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Yates’s Wine Lodge Central Restaurant Corporation Street

H

hmld

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There was a small, spirited, correspondence on Yates's Wine Lodge on Corporation Street, same block as Smith's printed matter retail outlet, and of course further along who could forget Midland Educational and Camera House?
When was that august establishment opened - as by the 1960s it had clearly seen much better days (as we snuck in, so-to-speak, amidst the razzledazzle), and why was it names Yates? Clearly another altarpiece of Victoriana, I recall being introduced (well "under age") to the snooker and billiard room on, I think the second storey. It was accessed by a perfectly functioning passenger elevator which was likely amongst the first installed in a place of public resort. There were full size, well kept tables and a small bar, like a kiosk, attended by a gentleman in waiscoat and those bands about the shirt sleeves. The odour was that of antiquity. Savoury stuff, today.
One wonders how those tables were got in there, or was the place built about them! Also, what happened to them?

I wonder why the celebrated establishment closed. There is a diminutive replacement along the way by the Law Courts and Central Meeting Hall (a neglected structure).
:wink:
 
Yates

I watched over the last week or so, while Yates Winelodge in Tamworth had a makeover, a new corporate image!! nothing like the old place in Brum It just doesnt have the same atmosphere .....
 
:?
Is it possible that Yates's Wine Lodge was bought out the family way and is now a slick boutique job?
The photographs of the Olde Crown, Deritend, posted by Peter Gamble (and taken by himself) I found smacked of the oddly queer.
Not the photos! The decor and exterior. It is like one of those countryesqued jobs in the Cotswolds: ye olde rusted plough dangling from thay ceiling; old sythe affixed alongsoide thaiyre pendulum wall clock - a few barrels on the floor for absolute rustic roots and shoots simplicity.
Allied Breweries kicked off that cockamamie ersatz fey interior and exterior design in the mid 1960s - and made a small fortune at it.
If you want to study how quite not to do it, check out the Olde Crown, Deritend - by Ye Custard Factory. The tourist brewery society reviewer commented as to what just might be possible with a veteran cellarman turned loose at the establishment.
Rod, yet another suboptimal shortfall.

Were Yates's on Corporation Street open today it would likely be draped in laser beams and scintillating modules. As to the prospective condition of the patrons, then alas, I've not the foggiest.
:shock:
 
I wonder if the stain has been removed from the pavement on Cannon Street, at what was the back door of the said establishment. It was left there when I through up a stomachful of VERY cheap Australian red in the winter of 1963? :oops:
 
I heard a great story about Yate's Wine Lodge, or rather the people that used it. Aparrently, someone once threw a Molotov cocktail into the bar but someone drank it before it had chance to go off. Could be apochryfle, apochrifal, er, an urban ledgend though.
 
I think you will find that the Old Crown is an original 1300,s building and had a number of uses before being a pub It was closed for many years as it was unsafe.
the interior may well have the Country puib artifacts but this is probably more in keeping with the reality of the building which would have been almost in the country when it was built .

The worst affectation we have with pubs these days is give them names like the Slug and Lettuce , I refuse to go into such establishments especially as some have been converted from names that have historical significance like the Saracens Head , White Rose etc .
 
I forgot to say, that on the way to the Stagedoor Coffee bar we bought a bottle of Spanish Sauterne for 6 shiilings at Yates Wine Lodge. As to the Crown. They had a Folk club late 50's early 60's. I played there once, (blues harp)
 
Yates's-Australian White-drunk and disorderly and refusing to fight the police-no visible means of support- and I visited the Tamworth one which isn't Yates's. By name, but not by reputation!
 
SURELY YOU DIDN'T HAVE THE GALL TO SWIG THAT BOTTLE IN THE DEAR OLD STAGE DOOR! THE PLACE ALWAYS STRUCK ME AS BEING ONE STEP REMOVED FROM SELF DEMOLITION.
THE LITTLE NARROW ALLEY ALONGSIDE WAS STAGE DOOR AND I SUPPOSE EQUIPMENT TO THE OLD MUSIC HALL WHICH BACAME A CARTOON HOUSE.
THE FOLK CLUB AT THE CROWN WAS MARVELLOUS.
PEOPLE IN SO MANY RESPECTS IN THE 60s WERE MORE INDIVIDUATED.
 
Michael_Ingram said:
I forgot to say, that on the way to the Stagedoor Coffee bar we bought a bottle of Spanish Sauterne for 6 shiilings at Yates Wine Lodge. As to the Crown. They had a Folk club late 50's early 60's. I played there once, (blues harp)
Click to expand...


In what style, Sonny Terry, Little Walter, or Sonny Boy Williamson? ???
 
