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Gunmakers Arms. Bath St.

  • Thread starter Rio In The City
  • Start date
I am a new member to the forum. I have been reading with interest members views on the Gunmakers arms.
I was born at 2/11 Bath Street in 1943 and the yard was opposite the Gunmakers arms. As a child I used to sit
on the step opposite the pub and watch all the drunks spill out of the door on a Saturday night and watch the fights.
My mother used to be a cleaner there in the late 40's and early 50's. I can remember going into the pub to see
her. The one room that remains in my mind was called the smoke room, you couldn't breathe or see anyone and
you ended up with watery eyes. We lived in Bath Street until September 1961 when we were rehoused. I have
fond memories of life in Bath Street.
 
It would be a very pleasant place to have a meetup, and I'm sure they would be pleased to see us, but it is not as big as the Bull. A lot of the regulars also seem to be frequenters of the Bull. Incidently should warn anyone going by taxi that if you ask for the Gunmakers
Arms Bath st, off Loveday St, the drivers seem to automatically assume you want the Bull. Going there he went to the Bull, and returning to the station after the meet I got a text message telling me he was outside - but he wasn't, he was outside the Bull, though realised his mistake and we met halfway between .
Incidentaly i rather liked this view of it, made it look homely
mikejee, having drank in both the Bull and The Gun makers for over thirty years. I think your statement that the "Bull got larger floor space" is wrong and if you take into account that they have brewery space also.
Hope to see you in either pub with a pint and we can check out the floor area.

Nick S Phillips
 
Nick. I agree that, including the brewery area, the gunmakers area is bigger, but that is separated from the main pub, and doesn't have its own permanent bar area.
 
Nick. I agree that, including the brewery area, the gunmakers area is bigger, but that is separated from the main pub, and doesn't have its own permanent bar area.
Hi mikegee, I think you are wrong regarding the floor area. The old bar does have two post that makes room look a lot smaller, it does have around seven tables in the room, I think that room alone is almost the size of the Bull floor area. Peter Patrick's dad agreed with you until he took a closer look.
The brewery does have a bar, its rarely used. Some times used for private parties.
Do you still use either pub?
I enjoy drinking in both pubs, do we know each other?
They are different pubs and I think that's what I enjoy.

Nick S Phillips
 
Nick
I don't live in Brum, so only occasionally go to either- the Bull usually for big meets and gunmakers usually for their historic talks
 
What a great thread :) Hello to all. My great grandparents, William George and his wife Mary Ann ran the Gunmakers Arms in the late 20's. He fell down the cellar steps in February 1929, punctured his lung and died. Someone told me he haunts the place!!!! :dizzy::skull:
 
What a great thread :) Hello to all. My great grandparents, William George and his wife Mary Ann ran the Gunmakers Arms in the late 20's. He fell down the cellar steps in February 1929, punctured his lung and died. Someone told me he haunts the place!!!! :dizzy::skull:
I have been in the Gun Makers many times on my own with doors locked. In the cellar to hear foot steps in the bar other staff also report similar stories.

Nick ‍♂️.
 
Interesting about the haunting, I never heard about that one. The outlay of the pub as I remember, going into the door on the corner it appeared to be a big room (but then I was a child) and the bar appeared to be a semicircle. Lots of men standing around drinking, it was always very noisy. There was also a small outdoor where I used to go buy crisps or pop. I was frightened going in there on my own (don't know why) guess it was because children were not allowed in pubs. Then there was the smoke room which when the door opened all the smoke came out. This room was always crowded. My mom used to smell of smoke after cleaning in there. The Bull as I can remember also had a bar and the door was always open so you could see the men and women drinking in there, they always waved when I walked past.
I remember my sister and I used to sit out side (when my brother was old enough to drink)and he would buy us a bottle of vimto and a bag of crisps to share. We thought this was a real treat. The outdoor to the Bull was in Price Street,
and every night at 9.30pm my mother and her friend from next door Mrs. Palmer used to go and sit in the out door for a glass of stout and relax after a hard day. The pubs closed at 10pm then. In recent years on nostalgic trips to my home town I have been in the Bull for a meal, but never in the Gunmakers, only just looked in. Also whilst in the area I visited St. Chad's Cathedral, where I was baptised, confirmed and got married. My first child was also baptised there, came specially down from Yorkshire to have this done. Fond memories indeed.
 
