#010 Market Tavern, Deritend, Birmingham : 1998 to 2021 (RIP)

 This will be a very short entry. In 1998 the Market Tavern was a going concern, but by the time I returned in 2011 it had closed. Here's what I wrote at that time: -

"Back in 1998 I went around the Digbeth/Deritend/Highgate area of Birmingham taking photos of all the pubs I could find. It was my intention to return in 10 years to see how the Birmingham Eastside development had affected these pubs. I didn't find the time in 2008 and so, finally, I revisited the area this year with my camera and these are the results. 
This is the first in my 'Eastside' series.

This is a 'classic' style of Birmingham pub built by James & Lister Lea and there are several more to be seen in this series. I've never actually been in this pub.

Here we are in 2011 and it's still there! Almost completely unchanged even though many of the nearby buildings have disappeared. It is a Grade II listed building, but I'm not sure if it is still open as a pub; the CAMRA website seems to indicate that it is closed. Another picture can be seen here.

Having discovered the Wikipedia page for James & Lister Lea, it would appear that the British Oak in Stirchley (#007 on my list) is also one of theirs and is a Grade II listed building!"

 

(Interestingly, none of the hyperlinks that were in that text are working now, 10 years later)

 

It is a magnificent building and a superb example of James & Lister Lea's pub output, but it isn't being used as a pub!

 

So, what of the Market Tavern in 2021?

It is still there and, externally at least, very well maintained. The hanging sign says "The Minerva Suite", but I can find little evidence to determine its current usage. It may have been a recording studio and home of an indie Brummie record label, but firm information is thin on the ground.

I'm very happy that the building is so well maintained and that it's Grade II status keeps it protected, but it is so sad that it isn't used as a pub any longer. Unfortunately, it is in the wrong place. Although there is still quite a bit of industry in the area, lunchtime drinking is so out of fashion that there would be little daytime trade, hidden away in the back streets.

 

The area is becoming more residential as many new blocks are constructed, but there would have to be a massive change in societal attitudes for the Market Tavern to become the 'village local'...sadly!

 

My only 'solution' would be to dismanle it carefully and rebuild it in a neighbourhood that would appreciate such a treasure of a pub. Not going to happen...but one can dream!

#250 Market Tavern, Atherstone, Warwickshire : 1995 to 2018 (RIP??)

Atherstone is a place we visit fairly frequently on our boating trips and, for a small town, it still has a lot of pubs. One of our favourites is the Market Tavern which has a chequered past and an uncertain future.

Although we'd stopped in Atherstone previously, my first experience of the town itself was on the evening of Monday 4th September 1995. Even then there were a lot of pubs in the town and it was difficult to see how they could all survive, even in the halcyon days before the smoking ban.

Sadly, not one of my best pictures! This was probably our third or fourth pub of the night and gave us a taste of what was to come in the future. It was (and still is) a lovely two room pub, but when we arrived there was only the barman in the place. We ordered our pints of lager each and discovered that he was the stand-in manager as the previous incumbent had left. As we were chatting another customer came in, ordered a half, drank it in about 10 minutes and was gone! We finished ours and followed him shortly afterwards, looking for food.

We didn't return to Atherstone until lunchtime on Saturday 20th August 2005 to find the Market Tavern still going strong!

I don't recall too much about our visit, just that it had changed remarkably little in the intervening 10 years.

We were back again on the evening of Tuesday 25th May 2009 and still there was little discernible change.

Another five years passed and we returned on the evening of Sunday 5th October 2014.

Although it appeared unchanged, the Market Tavern was now owned by the Warwickshire Beer Company. Inside it had been tastefully refurbished and retained its character as a proper boozer.

We were back in Atherstone again on the evening of Wednesday 2nd September 2015.

It just so happened that Wednesday night was quiz night at the Market Tavern, thus killing two birds with one stone as there were sandwiches included with the quiz (so no need to search out a dodgy curry...or worse!).

Of course, we did the unthinkable and won the quiz (its a small pub so there weren't many teams...and there were only two of us!) The prize was a bottle of wine and a gallon of beer (in one pint vouchers). So we did what anyone else would (to maintain order and dignity) we took the wine had a pint each and gave the rest of the vouchers to the other teams...well, it was late and we'd never have managed to use them up.

On our most recent trip to take Peggy Ellen to her new moorings at Napton,   we stopped at Atherstone again. This was on the evening of Saturday 29th September 2018.

The Market Tavern was to be our first stop of the evening, but it was closed! As we discovered later, they were looking for a new tenant/manager, but from current internet searching it would appear that it is still closed.Whether it gets a resurrection is still unknown, but I hope it does survive.

#010 Market Tavern, Digbeth : 1998 to 2011

Back in 1998 I went around the Digbeth/Deritend/Highgate area of Birmingham taking photos of all the pubs I could find. It was my intention to return in 10 years to see how the Birmingham Eastside development had affected these pubs. I didn't find the time in 2008 and so, finally, I revisited the area this year with my camera and these are the results. 
This is the first in my 'Eastside' series.

 This is a 'classic' style of Birmingham pub built by James & Lister Lea and there are several more to be seen in this series. I've never actually been in this pub.

Here we are in 2011 and it's still there! Almost completely unchanged even though many of the nearby buildings have disappeared. It is a Grade II listed building, but I'm not sure if it is still open as a pub; the CAMRA website seems to indicate that it is closed. Another picture can be seen here.

Having discovered the Wikipedia page for James & Lister Lea, it would appear that the British Oak in Stirchley (#007 on my list) is also one of theirs and is a Grade II listed building!