Hi
Just Reading The Yates One We Have One Here In Swansea All So Plastic I Used To Go To The One In Nottingham Upstairs Thet Had A Piano And A String Quartet Circa 1985 And Also The One On Lime Street In Liverpool The Doormn Used To Throw You In Not Out. Unless You Had A Suit On With Shirt And Tie And You Could Hear A Pin Drop When You Went In The Silence Was Deafening So To Speak And Yes I Can Remember Standing In A Line To Pay For My Drinks At The Cashiers Booth In Brum And The Same In Leicester.
Spit And Sawdust Not Pc But Happy Days John
 
Even to this day my husband tells of his days when in 1965 he used to go to the Yates Wine Lodge in Corporation St with ten bob (ten shillings or todays's 50p) and that also covered his bus fares and cigarette money aswell as some pints. If only we could get everything so chepaly now!
 
Yates Wine Loge

I started early in Yates.

My Aunt Lil (our landlady) used to take me out for the day. We went into town then out again to the Lickeys. (She was too old to pay on the buses and I was too young). On the way back we always broke the journey in Yates. (I was sworn to secrecy.) The old girl probably needed a drink by then. I was passed around from knee to knee and still remember the strange smells of the people and itchy coats.

My mother always commented on how well I slept when we had been out for the day. Little did she know why!
 
yates wine lodge

holidaying in Blackpool as newly weds in the 50s we always went upstairs i yates in talbot square. it was great listening to all the lady boarding house keepers telling their tales. always remember their catch phrase-weve got to live in the winter when youve gone!!
 
I used to go to Yates in the City around 1964 but for the life of me i cant recall the location of it, (thats the trouble with old age) can anyone enlighten me please.
Chucka
 
As you came down corporation St on the right Hand side I think just Before New St what is there now no idea although been past a few times:D
 
I think in about 1970 there was an entrance in Cannon St on the left going down from the side of Rackhams. Can't remember if there was an entrance in Corporation St also, but if so it wouldn't have been very far down from Rackhams

mike
 
I seem to remember Yate's being
on the right hand side, of Stephenson Street off New Street,
that runs down to the entrance of New Street Station,
opposite the ramp that went up to the shopping centre
 
Definately on the right hand side of Corporation Street going towards New Street.
I remember one night being in there with a mate and his girlfriend. When I'd been buying a round she always was empty but when he did, surprise, she didn't want one. I mentioned it in what I thought was a nice way but when he bought the next round he put 4 pints in front of me to make up for the extras I'd bought. Didn't really want him to do that but drank them anyway.:D
 
Yes, Yates's was on the right hand side in Corporation Street going towards New Street - I think it was almost opposite where C & A's used to be. I remember going there one night with my boyfriend and drinking port and lemon all night. I thought I was OK until I got out into the fresh air, but I've never felt so ill in my life!! I have never touched port again :D
 
I asked my Dad one time why he used Yates he said he could always get a drink there which I thought was funny at the time as he didnt drink Wine:DDid it stop open different hours?:D
 
There is or was a Yates Wine Lodge opposite the Courts & The Court Hotel, Steelhouse Lane/Dale End corner. Len.
 
lencops said:
There is or was a Yates Wine Lodge opposite the Courts & The Court Hotel, Steelhouse Lane/Dale End corner. Len.
Click to expand...
Yes Len, there was one there but it was only about 12 years or so ago. Last time I was there a mouse ran across the floor one lunchtime. Never went back.:shock:
 
Mmm Yates was on Corporation Street,more or less opposite C&A. I used to work at WH Smiths, which was a couple of doors up from there in the 70's.
 
I used to drink in Yate's and i can remember this one particular night,i was drinking double docks of Australian white

Upstairs bar come lounge was frequented by Lady's of the night,i new a couple of them from using the upstairs bar,and they plied me with drinks,when it came to about ten o'clock it was time for me to move on

I walked down the stairs alright,but when i got out side and the fresh air hit me i missed all the steps and went all the way across the road and ended up on the bollards on the corner of Corporation St:D:DMau-reece
 
My Grandad used to go to Yates wine Lodge every single Saturday after doing his grocery shopping in the bull ring. Maybe more often (without nan knowing). When he was in his 60's, he liked to catch the bus from Bartley Green a couple of times a week to go down town , sometimes he would visit the law courts to watch what every trial was going on . I think that he just loved going down to the city centre as he was born in Aston and lived in Digbeth/Deritend for most of his early years before moving to Weoley Castle in the 1930's when the new housing estate was built there.

This would have been in the 80's but he may have frequented Yates for years before that. I always got the impression it was a bit of a dubious place. I do remember it being in Corporation Street, down a flight of stairs. I did venture down the stairs once to see if he was there but decided not to go any further as it didn't seem too nice and I was only 17.

From some of the posts I think I was right!!

Anyone know why it was called a "wine lodge" and how it was different to a pub?
 
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