Stokkie
master brummie
Yes, I think all the Smethwick lads and girls have been going to see the place which is legendary rather than to drink. The ball rolling uphill illusion must be done every evening for years!
-
Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.
We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team
Smethwick
- Thread starter Smethwick Striver
- Start date
Stokkie
master brummie
Morelands old Crafty Hen in a bottle for me. Greene King now own the brewery and much else. Strangely in petrol station near our holiday cottage is a beer cave, a refrigerated room to walk into for drinks. This is a novelty to me.
Stokkie
master brummie
I’m always impressed by the depth of experience and knowledge on this forum!Stokkie, back in 2000, one of the units I was running what is the largest manufacturer of beer kegs in the US. They were made out of 304 stainless steel and while we made a lot of kegs in the US it was nothing compared to the European manufacturers. During the eight years running that business unit, I got so much different feedback from different breweries.The warm beer irony in the US he’s actually a bit of a myth. Most breweries recommend that the beer is is served between 45 and 48° F, which is just a little cooler than many cellars in the UK. In the US there has been a resurgence of what are called craft beers, this brings them much closer to the beer from the UK. As long as they are cool and wet and taste good, I’m OK with that
Stokkie
master brummie
At 66, I am too young to have seen it before they made crooked doors and windows to fit. The Black Country tries to market itself as heritage. Sadly there’s very little manufacturing now.
I first saw it when it was genuine in probably 1968-9. The later "improved " version I saw would have been around 1980 I think
Stokkie
master brummie
St Paul's Church West Smethwick was redundant and finally demolished in 1992. The 17M fibreglass spire was built in two sections by Brylan Plastics of London and donated to Avoncroft Museum in Bromsgrove. It appears as the green verdigris of weathered copper and is quite attractive. You can enter the supporting building and look up into the spire.
St Pauls Smethwick Working Mens Church was built in 1857 by public subscription out of white Staffordshire bricks. It burnt down in 1963 and a modern church was constructed with the fibreglass spire which was craned in.
St Pauls Smethwick Working Mens Church was built in 1857 by public subscription out of white Staffordshire bricks. It burnt down in 1963 and a modern church was constructed with the fibreglass spire which was craned in.
paul stacey
master brummie
Of course I remember the crooked House,nearly every one of my generation dos, went quite a few times, and the "caves", at Kinver Edge, if I am not mistaken, don't remember the church unfortunately, though I do have a vague memory of my daa speaking about a fire in Smethwick around that time period,
paul stacey
master brummie
my goodness O do remember "The Old Swan", last time I had a beer there was about 1964/5, the exterior defiently has'nt changed !!
Stokkie
master brummie
Yes, Netherton of course. I think it crept into the Smethwick thread as there isn't one for the Black Country and most young pub-goers in Birmingham and the Black Country have been there. My first visit for 40 years.
Richard Dye
master brummie
Stokkie, remarkable that it is mostly unchanged! I see local beer, is. It mild, bitter etc or craft type beer? Just curious.
Stokkie
master brummie
Richard, I'm pleased to say that Pardoe's beer is still home brewed in the brewery at the rear of the pub. They are traditional 'real ales'. My ex-student and I drank 'original' which is a weak bitter, there's a mild (which remains popular in the Black Country though an old man's drink - I include myself here! It's called 'Dark Swan.'
There's an 'Entire', 'Bumble Hole', the strongest beer - named after what is now a local nature reserve. There's an IPA type made in house (NPA naturally), and for lager drinkers the British made Carling and Stella Artois and Guinness. Tim the landlord does a fine job.
Derek
Last edited:
oh how lovely derek...great to know that this pub is still up and running thanks for the photo
lyn
Richard Dye
master brummie
Sounds a very good place to spend a few hours! Do they serve pretty good food to complement?
Stokkie
master brummie
I ate faggots, mash and mushy peas. My ex-student is a local in his 20s and ate curry. He's never eaten any offal let alone faggots. So ways change even in the Black Country. I'd say it was ok, typical pub food with the faggots coming from a commercial supplier, Brains? If you know where to go you can still get them wrapped in caul. But hot and tasty to soak up the beer!
There are a few butchers who make faggots wrapped in caul. They do vary in taste and quality. Beamans in Bridgenorth do them and I think Becketts Farm do them too.
Johnfromstaffs
Johnfromstaffs
Sorry for the delay, but early 70s I worked in Dudley and consumed a drop or two of Pardoe’s best. There was another, more modern Pardoe’s pub, the White Swan, is that still open? We also used a pub in Sedgley which boasted a huge collection of Scotch brands, the pub was known to us as Ben Russell’s. His business cards were something to behold, offering services like “Virgins converted” and “Nails - by the ton”. Sorry to have strayed across the border!
Johnfromstaffs
Johnfromstaffs
I’ve just googled “Ben Russell’s pub Sedgley”. It was really called The Junction.
Stokkie
master brummie
Hi John,
I never went to the White Swan, but you are right it was once a Pardoes pub. It was sold to Greenall's.
http://breweryhistory.com/wiki/index.php?title=Doris_Pardoe,_Old_Swan_Brewery.
As you know lots of pubs struggled in lockdown and The Old Swan was saved by CAMRA for the second time in 2022.
Derek
Johnfromstaffs
Johnfromstaffs
Thanks for that, Derek. It’s nice to know that, even after 50 years, the old brain is still retaining some decent stuff! I spent the last 20 odd years of my working life in Shropshire, bit different from Dudley, but some interesting watering holes around Telford in the places that remain untouched.
Smerrick was given a Brum postcode and do you mean the Poplar Avenue that went from Smerrick to Bearwood?
Stokkie
master brummie
Vaguely, we didn't have a car so would pass the garage by bus from Bearwood. Mom used to clean for Dorothy De'boo the ladies hairdresser on Waterloo Road and if I wasn't at school, I'd go to work with her. I remember pouring caustic soda crystals down the drains to get rid of the hair. Bet kids of 10 don't get to do this now. Dorothy used to do the Soroptimists (a posh women's social networking club) hairs. Mom had her own hair done there as a model and a couple of the hairdressers became her friends. Astonishingly Bakers Garage still seems to be a repair shop.
No, they pay through the nose for a plastic bottle of caustic solution, which probably does not do the job half as well
Viv Woodward
New Member
My nanny was Annie Lowe. She owned a hardware shop a few buildings below Matty's chip shop on West Smethwick High Street. I am now 69 and live in Norfolk. Does anyone remember her\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/
Thank you for telling me about Bakers garage. I remember the hairdressers, my Nan took me there for my first perm! I also used to deliver newspapers for the paper shop and I put papers through the wrong doors in the flats in Grange Road, they were so confusing! Do you happen to remember a secondhand shop on Waterloo Road? I would love to find out about the lady who ran it. I remember she looked like a very old Debbie Harry and wore a fur coat.