Greyhound, Court Lane

[Lady Penelope]

Finally managed to visit the Greyhound yesterday. Very warm welcome and the owner's sister showed us the bowling green at the rear of the pub. We had a chat to several people. I shall definitely go again.

 

[Lady Penelope]

Hi again Lady P. I've had a look at the pub and am not too sure how old it is. I've taken some screen shots off Streetview. Wonder if anyone can date it from these. It looks structurally little changed since Astonesses 1930s photo. It has an interesting chimney stack arrangement on both chimneys. Looks in pretty good shape today too.

The cottages next door might be about the same age. Although the pub upper floor windows might be older than the cottages. There's a sign on the cottage nearest the pub with "Court Lane, Erdington" on it. The sign was on the building in the 1930s photo too.

Hopefully someone can come up with some of the pub's history. Viv.

Viv, we were looking for boundary markers last Saturday and I remembered that there was a query about the fact that the road sign mentioned Erdington which is unusual and I wondered if it replaced the original marker which would have been opposite the pub. The house is the first one in Erdington. This block of houses wasn't completed until after 1901. Some of them were occupied on the census but not all. On the 1930's photo you can see other cottages just past these which are being demolished. The pub, in some form or other, has been there since 1841 but could have been there before. I'm posting a photo of the boundary marker from Sycamore Road although I think the one in Court Lane would have been considerably older.

 

[Lady Penelope]

Bit of up to date information - Apparently the owner of the Greyhound was fined £1,000 for having a wedding there which breached the Lockdown rules!

 

[Fleurdelys]

Not the Greyhound, but may be of interest to the Court Laners....August 1958

View attachment 129134

Well I know which family was responsible for that kerfuffle. He still acts the same as his family did back then. Absolutely opposed to the pursuit of financial progress if it affects his line of sight and personal solitude at the cost of others. Quite often people stamp on projects so their family can move to the road later. My family are from Kidderminster and produced food for the war effort, and my father's family are working class socialists. It weren't us guvna!

 

[Fleurdelys]

I almost forgot. The CEO of ITV used to live here on Court Lane. He used to spy on everyone and report it to his day job. That's why ITVs selection always seems oddly tilted towards the Sutton end of Erdington. He just couldn't get that darn Erdington boundary moved so he could be classed as one of the important people.

Boundary line wars are hilarious.
I personally love being able to speak French to people and then slipping down through Queens English into "Awright, who's up next ya daft geets" My family really don't appreciate the oral effort I put in to my day job as an elocution teacher.

I bet you a days entertainment that Pygmalion/My fair Lady is on TV within the next 4 weeks.

 

[Lady Penelope]

Nice to see you on the forum Fleurdelys. I lived in Court Lane for 16 years and loved it.

 

[Lady Penelope]

I almost forgot. The CEO of ITV used to live here on Court Lane. He used to spy on everyone and report it to his day job. That's why ITVs selection always seems oddly tilted towards the Sutton end of Erdington. He just couldn't get that darn Erdington boundary moved so he could be classed as one of the important people.

Boundary line wars are hilarious.
I personally love being able to speak French to people and then slipping down through Queens English into "Awright, who's up next ya daft geets" My family really don't appreciate the oral effort I put in to my day job as an elocution teacher.

I bet you a days entertainment that Pygmalion/My fair Lady is on TV within the next 4 weeks.

Not quite, Fleurdelys, it was on yesterday!

 

[Lady Penelope]

I have been meaning to post an update on this thread as a little more information came to light on another one - 'Probate Query 1700's' we now have the pub back to at least 1736 due to probate listing probably because of an unexpected death. It mentions a cellar with beer related barrels and 'thralls'. This was before the Old Chester Road was turnpiked in 1760. So good news.

 

[MariaS]

My sister and I are new to the site. We were most interested in your discussions about Court Lane and the Greyhound pub. We actually lived at 359 , the cottage with the road sign on it, along with our brother , Tony. My sister went to Boldmere school and then to Aston Comercial, whilst I went to Court Farm and remember a girl called Penny that lived in a prefab on the edge of the park. We have traced our great grandfather back to William Hodgetts who was the first landlord of the Greyhound. His daughter Mary married Wiliam Spiers they then became our grandparents. From the census we have found that when Mary was widowed in 1874 she became a shopkeeper in Court lane, what we don't know is whether that was 359 or the cottage at the other end. My sister can remember a Colemans mustard sign on our house so it could possibly have been a shop. The shop to the left of the Greyhound was Moores, Mr. Maddox had the little lean to shop at the side where he sold the newspapers . And I always thought that Francis was the daughter of Mrs Davies and I believe they lived in Fernwood Close (or Drive).

