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Boars Head Inn

  • Thread starter Thread starter Wendy
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Paul429 said:
The Boars Head, Aldridge Road, Perry Barr. This pub was named the Boar's Head after the Gough family coat of arms which shows a boars head. It was built in 1758 and demolished in 1936. The present Boar's Head is on a slightly different site.

This watercolour is by Warren Blackham who was working between 1870 and 1900. He was a member of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists and exhibited 41 paintings.
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Wo
Paul429 said:
The Boars Head, Aldridge Road, Perry Barr. This pub was named the Boar's Head after the Gough family coat of arms which shows a boars head. It was built in 1758 and demolished in 1936. The present Boar's Head is on a slightly different site.

This watercolour is by Warren Blackham who was working between 1870 and 1900. He was a member of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists and exhibited 41 paintings.
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Wonderful picture!
 
A very nice building, dutch style gables and interesting brickwork. I guess road widening was why such a lovely place was demolished?
 
There is an existing thread about the Boars Head. I shall merge all the posts on this thread with that thread. Viv.

Edit. Threads now merged.
 
thanks viv...shame on me i should have remembered we already have a long thread for the boars head :rolleyes:
 
Not a problem Lyn. I only just remembered there was another thread when I saw the photos you posted.

In Lyn’s post #122 it shows a gated area to the left of the Boars Head. Inside is a notice (?) board. Would this be an entrance to the park, bearing in mind that the BH was at a different site to the present one. (Formerly, the [1849 pub in the photo and it’s predecessor] pub was probably sited near the electricity sub-station on Aldridge Road). Viv.
 
I wondered for some time why we’ve had very little information surface about the “ancient posting inn” referred to in various earlier posts on this thread. And it’s mentioned on the carving over the doorway. Probably because it was formerly called the Gough Arms Tavern. (This was mentioned in the first attachment in post #41 on this thread https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/perry-barr-canal-tip.17828/page-3).

So here is a little info reaching back to 1838:

14/2/1838 referred to as the Gough Arms Tavern in the Wolverhampton & Staffs Advertiser
12/5/1838 referred to as the Gough Arms in the Staffs Advertiser in an auction of paper mill
20/8/1845 referred to as Gough Arms in Staffs Advertiser
7/3/1846 referred to as Gough Arms in connection with Paper Mill End Farms sale in Staffs Advertiser
8/7/1848 Referred to as Gough Arms in the B’ham Journal relating to an inquest held
20/9/1882 referred back to the Gough Arms in B’ham Mail as Wm Williams was a former publican there

Now we also must bear in mind the earliest inn/tavern was not in exactly the same position as the 1930s pub. But it was very close - see earlier discussion on this thread.

Viv.
 
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Reposting the plaque from above the present BH doorway (originally posted by Topsyturvey in post #45. Posting it again as it tells us the ancient posting inn was 100 yards away).

Also posting an earlier BH drawing (not the Gough Arms at the time of the drawing but probably the building).

Viv.

CB74FAAB-7392-4676-9D65-467E21107A61.jpeg
801EB482-45C7-4953-A9ED-8227E0DDE0EB.jpeg
 
I ran the Boars Head for a while in the 80's after the manager was sacked. It was still a descent pub and restaurant, although it had a licence restriction, we had to close early on Fridays and Saturdays, this was requested by the police due to trouble occurring at weekends. We had door security but this presented me with more problems, they caused more arguments than they prevented. Happy Days.
 
Vivienne14 said:
I wondered for some time why we’ve had very little information surface about the “ancient posting inn” referred to in various earlier posts on this thread. And it’s mentioned on the carving over the doorway. Probably because it was formerly called the Gough Arms Tavern. (This was mentioned in the first attachment in post #41 on this thread https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/perry-barr-canal-tip.17828/page-3).