Interesting about the haunting, I never heard about that one. The outlay of the pub as I remember, going into the door on the corner it appeared to be a big room (but then I was a child) and the bar appeared to be a semicircle. Lots of men standing around drinking, it was always very noisy. There was also a small outdoor where I used to go buy crisps or pop. I was frightened going in there on my own (don't know why) guess it was because children were not allowed in pubs. Then there was the smoke room which when the door opened all the smoke came out. This room was always crowded. My mom used to smell of smoke after cleaning in there. The Bull as I can remember also had a bar and the door was always open so you could see the men and women drinking in there, they always waved when I walked past.
I remember my sister and I used to sit out side (when my brother was old enough to drink)and he would buy us a bottle of vimto and a bag of crisps to share. We thought this was a real treat. The outdoor to the Bull was in Price Street,
and every night at 9.30pm my mother and her friend from next door Mrs. Palmer used to go and sit in the out door for a glass of stout and relax after a hard day. The pubs closed at 10pm then. In recent years on nostalgic trips to my home town I have been in the Bull for a meal, but never in the Gunmakers, only just looked in. Also whilst in the area I visited St. Chad's Cathedral, where I was baptised, confirmed and got married. My first child was also baptised there, came specially down from Yorkshire to have this done. Fond memories indeed.


That’s a lovely story, pauljon….happy memories xx
 
I have been in the Gun Makers many times on my own with doors locked. In the cellar to hear foot steps in the bar other staff also report similar stories.

Nick ‍♂️.
Ooohhhhh…I bet that‘s him, Nick! The family story was that there was a trapdoor/opening in the floor in the bar area and someone had left it open….he didn’t realise and down he went….he was 50.
 
I have found some very old photographs that were taken in our yard opposite the Gunmakers Arms. One is of my sister Margaret and myself (I am the one standing). you can see the Gunmakers Arms in the background. The other one is of my mom holding her first grandchild and Margaret looking on. Just look at the rubble that we had to put up, we played on that.
The other two are of myself standing outside our house. We were the only ones with a window box.
Hope this works, not very technical. These are the only photo's I have, I found these when I was looking through my moms effects, many years ago
 

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Whoops, I am the taller one standing my sister is the one in the Church Girls Brigade uniform.
Told you I am not very techincal
 
Ooohhhhh…I bet that‘s him, Nick! The family story was that there was a trapdoor/opening in the floor in the bar area and someone had left it open….he didn’t realise and down he went….he was 50.
I was in the cellar of the Gun Makers last night, looking to see if I could see where the trap door could have been.
But if you look at the steps down to cellar they are old, I'm not saying you are not correct, over the years a lot of changes have been made.

If you look outside you can see where the door was to house next door was which is now apart of the pub now.

If you find any more photos or information would love to see it.

Thanks much

Nick ‍♂️.
 
Wow, Nick…..I’d love to go there. The trapdoor might be wrong! I’m relying on the memory of his granddaughter, she’s 85 and I dont think her memory is that good anymore. It could just have been the cellar steps! If I do come across any photos, I will of course post them. This is the only photo I have. William George and his wife, Mary Ann. This would have been taken not long before his death and was outside the Gun Makers apparently.
 

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Like the photograph, trying to see where about it was taken. I remember there were gates in Little Shadwell Street and we sometimes went in there, it was like a yard, this obviously was the back of the pub we used to see the barrels of beer.
I think there were two houses at the side of the pub in Bath Street, one family were called Onions, Rita I think was a little older than me, used to tell me it was pronounced O'nions. Although Bath Street was a long Street, stretching from Loveday Street to Snowhill, we were the only yard which I think had been court 2. In our yard lived the Cunningham family with 6 children, I had 4 siblings and there were The Allen's with 2 children. The only other family lived opposite the church
and there were two children. This house was next to the Acorn Inn which housed men. We were not allowed to go near it.
I've done a lot of research around the area where I grew up and discovered a great deal about the Gun Quarter and how it evolved. Bath Street was a hive of little gun and pistol manufacturers. Many of the Courts housing these little workshops.
Obviously the Gunmakers Arms had many customers.
 
OIn the 1940s, Frank Onions was the landlord of the pub. Could he be related to the Onions you mention. He seems to have been a bit of a DelBoy character, being convicted of buying dodgy gold in 1943, but then asking the magistrates to give it back to him !!

Ev Despatch. 4.6.1943.jpgBirm mail.17.6.1943.jpg
 
What an interesting story. I have been in contact with a very old friend of mine and he knew the family better than I did.
Frank Onions and, his wife Cissie, had four children, Rita, Ken, Valerie and another son who he couldn't remember the name of, lived next door to the pub. My friend is a mine of information as he lived in Loveday Street.
I think that the photograph of William and Mary must have been taken in the back yard as there were tables and benches out there for the drinkers. I described the photograph and we both are of the opinion that is in the back yard.
Stirring up forgotten memories of childhood. My grandchildren love to hear my stories.
Thanks to members of this thread for their input.
 
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