Mr Dhanjal, ’60s pub pioneer
When the Black Country’s first Asian publican made the news
PUB quiz time – can you name the first public house in the Black Country to have an Asian publican and in what year did this milestone in local brewing history take place?
Was it the 1940s, ’50s, ’60s, ’70s or ’80s? And in which town was the pub located?
First
The answer is the Heart of Oak in 1968, when 53 years ago, Hans Raj Dhanjal took the reins at the Wolverhampton watering hole. Some sources state he was the first Asian publican in the greater West Midlands. The location of the pub was the corner of Newhampton Road and Clifford Street in Whitmore Reans.
My own guess was six years adrift, based on my employment in 1977 in a building adjoining the British Queen public house, Dudley Road, Wolverhampton. Indeed, it was a handy place for a lunch time pint of Ansell’s beer served by publican Major Singh Jawanda.
I have the British Film Institute (BFI) to thank for bringing to my attention the story of the courageous pioneer who took on the challenge of the Black Country dialect when he signed the tenancy with Smethwick brewers Mitchells & Butlers to run the Heart of Oak in 1968.
Such an occasion was swiftly picked up by local media, leading to a television news item and a gem of multi-national community heritage saved on film by MACE (Media Archive of Central England) at Lincoln University – one of the regional archive partners of the BFI. The film footage set in the busy bar of the Heart of Oak has been digitised with thanks to National Lottery funding as part of the hugely successful BFI Britain on Film project.
Dialect
The opening scene of 1968 focuses on ATV News reporter John Meredith, a man with a mission, curious to know how Mr Dhanjal will deal with the impact and complexities of the Black Country dialect as practiced by the regulars of this popular street corner pub. With microphone in hand Meredith asks Indian-born Mr Dhanjal what made him decide to take on the demanding role of running a community beer house?
His reply reveals a wish to mix with local folk and fulfil the time-honoured role of the typical British publican to lend a familiar friendly ear and patiently listen to and solve customers’ problems. Foremost in his mind, he also believed that it would help in race relations.
Tongue-in cheek, Meredith asks Mr Dhanjal if he will manage to understand the Black Country dialect. Equally jocular, multilingual Dhanjal responds in a heavy anglicised Indian voice, intimating that it would be helpful if customers would put aside their thick colloquial language and speak in the King’s English, ending the interview with a light-hearted hint that perhaps he too should do so?
Controversy
A few weeks later, on 20th April 1968, Enoch Powell, MP for Wolverhampton South West, delivered his controversial, so called “Rivers of Blood” speech at a meeting held at the Conservative Political Centre, Birmingham, which was to have a huge impact on the national immigration debate.
The Heart of Oak closed for business in the 1984 to eventually re-purpose its use as the community offices of the Samaritans charity. Built in the late 1800s it was originally a William Butler’s pub serving locally brewed beer from Springfield Brewery, Cambridge Street, later to be taken over by Mitchells & Butler in 1960.
In the black and white photograph, the illuminated sign above the door shows the triangle trademark of Bass Breweries which merged with Mitchell & Butlers a year later. In more recent times the Asian business community has embraced the fabric of many local traditional pubs in the Black Country, investing in commercial kitchens and employing high calibre chefs. Generally referred to as Desipubs, this new wave of bars and restaurants have created an eastern gastro revolution, serving many appealing dishes originating from far flung locations across the Asian continent.
Could it be, we have Hans Raj Dhanjal and Major Singh Jawanda to thank for opening a door to a popular new dimension of community pub?
■ The British Film Institute has kindly provided a link to enable Bugle readers to view the black and white film of the ATV News presenter interviewing Hans Raj Dhanjal at the Heart of Oak pub in 1968. https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-asian-pub-landlord-1968-online