Lost Pubs from the WME Archives #43

Nearly seven years on from my first Lost Pubs posting, it's a sad and depressing fact that pub closures look likely to continue. These are tough times for the sector, with concerns over footfall (or lack thereof), business rates and alcohol pricing relative to supermarkets just some of the issues our local boozers are having to contend with. How many more will disappear the way of these five bygone boozers?

- The Royal Oak -

I hadn't intentionally planned it to be the case but each of our quintet this time around is from Staffordshire, starting with the Royal Oak at Halfpenny Green. A three-storey Banks's property situated on Six Ashes Road from whence it overlooked the triangular patch that forms the local village green, this place might have been convenient for visitors to Halfpenny Green Airport or Highgate Common back in the day. It closed circa 2015 with planning permission granted to convert it for private residential use.

- The Nesbitt Arms -

The outlying estates of southern Stafford beckon for our second offering, whereby the Nesbitt Arms served the residents of Rising Brook and Burton Manor. Originally a Butlers pub built in the mid-1950s, it could be found on Churchill Way near the junction with Morton Road - I first remember taking pictures of it during my Eccleshall excursion of January 2008 although this photo was obtained a few years later. The building has since been flattened to make way for new housing, leaving the Royal Oak as the only pub in the area.

- The Norfolk Inn -

The Stoke-on-Trent suburb of Shelton is where I happened upon the Norfolk Inn during a nosy moment branching away from the Caldon Canal. Perhaps it was my explorational instincts that led me to investigate Norfolk Street, and I'm glad I did because this ex-Marston's number was already up for sale with a distinct likelihood that it would never reopen as a watering hole. My understanding is that a pharmacy now operates out of these premises.

- The Birds -

Finishing with a couple of Cannock candidates, our next establishment is not to be confused with the famous Alfred Hitchcock film of 1963. I doubt Tippi Hedren has ever had cause to visit Pye Green either but that's where The Birds resided as a fairly functional feature of Bradbury Lane. The pub didn't look as scary as its namesake movie but any risk of avian attacks has surely been extinguished given that the cul-de-sac of Wenlock View now occupies the land.

- The Robin Hood -

All of which brings us to the Robin Hood, an A34 landmark on the approach to Churchbridge Island just north of Great Wyrley. It looked fairly basic at the time of this snapshot, complete with England flags and a Barclays Premier League banner; the pub survived the construction of the nearby M6 Toll motorway but ultimately met its fate at the hands of housing developers with new homes springing up along Lock Basin Close.