Lost Pubs from the WME Archives - Part 26

I've been so busy exploring lately that I haven't been able to dedicate very much time to matters of the West Midlands Exploration archives. Fear not folks, the pause button has now been released and we can ponder another five expired establishments from the Lost Pubs series...

- The Bay Malton -

Our opening specimen this time around comes not from the West Midlands at all but is instead an abandoned Altrincham hostelry spotted during my Bears on Tour cricket getaway last year. Previously a Thwaites tied house, the Bay Malton could be found near Oldfield Brow on the edge of town - its position close to Seamon's Moss Bridge made it particularly handy for the Bridgewater Canal, and I understand it is due to be converted into a private dwelling.

- The Grove Inn -

To the Ironbridge Gorge next where Coalbrookdale used to have two establishments pretty much directly opposite each other. The Coalbrookdale Inn is still trading (and is very much a personal favourite of mine) but the Grove Inn has fallen by the wayside despite its apparent liking for oven baked pizzas. Positioned atop the driveway down to Enginuity and the Museum of Iron, at the time of this 2010 photograph it contained a bar, guest accommodation and the Fat Frog restaurant. Despite all this it closed a few years later and is now a holiday let. 

- The Monkey House -

We're firmly back within the West Midlands remit for my third choice however, the Monkey House being a departed Banks's affair that served the Monmore Green and Parkfield portions of Wolverhampton. The building stood on Kent Road backing onto Dixon Street playing fields and began life as the Moulders Arms before upgrading its Monkey House nickname into its formal title during the 1990s. The Trinity Court Care Home now occupies the site. 

- The Springhead Tavern -

Dipping into Darlaston, let's remember a boozer I was rather fond of, at least during its brief spell as a Black Country Ales outlet. The Springhead Tavern was a slender cottage-type pub on the main A4038 Walsall Road where I first took pictures of it as a fairly average Banks's house. Alas Black Country Ales's involvement was relatively short-lived and the property has latterly been enlarged for private accommodation. 

- The Great Western -

Sometimes when getting photos of closed pubs I think there's a decent chance a place might reopen, but on other occasions you can instantly tell there's little hope of a resurrection. The above snap shows why Warwick's Great Western came under the latter camp, the building having suffered extensive damage during a devastating fire in August 2017. Sadly the situation was beyond repair and demolition was the only outcome, such a shame for a landmark that had stood next to the town's railway station since Victorian times.