Lost Pubs from the WME Archives: Part 15

As I continue to plumb the depths of the WME Archives, it strikes me just how many pubs have closed completely in relatively recent memory - this series really is only the tip of the iceberg. We've reached Episode 15 now with the searchlight casting its gaze upon five more that have gone forever...

- The Lagoon -

The Lost Pubs series has already accounted for one Princes End casualty (the George & Dragon, see episode 5) and here we have another in the form of the Lagoon, a particularly notorious haunt that stood on the High Street opposite the junction with Upper Church Lane. The pub had something of a troubled existence and at one stage its Sunday League football team was briefly sponsored by the BNP. The site stood empty for several years after the building was demolished, waiting for a mooted housing development to come to fruition.

- Queens Head -

Second up is this handsome roadhouse from the Londonderry area of Sandwell (Smethwick to be more exact). The Queens Head had a prime site overlooking the roundabout where Londonderry Lane meets Queen's Road, and was the subject of a fleeting Hub Marketing call back in May 2012 when Mr D9 and I dashed in for a nightcap half of Brew XI. The pub suffered an arson attack in May 2014 but the building was happily saved and has since been converted into a veterinary surgery. 

- Rough Hills Tavern -

To the Parkfield area of Wolverhampton next and a mention for the Rough Hills Tavern, not that you'd know from the missing lettering on the above picture. Rooker Avenue was the location for what was a run of the mill Banks's affair - if I remember correctly, my cousin had her wedding reception party here sometime in the mid 1990s. It often surprises me how many houses can be squeezed onto former pub land, and in this case the Tavern Close cul-de-sac crams in a fair few.

- The Crown -

Perhaps one of the more unexpected new uses for a bygone boozer is to become the head office of a swimming pool company but that's the fate that befell the Crown in Ruiton when it ceased being a Holloway Street watering hole. I don't know how much call they get for pool and sauna maintenance around Gornal to be fair, but in its pub days this always struck me as a cottagey local perched on a bit of a hill. I sadly never got chance to sample it myself but I have enjoyed photographing other Ruiton landmarks such as the Upper Gornal Conservative Club and the Hermit Street non-conformist chapel. 

- The Monica -

We finish September's selection with a specimen from Small Heath where the Monica used to be a popular haunt with the Irish community. Situated on the junction of Somerville Road and Monica Road, the building has a distinctive concave frontage and a 1930s look about it; latterly repurposed as a community hall with function room for hire, I believe it is partly used as a children's nursery too. That completes this month's parade of perished pubs, so until next time - cheers!