Scandal and tragedy at the Druids Head
WE unearthed some wonderful photographs, in our June 20 edition, of a longgone Coseley pub, the Druids Head, and were delighted to receive a fascinating history of that pub in response, courtesy of Janet Hitchmough, part of the inispensable Black Country pubs history website, longpull.co.uk. Janet told us:
“How marvellous it was to see the photos of the Druids Head Inn, Coseley in Bugle 1347. What a shame that so much has been lost.
“The Hitchmough’s Black Country Pubs team are currently working on the Sedgley file and have recently expanded the Druids Head information. Here we present what they’ve found, and there is a huge amount of detail.”
There is so much in fact that we can’t even fit it all in, but the story of the Druids Head is one of scandal, tragedy ... and pigeons. We’ve also found out another couple of unseen photographs, taken on the same day as those in our first article; May 25, 1968.
Early records
The pub stood at 15, Caddick Street, Hurst Hill, and the list of its owners from earliest times includes John Cotterill, who was there at least as far back as the early 1870s; Richard Weed (who acquired it on 15th June 1878; Mary Ann Swann, a beerhouse keeper, of Can Lane, Sedgley; John Adams; and Dorothy Minnie Flavell, wife of licensee
List of Licensees
William Holmes [1861] – [1868]
John Cotterill (1870 – 1878);
Richard Weed (1878 – 1887);
James Richards (1887 – 1901);
Joseph Adams Snr. (1901 – 1933);
Joseph Flavell (1933 – 1971);
Beryl Fellows (1971):
One of the earliest references to the Druids Head is an excerpt from Bells Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, dated March 14, 1861, which shows that the licensee of that time was also something of a pigeon man:
“On Monday last Mr. Holmes, of the DRUIDS HEAD, Coppice, near Coseley, flew his whitewinged chequer dragon pigeon against one of Mr. Millward’s, of the same place, for £10 a side, from Bratch to Home, a distance of five miles.
“Mr. Holmes’s bird was down on the house under four minutes and a half; a strong wind, however, was blowing directly in their favour. The winning bird can be backed to fly any other in the district from five to 30 miles, for from £5 up to £20. A match can be made at any time by applying at the DRUIDS HEAD, Coppice, Coseley, Staffordshire.”
An advert which appeared in the Birmingham Daily Post on November 13, 1868, advertised that the pub was to let, and the following month, the Dudley Herald carried an advert which offered it up for sale: “DRUIDS TAVERN, The Coppice, Coseley. Unreserved sale. The whole of the public house fixtures and effects … the property of Mr. William Holmes.”
An extract from the 1871 Census tells us who was living at the Druids Head at that time: John Cotterill has been listed with an ‘h’ in his name:
[1] John Cotterhill (74), widower, publican, born Wolverhampton;
[2] Phebe Patrick (87), sister, blind, born Wolverhampton:
The County Advertiser, in September 1879, carried the following story, which did not paint the licensee of that time in the best of lights:
Controversy
“At the Police Court, yesterday, Richard Weed, beerhouse keeper, Coseley, was charged with being the putative father of the child of his niece, now aged 24. The defendant took to the complainant when she was a child, and when she was 16 took the advantage of her indicated above. He was ordered to pay 2s 6d per week, and the Bench regretted that as the child was born under the old Act they could not make it more.”
The 1881 Census lists the following as resident at the Druids Head:
[1] Richard Weed (56), publican, born Market Drayton;
[2] Margaret Weed (49), wife, born Stourbridge;
[3] Mary Ann Adams (28), unmarried, housekeeper, born Sedgley;
[4] Richard Weed Adams (6), son, scholar, born Sedgley;
[5] Joseph Weed Adams (4), son, scholar, born Sedgley:
Margaret Weed died in early 1893, and Richard Weed married Mary Ann Adams almost immediately. Though her age doesn’t tally exactly, it’s likely that she was the niece referred to in the County Advertiser article. By May that same year, Richard Weed had died.
Ownership of the Druids Head passed to Mary Ann, and two years later she had re-married to one Alfred Swann.
