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Fox and Grapes - Digbeth
- Thread starter wessex
- Start date
W
Wendy
Guest
Well done Lyn what a great representative you are. I am pleased you got to meet Mike Hodder at last!
stevencath11
master brummie
Well done Lyn.
Thumbs up ar kid!! Well done. Viv.
BordesleyExile
master brummie
So pleased that you are involved, Lyn.
just a quick update folks on how things are progressing with the fox and grapes...mins of this months meeting and i am still keeping everything crossed that this pub can and will be saved...
i will be attending the next meeting and will keep you updated...
Update on the impact on heritage assets – further to the previous forum meeting, HS2 Ltd offered an update on the impact on heritage related issues. The options for the Grade II Listed Fox & Grapes Public House are still progressing in terms of how the building is considered as part of the overall design for the station. HS2 Ltd is in the process of arranging access to the building to undertake surveys to investigate the state of its heritage assets. Work is in progress to look at wider heritage assets within the area around the station and HS2 Ltd is undertaking a study to document key heritage features which will be considered through the Environmental Impact Assessment and considers existing assets. HS2 Ltd reiterated that it is looking to maintain and enhance heritage assets where practicable. Some may need to be re-modelling for incorporation within the scheme.
i will be attending the next meeting and will keep you updated...
Update on the impact on heritage assets – further to the previous forum meeting, HS2 Ltd offered an update on the impact on heritage related issues. The options for the Grade II Listed Fox & Grapes Public House are still progressing in terms of how the building is considered as part of the overall design for the station. HS2 Ltd is in the process of arranging access to the building to undertake surveys to investigate the state of its heritage assets. Work is in progress to look at wider heritage assets within the area around the station and HS2 Ltd is undertaking a study to document key heritage features which will be considered through the Environmental Impact Assessment and considers existing assets. HS2 Ltd reiterated that it is looking to maintain and enhance heritage assets where practicable. Some may need to be re-modelling for incorporation within the scheme.
cookie273uk
master brummie
If its worth painting, its worth preserving
Dave M
Pheasey Born Bumper
I used to drink in the Fox & Grapes shortly before it closed. I recently discovered that my great, great grandfather, an Irish immigrant, lived on Park Street during the 1851 census. He'd have been in his early 20s then, and almost certainly moved to Birmingham as a result of the potato famine. There must have been other pubs on that street at the time, but I like to think that the Fox & Grapes would have been his local. It's incredible to think that the pub was over one hundred years old when my great great grandfather lived in the area in the 1850s. That's before The Woodman and Eagle & Tun nearby were even built.
I heard a lot of stories about the pub when I was drinking there. The ornate old bar, carved with woodmen at each end, was originally intended for The Woodman pub (possibly not the one that stands on New Canal Street today, but an earlier Woodman), but since the delivery men were illiterate, they dropped it off at the F&G. There was also a story about the pub being built around an ancient tree trunk.
Frankly, to see the pub in its current state saddens me greatly. The council are allowing it to rot and fall apart. Of all the pubs in the area, including The Woodman and Eagle & Tun, the Fox & Grapes may not have the ornate James & Lister Lea flourishes, but it is perhaps the most important. It's one of the few remaining buildings of its age in the city centre. It would have been a cornerstone of the Irish community in Birmingham in those early days. And it must not be allowed to disappear.
I've seen the HS2 plans, and the Fox & Grapes stands smack-bang inside the station. It's going to be tough to incorporate it into the design, but not impossible. It's an historical asset, of which the city has very few remaining, and they should do whatever it takes to keep it, restore it, and make it a unique historical feature of the new station.
When the station is built, it will be just another ultra-modern railway station, like hundreds of others across the world. But imagine if it was the only ultra-modern 21st century railway station in the world to have a c.17th century pub inside it? It would be a unique feature and tourism offering.
Birmingham has committed far too many acts of atrocious vandalism against its buildings and its heritage. It cannot afford to keep on making the same mistake.
I heard a lot of stories about the pub when I was drinking there. The ornate old bar, carved with woodmen at each end, was originally intended for The Woodman pub (possibly not the one that stands on New Canal Street today, but an earlier Woodman), but since the delivery men were illiterate, they dropped it off at the F&G. There was also a story about the pub being built around an ancient tree trunk.
Frankly, to see the pub in its current state saddens me greatly. The council are allowing it to rot and fall apart. Of all the pubs in the area, including The Woodman and Eagle & Tun, the Fox & Grapes may not have the ornate James & Lister Lea flourishes, but it is perhaps the most important. It's one of the few remaining buildings of its age in the city centre. It would have been a cornerstone of the Irish community in Birmingham in those early days. And it must not be allowed to disappear.
I've seen the HS2 plans, and the Fox & Grapes stands smack-bang inside the station. It's going to be tough to incorporate it into the design, but not impossible. It's an historical asset, of which the city has very few remaining, and they should do whatever it takes to keep it, restore it, and make it a unique historical feature of the new station.
When the station is built, it will be just another ultra-modern railway station, like hundreds of others across the world. But imagine if it was the only ultra-modern 21st century railway station in the world to have a c.17th century pub inside it? It would be a unique feature and tourism offering.
