Bulls Head pub Coventry Road Yardley

[tonko]

hi,

i live a few doors up from where the bulls head pub sat on the corner of waterloo road and coventry road yardley.although i have found a few pics on the net( and i know
there is one on this forum) they are all pretty much taken from the same angle and around the early 20th century and information is sketchy .i was wondering if anyone had any pics of the
pub around the sixties or after or even better the inside of the pub.i know the building was knocked down in the early eighties for road widening along with the houses which sat on the front of
the cov road along side the pub .after finding out about some of the people and bands that played here in the brumbeat era of the sixties has left me totally amazed ,denny laine,john bonham,
jimmy cliff,fleetwood mac,the move,the n betweens(slade)and more all played the hereford lounge at the bulls head .now all thats left is a set of small brick built gardens which house shrubbery
and rats. if anyone has any more info or memories it would be nice to here as i am too young to remember the pub properly and only have a vague memory of going past it in my dads car
in the seventies.

 

[A Sparks]

I remember the Bulls Head on the Coventry Road and used to go there sometimes in the mid 60's to see various bands including the Craig who Carl Palmer used to drum with as a teenager and also the Way of Life, when John Bonham was their drummer.

I don't have any photos - no one ever took a camera around in those days! The room where they had the bands was upstairs, when you went in through the door the stage was on the right hand side and the bar was to the left. I can sort of picture it still in my mind.

Have a look on the Brum Beat website - there is a sub section called Bulls Head Bob (though I have trouble opening it on my pc at work sometimes, I don't know why). Also look on the Birmingham Music Archive website, there might be a mention there.

The room upstairs used to be called the Hereford Lounge.

 

[tonko]

thanks sparks

ive been in touch with bulls head bob a few times i supplied him with his latest picture of the bulls head because the one he was using for his blog was tattered and burnt
you are right no one carried a camera back then .i suppose no one knew what an impact some of these bands( which were then up and coming )would have on british music.
places like this should have plaques put up .and not just the bulls head many pubs and venues in birmingham should be remembered properly!i might venture over the
old bill and bull and have a word with the gaffer i hear he has got some pictures although i was told they are drawings they still might be interesting if not im at least
in the right place to drown my sorrows

 

[Phil]

I remember the Bulls Head well, I never used it in the 60's or used the upstairs although I did have a birthday party there in the 70's. Here are the three photos I have of the pub, at least one of them is from the early 60's.

 

[tonko]

thanks phil

fantastic photos mate. and on the right houses in waterloo road where now there is a small industrial estate. knew there had been houses there but never seen a pic .thanks mate!

 

[dwilly]

I could be wrong but aren't there some pictures in the Bill And Bull of the Bulls Head? Been years since I've been in there but seems to recall some on the walls

 

[tonko]

hi dwilly
they have been taken down over the years my son is a bill and bull local he as asked about the pics but all they seem to have is drawings .the gaffers grandson told him this
and because the pics will be most likely black and white ..well young kids think black and white means pencil sketches so i will wait and see what they come up with!

 

[WINSTON]

These are the only photos i have of the upstairs room at the bulls head.it was back in the 1970s.they had a rock n roll night every week.i think on a thursday night.i did see shaking stevens and the sunsets there before he alone became famous. feel free to download and give them some light

 

[oldbrit]

Is that the old police station? Made into a pub the OldBill or some such? John Crump Parker. Co USA

 

[Old Boy]

Is that the old police station? Made into a pub the OldBill or some such? John Crump Parker. Co USA

Hi John,

Yes. The old police station at Hay Mill has been made into a pub named the Old Bill and Bull.

Chris Beresford (Old Boy)

 

[tonko]

hi winston
great pics of the inside of the pub there isnt many of them about i bet

 

[tonko]

hi old brit
these pics of the inside of the bulls head which was across the the road from the police station the pics are from the 70's so the police station was still a police station then
i think it became the old bill and bull when they knocked the bulls head down and widened the road in about 83

 

[WINSTON]

Hi tonko
yes the police station was still going when the bulls head was over the road.I wish i had more photos i could have shared.

 

[jiumbo]

My sister held her wedding reception at the bulls head in 1964 and wanted some photos as just celebrated golden anniversary

 

[carolina]

My brother also had his wedding reception in August 1964. My sister in law worked at Burgess and Garfield at the time. I have a couple of photos inside of the wedding reception.

 

[Two]

Bulls Head Hotel - Yardley

 

[TommoCo]

I remember the Bull's Head as being down the road towards town from the 'new' Swan at Yardley (the biggest pub in Europe, they said). The Bull was a good venue for live music in the late 1960s - I remember Jimmy Cliff as a regular, and of his singing being consistently excellent. Other memories are of almost always going back downstairs for a pint 'cos it was quicker to get served and, if I remember rightly, cheaper than buying from the upstairs dance-room bar. Final memory is of going there with my new-found mates (one of whom I spent the next 11 or 12 years with failing to become a rock-and-roll star!!) when we saw a local band called 'Earth'. They were good , much better that our efforts, and I remember distinctly Tony the guitarist playing the break in the newly-released 'All right now' by free, and getting it almost perfect. At the end of their set we went to the front of the stage for a chat. They were friendly and we chatted for about 10 minutes about bookings, instruments, road vans etc. Later, when they changed their name to Black Sabbath I don't think we would have got close enough to chat, let alone for several minutes.
Finally, no photos I'm afraid. As someone else said, it wasn't something you ever considered at the time - cameras needed setting up with focal lenghths and other things to work in anything less than broad daylight, films were expensive and all that together with the cost of having snaps developed made it a no-no, so, no pictures to share, just the memories.