The 1891 census lists the inhabitants of the pub as: [1] James Richards (45), publican, born Sedgley;
[2] Sarah Ann Richards (45), wife, born Sedgley;
[3] Thomas John Richards (23), nephew, carpenter, born Sedgley;
[4] Sarah Ann Richards (18), niece, barmaid, born Sedgley:
Ten years later, the Richards family were still at the helm, with the 1901 census listing James and the two Sarah Anns, plus boarder and domestic servant Mary Millard, aged 22. Nephew Thomas was no longer resident.
Soon afterward, Joseph Adams, beer retailer, was behind the bar, and was still in place by the time of the next census, in 1911. His age suggests he was probably the Joseph Weed Adams who had lived there as a boy with father Richard and mother Margaret:
[1] Joseph Adams (34), publican, born Deepfields;
[2] Eliza Jane Adams (37), wife, married 15 years, assisting in the business, born Sedgley;
[3] Joseph Adams son, born Sedgley;
[4] Dorothy Minnie Adams (11), daughter, born Sedgley:
Joseph Adams also owned the Fern Tree pub at another time, his son Joseph Adams Jnr. was later proprietor of the Old Bush, Coseley.
In 1931, a billiard license was granted to the Druids Head.
Joseph Flavell, who took over from Jospeh Adams senior in 1933, brewed his own beer. He was known as ‘Joah’, and married Dorothy Minnie Adams, the daughter of his predecessor.
An article in the Bugle in 2005 dug back into local memories of the Druids Head during (13), Joah’s time, when the pub was known to the locals as ‘Flavell’s’ ...
“The recipe for the home brewed mild remained a closely guarded secret. For a whole day once a week, Joe would brew in the cramped cellar, turning out around 300 gallons a week for the thirsty regulars. Known as Bull’s Blood, nothing else ran through the pumps; any other drinks were served in bottles.
“Customers had a choice between the tap room or the plusher smoke room. The passageway was also busy, with streams of locals queuing for some carry out, or to buy yeast to brew their own beer.
“The pub’s interior was spartan by today’s standards, yet its cosiness encouraged a well-lubricated flow of conversation. On cold days, the little cast iron stove in the middle of the room provided a place to warm chilled fingers, before retiring to a stool or back rest for a game of dominoes or a good chin-wag.”
Records from 1939 show an unpaid domestic servant, Dorothy M. Fellows, and schoolboy Joseph G. Flavell.
A report in the Birmingham Daily Gazette, dated January 9, 1940, outlines a tragedy which befell young Joseph the following year.
“One of the two students who took part in the attempt to rescue four children in a pool at Coseley, last Friday afternoon, said at the inquest that he learned to swim at Tipton Baths and gained his first aid knowledge with the Midland ‘Red’ Black Country Bus Ambulance Division, of which his father is superintendent.
Body
“The youth, Arthur Edwin Bennett, aged 15, who is a student at Dudley Technical College, and lives at Westmead, Millard Road, Coseley, said that he was on a mound by Brook Pool, Brook Street, The Coppice, with his friend Bertram Smith, aged 15, a fellow student, of the KINGS ARMS, Bloomfield Road, Princes End, when the tragedy occurred.
“He and Smith undressed and dived into the water. He recovered the body of one child and tried artificial respiration until a doctor arrived.
“Police-sergeant Martin, who recovered the other bodies, said that the pool was 60 feet deep in the centre.
“The Coroner (Mr. J. T. Higgins) returned a verdict of Accidental Death and complimented the would-be rescuers.
“The victims of the tragedy were Norman Fellows, aged 13, of 13 Caddick Street; Irene Fletcher, aged ten, and Desmond Gordon Fletcher, aged eight, brother and sister, 7, Hartland Avenue, and Joseph Gerald Flavell, aged nine DRUIDS HEAD INN, Caddick Street.”
Joseph Flavell senior, who kept his pigeons, chickens and pigs in Coppice Road, died in March 1971.
Among other incidents the Hitchmough team have unearthed are the establishment of the Hurst Hill Fliers pigeon club, which was founded at the Druids Head in 1952, and the first committee meeting of the Black Country Society, which was held there in March 1967.
Brewing ceased in November 1970, presumably due to the declining health of Joah Flavell, who had only months to live. His daughter Beryl Fellows, pictured above, then took on the pub, but only briefly. It closed on November 23, 1971, and was subsequently demolished.