Pub close to Winson Green Prison

[Jim Shaw]

My grandfather was a warder at Winson Green Prison around 1900.

He had a regular pub.

Near the bar on the floor was an anvil.

The offer was that if you could lift the anvil on to the bar with one arm the landlord would buy you a drink.

However, when the offer was challenged on the basis that it could not be done, the landlord would call my grandfather over and he would duly deposit the anvil on the bar.

So anyone using a winson Green pub notice an anvil?

Jim Shaw

 

[Astonian]

yes it was the smiths arms on the corner of winson green rd and peel street
ad its about 200 yards from he prison and the pub is still there and the prison officiers houses was on the out side of he prison walls and there back gardens would back up to the wall
along side the old prison gates which as since been moved down the rd near the pub and the old prison wall rebuilt higher
and the old prison houses was demolished and rebuilt around on the lodge rd next to the eagle pub ;and it was a little estatee of ittle bungolow dezign but yes they have lso gone
and th rison officier whom helped charlie wilson escape was a londoner whom lived in hose house i knew the daughter he was arrested and charged and the family evicted our brookie father
maggs used to work at that prison many years ago ; best wishes astonian

 

[Astonian]

hi guys
what i missed out was to say they have gone back to the old name the old smity thats what its alled now
a guy name ken ran the pub many years ago in the fiftes and it was a changed management he move to the twin towers in king edwards rd ladywood it was a new built pub
they had a new gather at the smiths arms but did not stay long he left then some indiands took over and it went down hill and the next gather was relater to my wife whom ran the club on hockley brook the social club opperite the schol and walfare centre he moved on and now some one runs it pretty lively now and the old name was re introducedthe old smithy as todays name and still there best wishes astonian

 

[Astonian]

And they never removed the anvil until the md fifties and it was kept at the beging of the big bar
as you walked in the big long bar it was postioned behind the door
astonion

 

[Jim Shaw]

Thank you Astonian with apologies for not responding earlier.

Francis Shaw had an eventful life which I will record here later. However I now know that his first appearance in Birmingham was as a lodger in Peel Street when he became a warder after leaving the Household Cavalry.

Jim Shaw