Birmingham has committed far too many acts of atrocious vandalism against its buildings and its heritage. It cannot afford to keep on making the same mistake.
just to clarify the fox and grapes sits smack bang where platform 6 is intended to be..solution??? move the platform and restore the pub....i shall be attending the next HS2 meeting on the 19th of march and inform the forum of any new developements...
lyn
lyn
hi guys ;
the last couple of time i was in there it was an old italian guy whom used to run it i went there with a relative of mine
and we would have been locked in for the late session of drinking ;which was the case but only to his regular customers and if he knew you
or your face or as i say with a friend whom would be very well known to himself or his wife would you be allowed to have the after session
other wise he would tell you its time to go ; when all strangers have gone the doors would be locked at at any given time you want to leave you would be let out the side back entrance in the yard ;its certainly had history ; alng with the building ;
before my ctual visit ; as a little kid in the fortys i used to walkmy grand parents dog up around there every sunday morning and down aross the old grave yard facng it which later became a bit of a run down park with a couple of old time graves still left in it
and i used to see horriss the old copper from digbeth station riding through the park on his old green police issued bike which used to have the old dyno
on the back wheel to get the front lamp working for his lamp ; by the was thanks for the great picture lynnand phil and for the memorys
have a goo day alan astonian;
the last couple of time i was in there it was an old italian guy whom used to run it i went there with a relative of mine
and we would have been locked in for the late session of drinking ;which was the case but only to his regular customers and if he knew you
or your face or as i say with a friend whom would be very well known to himself or his wife would you be allowed to have the after session
other wise he would tell you its time to go ; when all strangers have gone the doors would be locked at at any given time you want to leave you would be let out the side back entrance in the yard ;its certainly had history ; alng with the building ;
before my ctual visit ; as a little kid in the fortys i used to walkmy grand parents dog up around there every sunday morning and down aross the old grave yard facng it which later became a bit of a run down park with a couple of old time graves still left in it
and i used to see horriss the old copper from digbeth station riding through the park on his old green police issued bike which used to have the old dyno
on the back wheel to get the front lamp working for his lamp ; by the was thanks for the great picture lynnand phil and for the memorys
have a goo day alan astonian;
UPDATE ON FOX AND GRAPES..
hi all..i attended the HS2 meeting on tues night...here is a brief update..
THE EAGLE AND TUNNE AND THE WOODMAN ON ALBERT ST ARE TO BE RETAINED..:encouragement:
THE OLD CURZON ST STATION BUILDING WILL ALSO BE RETAINED AND MAY BECOME A MUSEUM..:encouragement:
ACCESS HAS NOW BEEN GAINED FOR THE FOX AND GRAPES..LOTS OF WATER RETENTION...CARVED BAR FIGURES HAVE GONE AND TILED PAINTINGS THAT WERE SET INTO THE BAR ITSELF...EVERY EFFORT IS BEING MADE TO RETAIN THIS PUB BUT IT COULD MEAN LOSING SOME OF THE ROOF IF WE ARE TO KEEP IT...I CAN LIVE WITH THAT I THINK...STILL A LONG WAY TO GO YET FOLKS AND THE PLANS I AM BEING GIVEN AT EACH MEETING ARE CHANGING ALL THE TIME SO LETS REMAIN POSATIVE..WILL UPDATE AFTER THE NEXT MEETING...:fat:
LYN
hi all..i attended the HS2 meeting on tues night...here is a brief update..
THE EAGLE AND TUNNE AND THE WOODMAN ON ALBERT ST ARE TO BE RETAINED..:encouragement:
THE OLD CURZON ST STATION BUILDING WILL ALSO BE RETAINED AND MAY BECOME A MUSEUM..:encouragement:
ACCESS HAS NOW BEEN GAINED FOR THE FOX AND GRAPES..LOTS OF WATER RETENTION...CARVED BAR FIGURES HAVE GONE AND TILED PAINTINGS THAT WERE SET INTO THE BAR ITSELF...EVERY EFFORT IS BEING MADE TO RETAIN THIS PUB BUT IT COULD MEAN LOSING SOME OF THE ROOF IF WE ARE TO KEEP IT...I CAN LIVE WITH THAT I THINK...STILL A LONG WAY TO GO YET FOLKS AND THE PLANS I AM BEING GIVEN AT EACH MEETING ARE CHANGING ALL THE TIME SO LETS REMAIN POSATIVE..WILL UPDATE AFTER THE NEXT MEETING...:fat:
LYN
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Frothblower
Lubrication In Moderation
I can't see how the Eagle and Tun can be saved, the HS2 goes straight though it 
Frothblower
Lubrication In Moderation
That's great news Lyn. They must have change the route then. Love to look at the plans:fat:
froth looking at mock ups dont really give the true picture they threw me before i got hold of the plans..will bring them with me then..bring yer glasses as the print is small...
hi ell as i speak for the whole of this forum at the meetings i will put that question foward next time..
lyn
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sistersue61
master brummie
Thanks Lyn for the updates, mostly good news, at least they didn't say they were going to demolish the Fox and Grapes!!
Sue
Sue
not yet they havnt sue..although grade 2 listed its still far from safe so keeping fingers crossed...
lyn
just a small update on the eagle and tun that i have received...its seems that although it will be retained it could be minus its roof...
Update on heritage assets – HS2 representatives confirmed that they have succeeded in entering the Fox & Grapes public house to undertake a heritage assessment. Whilst the bar still exists, the carvings have been removed and substantial damage to the roof has been created by water ingress. Options for the building are still being progressed with an update to follow at future meetings. In regards to the Eagle & Tun public house, HS2 representatives confirmed that it remains the intention to incorporate the building (potentially without its roof) into the station design
Update on heritage assets – HS2 representatives confirmed that they have succeeded in entering the Fox & Grapes public house to undertake a heritage assessment. Whilst the bar still exists, the carvings have been removed and substantial damage to the roof has been created by water ingress. Options for the building are still being progressed with an update to follow at future meetings. In regards to the Eagle & Tun public house, HS2 representatives confirmed that it remains the intention to incorporate the building (potentially without its roof) into the station design
