Lost history proves Grand find Hotel renovation uncovers fascinating curios from 140-year-old landmark

dles and a photo of a construction site like no other as workers wearing waistcoats and bowler hats build the Grosvenor Suite.

Other finds include: On February 12, 1960, waiter Thomas Carmody, aged just 16 ½, slipped a note under the floorboards at The Grand. His chilling message, scrawled on the back of a restaurant menu, said: “I will come back from the dead to see you.”

Thomas would be 72 now. Is he still alive, or is he stalking The Grand’s corridors in spirit form? Being in land-locked Birmingham obviously made this artist pine for the sea and distant climes.

Nautical-themed doodles were found on the walls of the former manager’s office. It seems Birmingham was a foodie’s haven in the late 1800s as a typewritten menu offered “plaice a l’Orly”, “Ox tails a la jardinière” and “gelee au maraschino”. This flier promoting Christmas celebrations in 1973 includes a New Year’s Eve ball promising “one of the most glamorous and popular events” in the Yuletide calendar.

Tickets cost £6.75 including champagne but a deposit of £1 per person was required for advanced bookings. On May 1, 1916, The Grand’s manager resigned, giving two months’ notice. His formal note was found in a safe. Off to war perhaps? There was much excitement when a construction worker declared he had found an “ancient coin” on site.

But as Hortons’ chief executive Tony Green said of the 1948 half crown piece: “Ancient? I used to get one of those as pocket money!” There was no danger of forgetting where you were when dining at The Grand as the hotel’s bespoke bone china Wedgwood crockery bore the Grand Hotel crest – as did its chamber pots. As new office tenants move into The Grand’s refurbished Imperial and Whitehall Chambers, there is an old list of those occupiers who preceded them. A fireplace with its attractive tiled surround was salvaged during the refurbishment of the office suites at The Grand.

It turns out the brilliantly coloured ceramics were coveted De Morgans, designed by William De Morgan, a Hundreds of glass water bottles were found in The Grand’s basement where the hotel boasts two freshwater wells.

These are 238ft deep and still in good working order, making a great source of water for an on-site microbrewery or gin distillery. The Grand was one of the first buildings to use steel girders to support its structure.

A photo shows a glimpse of an original girder and workers wearing shirts and waistcoats – with not a hard hat or high-vis jacket in sight. A piano was found in The Grand’s Grosvenor Suite – it is claimed a ghostly pianist has been heard to tinkle its ivories from time to time. Long before emails, a hotel’s internal communications included a bell system while money was moved around using pneumatic tubes.