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White Lion Portway

Mike Fisher

Mike Fisher

Billesley Boy
Hi

I know it's not in Birmingham but it is close.
Does anyone have a picture of the White Lion on the Alcester Rd Portway just south of Wythall ?
 
I thought it closed a long time ago but I might be getting my buildings mixed up :rolleyes:
Is this it?
If so, it became an Italian (?) restaurant and then a few years ago, The Pet vaccination Clinic.
Polly :)

Forgot to say, this is on the Alcester Road, Portway, Wythall
 
Hi Polly

Was that the White Lion, I don't ever remember it as a pub. I remember it when it was a café and my old mate and hairdresser Roger who owned a hairdressing shop at the top of Vincent St Balsall Heath owned it. I'm not sure if it was he who turned it into a restaurant. It is the veterinary service that I use now and its very good.

Phil
 
I'm not sure Phil - I think I'm going to phone my sister - she was a regular at a pub in Portway (the White Lion)????????
and..........SNAP..........I use that vets too!!!! It used to be nearer Alvechurch, at the Cat sanctuary, but when the lease was up they moved there. It is further for me to go now but I still use it.
Polly
 
The White Lion at Portway was knocked down years ago after the dual carraigeway from the M42 Island to Mappleborough Green bypassed it. With no passing trade anymore it died on it's feet. The land that it stood on is now a fairground winter storage site. The building shown in #6, now a vets, was never a pub but as said was a cafe then restaurant before the vets.
 
Mike i think i can recall It on the opposite side of the road was a car showroom or an Agricultural Type building sold farm equipment or both have i got the right location. Dek
 
That's it Dek and there is a car scrapyard next to the garage buildings and what is now a used car showroom.
Mike
 
Back in the 1960's I used to drive Midland Reds to Evesham on the old 148 route and the White Lion was a Fare Stage so I remember the location quite well. I think the car showroom when an agricultural place belonged to a firm called Hancocks who then moved to another showroom premises at Monkspath that is now a BMW showroom. I'm told the White Lion was famous for it's Saturday Night dances during the 1950's.
Mike
 
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Yes Mike it was Hancocks you keep jogging my memory i had a caravan at Bideford On Avon and i used to drive that way every weekend during the summer months one thing that always puzzled me was a signpost with "Pink Green Only " on it. Dek
 
You have got the location correct dek there was a showroom further along the road from the White Lion and years ago it belonged to Bristol Street Motors who sold and provided aftersales for Fordson tractors.
 
Would this be it? next to the old showrooms and close to the scrapyard at Portway. It certainly looks like an old pub.

Phil

KirbyCommercials.jpg
 
No Phil the pub lost all it,s trade due to the duel carriageway it closed down and over the years got vandalised and was then demolished it was a large pub which stood on its own with lots of ground around it. Dek
 
In 1950 The Village Inn, Beoly was very popular for works outings by coach, it had dance floor & the roast pork & stuffing rolls were soon scoffed! the entrance had a grape vine growing inside, you went down Pink Green Lane to get there if travelling from Earlswood, in later years circa 1969 i went that way to visit friends in Redditch, i think The Village Inn is still open but has gone upmarket. Len.
 
Dek

When exactly did they demolish it, it's strange but you would think I would remember it. We used to go up and down to Portway quite regularly back in the late 60's and early 70's to buy commercial vehicle spares off Johnny Sheldon (better known as Tex) at Pavilion motor spares just down the road.

Phil
 
A friend of mine who lives a couple of hundred yards further along reckons it could be as far back as 20 Years since it was demolished. As he is a top Martial Arts practitioner I am not arguing with him.
 
Found out a little imfo the site is called White Lion Park it belongs to Fairground People who use it as a caravan site and parking for their equipment. Will post photos latter. Dek
 
Phil i don,t remember exactly when it was demolished but it got to be early 80s it was an old pub that ended up looking like an old barn with no roof and stood looking like a ruin for several years. Dek
 
Bit more info Dek, I remember behind the White Lion even after the dual carraigeway was opened there was a small 'Western town' belonging to a cowboy enthusiasts club from Redditch. It backed on to the fence to the dual carriageway where the fairground caravans and equipment are now. Here is as the site looks these days.
Mike
 
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Hi Mike had a day out on my old stomping grounds around Bideford upon Avon on the way back i had to find the location of the White Lion. Drove onto the site and ask a young lady who told me that the only thing remaining is the entrance and the car park bothof which can be seen on your photo. Here,s how it looks today.Dek
 
Here,s two more pubs one a mile up the road the other a mile down the road. The first one The Rose and Crown i think was a Davenports House, brick finish (no rendering and emulsion). the other The Cross Bowling Green (not to disimular to The White Lion At Astwood Bank.Dek
 
Dek your photo of the White Lion Park entrance makes an interesting comparison to mine taken in 2006. By looking to the eaters rather than the drinkers, The Rose and Crown, Cross and Bowling Green and The Hollybush as well as the Horse and Jockey at Inkford Brook have all survived despite the dual carraigeway, why did the White Lion miss out on this?
Mike
 
I heard the other day that the Rose & Crown was boarded up and fenced off (perhaps its being refitted) I hope so, and that half of The Cross & Bowling Green was now a curry house.

Phil
 
motorman-mike said:
Dek your photo of the White Lion Park entrance makes an interesting comparison to mine taken in 2006. By looking to the eaters rather than the drinkers, The Rose and Crown, Cross and Bowling Green and The Hollybush as well as the Horse and Jockey at Inkford Brook have all survived despite the dual carraigeway, why did the White Lion miss out on this?
Mike
Click to expand...

It might have been because the White Lion was in something of a backwater, no access from the dual carriageway.Two of the other places you mention are better placed being on the main road and the Horse and Jockey has fairly easy access off the A435 but it's surprising the Hollybush on Gorcott hill still survives. When the breathalyser came in, four of us used to take turns to drive on a pub crawl on Sunday nights.Start was the White Lion,Cross & Bowling Green, The Dog, The Boot,Barley Mow and finish up at the Green Man Sambourne,Happy days.
 
Mike it,s hard to put an answer to that question i used the pub quite often when we drove down the old road but after the dual carriage was built i drove right past don,t really know why . i noticed the other pubs are now restuarants maybe it was the economic slump at that time nobody wanted to buy it and it went beyond repair.I remember it being an old building i should think it has history. This has jogged my memory to an old building in Solihull it was listed D.Doyle went in one weekend and demolished and the claimed it was a mistake the gang had gone to the wrong building. Dek
 
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