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The Cannonball - Adderley Street [JAZZ IN PUBS]

  • Thread starter www.midlandspubs.co.uk
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After reading Big Gee's memories of the Drovers' Arms and the jazz club, it got me wondering if anybody remembers the upstairs jazz nights at the Cannonball in Adderley Street?

It was in 1986 that Robert and Theresa MacKay used the first floor function room as a jazz club. Being located in Adderley Street, changing the name of the pub to The Cannonball proved irresistible. A member of the Miles Davis Quintet in the late 1950’s, Julian “Cannonball” Adderley was one of the great saxophonists of his generation. The Cannonball enjoyed early success but suffered as a result of Ronnie Scott's opening.

This place is back to being the Waggon and Horses. Here's a very brief history....

The Waggon and Horses is one of the oldest surviving public houses in Bordesley. Many of the neighbouring taverns in this part of Birmingham were completely rebuilt but the Waggon and Horses is one of the originals. Remodelled rather than rebuilt, it shares some of the characteristics of another survivor - the Spotted Dog in Meriden Street.

Today, for some reason, it is a common misperception to think of the Waggon and Horses as a Digbeth pub. However, it has always been a Bordesley location and, historically therefore, the building was part of Aston and not Birmingham. During the 19th century the borough of Birmingham took chunks away from Aston which remained outside the city's jurisdiction. During this period it was governed by the Aston Manor Local Board. However, it had become an Urban District by 1903 and was finally absorbed into Birmingham in 1911.

The Waggon and Horses is a slightly later building than the aforementioned Spotted Dog but this is simply because it is a little further from the centre of Birmingham. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries Birmingham gradually “moved out” during the march of the industrial revolution. It may be hard to imagine today but this area was completely rural up until this period. Anglo-Saxon in origin, Deritend is derived from "Der-yet-end", the end of the town near the deer-gate. Indeed, not too far from the pub stands one of the old farmhouses. Built in 1601, Stratford House was the home of Ambrose and Bridget Rotton who farmed an estate of 20 acres on which they kept sheep, oxen, cows and pigs.

The estate remained as a farm until the Victorian age when, in 1838, a railway was built through the middle of the land. Midland Railway constructed a goods station on Camp Hill in 1840 - just a few years after the opening of the Waggon and Horses as a public house. An early recorded licensee of the Waggon and Horses is John Muddyman, a coal and corn dealer turned brewer who produced homebrewed ales in the pub's back yard.

In the 19th century it was difficult for publicans to make a living solely from sales of beer and most had a second trade. In this case, the business not only formed part of the Muddyman family’s income but also provided the name of the pub. The sign of the Waggon and Horses was fairly common as they were the principal means of transportation before the advent of the railways. Many pubs and inns acted as agents and all manner of goods could be left there where they would either be forwarded or collected by locals to whom they were addressed.

Cheers
Kieron www.midlandspubs.co.uk
 
I went in there a couple of months back on a Saturday afternoon for the football and there was not a person other than me in there, and I was there for about an hour. Nice little pub but you have to wonder how it's going to survive.

Sorry, nothing to do with jazz.
 
Great memories, I especially remember a tremendous set by Elton Dean, and another by Paul Dunmall.
 
I used to on Saturday nights and remember seeing Dave O'Higgins o several occasions. Anyone else remember other bands that played?
 
I remember seeing Banana Republic upstairs at the Cannonball. Duncan Mckay on trumpet. A fantastic guitarist, can't recall his name. Anyone remember this band?
 
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