Tea party for brewery families
STEVE JAMES brings us Part Two of his history of Netherton brewers
Wheelwrights Arms and Brewery
ON the corner of Castle Street and Griffin Street, the Wheelwright’s Arms dated back to 1832.
Samuel Kendrick Houghton, a wheelwright from Droitwich, established a brewery here in 1873. In 1885, he leased the premises to Joseph Davies, who purchased the freehold in 1888 and bought several local beerhouses. His son, Joseph, married Sarah Cooksey, the sister of Solomon Cooksey, brewer at the Old Swan.
After Joseph Snr. died, his grandson, Joseph, took over, but sold the pub, brewery and its 11 tied houses to M&B in June 1942.
The Batham’s Connection
Netherton has a connection with Batham’s, now brewing at The Delph in Brierley Hill. After 22 years of home brewing and running the White Horse in Cradley, Daniel Batham moved into the King
William in Cole Street, and held a “house-warming” party to celebrate the opening of a new brewery in August 1901. His son, Daniel Batham Jnr, ran the pub from 1912-1915, when his wife, Myra Batham (“Lady Bountiful”), held tea parties on the bowling green.
His eldest son, Arthur Joseph Batham, then aged only 18, kept the pub from 1921 to 1926.
Tommy Booth
Tommy Booth, another legendary Black Country brewer, took over the King William in Cole Street in 1915 from Daniel Batham.
Blue Pig
In 1920, he bought the Blue Pig in St. Andrew’s Street from Joseph Homer for £2,300. Tommy rebuilt the disused brewery, assisted by Solomon Cooksey as brewer. He then bought some other Black Country pubs, including the Red Lion in Gornal Wood, where he built another brew
ery in 1935.
By 1939, he had opened a new brewery in Corbyns Hall, near Kingswinford, which lasted until he died in 1952. Tommy’s career owed much to the Batham family; indeed, Daniel Batham gave him a gold sovereign from his first week’s takings, which he kept mounted on his gold watch chain.
The Holden’s Connection
Netherton also has a connection with another Black Country brewery, Holden’s, founded by former shoemaker Edwin Holden.
He married Lucy Blanche Round, daughter of Benjamin Round, who brewed beer at the Trust in Providence. In 1898, he persuaded Edwin to take the tenancy of the Britannia Inn in Northfield Road. They eventually moved to the Park Inn, Woodsetton, establishing Holden’s Hopden brewery, with Harry “Ossie” Round as brewer.
Netherton New Brewery
This was situated behind the Old Pack Horse in Hill Street, a home-brew house run by
Daniel Hampton. Richard Rolinson
In 1872, took over the pub and, with William Onslow, opened the Netherton New Brewery in 1875. However, he overreached himself and was bankrupt by 1885. He suffered further mishap in March 1895 when the brewery was almost destroyed by fire, but luckily he had paid the insurance premium two days before.
In 1900, the brewery was amalgamated with the Five Ways Brewery, run by his son, John Rolinson.
Netherton Old Brewery
Sited in High Street behind the Castle Inn, this brewery was developed from 1835 by former miner Thomas Hotchkiss. When he died in 1874, his sons, Thomas & William, carried on the business as “The Old Brewery, Ale & Porter Brewers, Sweet Turf, Netherton”. Brewing ceased in 1892, when the pub and brewery were sold to Thomas Plant.
Netherton Brewery
The Netherton Brewery was founded by William Woodward Smith in 1852 on the corner of Cinder Bank.
He also kept the nearby Hope Tavern, where Samuel Clempson had brewed in the 1880s, and he briefly operated the Dudley Brewery in Hall Street, Dudley.
Home Brew pubs
Netherton abounded in home brew pubs, a tradition which dated back to the early 1800s.
Home-brewer Charles Cartwright established the British Oak in Sweet Turf before 1861, and later leased it to Michael Hodgkins in the late 19th century.
The last brewer was Edward Prince in 1930, just before the pub was kept by Frederick & Doris Pardoe, who moved to
the Old Swan in 1932.
In High Street, the New Inn dated back to 1870, when Samuel Taylor was licensee, and was a home-brew house in the 1890s. In 1901, it was advertised for sale, including a “16-bushel mash tun, 200 gallon steam boiler and 5 fermenting vessels”. The pub was bought by North Worcestershire Breweries and the brewery closed.
Fraud
In Simms Lane, Joseph Smart brewed at the Golden Lion, where in 1888, he was fined £10 for defrauding the Inland Revenue by adding sugar to his brew to increase the strength of the beer. In St. John’s Street, the Queen’s Head was established in 1875 by the Billingham family, led by Francis Billingham, who owned the pub for nearly fifty years and used the small brewery at the rear until 1935.
In Harrison’s Fold, the Bull’s Head was first recorded as a home-brew house in 1828, where Sarah Crew and Thomas Round brewed. It was briefly home to the short-lived Dudley & District Brewery (18961897), and in 1926 became the base for the Netherton Bottling Company before it was eventually taken over by W&D Breweries.
In St. Thomas Street, William Burchill established the White Horse in 1870, but brewing ceased in 1938 when it was taken over by Ansell’s and closed a year later.
In Hill Street, the Old Cottage Inn was a pre-1870 homebrew house kept until 1910 by John & Abagail Hampton. Here, Abagail would get a candle and go down the cellar stairs to serve beer direct from the cask.
In Cradley Road, William Tibbetts brewed beer at the Reindeer from 1896, but brewing ceased in 1936 when the pub was leased to Butler’s and closed in 1938. Sarah Rolinson, matriarch of the Rolinson brewing dynasty was landlady of the Blue Bell from 1781 when it was a home-brew pub. Brewing continued here until 1930 under Thomas Harris, but the pub closed in 1939.
At The Star, brewer George Chatham was fined £20 in August 1887 for defrauding the Inland Revenue by adding sugar to his brew to increase the strength of the beer. George Bywater later brewed here, whilst in 1917, John Dunn was fined £80 for serving after hours.
White Swan, Baptist End
At Primrose Hill, on the corner of Washington Street, was the Loyal Washington, named after William Washington, onetime canal carrier and loyalist. He built a pub here around 1850 and was also Netherton’s first councillor in 1865. It was a home-brew house, rebuilt in 1901 when it was bought by Plant’s.
At Darby End, Ann & Louisa Bird brewed fine beer at the Rose & Crown in Withymoor Road, before selling it to William Dunn in 1897, who passed it to his son, John Dunn, in 1920.
At Windmill End in St. Peter’s Road, Thomas Cooksey brewed at the Fox & Goose in the 1830s, William Hotchkiss brewed at The Boat in the 1880s, and the Bull’s Head also had its own brewery.
In Baptist End, on the corner of Swan Street, the White Swan dates back to 1830, where the Roe family, led by Mary Ann & James Roe, brewed here from 1880-1939. It is now known as Turner’s, after longserving landlord, Tommy Turner (1954-1980).
With acknowledgments to Tony Hitchmough, Keith Hodgkins, Joseph Mckenna and Ned Williams.