The Anglesey Curborough Road The Anchor at Streethay The Anchor Abnalls Lane The Lost Pubs of <strong>Lichfield</strong> Anchor and Anglesey By Jono Oates ............................ In the early 1800s, with a population of just 5,000 people, there were nearly 90 public houses, or beer houses, <strong>in</strong> <strong>Lichfield</strong> city – an average of one pub for very 55 people! Over the decades the population has rapidly <strong>in</strong>creased, to over 30,000 people today, but the number of pubs has dramatically decreased. Some of the former pubs have reta<strong>in</strong>ed their orig<strong>in</strong>al build<strong>in</strong>gs and are easily recognisable as to their former usage but others have either been demolished or have been completely transformed. The Anchor Inn at Streethay is one of the more recent pubs to be lost from the <strong>Lichfield</strong> pub scene, it is now ma<strong>in</strong>ly hous<strong>in</strong>g. However, it is not the only Lichfeldian pub with that name to have been demolished. The orig<strong>in</strong>al Anchor was on the Stafford Road, later Beacon Street, at the junction of Abnalls Lane. This pub opened <strong>in</strong> the early 1830s and became a private house <strong>in</strong> 1891, although by 1893 it was listed as a pub aga<strong>in</strong>, and the landlord was Ernest Smith. In the September of that year Ernest was taken to court for the offence of sell<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>toxicat<strong>in</strong>g liquor to Charles Davies <strong>in</strong> breach of the Licens<strong>in</strong>g Act. PC Holl<strong>in</strong>gs had seen Smith pass a number of bottles of ale to Davies <strong>in</strong> mid-morn<strong>in</strong>g, outside of the licensed hours, from the back garden of the pub, and Davies was then sell<strong>in</strong>g the ale on to his friends. When approached by the policeman, Smith and his wife attempted to bribe him with the offer of free dr<strong>in</strong>ks, say<strong>in</strong>g that ‘There’s only three of us here, and no-one else will know’. This clumsy bribe failed though and Smith was charged with the offence at court, the magistrates f<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g him £1 and 11 shill<strong>in</strong>gs and 6d. The Streethay Anchor opened <strong>in</strong> the 1850s and has certa<strong>in</strong>ly seen some tragedies take place over the years. In April 1863 pub landlord, and wheelwright, John Chamberla<strong>in</strong>, committed suicide by hang<strong>in</strong>g himself <strong>in</strong> a barn at the back of the <strong>in</strong>n, hav<strong>in</strong>g felt unwell and low-spirited for several months. Just before Christmas, 1893, Arthur Griffiths, son of Anchor landlord James Griffiths was <strong>in</strong> court, charged with affray at another lost <strong>Lichfield</strong> pub, the Trent Valley Hotel. Arthur had been ejected from the pub for be<strong>in</strong>g drunk and disorderly and PC Murphy was called after he became violent and ‘riotous’. Arthur was f<strong>in</strong>ed 10s and ordered to pay 18s <strong>in</strong> court costs. Dur<strong>in</strong>g World War Two, <strong>in</strong> November 1941, landlord Henry Francis Irw<strong>in</strong>, who had served with dist<strong>in</strong>ction <strong>in</strong> the Great War, was return<strong>in</strong>g home from a holiday on the South Coast when he was found dead <strong>in</strong> a tra<strong>in</strong> carriage after it had pulled <strong>in</strong> to <strong>Lichfield</strong> Trent Valley station, he was aged just 49, and his death was declared as be<strong>in</strong>g from natural causes. The Anglesey pub that most Lichfeldians remember was on the Curborough Road but, as <strong>in</strong> the case of the Anchor, there had been another pub with the same name located on St John Street at the junction of the Birm<strong>in</strong>gham Road. Orig<strong>in</strong>ally called the Marquis of Anglesey, it opened around 1817 and was named after Henry Paget, the Earl of Uxbridge (later Marquis of Anglesey) who had served under the Duke of Well<strong>in</strong>gton at the battle of Waterloo where he had lost his leg to a French cannon ball. It’s believed that the <strong>in</strong>n was built at the location at which the city corporation and citizens of <strong>Lichfield</strong> gathered on his return to <strong>Lichfield</strong> after the battle. A party of gentleman gathered at the Anglesey <strong>in</strong> June 1836 to celebrate the house warm<strong>in</strong>g of the landlady, Mrs Richardson, where they enjoyed a ‘sumptuous d<strong>in</strong>ner’ provided by the hostess and that several excellent songs were sung which ‘greatly added to the hilarity of the even<strong>in</strong>g’. The pub cont<strong>in</strong>ued until 1938 when it closed and its licensed name was transferred across to the ‘new’ Anglesey Arms on the Curborough Road <strong>in</strong> April of that year. The pub was built by well-known <strong>Lichfield</strong> builder JR Deacon, the brewery was Ind Coope and Allsopp and the first landlord was Horace Wilson, who went on to become the licensee of a number of pubs <strong>in</strong> <strong>Lichfield</strong>. Like many pubs the Anglesey had a Darts Team and <strong>in</strong> August 1960 their team won the Challenge Cup that year, presented by the President of the <strong>Lichfield</strong> and District Darts League, Councillor Bernard Garman. Licensee of the Anglesey, David Jones, was also thanked for his presentation of a cup to the league for the w<strong>in</strong>ners of the doubles’ competition. The Anglesey Arms on the Curborough Road closed <strong>in</strong> 2013 and is now a Co-operative store. The orig<strong>in</strong>al Marquis of Anglesey became the <strong>Lichfield</strong> Labour Exchange dur<strong>in</strong>g World War Two and was eventually demolished to make way for the extension of the Birm<strong>in</strong>gham Road/St John Street junction. The Anchor and Anglesey are just two of the many pubs that have closed <strong>in</strong> and around the city, and I’ll be tell<strong>in</strong>g the story of more of <strong>Lichfield</strong>’s Lost Pubs <strong>in</strong> future editions. *V<strong>in</strong>tage photographs courtesy of the St Mary’s Photographic Collection. Sources: The British Newspaper Archives; The Old Pubs of <strong>Lichfield</strong> by John Shaw; <strong>Lichfield</strong> Pubs by Neil Coley 20
21