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Gunmakers Arms. Bath St.

  • Thread starter Rio In The City
  • Start date
R

Rio In The City

Guest
My parents ran the Gunmakers Arms from 1969 to 1980.
Does anyone have any old photographs from that era.
I was born there in 1972.

Thanks Rio.
 
Here is a piuc from a wonderful book, "Time Please! - a look back at Birmingham's pubs, by Andrew Maxam. The book is still readily available, price £11.90.
I recommend it.
Peter
 
HI Rio

Is this what you are after?The photo was taken some time in 1973 so you must be the one sitting on the step.your parents must be Len and Kath.The chap holding his pint up is my dad he lived in Cliveland st at the time.I also remember two of the barmaids who worked there at the time , Rose and Evelyn. I don't know if you knew this but your dad had a nickname at the pub, he was known as the bus conducter because he was always giving people their ticket he stood no nonsense from anybody.
Photo unfortunately lost
Dave
 
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Wow Dave. I can't believe you have a photograph of me and my brother, I am Robert the one sitting on the step.
I was born in 1972. Evelyn is my Godmother and I remember Rose she was married to George.
Dad is remarried and lives in Spain and Mom passed away 4 years ago.
Thank you so much for the photograph. My neighbour is Rio.

Thanks Robert Burns. :)
 
The info attached to your Flickr photo (2nd photo, post #9) is interesting Ell. Didn't realise how old this pub is. And I like the old pre- Gunmakers name "The Pike & Musket". Viv.
 
You can find it here 93 Bath Street, Birmingham on British Listed Buildings.

In the entry for
BATH STREET
City Centre B4
26/ 2
No 93 and the Pike
and Musket

The address shall be amended to read BATH STREET
City Centre B4
No 92 (The Gunmakers
Arms ) and No 93

------------------------------------

BATH STREET
1.
5104
City Centre B4
No 93 and The Pike
and Musket
SP 0787 NW 26/2
II
2.
Circa 1820, corner block formerly of 3 houses, now one house and pub. Three
storeys rendered and coused. Corbelled eaves. Half hipped slate roof.
Three windows to upper floors and one surviving ground floor window: revealed
glazing bar sashes on first floor with stucco heads flanked by small consoles
and their cornices. No 93 retains architrave doorway with rounded corner
blocks. Pub door formerly to house with architrave moulding and console brackets.
Good small mid C19 corner pub front pilastered with entablature bowed around
corner. One bay return and 2 storey wing.




Listing NGR: SP0711387626
Click to expand...
 
thanks viv this is excellent news as i feared for this historic pub a few months back...a few of us have met mark who owns the two towers brewery just round the corner from the pub and i am quite sure that he will make a go of this latest venture...well done two towers i shall pay a visit in the new year and how wonderful to see along with the bull in price st 2 fantastic old pubs open and within minutes of each other..

lyn
 
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Yesterday I went to a talk by David Williams (who wrote the book on the Birmingham Gun Trade) at the Gunmakers Arms. It was very interesting and described how and why birmingham became so important as a gun-making centre, and reasons for its later decline (as far as bulk production is concerned). Can well recommend him if you come accross his talks in the future. He is in fact giving one at the Midland Institute (on a different theme) on 20th Sept.
Earlier in the day I had visited the pub and taken a few photos. some are shown below and on next post for those who have not yet been there (good beer and friendly people, so recommend it).
There is a larger lounge shown in the photos below
 

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Through the lounge there is a smaller public bar (haven't seen that name on a bar for a while), where in fact the talk was held. Through a small games room at the back there is a terrace, on the other side of which is the site of the new Two towers brewery, now almost up and running.
 

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Mike

I've walked past this pub quite a few times on the way to the Bull, the thing I noted was it didn't look much a pub from the outside and it looked more like a café. Though I have to say that the inside looks like what my idea of a pub should look like. I might give it a try next time I'm up that way. I wish you had said that you were going I would have joined you.
 
there you go mike you need to tell phil next time lol...great photos mike and so pleased you enjoyed the talk...not so long ago this old pub had nearly had it so well done TWO TOWERS BREWERY for taking it on and getting it up and running again..i take it the brewery is moving out of mott st then..and how nice to see beer being brewed on the premises of a pub..just as it was back in the day..as phil said it looks how a pub should look...its on my list now for a visit.. possible venue for a future meet up:)

lyn
 
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
 

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Note this post and the following 5 posts were moved to this thread from another as they concern the Gunmaker's Arms.

....... the gunmakers is less than 5 mins away from the Bull . Hadn't realised till Isaw it on their website that the gunmakers describes itself as a Vegan pub. I take it that means they have checked the soap in the loo is entirely of vegetable origin, that no animal-derived emulsifiers have been used in the bread they serve, and that they do not accept the new £5 notes !
 
Sorry. I misread this:
"Saturday 15 April 12pm-12am BIRMINGHAM Viva! VEGAN FESTIVAL. Since all Two Towers Brewery are vegan it's only natural that, as the brewery tap, we'll be hosting the beer festival part of the Birmingham Vegan Festival. Here's the festival website."
Though this does seem to clash a bit with the menu you list Frothy
 
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.
 
mikejee said:
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
Click to expand...
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.
 
mikejee said:
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.
Click to expand...
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:
 
Alimichele said:
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:
Click to expand...
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.
 
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