Ding dong... Beer’s here!
QUESTION What became of Davenports which had the famous slogan ‘Beer at home means Davenports’? MeMbers of the Davenport family were publicans in Digbeth and the summer Lane area of birmingham in Victorian times and earlier. They had a small brewery in brearley street
It was eventually moved to bath row, birmingham, and a very impressive frontage was added in the Thirties. In the grounds of the brewery were two artesian wells from which was drawn water of high purity.
When baron (his name, not a title) Davenport took hands-on control, the business grew rapidly, operating several public houses around the Midlands.
The flagship pub was the black Horse in Northfield, birmingham — a Twenties mockTudor building with a bowling green. It still exists, largely unchanged, as a Wetherspoons pub. A private bowling club uses the green.
It’s said that baron Davenport became concerned about children hanging about outside pubs while their parents drank inside, and this prompted him to start his ‘beer at home’ service. He also created a large charitable trust which still exists, making grants to the needy living within 80 miles of birmingham.
Davenports continued until the eighties, eventually being bought by Greenall Whitley of Warrington in 1986. but the firm had already closed its st Helens brewery (now an office development) and become a pub chain company: its interest was mainly in Davenports property portfolio.
The beer at home trade was closed down, followed shortly by the bath row brewery. Production of the most popular product, Drum bitter, was transferred elsewhere but it tasted nothing like the original. Whether this was due to different water or to the original yeast culture being lost is debateable. Greenall Whitley was later absorbed into the De Vere Hotels group.
A small brewery has attempted to recreate a selection of Davenport beers and also some of another old birmingham brewery, Dares, that was acquired by Davenports in 1962. The new brewery has an extensive website but few outlets. but it’s early days yet. Cheers! Geoff Barley, Birmingham. QUESTION What is the history of the Central line station Theydon Bois? Is it French? THeyDoN boIs was once called Theydon boyce or boice and Thayden de bosco. The The beer round: A Davenports lorry delivering to homes. Inset: Baron Davenport estate was held in the 12th to 14th centuries by the De bosco family. The francisation of the name is quite recent: locals will tell you it is correctly pronounced Theydon ‘boyce’ not ‘bois’.
Theydon’s origins were carefully explored by clergyman and historian Philip Morant, author of The History And Antiquities of The County of essex, published in two volumes between 1763 and 1768.
He noted that the manor of Theydon was recorded in the Domesday book (1086) as ‘Taidena’ or ‘Teindena’, probably deriving its name from the saxon words thegn dun — ‘Thegns’ Hill’, or ‘Thanes’ Hill’, the domain of a saxon Thegn or Thane.
After the Norman Conquest, it was divided into three manors: Theydon Mount, Theydon Garnon and Theydon boyce. by the time of Domesday, Taidena was held by Peter de Valomes, and in 1166, by robert de Valoines, osbert de Tain and subsequently by various members of the De bosco family.
Although ‘bois’ means wood in French and when Morant published his history of essex, the road from epping to Theydon bois ran through the ancient epping Forest, the insistence of locals that it should be pronounced as ‘boyce’ suggests its origin isn’t French at all.
Morant proposed either the Teutonic name for wood bosz, the Flemish bosch or German Busch as its origin and the source of the De bosco family name.
The more recent francisation of the name is well attested. When the Great eastern railway built its branch to ongar, it asked John Windas, clerk of epping Parish Council, how it should be spelt. As he had some knowledge of French he suggested the best spelling would be ‘bois ’. The station was opened by the Great eastern railway on April 24, 1865.
David Southand, Chipping Ongar, essex. THIs was an Australian TV series from 1965 called solo one. Made by Crawford Productions, it was a spin-off from the longrunning and popular early-seventies rural Australian cop drama Matlock Police.
It starred Paul Cronin as senior Constable Gary Hogan, the one and only cop in the Australian town of emerald, who did his patrol on his motorbike (a Honda four 750) and had the call sign ‘solo one’.
The show was more of a children’s series and, being just half an hour long, was used by ITV as a ‘filler’. It lasted only one series of 13 episodes. The laid-back eagles-style theme song went: ‘It’s a kind of magic I need to stay alive Riding the hills on a motorbike It sure beats nine till five’ ‘It’s nothing complicated Or hard to tell someone I’ve got a friend that’s a motorbike and it’s just called Solo one’
Bernard Dunne, Colchester, essex. QUESTION Have any British footballers plied their trade in South America? FurTHer to the earlier answer, Mark Cook (born 1988) is an english goalkeeper who was on the books and came through the youth system at Newcastle united.
He was later contracted to Hartlepool united and Gateshead, though he didn’t play a senior game for any of these clubs.
Cook subsequently signed for Hartlepool united. While playing at Newcastle and Hartlepool, he came to the attention of the excellent Peruvian midfielder and trumpeter Nolberto ‘Nobby’ solano.
When in 2012 solano became manager of Peruvian premier Division club universitario de Deportes, he signed Cook. Cook played two games for universitario, a 0-1 home defeat to sport Huancayo and a 3-0 away defeat against Cobresol.
shortly after, solano and Cook both left the club even though it was in the top half of the table. Cook returned to england and signed for Northern Premier League side blyth spartans.
Jared O’ malley, Sunderland.
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