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Stevens Bar

Vivienne14

Kentish Brummie Moderator
Staff member
Steven's Bar was on the corner of High Street and New Street. Would it have stood where the Rotunda etc now stands? Viv.

image.jpeg
 
viv i maybe totally wrong but i think that it was on the other corner...i may have dreamt this but the building could still be there..someone will know for certain..
 
Thanks Lyn. Be nice to find out. Was trying to work out what the building was next to it. Looks a bit like a cinema but not sure. Viv.
 
It would have been the old Thearter then the first big pizza continual style restaurant
This is the same batch of shops which wool Worth's stood on new street
Viv, the rountunda was a couple of blocks further down
The pizza restaurant was a big complex it took up the whole street corner
And there front door e trance was around that corner and I have to say
It was new in Birmingham city pizza restaurant packed with whole family's
Even at evening times it was a huge restaurant this replaced the old music hall thearter
Best wishes Alan, Astonian,,,,
 
Here it is on map c 1950
 

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Thanks all. What an unusual shape it was. So very difficult these days to imagine the photo is how the junction of New St and High St would have looked 60+ years ago at that point.

The strange shape of the building must surely mean it was made up of several buildings - maybe giving access to the bar (s) on more than one street. And it was a good size too. Expect it was a place popular with market traders, so maybe it had very early opening hours. Viv.
 

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thanks mike that confirms it was close to where the rotunda is now...dont know what made me think it was still there

lyn
 
From the link you posted Lyn it tells us the two top storey's were blown off during WW2 Blitz. But it must have continued trading as a one storey
pub for some time after that. True Brummie grit! Viv.
 
The life of a city centre bar as seen through existing forum posts.
Before WW2 with that sign there was little chance of not knowing which brewer supplied Stevens Bar on the corner of High Street and New Street.
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Click the pic to see it, then click again to return to post, or click the Quote 'up arrow' to open the original post.
Then one night in WW2 Stevens Bar took a lot of damage from the bombing. The sign is just about visible.
Click the pic to see it, then click again to return to post,or click the Quote 'up arrow' to open the original post.
Then later in 1950 it had changed to a rather small plain looking bar it's upper floors had gone but it was still a Mitchells & Butlers house.
Click the pic to see it, then click again to return to post, or click the Quote 'up arrow' to open the original post.
In 1950 perhaps some city planners knew that Stevens Bar would be totally gone by 1961 and work would start on building the iconic Rotunda Building to be finished by 1965 and 50 years later it is still standing.
Click the pic to see it, then click again to return to post.
I Know I've posted this lot before (the ready made post is still in my laptop) but I can't find it with the search at the moment.
 
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Thanks Phil. So the building next to Stevens was not a cinema but a shop. Shop name seems to be Fred Burns.Looks 1930/40s in style. Must have been re-built after the WW2 bomb hit that block. But wouldn't be there for long (20 - 25 years max) before being replaced by the Rotunda. Viv.
 
From the link you posted Lyn it tells us the two top storey's were blown off during WW2 Blitz. But it must have continued trading as a one storey
pub for some time after that. True Brummie grit! Viv.


yes viv...they may have blown the tops off but in brummie fashion...carry on regardless
 
A slightly murky view of Stevens Bar from High Street on the day after that area was bombed. The bombed buildings on the right would be demolished to become the well known 'Big Top' site. The Fred Burns shop on the left of Stevens Bar looks much as it does in later photos and was repaired.
StevensBar.jpg
 
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