#036 Cleary's, Highgate, Birmingham : 1998 to 2021

This pub is something of an outlier as it stands isolated away from the main centre of Digbeth, but, nonetheless, Cleary's appears to be successful to date (pre-pandemic). This is what I wrote in 2011: -

"Back in 1998 this pub was called the Brewer's Arms. It's not a place I'd ever visited, but looked typical of the many back street pubs in Birmingham.

Fast forward to 2011 and it has been transformed into the Yellow and Green establishment that is now Cleary's! (2021 edit - for a period sometime between 1998 and 2011 this was the Hen & Chickens!)

Unfortunately, beacuse of the building works behind me, I wasn't able to get far enough back to give the same view as in 1998. I've still not been in the building and I'm assuming that it is run by the same people who ran the Cleary's that took over from the Pall Mall which was #011 in this series.

It would appear that it is a successful establishment by the number of friends on their Facebook page. This is the sixteenth in my 'Birmingham Eastside' series."

 

My next tour around the area was in 2018 and very little appeared to have changed.

The hanging baskets of flowers have been replaced by the window boxes above...I'm assuming that they're less trouble with merry revellers!

 

And so, finally to 2021...is Cleary's still there...or...has it succumbed to the major developments that are taking place in the vicinity?

Good news! Cleary's has survived and has been redecorated in a more vivid shade of green since my last visit! Unfortunately, it faces an uncertain future, not from pandemic related issues, but because of the large residential development to the right hand side of the pub. (Details here)

 

I still haven't set foot inside Cleary's, but I hope to be able to in the coming year. Their Facebook page will have more details in the coming weeks.  

#011 Pall Mall, Cheapside, Birmingham : 1998 to 2021 (RIP)

I know what you're thinking - no entries for over a month and then three come along in quick succession - what is going on? Well, with lockdown ongoing, I thought it was time to catch up on some of my previous Birmingham pubs. As there are quite a few to get through I need to increase my output! 

Just down the road from The Fountain (on the next street corner), the fate of the Pall Mall will come as no surprise, as it had already been demolished by the time I reported on it back in 2011. Ten years later and you can see what has been done to the site. Firstly, though, here is what I wrote in 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 second in my 'Eastside' series.

As I toured the streets of Digbeth in 1998 I came across a few pubs that I never knew existed; the Pall Mall was one of them. I don't think I've been in it, but I've done one or two pub crawls around the area, so I might have!

Here we are in 2011 and I'll never have the chance to drink here! This is the sort of shot I was envisaging in 1998 when I started out on this project, but it is still depressing to be confronted with the reality. Interestingly, the street sign, street light, junction box and road sign are untouched!"

 

I did return in 2018 and this was the extent of the development.

Hardly a startling amount of progress in seven years, still there were some signs of activity! (but the junction box and controlled parking sign both remain.)

Moving on to 2021 and this was the visage. At least the controlled parking sign is still present even though the road is closed!

 

Finally, almost TEN years after the Pall Mall had been demolished the replacement building is almost finished. This reinforces a question about property development that has bugged me for years - why are developers so quick to knock old buildings down and then so slow to construct the replacements? 

(Answers in the comments section below!)

#036 Brewer's Arms/Cleary's, Digbeth : 1998 to 2011

Back in 1998 this pub was called the Brewer's Arms. It's not a place I'd ever visited, but looked typical of the many back street pubs in Birmingham.

 

Fast forward to 2011 and it has been transformed into the Yellow and Green establishment that is now Cleary's!

Unfortunately, beacuse of the building works behind me, I wasn't able to get far enough back to give the same view as in 1998. I've still not been in the building and I'm assuming that it is run by the same people who ran the Cleary's that took over from the Pall Mall which was #011 in this series.

It would appear that it is a successful establishment by the number of friends on their Facebook page. This is the sixteenth in my 'Birmingham Eastside' series.

#011 Pall Mall, Digbeth : 1998 to 2011 (RIP)

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 second in my 'Eastside' series.

As I toured the streets of Digbeth in 1998 I came across a few pubs that I never knew existed; the Pall Mall was one of them. I don't think I've been in it, but I've done one or two pub crawls around the area, so I might have!

Here we are in 2011 and I'll never have the chance to drink here! This is the sort of shot I was envisaging in 1998 when I started out on this project, but it is still depressing to be confronted with the reality. Interestingly, the street sign, street light, junction box and road sign are untouched!

During my research I found a picture of Cleary's which is what I would have captured if I'd actually revisited in 2008 as I originally planned. Sad to say it was closed even then!