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Horseshoe Hotel Stratford Road

Vivienne14

Vivienne14

Kentish Brummie Moderator
Staff member
This postcard of the pub looks to me about 1920s/1930s. Surprisingly it's still standing on Stratford Road. The front has undergone much alteration (and some extension) but it's still very recognisable.

A pity the porch details have gone, although it looks like the pillars are still there. The chimneys are unusual, but they too seem to have been altered. Other small details such as those on top of and underneath the gables has disappeared too. It's possible there was once a stable block to the right of the pub. Modern view is also attached below. Viv.

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I am wondering if it is the same building? The biggie is the near corner, the old one has an angle. The new one has stone windows too. A lot of pub company's used the same architect, so designed would be very similar. There are two hotels in Southwold, both by the same company, mirror images of each other
 
I wondered that as well but at the back of my mind I can see a wooden balcony rail. So wasn't sure.
 
This is the reverse of the postcard - could be a collectors note, which of course might not necessarily be correct. Viv.
 

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i would say its one and the same viv a lot of changes can happen over 100 years....the left had corner could have been squared off to make for a larger dining room for customers...i could be wrong of course
 
Yes Lyn. This is intriguing. For some reason another entrance was built to the left of the canopy. On the modern view it looks like a 1930s/40s doorway. If the original postcard is of the same pub, this entrance would have replaced the bay window.

The gables look odd to me, they look like they've been filled in and the edges have been removed. I also wondered, why change the chimneys? I can only imagine that the whole front of the building was remodelled in the 1930s, including the addition of the left-hand side squaring off extension.

It crossed my mind that the pub might have been bomb damaged. Then on the other hand it might be as Mort suggests - a different pub !

Does anyone know the date of the original Horseshoe ? Viv
 
One (tiny) thing in favour of this being the same pub, is the decorative feature at the apex of the roof. Both that little feature and the roof edging look exactly the same, even taking into account the squaring off of that left-hand corner of the building. Viv.
 
yep i noticed that viv....will still stick my neck out and say they are one and the same building...

lyn
 
In the vintage images of Birmingham Ansells Pubs by Andrew Maxim published in 2011 it makes no mebtion 0f the pub being rebuilt at any time.

Hall Green Stratford Road horseshoes.jpg
 
Definitely the Horse Shoe on Stratford Road, Hall Green.
Attached is a picture of the school that used to stand nextdoor (on the corner of School Road) .... showing the Horse Shoe in the background.

Hall Green Cole Bank School (Stratford Road & School Road junction).jpg
 
thanks geoff and phil...no doubt that geoff and phils photo and vivs on post 1 are all of the same building but what we are trying to confirm is is pic 2 post 1 also the same pub...phils info states that in 2008 the pub had extensive internal modernisation which could also have altered the outside ...actually all we need to do is look again on street view and see if the pub we see now is situated between school road and staplehurst road hall green...and it is so we have proof positive that it is the same pub...ps i would much rather be looking at that old school house not the kwik fit tyre place that is there now...

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.4346583,-1.8462764,3a,75y,74h,93.36t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sgRz1HVtTPYzmQoI-1cSNaA!2e0!6s//geo1.ggpht.com/cbk?panoid=gRz1HVtTPYzmQoI-1cSNaA&output=thumbnail&cb_client=maps_sv.tactile.gps&thumb=2&w=203&h=100&yaw=121.03917&pitch=0&thumbfov=100!7i13312!8i6656



lyn
 
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If we look at these two OS plans of the Horseshoes from 1915 and 195o it;s pretty obvious that some remodelling was done. Myself I think that is just what it was some alterations as opposed to a rebuild because basically the footprint of the original buiding remains unchanged.

horseshoes 1915.JPG horseshoes 1950.JPG
 
Well I think you folks may be right, if so, it is certainly one hell of a re-modelling job done there.
 
Yes Mort. It's almost like there was a move to obliterate all the detail from the front of the earlier b/w pub. Was this a trend in the 1930s ? A sort of streamlining (and modernising) of the look ? The additional entrance (near left) certainly looks 1920s/30s to me. Viv
 
Well you do pick these unusual building (great!), but your right, this was a major reconstruction. I am wondering if the place was destroyed by fire or something.

I suppose the pub trade was quite wealthy in those days too. I was at Hall Green College in the early nineties, I know a lot of works was done then too.


Just wondering if there are any images of the place from the nineties?
 
I am sure a lot of work was done when it became Toad Hall. The name did not stick as it was always referred to as "the shoes" - yes I know it has no "s".
 
That's interesting Mort. A fire could well have removed the wooden top of the front porch, the wooden edges to the gables, wooden window frames and the wooden decorative details under the gables etc. Viv.
 
Great find Janice. Must be 1990s/2000s onwards. So at some time before that the whole front was brick faced. And probabably more recently was completed rendered. The signs emphasising 'Food' (and the style of the sign) make me think it's probably nearer early 2000s. Viv.
 
That is how I think of it and I think it was painted cream fairly recently. Ell Brown might know if he sees this thread as I think he lives nearby.
 
If my memory serves me right, back in the late 70s Ansells turned it to a big steak house creating a restraunt in the lounge area. A few years later all the rooms were knocked into one creating as Janice said Toad Hall, after a nother name change it became an Indian restraunt wich it still is now, only they also do a English menu and has a good reputation in the area.
 
The little terracotta feature at the apex of the roof could be typical of buildings constructed in the 1850s-1870s. Viv.

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Just to bring the tale of this "lost" Birmingham pub up to date: The old Horseshoe pub in Hall Green will be redeveloped as a Costa drive-through and Farmfoods supermarket after plans were approved. (from Birmingham Live - October 2022).
 
Work has started on the partial demolition and revamp of the Horseshoe, StratfordRoad, Hall Green.

November 2022 planning consent was given for:
Variation of conditions 2, 25 and 26 attached to planning approval 2021/07345/PA (Partial demolition of existing public house buildings for the provision of a new food store building, separate coffee shop with a drive-thru facility and associated access works, car parking and landscaping) to amend the car parking layout and cycle space provision

Today the site looks like this:
The boarding went up recently and when I went to the library opposite today I took these photos.
 

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The original application in 2020 included demolition of the pub but permission was refused: one reason given was

The proposal involves the loss of a building which currently makes a positive contribution to local character and the proposal is visually unattractive, of poor quality architectural design, and fails create a distinctive and positive sense of place. It istherefore contrary to Policy PG3 of the Birmingham Development Plan 2017, savedParagraph 3.14C of the Birmingham UDP 2005, guidance in Places for Living adoptedas Supplementary Planning Guidance, the National Design Guide and the NationalPlanning Policy Framework.
 
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