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Earl Grey

  • Thread starter Thread starter owen
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owen

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Can anyone give me the history of this pub on the Pershore Road C1850s of any information.
 
hello & welcome Owen :)

Earl Grey pub, 352 Pershore Rd, publican Samuel Henry Morris
1872 Kelly,s Directory,,
Cheers John Y :cool:
 
Hello Owen and Welcome,

The 1863 Slaters Diectory gives the Landlords name as Ambrose Moythan. I could find no listing in 1846 Slaters Directory

All I can tell you other than that from what I remember of the pub is that it was on the corner of Pershore Rd and Balsall Heath Rd. I never used the pub myself as it was known to be pretty rough in the 1960's. I'm almost sure that it is gone now.

Phil

EdgbastonPershoreRdTheEarlGrey.jpg
 
Last edited:
Nice pub , early years

Hi again Owen & to add to pmc1947 description ;)

Very early years of this Public House would have been very nice,
a Very affluent & socially accepted area, Pershore Road close proximity
to Warwickshire Cricket at Edgbaston (County) ground,
Probably "Earl Grey" tea & scones scenario on Family Sunday strolls,
but as the City developed many areas changed social makeup,
inner areas once much vaunted sadly declined,,
as pmc1947 rightly depicted,, the Earl Grey was in 1960,s-1990,s
unfortunately slap bang in centre of "troublesome" area, Red light &
druggie stuff,, Police closed it down on regular basis,
Not sure if its still there?,, Cheers John Y :cool:
 

Found this (whilst looking for something else!)

Kellys 1867

Earl Grey
352 Pershore Road (corner Balsall Heath Road)

George Edwards
 
Earl Gray Pub

The building was still standing the last time I drove past, has been shut for several years now but appears that work is ongoing.
 
Hi everyone.
My uncle and aunt ran the Earl Grey in the late 50's and 60's.
Their Names were Bill and Joan Tidmarsh. Uncle Bill was mugged taking the takings to the bank in Gooch Street and appeared on Police 5 with Shaw Taylor. The stress/shock of it all made him ill and he died shortly after from peritonitis. Aunt Joan moved down to the south coast where she had family.
In the 60's I remember that although the pub had quite a "varied" clientele, there was never any real trouble. Uncle Bill was a big man and ruled the pub with a rod of iron! No-one dared step out of line!! Although some tinkers who were camped down by Varna Rd (remember the goings on there?!) tried it on once.
It was really old fashioned inside, with all the bell pushes still intact and high ceilings. Upstairs there was a large scalextric type track laid out in a huge room.There used to be some sort of car racing club or something there,I think. My sister and I used to play in there with our cousins (Val and Geoff) sometimes.
My mom used to work at the Queens Tavern at the top of Essex Street and then ran the White Horse in Lower Essex Street for a while.This has now become the Old Fox, I think, and is part of the "gay quarter" now.
When we lived there, the back to backs were still being lived in in Bath Street and Kent Street Baths were still open!
 
HI LADY LINDA,
Very Intresting Thread I Can Remember Your Folks At The
Old Earl Grey Pershore Rd , Yes It Was A Nice Pub In The Forties , And Right Up UntilThe Mid Fifties, WhenThe Turning Point Of The Bad Elements Of
The Wrong Clienental Started To Move In And Evenualy Distroy The Place
With Vice And Drugs . It Really Started After They Demolished The Old
Victorian Houses Of The Vice, Such AS The Old Varna Rd Alexander Rd ,
Princess Rd The Main Hard Core Of Course There Was Belgrave Rd ,But That Was,t To Bad ,And When They Built The So Called New Houses , Such
AS Belgravia Rd ,And Speedwell Rd Thats Whn The Rot Started To Really Set In And The Earl Grey Was Finaly Taken aOer By The Druggies And The Pimps
And The Gangsters , It As Been Closed Down That Many Times Over The Years , In Fact I Would Say More Times ThanI,ve Had HOT Dinners , But
The Building As A Pub As Finaly Closed Down For Those Reasons
The Inside As Been Completely Removrd And As Been Fitted With A New Exterior With Dark Blue Window FramesAnd Dark Windows And As Been Standing Like That For At Least Two Years With No Sign Of Life Or Activerty Of Coming And Going On I Can Only Presume By The Colour Scheme That It Is Usrd By The Police As Only Belgrave Police Station Is Directly Across The Rd From It =It Surely Was A Crying Shame That
What Happened To A Lovely Family Pub And I Am Speaking FromA Long Term Ex Licencee And Well Known In The Trade Person ,
And Regarding The Old Fox Another Little Erner An Old Friend Of Mine By
The Name Of Gerry Poole Did Or Still Does Own The Pub ,Gerry Owns
All The Pawn Brokers Under The Name Of Uncles In And Around B,ham ,
Have A Nice Day Best Wishes ASTONIAN ,;;
 
