Family links between lost pubs and breweries
IN the late 1800s, Netherton was a development zone, with the town expanding and industries booming, from chainmaking to industrial boilers and ship’s anchors.
At that time, the town was recorded as “abounding with coal and iron, numerous mines and employment”.by the 1900s, more than 100 pubs and ale houses served the town and its wider area, including more than 40 home-brew houses and a surprising number of breweries. Most of these pubs and breweries have long gone, and today there are barely a handful of pubs remaining in and around the town. But it is fascinating to find the many family links and connections between the pubs and breweries.
The Old Swan
We start our journey at The Old Swan in Halesowen Road, affectionately known as “Ma Pardoe’s”. There was a pub here in 1835 when Joseph Turner was the earliest recorded landlord. The present pub and brewery date from 1863, when John Young was the owner. Thomas Hartshorne and his family owned the pub and brewery for over 90 years from 1872-1964.
In 1932, he offered the tenancy of the pub to Frederick and Doris Pardoe, who were then running the British Oak in Sweet Turf. When they moved in, Ben Cole was the brewer, who was succeeded by Solomon Cooksey and his son George, who stayed until 1988.
But in December 1936, Fred Pardoe was found guilty of adding sugar to the beer to increase its strength, defrauding the Inland Revenue, and was fined £25. When he died in 1952, aged 59, his widow Doris (a teetotaller) took over and bought the freehold of the pub in 1964.
Legend
By the 1970s, the pub was a legend in beerdrinking circles, and was one of only four home-brew pubs remaining at the time of CAMRA’S first Good Beer Guide in 1974. The brewery had a capacity of 28 barrels a week, with fermenting vessels of unlined timber.
Doris Pardoe died in April 1984 and the pub was kept by her daughter and son-in-law, Brenda and Sidney Allport, but within a year it was up for sale. A few troubled years followed, when the pub was owned by various companies, and it was eventually bought by Punch Taverns.
From 2000 it has been kept by Tim Newey, who pulled his first pint here (13 pence) when he was 18 years old. He is also part-time organist at St. Andrew’s Parish Church, and
tirelessly maintains the traditional character of this Grade II listed Victorian gem, with its iconic interior included in CAMRA’S National Inventory.
Tim previously kept the Elephant & Castle in Dudley Wood when it was a Holt, Plant & Deakin pub, the short-lived local brewery set up at Langley by Ansell’s in 1984. When this brewery folded in 1996, David Rawsthorne, former head brewer, moved to the Old Swan, where he recreated the Entire beer brewed by HP&D. Brewing still continues to this day and, as the sign proclaims, “The Ales brewed at this establishment are the purest in the Borough”.
The Five Ways Brewery John Rolinson
was part of a brewing tradition in Netherton. In 1852, he bought the Bricklayers Arms in Church Street, but by 1864 had moved to the Five Ways Inn in St. Andrew’s Street, a home-brew house run by
In 1881, he built a 15-quarter brewery on land behind the
Thomas Penbury.
pub, and also had a malting house in Northfield Road, behind the Loving Lamb Inn. The brewery could produce 850 barrels of beer a week to supply six tied houses.
Unfortunately, due to excise problems and financial difficulties, by 1896 the company was close to bankruptcy, but his son, Daniel Rolinson, was able to buy back the brewery and its pubs. However, more financial problems occurred, so to raise money, the company went public. Despite his financial problems, Daniel became a town councillor in 1896, and lived nearby at Hill House.
In 1905, the Public Analyst confirmed that he was brewing “wholesome beer of very good quality”. Daniel then became something of a country gentleman, buying farms and hotels, and also built a brickworks off Cinder Bank and founded the Baptist End Colliery. But things didn’t go well and by 1910 he was declared bankrupt. The brewery and its 58 tied houses were eventually bought by Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries in 1912.
Thomas Plant’s Steam Brewery William Round,
an illiterate butty collier, was also a key player in Netherton breweries. In 1830, two doors away from the Castle Inn, he opened the Cottage Spring Inn, converted from two terraced houses, and built a small brewery at the back of the pub in 1837.
When he died in 1854, his son Samuel Round took over
and in 1861 built a new 8-quarter small tower brewery using the Union (Burton-on-trent) fermentation system, with a steam boiler, thus giving the brewery its name, producing 280 barrels of beer a week. It was second only to the Rolinson brewery, with whom there was friendly rivalry.
Steam
Samuel died in December 1874, leaving his young son, Jabez Round, to run the pubs and brewery. But a year later, he sold the brewery to Thomas Plant, who established the Thomas Plant Steam Brewery, brewing 16 draught beers. In 1892, he bought the adjoining Castle Inn from Thomas & William Hotchkiss, which became the taproom for the Steam Brewery.
Thomas Plant died in 1896 and, with no son to succeed him, the company passed to his executors. Plant’s was registered as a company in 1901, with John Shaw a as brewery manager.
In 1912, the brewery was bought by the Hereford & Tredegar Brewery a and closed in 1914. It reo opened a year later but was never financially viable, and was taken over by Ansell’s in 1936, along with 63 tied houses. The brewery was closed again in 1946, when the site was redeveloped for housing.
In 1967, the Castle Inn a and Cottage Spring were both demolished, and replaced with the mode ern Mash Tun pub (welllo located as one of the Holt, Plant & Deakin pubs), but this was replaced with modern apartments in 1999.
Primrose Hill Brewery Elijah Bywater
In 1896, bought the Primrose Hill Brewery at the rear of the Bird in Hand in Chapel Street from William Onslow, who had brewed beer here from 1840. Elijah had also run the football team when he kept the Britannia in Northfield Road (who lost 9:0 against Rowley White Star in 1890!) He also owned The Colliers Arms (Chapel Street) and The Star (Cradley Road), both home-brew houses.
In 1896, Elijah sold the pub to North Worcestershire Breweries, but kept the brewery and continued to brew with his son, Thomas Bywater, until 1926 and later by Wilfred Simms until 1936. The pub was rebuilt in 1909 by Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries, but it closed in 1970 and became offices.
Part Two follows in next week’s Bugle