 

[Tinpot]

I used to go there sometimes. Always got a bit worried when the police used to call in and have a look round as we were drinking underage. Used to walk back to my mates house across the other side of Hobmoor Rd to stop over and her Dad would cook bacon and eggs for us on Sunday morning.

 

[Covroad]

I saw Dave and Ansell Colins there (Double Barrel) they came on late dressed in grass skirts .
use to go there most Friday nights, opp Hay Mills nick so it was a short trip for any one who wandered of the straight and narrow during the evening or on the way home.

 

[Tinpot]

I saw Dave and Ansell Colins there (Double Barrel) they came on late dressed in grass skirts .
use to go there most Friday nights, opp Hay Mills nick so it was a short trip for any one who wandered of the straight and narrow during the evening or on the way home.

I can’t say that I remember any of the bands there. It was about 1965 I think and we just wanted to dance and meet boys!

 

[Covroad]

The Bulls Head had a few decent bands on there , the stage was on the right as you went and the bands would make there entrance via the fire escape from the ground floor.
it use to get quite hot in there some nights when the place was full.

 

[A Sparks]

My friend and I went to the Bulls Head to see bands a few times, living over the other side of Brum we had to get two buses.
Saw the Craig who Carl Palmer was playing drums with, he would have been about 16 then. Also the Idle Race which was the band Jeff Lynne was with - both subsequently had successful careers!

 

[Covroad]

My friend and I went to the Bulls Head to see bands a few times, living over the other side of Brum we had to get two buses.
Saw the Craig who Carl Palmer was playing drums with, he would have been about 16 then. Also the Idle Race which was the band Jeff Lynne was with - both subsequently had successful careers!

If you look at the family tree of Birmingham bands they are all interlinked for example the Idle Race evolved to The Move, ELO, Wizard, etc .
The Moody Blues , one member lived / had close relatives in Heybarnes Rd, Jeff Lynn had an aunt (I think) in Heather Rd, use to see him and Roy Wood regular in various pubs around Moseley Village in the 70s

see link attached

Birmingham Beatsters Family Tree

concerts.fandom.com

 

[TommoCo]

I used to go there sometimes. Always got a bit worried when the police used to call in and have a look round as we were drinking underage. Used to walk back to my mates house across the other side of Hobmoor Rd to stop over and her Dad would cook bacon and eggs for us on Sunday morning.

wish I'd known you and your mate then, would have tried to get an invite for bacon and eggs for breakfast - yummy!
I also remember the nick described by Covroad, a schoolmate's dad was a copper there. The schoolmate played the drums, and, as aspiring young rock stars, about a dozen of us went to the copshop one evening to practise our first ever tune. It was so bad we were ordered to stop because, we were told, the prisoners in the cells were complaining of the din! Whether they were or not I don't know, but I remember the lad lead singing ... he was full of confidence, had all the Mick Jagger moves, and had a voice as flat as a pancake - absolutely awful, as was the playing by most of the rest of us... but, happy memories again....

 

[1299]

The Bulls Head 1970s.
I lived at 1299 Coventry road opposite Kathleen road. ( houses would have been to left of this pic)
Also used The Old Bill & Bull after Bulls Head closed.

 

[localmike]

The Bulls Head 1970s.
I lived at 1299 Coventry road opposite Kathleen road. ( houses would have been to left of this pic)
Also used The Old Bill & Bull after Bulls Head closed.View attachment 199109

This photo was taken for the Hay Mills Project by Brian Matthews. More images, including some of the interior, are at:

Ada Road to Forest Road

NLS Maps 1888 NLS Maps 1905 NLS Maps 1916 Beyond the cinema and Ada Road stood a row of houses, initially with names, that were demolished by 1975, therefore could not be photographed by the Hay Mills Project. They were on the 1905 O.S. map, so were there up to a couple of years earlier. In 1920...

aghs.jimdofree.com

 

[A Sparks]

This photo was taken for the Hay Mills Project by Brian Matthews. More images, including some of the interior, are at:

Ada Road to Forest Road

NLS Maps 1888 NLS Maps 1905 NLS Maps 1916 Beyond the cinema and Ada Road stood a row of houses, initially with names, that were demolished by 1975, therefore could not be photographed by the Hay Mills Project. They were on the 1905 O.S. map, so were there up to a couple of years earlier. In 1920...

aghs.jimdofree.com

Gosh....some memories of the Bull!
The staircase going up to the room where the bands played in the mid 60s!
Known then as the Hereford Lounge.

 

[Vivienne14]

These might spark some memories. Source: British Newspaper Archive

 

[A Sparks]

Gosh yes, I remember some of those bands!
Galliard, and Erskine T who was a DJ and also worked at the Elbow Room and Mothers.
The Locomotive and the band Ten Years After who became quite well known and played at the Woodstock Festival!
...and of course Carl Wayne and the Vikings, some of whose members became part of the Move.