weeks ago. “We have Davenports Original and Highgate Mild, which are average sellers. I won’t know anything else until I meet the people at the brewery.” Davenports is one of the most famous names in Birmingham’s industrial history. It was best known for the catchy “beer at home means Davenports” jingle on 1960s TV adverts.
The brewery also made deliveries at home.
Highgate reintroduced the deliveries last year when the company was taken over by new owners. The Black Country company was formerly the smallest brewer in the Mitchells & Butlers empire.
Last September it went into administration, owing the taxman more than £1 million. It was bought by property developers Simon Toon and David Lindol for £80,000, but they were unable to stop it from going into compulsory liquidation. Insolvency specialist Peter Darcy, of KJ Watkin & Co, has been confirmed as overseer for the liquidation.
He said: “The company has ceased trading and all employees have been made redundant.”
A meeting of creditors has been set to go ahead on Friday.
 
Thank you Government. The smoking ban has attacked one of the finest parts of real british culture......the pub!!!!
 
Which is the reason I guess that 'JD Wetherspoon' pub chain continue to expand? Not the smoking ban but the failure to change that has done for most. Lets us not forget that people's habits have also changed over the years. I used to go to a country pub for a drink and a meal. I now am more likely to have friends round or go out for a meal at a restaurant rather than a pub.
 
JD Wetherspoon expand cos they create big megapubs, enjoy economies of scale and sell cheap beer (I'm not knocking them). Not much relevance to the village pub, or local.
Of course habits are changing thats because of government social engineering, and if they reduce the drink drive limits any more that will be thr death knell of pub culture.
 
Davenport's

Does anybody know what happened to the bust of Baron John Davenport that stood in the foyer of the Bath Row Premises. Thank You.
 
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I wonder if it's in storage at the museum stores in Dolman Street. I will do a bit of detective work and ask a few people.
 
Thank you Wendy. i am suprised that i have not made contact with anyone who is researching the surname Davenport in the Birmingham area, whether or not they have connection to the brewing family.A few years ago now i made contact with the last surviving Brewing family member Mr Eustace Davenport, after a family fued over as far as i can remember over the sale of controlling shares , Eustance' wife destroyed all family archives and photographs. My 3rd x Grt grandfather may be the brother Robrt Davenport.
I would always be interested in contacting anyone doing this family history.
Thanks Clive Davenport
 
I don't know anyone researching the family but I will try and help. There are a lot Davenports buried at Key Hill. If you send me some names I will check for you. If you don't want to post the names on the forum please send me them by instant message. Wendy.
 
Hi All,

This is my first time I have tried adding photo's, I hope it's a success.
This magazine dated May 1948 belongs to my sister and I thought interesting they had stretched limo's back then.

Charlie
 
I found this building on the corner of Horse Fair and Thorp Street. The former White Lion pub. Now a club called Scarlet's.


Scarlet's Restaurant Night Club & Bar - Horse Fair (formerly the White Lion) by ell brown, on Flickr


Scarlet's Restaurant Night Club & Bar - Horse Fair (formerly the White Lion) by ell brown, on Flickr


Scarlet's Restaurant Night Club & Bar - Horse Fair (formerly the White Lion) by ell brown, on Flickr


Scarlet's Restaurant Night Club & Bar - Horse Fair (formerly the White Lion) by ell brown, on Flickr

Info from Pevsner Architectural Guides: Birmingham

On the north east corner of Thorp Street, the former White Lion of 1896 by J. &L. Lea for Davenports Brewery. Brick with stone dressings, Elizabethan style: giant fluted Corinithian pilasters and a corner spirelet deriving from Burghley House.
Click to expand...
 
Do you remember there old slogan guys
my opld lady had two crates aweek delivered i do not why she drank it it always made her face like a big red flush after consumeing it
the slogan was ; beer at home means daven ports; lots of fun; and lots of cheer ;
does any body recall there first pub at the old six ways on the houseing estate they built i just cannot think of the pubs name at the moment but tell me now and i will recall it and i can just vizulize it now but cannot get my tonuge around it
my quick stab i think it could have been the cross guns
enjoy this beatiful day folks its sunny and acording to the mad boffins talk and play music to them and your plants will grow very fast
i think our prince bonny as finally convinced our boffins of gardners that there is some think in it next we will be told of our green old giants men
will be landing at the bottom of the garned me i am just gonna stick out today my red hot pokers and i will not talk to them if i do
the words will say grow or be evicted astonian
 
My dad did't drink "teetotal completely" but I remember the big red lorries coming round our street on a Friday I think, and the "beer at home" advert on tv. paul
 
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I could not resist posting this from todays newspaper, I think it is great news, I do not drink except for a scotch if I feel a little iffy or a nice glass of port with a bit of blue cheese and a digestive biscuit. I am thrilled that something is coming back and not going away.
 
But isn't it just a publicity stunt by the present owners of the name. - a bit like HP sauce that is as much like Daddies as the original, in fact daddies is probably better now than HP
 
OfficeFront.jpg.....OfficeFromAir.jpg.....image-1-for-davenports-beer-set-to-disappear-gallery-396183496.jpg
The facade on Bath Row, an aerial view, and a delivery lorry.
I would like to think it will be a return to the quality and service of yesteryear but that is probably a forlorn hope.
 
I have't seen any photo's of the old lorry's with the beer crates stacked on their sides that we saw every Friday around our towns delivering "beer at home" by the crateful. Late 1950's in date.
paul
 
I can still recall the"Beer at home means Davenports" TV commercial and the song that went with it.
 
Hi my name is Peter i worked at davenports i was a fitter Worked with a chap his name was patrick we would called him paddy i also new a girl her name was lynch she had a little girl i think her name was katrina i went to wembley with her dad dos any one no her
 
Hi, When we were clearing my Dads house after he passed away we found one of the wooden Davenport's boxes. He had been using it to store his shoe cleaning kit. Sadly it was very badly damaged or I would have kept it. Mom used to have 6 bottles of stout every week and the Corona man delivered us kids dandelion and burdock, orange and ice cream soda pop. We had to make those few bottles last all week. What a difference nowadays eh? Anne
 
hi Anne,my grandad had a wooden crate of Davenports delivered every week and the emptys were placed in the wooden crate,i'm sure the Davenports man wore a long white coat with the Davenport logo on top pocket ans a brown satchel type bag around his body,a lot of our neighbours also had Davenports, lets sing it then" beer at home is Davenports lots of cheer .... " thats all i can remember of the jingle!!!, i'm someone on here will put me right!! we also had Corana pop and similar choice to yours,they had those black tops,memories!
 
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