Hi I believe you are related to my husband. I have done some work on his family tree and his great grand parents are William Spiers and Mary Hodgetts too. His grandfather was Charles Edward Spiers who married Elizabeth James.Charles had the following siblings William,Henry,Thomas and John. How are you connected?Kind regards

 

[Jenny M]

Hi I believe you are related to my husband. I have done some work on his family tree and his great grand parents are William Spiers and Mary Hodgetts too. His grandfather was Charles Edward Spiers who married Elizabeth James.Charles had the following siblings William,Henry,Thomas and John. How are you connected?Kind regards

Hi, we are descendants of John Spiers who married Alice Thorley, they lived in Turfpits Lane . My sister recalls an uncle Charlie at a farm in Middleton , so we may well be cousins . I’m sure I have a photo of John , I will find and post on here . Regards Jennie Marson

 

[Jenny M]

A lady we called Aunt Fanny and dads sister Eva outside farm at Allens End , Middleton

 

[Jenny M]

Hi, we are descendants of John Spiers who married Alice Thorley, they lived in Turfpits Lane . My sister recalls an uncle Charlie at a farm in Middleton , so we may well be cousins . I’m sure I have a photo of John , I will find and post on here . Regards Jennie Marson

John Spiers 1868-1930

 

[MariaS]

Hi, we are descendants of John Spiers who married Alice Thorley, they lived in Turfpits Lane . My sister recalls an uncle Charlie at a farm in Middleton , so we may well be cousins . I’m sure I have a photo of John , I will find and post on here . Regards Jennie Marson

Thanks for your response Jennie. Yes the Middleton farm connection is correct. Charles Edward had an eldest son named Charlie and he and his siblings spent many happy hours at the farm. Photo Charles Edward Spiers.Maria

 

[Lady Penelope]

Hello, I stumbled on this thread when I joined as a new member this week and have been delighted to come across posts about Court Lane where I lived at 407 Court Lane from 0 - 3 yrs old. My great grandfather was Thomas Henry Milner who lived in the house or cottage mentioned in a previous post in this thread. My grandmother was also brought up in the same house, Rose Cottage, which I had thought was No. 386 Court Lane, please correct me if I'm wrong. Rose Cottage was almost directly over the road to the lodge for the former college and just a few yards down the road from the Greyhound, where I think my grandfather was a regular fixture. I don't think they owned the house but perhaps rented it from the College but they lived there from around the 1890's I think until the 1950's at least. Does anyone know when the cottage was demolished? Betty and Eric Milner (Eric was my grandmother's step-brother) lived close by and when my mom married (Thomas Milner's granddaughter) she moved into 407 Court Lane. I'm going to try to attach a photo of Rose Cottage for you, hope it works. If anyone has any other stories or memories of the house or of the Milners I'd love to hear them. I moved back to Birmingham for a few years in the late 60's and have lots of happy memories of Erdington and Sutton etc

I'm not sure if you're still on the forum Linzee but I'm only six years late in responding. From one of the censuses it states that Rose Cottage was at 387 (it's on the 'odd' side of the road.

Yes, Rose Cottage was directly opposite to the Erdington Lodge of the College and it was demolished to make way for Fosseway Drive, a council housing development in the 1960's which in turn has been replaced by New Oscott Retirement Village.

I remember Noel, he was a baby living at Rose Cottage with his father and mother, four brothers and three sisters. I also remember that Noel had a sister Nellie. My connection with them is quite distant and was through my uncle who knew Noel well. Perhaps they went to school together, they certainly lived nearby at Middleton's Brewery on Old Chester Road. Noel went to live in Lime Grove, off Green Lanes, Wylde Green.

Penny

 

[Ray Griffiths]

The lane to Rose Cottage was side of grocer Maddox and newsagent . Down the lane the Chipman family live they owned donkeys ride Sutton Park