Pretty sure it’s the Spring Cottage, Lichfield Road, Shelfield. Note the tram tracks. So much going on here, and nice bikes, too. Image supplied by David Evans. Click for a larger version.
Lord knows where he found it, but isn’t this picture from the Young David Evans a remarkable thing?
Emailed to me this morning, I’m 99% certain it’s the Spring Cottage in Shelfield, sometime around 1910 I’d say. I invite comments and views on this remarkable photograph. The crowd are wonderful. Does anyone have further information? I’ve never seen this image before.
One assumes the building that exists today – now a Co-op store – is a later rebuild of the Spring Cottage, and this was an earlier incarnation. Note the great dogs, bicycles and headgear. What’s with the two guys on the left with flowerpot hats? The young girl. Wonder if we can work out the time period from the licensee and existence of the tram tracks?
Please do comment or email me – BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com. Cheers to David Evans for sharing a wonderful find – I know readers will love this.
The Spring Cottage is still preserved, but is a Co-op store today.
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Great photo, what a find. Thanks to Dave and Bob too.
There is another picture on Panoramio
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/98100970 – do the bicycle or policeman’s uniform help with a date?
Note on the gable “E C Clarke”. According to the 1911 census the landlord was one Edward Cope Clarke. He was there in 1901, too.
The trams ran from Walsall to Walsall Wood from 1904 to 1927. British History online.
Just had a look at the photo on Panoramio Andy, thats the very same pub.
The visible legs beneath the lady’s costume speak of post WW1
Edward Cope Clarke died 31 May 1921. Effects: £2494 5s 5d. Sources: Lichfield Mercury 3 Jun 1921 / Ancestry.
Doesn’t mean they did a paint job straight away, but maybe narrows down the timescale?