10/03/25 - Duddeston to Witton - An AZ City Walk

Britain's Toughest Pub... Britain's Deadest Pub Street

There are certain TV programmes that really stick in the mind. Broadcast in 2004 on Sky 3 was a series of Britain's Toughest Pubs. I remember the meat raffle in a Portsmouth Boozer. The topless lunchtime service down on the docks in the Plymouth. The pensioner miners in Merthyr who had continued a row for about 40 years.

But it was the Sportsman in Birmingham that was watched with a mixture of wide eyed disbelief and massive amusement. Who could forget;

• The Locals all drinking scrumpy cider, which they named "Loopy Juice"
• A regular commenting - "If I have a good session on that, I could kill you, and I wouldn't even f***ing know I'd done it"
• Frank - whose snack to accompany his Loopy Juice was a crushed up light bulb.
• The regular who feared his pint would be nicked if he went to loo, so - and without warning - removed his false eye and left it bobbing
• And finally - the man drinking from his false leg. He lost his leg not from the first train that hit him, but the service train that went to check what the first train had hit. This, after he had taken a short cut home from Sportsman.

Alas, the actual programme cannot be found on YT. But if you can ignore the computer generated speech, this video has some fine old photos and also touches on the "Battle of Saltley Gate" which occurred over the road. A 1972 miners picket that turned into a riot and launched Arthur Scargill onto the national conscious.

The reason for for this lengthy intro to a walk? It's one of the few things of interest on a walk from Duddeston to Witton. To be fair to the walk, its purpose was to point out the few remaining Victorian architectural gems that remain in an area of terraced housing largely demolished after the war.

Bloomsbury Public Library - now an Nursery

Nechells Park Road Public Baths

The Sportsman - as it is today - a Packaging Shop

Three miles of quite filthy, but incredibly quiet, streets. I don't know if they are always like this or is someway connected to either Birmingham City Council's bankruptcy or the rapidly escalating binmen strikes. Gauging the amount of debris, I rather fear the former.

Aston - too sad to end the walk. The Lichfield Road, once home to grand drinking halls and now just architectural hangovers from a better time.  

Swan and Mitre - Holts - Grade II Listed - Closed since 2018 

The Britannia - Another Grade II Listed - Another closed in 2018

I believe this to be the Vine.  Fire damaged in 2023

What a sad end to a walk. Forced to head to Witton in the hope of finding an open pub.

 

Walk Details

Distance - 4 Miles

Walk Inspiration - AZ - Hidden Walks in Birmingham Walk 8 

Previous Birmingham AZ Walks - Walk 1 & 2, Walk 3, Walk 4, Walk 5, Walk 6, Walk 7

Geocaches - 1 and 3 ALC