The Wheatsheaf is now long gone, replaced by houses. It rood on the corner of Mill Road and Ogley Road – but there was an antecedent in Brownhills High Street. A great image by Mike Leonard.
Here’s a quick one I’ve been asked about on twitter, and it’s piqued my interest to such an extent that I thought I’d post the question here, particularly while there’s a similar discussion centring around the Royal Exchange in Walsall Wood.
Twitter user Tony Williams (@dogrio5630) asked on 22nd December:
I replied asking for more specifics, and yesterday Tony got back to me, and said:
Now, there’s been some sketchy mention of the Wheatsheaf moving from 118 High Street to a new building on the site of Ogley Square in the 1930s; it was noted in the newspaper article about the new Wheatsheaf applying for a license, and also Gerald Reece briefly mentions it in his work on Ogley Hay, also featured recently.
Gerald notes that the last landlord of the Wheatsheaf in High Street was the same as the first in Ogley Road – John Insull.
What I’m wondering is can we pinpoint this pub to a specific location in the High Street and find out who the landlords were over time? Andy Dennis’s spreadsheet lists Mrs. Helen Dalton as Landlady in 1896 and 1904, then in 1912 it’s William Danks.
Anything you can contribute, please do; Tony seems a little sketchy in his details, so let’s see if we can clear this up. Please comment here or BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com. Cheers.