When I first went around Digbeth and its environs in 1998 I came across many back-street boozers that I'd been completely unaware of previously. Horan's Tavern was one such boozer. This is how it looked in 1998.
Shortly after this photo I was passing by again and noticed that it had reopened and then closed down yet again...but I didn't have my camera. By this time I was convinced that it would never re-open, again.
There's one thing this blog is good at demonstrating, though...that I'm no Mystic Meg!
I'd noticed that it had indeed re-opened a few months ago as I was passing by on other business (no camera!) and was reminded of this in an excellent write up by Ian Clarkson on his Life After Football blog. (Well worth a read!) So I finally got off my backside to bring you this...The Ruin.
The only reasons that I can think that it may well be viable are firstly, Digbeth is still a 'happening' place especially close to the Custard Factory and secondly, South & City College have opened a new campus almost next door to the pub which must be a benefit. Hopefully, it will continue to thrive.
More pictures can be seen on the Closed Pubs website.
Pub tickers like me get awfully confused when names change so frequently, Peter !
ReplyDelete...and I thought you had an eidetic memory of every pub you visited...lol...so that the actual name was irrelevent!
DeleteIn fact, that's why I started this lark, as taking photos of every pub we went in on our canal holidays was the only way of remembering where we'd been drinking!
Me too! I knocked around there in the mid 80's but looks like this one escaped me. Return visit next time I am back to my roots. Great Blog Peter, as is your RM !
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading. I just wonder how many others I'd missed before starting this in 1998? The used to be (and maybe it is still there) a map on the wall of the Spotted Dog that showed all of the pubs (within less than half a mile) at around the beginning of the 1900's...I think I counted 13 of which about three are left.
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