So here is a little info reaching back to 1838:

14/2/1838 referred to as the Gough Arms Tavern in the Wolverhampton & Staffs Advertiser
12/5/1838 referred to as the Gough Arms in the Staffs Advertiser in an auction of paper mill
20/8/1845 referred to as Gough Arms in Staffs Advertiser
7/3/1846 referred to as Gough Arms in connection with Paper Mill End Farms sale in Staffs Advertiser
8/7/1848 Referred to as Gough Arms in the B’ham Journal relating to an inquest held
20/9/1882 referred back to the Gough Arms in B’ham Mail as Wm Williams was a former publican there

Now we also must bear in mind the earliest inn/tavern was not in exactly the same position as the 1930s pub. But it was very close - see earlier discussion on this thread.

Viv.
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Wasn't Perry Barr or Perry Hall Park once the Gough Estate?. My piano teacher Charles Gough told me this many years ago and he was a relative of the family who owned the land and large house once on it.
 
Jollyjack said:
I ran the Boars Head for a while in the 80's after the manager was sacked. It was still a descent pub and restaurant, although it had a licence restriction, we had to close early on Fridays and Saturdays, this was requested by the police due to trouble occurring at weekends. We had door security but this presented me with more problems, they caused more arguments than they prevented. Happy Days.
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I used to drink there in the mid 80s, great pub, and I remember some of the trouble..
Remember 2 of the bar staff, Martin and carmelo I think...was Aden the previous manager
 
Your close there Darren. I certainly remember a difficult conversation with his wife at 7.30 in the morning when she rang for him. She wanted to know where he was and I had to break it to her. He was due at head office at 10.30 that morning I told her and I believe she met him outside there after his meeting.
 
oldMohawk said:
In this 1950s aerial view from 'britainfromabove' the 'new' Boar's Head is top right. The main entrance to Perry Barr park is bottom left. The Aldridge Rd single carriageway leads out of the view top middle and the dual carriageway College Rd leads out to the right. The 'old' Boars Head was apparently demolished in 1937 and the site must be somewhere on this pic. I spent much of my childhood playing in the park entering through a small short-cut gate on the Aldridge Rd. I vaguely remember buildings seen on the left in this pic and one of them may have been a 'Sons of Rest' but it was a long time ago .....
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As a child I lived on the Beeches Estate. I often walked down Aldridge Road to play in the park and probably used the gate you mention. I used to hear the name of the pub as the Borzed, because I'd never seen it written down! I'm interested in the history of the pub.
 
Big Gee said:
I remember those gnomes very well, Paula! The Mail did an article on them years ago. Not there now, sad to say. Real eccentrics are few and far between these days, unfortunately.

Close by was a chap who printed and enlarged technical drawings in his front room (another bungalow) and I went there quite a few times for my then-employer.

G
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I went to school (King Edwards Handsworth) with a girl named Stella, who lived in one of the bungalows. She would get on the bus at the nearby stop. But I can't remember her last name.
 
There is a fascinating connection of the Boar's Head with the trial of William Booth, the forger then living at Booth's Farm, who was executed in 1813. The police constables were overheard discussing the arrest of Booth while drinking in the Boar's Head. One can imagine William himself drinking at the tavern and knowing many of the regulars.
 

Attachments

This is a view not often seen of the Boars Head, it’s usually shown from the opposite angle. So I tried flipping it and I think the view has been reversed - see second image.

The one thing I’d have thought was worth mentioning in the caption was the name of the pub, but it only mentions Aldridge Road. This was the BH pub before the current BH was built a little further away in the 1930s. Viv.

4B84CF57-0978-44C6-8830-2A6E665DD628.jpeg

Reversed photo. This appears to be more in keeping with the image in post #130.

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I remember the Boars Head for its brilliant Steaks .
We used to go there a lot in the yearly 70’s
Its an all you can eat restaurant now . Boars Head World Buffet
 
yes viv i think you are correct...its amazing just how much these newspaper articles can tell us of how life was back in the day

lyn
 
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