THIS ICONIC photograph of a gathering outside a typical Black Country watering-hole of a century or more ago has been kindly loaned to us by reader Dennis Jones. We wonder if anyone can throw a little more light on it? It shows a group of eleven menfolk in the garb of the day, including a postman in his uniform, and a character holding his faithful dog under his arm. There’s also a young lad in view, and two members of the fairer sex in the doorway — but which pub was it? The only clue is given by the wording painted on the front of the pub — The North Worcestershire Breweries Ales.
This brewery, based in Stourbridge, owned several pubs, and was taken over by Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries in 1909.
Dennis wondered if the pub was the Round of Beef at Colley Gate, which was once owned by his uncle Fred Price, but on checking old images of that pub we think that this is not the case.
