Emma’s offie in the middle of the street
DARBY’S brewery of West Bromwich is one of the many Black Country alemakers that have been consigned to history.
Founded by George Darby, who brewed beer at the Bush Inn on Wood Lane in Greets Green, it was taken over by his son Charles in 1895, who bought the nearby Dunkirk Hall, turned it into the Dunkirk Inn, and built a brewery on the site in 1902.
In 1951 Darby’s and its 100 or so pubs was acquired by Mitchells and Butlers and the brewery closed soon after, but the picture above shows a Darby’s off licence from 1958, when the name at least was still in use.
Occupying what looks like a terraced house, the offie was on Jervoise Street in West Bromwich, and the name above the door was Emma Cole – ‘licenced retailer of Spirits, Wines, Ale, Cider and Tobacco, to be consumed OFF the premises.’