A thank you for your messages, it would be nice to try and get information on the owners, residents and customers views of the Earl Grey from any period. I have seen the Earl Grey recently and it is in a sorry state but it must have been a grand building in it's day.
 
I have passed it every week for about 20 years, I beleive it was closed at the request of police about a year or more ago, my Son in law said it was because of drug dealing. The pub is still standing but empty, what the brewery's plans for it are I do not know. Eric
 
Thanks for inviting me to the community. Does anyone have any footage of my dad playing drums with his band on the weekends. He was a legend as I'm sure you'd remember.
 
You are very welcome Sharty and I hope you find it interesting, but do you or your dad have any connection to the subject of this thread, the Earl Grey pub?
 
Yes. My late father played as a musician for many years every weekend as the drummer along with Rancy and popeye and others.
 
Working from (admittedly very unreliable) copies of the Balsall Heathan. The Earl Grey facelift was complete in July 1981. A new manager was put in by March 85 after suggestions that it was "being used by the prostitution and drugs industries". By December 1996 it seems to have become the centre of crime in the whole district "Residents in the Benmore Estate have
had very big problems. They have suffered from noisy neighbours, drug dealing, t h e f t , kerb crawling and prostitution on a grand scale Much of this has spread from the Earl Grey pub. Quite literally, residents stayed in t h e i r flats (40 per block) too
frightened to venture out as shrieks rang out and drug dealers occupied their landings and entry ways". In July 1998 "The Earl Grey pub is now closed and is likely to be demolished and houses built in its place."
 
wam said:
Working from (admittedly very unreliable) copies of the Balsall Heathan. The Earl Grey facelift was complete in July 1981. A new manager was put in by March 85 after suggestions that it was "being used by the prostitution and drugs industries". By December 1996 it seems to have become the centre of crime in the whole district "Residents in the Benmore Estate have
had very big problems. They have suffered from noisy neighbours, drug dealing, t h e f t , kerb crawling and prostitution on a grand scale Much of this has spread from the Earl Grey pub. Quite literally, residents stayed in t h e i r flats (40 per block) too
frightened to venture out as shrieks rang out and drug dealers occupied their landings and entry ways". In July 1998 "The Earl Grey pub is now closed and is likely to be demolished and houses built in its place."
Click to expand...

It is still there and open as a restaurant
 
ladylinda said:
Hi everyone.
My uncle and aunt ran the Earl Grey in the late 50's and 60's.
Their Names were Bill and Joan Tidmarsh. Uncle Bill was mugged taking the takings to the bank in Gooch Street and appeared on Police 5 with Shaw Taylor. The stress/shock of it all made him ill and he died shortly after from peritonitis. Aunt Joan moved down to the south coast where she had family.
In the 60's I remember that although the pub had quite a "varied" clientele, there was never any real trouble. Uncle Bill was a big man and ruled the pub with a rod of iron! No-one dared step out of line!! Although some tinkers who were camped down by Varna Rd (remember the goings on there?!) tried it on once.
It was really old fashioned inside, with all the bell pushes still intact and high ceilings. Upstairs there was a large scalextric type track laid out in a huge room.There used to be some sort of car racing club or something there,I think. My sister and I used to play in there with our cousins (Val and Geoff) sometimes.
My mom used to work at the Queens Tavern at the top of Essex Street and then ran the White Horse in Lower Essex Street for a while.This has now become the Old Fox, I think, and is part of the "gay quarter" now.
When we lived there, the back to backs were still being lived in in Bath Street and Kent Street Baths were still open!
Click to expand...

I knew Valerie Tidmarsh when I was about 15. Had a crush on her but she wouldn't give me the time of day. Happy Days...
 
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