Annewiggy
Tamworth
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91 of 110
Tue 14th Sep 2021 1:47pm
A zoomed in view |
Buildings -
White Lion, Smithford Street
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Annewiggy
Tamworth
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92 of 110
Tue 14th Sep 2021 3:31pm
Now I know what I am looking for. This is 1937. I believe this is the White Lion in the centre of the image with the pointed roof. It looks like the roof went further back which is missing on the 1946 one. That must have been unusable so at some point was reduced to the flat roofed building we see in later pictures. Now I know why the flat roof has chimneys!
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Buildings -
White Lion, Smithford Street
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Helen F
Warrington
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93 of 110
Tue 14th Sep 2021 3:58pm
The building to the right was at one point the Post Office. Dial the images back a bit further and you see them demolishing the previous White Lion. Court after court was being updated but there were still a fair number that weren't new build. Those were decimated by the bombs and fires. Stood alone, the White Lion looks quite small but it was a fair size compared to its old neighbours. The buildings at the rear had also been replaced with brick but they look like they were always flat roofed. It's the first time I've noticed what had happened to the Great Meeting House. I don't remember seeing the front before. |
Buildings -
White Lion, Smithford Street
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Annewiggy
Tamworth
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94 of 110
Wed 15th Sep 2021 10:05am
There does not seem to be any pictures of the middle bit of Smithford Street. I would love to find a picture of the White Lion complete. It is not what I imagined. I have a sketch of the Leopard Inn which was run by a Yardley distant cousin at some time and that is a black and white building but several floors up. There is a listing for some plans for the White Lion on Coventry Collections. Perhaps when Helen starts going in she could have a look. The Leopard Inn is number 8 on the Coventry Pubs topic. |
Buildings -
White Lion, Smithford Street
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Helen F
Warrington
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95 of 110
Wed 15th Sep 2021 10:52am
The White Lion is on the right of this photo. More of the right can be seen in Rob's picture of the street.
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Buildings -
White Lion, Smithford Street
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Annewiggy
Tamworth
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96 of 110
Thu 16th Sep 2021 12:58pm
I have zoomed in, best picture I have seen of the White Lion. You can clearly see the roof is damaged at the rear but it still has the roof on. I think I read somewhere that the part that was damaged was staff quarters. Obviously at that time they must have decided it was better to remove the roof than repair it. With development planned they probably did not know what the future would be for the building.
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Buildings -
White Lion, Smithford Street
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Annewiggy
Tamworth
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97 of 110
Fri 17th Sep 2021 4:01pm
This is from the Midland Daily Telegraph, 25th November 1940.
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Buildings -
White Lion, Smithford Street
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Annewiggy
Tamworth
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98 of 110
Sat 18th Sep 2021 10:26am
From 'A Warwickshire Man's Diary' in the CET 29th January 1955, for the day the White Lion called time for the last time.
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Buildings -
White Lion, Smithford Street
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JRL
Binley Woods
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99 of 110
Sat 18th Sep 2021 6:39pm
This photograph shows the last days of the White Lion. I took this in January 1955 together with a few others.
I remember going upstairs in the White Lion in 1942 with my father to an exhibition on display boards of some future proposals. I'm conscious of being unhappy of the insecure flooring. I seem to remember we entered from the side of the building. The rear quarter of the building was missing.
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Buildings -
White Lion, Smithford Street
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heathite
Coventry
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100 of 110
Fri 1st Oct 2021 12:17pm
Hello, Kaga. Regarding the White Lion signage, as far as I know those portions of the sign are all that have been discovered. I feel we are lucky the council decided to recover them and put them on display. They are a joy to see compared to the other ugly rusty so called 'works of art'. Art or Artifice? You decide.
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Buildings -
White Lion, Smithford Street
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Kaga simpson
Peacehaven, East Sussex
Thread starter
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101 of 110
Fri 1st Oct 2021 3:10pm
Around a third of the White Lion disappeared in the blitz. The vacant space on the right of the door, there was a passageway leading to the smoke room and kitchens. The part of the staircase still visible led to the Grosvenor function room, and restaurant and staff living quarters.
It all disappeared in the blitz, that third of the White Lion collapsed into dust and rubble.
The partition wall between the bar on left that was the large bay window and the smoke room on right of front door was so extensively damaged that it was in danger of collapse, that is why they stuck the fence around the front for the whole duration of war. |
Buildings -
White Lion, Smithford Street
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Kaga simpson
Peacehaven, East Sussex
Thread starter
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102 of 110
Tue 5th Oct 2021 1:25pm
The White Lion pub in Smithford Street in 1861 was called the Stork, and in 1926 it was called the Horatio Nelson for one year - but there are some doubts about this. When it was rebuilt in 1920/21 the effigy of the lion was so tatty after different colour painting etc, that it was also replaced.
The brewery had rebuilt in 1920/21 and had all the intentions to rebuild after the war, so in 1942 when the rubble had been cleared, it temporarily repaired the second floor walls, making them a little more safe without a roof, temporarily replaced the stairs to the second floor and placed a small gallery of its future on the north wall.
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Buildings -
White Lion, Smithford Street
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Midland Red
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103 of 110
Tue 5th Oct 2021 1:50pm
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Buildings -
White Lion, Smithford Street
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Helen F
Warrington
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104 of 110
Tue 5th Oct 2021 3:00pm
Some nice info for the pubs section, MR
In 1919 the licensee was J Hains
In 1920 they building was being demolished before rebuilding as a Tudor style building
So it went from Arrmit Wallace Brown (who got in 1924) to a guy confusingly called Horatio Nelson in May 1925
Then from Mr Horatio Nelson to Sydney Burleigh Edwards in April 1927
By 1933 the licensee was A S Lane
And so on. |
Buildings -
White Lion, Smithford Street
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Osmiroid
UK
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105 of 110
Sun 10th Oct 2021 9:51pm
I haven't been into the city centre for a very long time. When I am there again that White Lion sign will be a highlight, an actual piece of Smithford Street.
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Buildings -
White Lion, Smithford Street
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