Tweedale Arms - Old Pubs and Old Ales of Tamworth

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Licensees of the Tweeddale Arms 1861 - William Spencer 1864 - Frederick Warwick 1878 - William Bradley 1884 - Mrs Mary Bradley 1896 - Frances Brown 1908 - 1912 John William Cowham Brown 1912 - 1916 - John Wright 1916 - William Dormer 1952 - 1971 George Woodhouse 1971 - 1972 Marion Woodhouse 1972 - 1973 Robert Raymond Glass 1973 - 1989 Margaret Hazel Foulkes 1989 - 1991 William Charles Leeson 1991 - Dawn Marie Walker

The frontage of the Tweeddale Arms has changed very little in the last one hundred years. However, there was a time when the portico entrance disappeared. Perhaps rather curiously, the former hotel faced the old Midland Railway Goods Shed instead of the main railway station. It was the arrival of the railways that created the incentive for a hotel on the 'new' road into Tamworth. The Tweeddale Arms stands on the apex of Victoria Road and Albert Road, thoroughfares named in honour Queen Victoria and her consort Prince Albert who, together, visited the town on two occasions in the mid-19th century. Indeed, the royal couple's first visit in November 1843 was the incentive for the town council to finally improve Victoria Road which, for years, had become something of a contested issue. The council and railway companies were at loggerheads over who should pay for the road connecting the town with the new transport connection. By the time the Royal Train pulled into Tamworth on Tuesday November 28th 1843, the road had not only been improved but the route had been ostentatiously decorated for the occasion. The royal carriage was escorted by Sir Robert Peel, member of Parliament for Tamworth and Prime Minister to Queen Victoria.

Despite the fact that the royal visit took place two years after Sir Robert Peel took charge at Downing Street, the thoroughfare that would become Victoria Road was still known as Station Street when the census for 1851 was compiled. The enumerator recorded just five properties along its route. However, during the 1850's Victoria Road witnessed considerable development that would include the construction of the Tweeddale Arms Hotel towards the end of the decade.

Opened on August 4th 1839, the first line to serve Tamworth was the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway - later to become the Midland Railway. This is the 'high level' railway at Tamworth and crosses the River Anker along a 250 metre viaduct. Indeed, the pioneer George Stephenson drove the first locomotive across the structure. Appropriately named Tamworth, the locomotive pulled six carriages of local dignitaries across the viaduct to mark the opening of the line. It was not until the construction of the 'low level' Trent Valley line, later the London and North-Western Railway, that the town's magnificent neo-Tudor/Jacobean railway station was erected. A building to lift the spirits of many a weary traveller, it was criminally demolished in 1962.

The Tweeddale Arms Hotel could not be named to commemorate the nearby railway - that had already been adopted by The George in the town centre. Consequently, permission was sought from the residents of Drayton Manor to adopt the family name for the establishment. The son of the former Prime Minister, the 3rd Sir Robert Peel, when serving as Chief Secretary for Ireland, married Lady Emily Hay, daughter of the 8th Marquis of Tweeddale and Lady Susan Montagu. Married in June 1856, the couple shared a passion for horseracing. They developed a stud at Bonehill close to the family home where races were staged for the social elite. The family fortune was frittered on gambling and the champagne lifestyle. The third baronet was eventually declared bankrupt and the estate carved up.

It was in 1865 that Sir Robert Peel hit on the idea of staging greyhound races. In fact, when the Tweeddale Arms Hotel was refurbished in recent years, programmes for these events at Drayton Manor were found beneath the pub's floorboards. The programmes helped establish the fact that The Tweeddale Stakes was the first race to be staged and that those attending the races possibly spent their winnings in the Tweeddale Arms Hotel. On the day of the races crowds would alight at the railway station across the road and enjoy a tipple at the Tweeddale Arms before taking a carriage to Drayton Manor.

The licensee in the early 1860's was William Spencer. Born in 1826 at Clifton Campville, the innkeeper managed the Tweeddale Arms with his Gloucestershire-born wife Mary. William's sister Emily was officially the cook for the hotel. The couple also employed barmaid Mary Tyler. Brummie John Cosgrove was the station master at this time and was accommodated nearby in a house provided by the railway company.

In 1864 William Spencer moved a matter of yards to become the first licensee of the Albert Hotel before running a large hotel in Nuneaton. He was succeeded by Frederick Warwick as licensee, a man who also operated the Corn Exchange next to the Town  Hall. Helping to run the Tweeddale Arms Hotel on a day-to-day basis was Sarah Twigg, a young woman who originated from the Leicestershire village of Nailstone.

By 1878 William Bradley was mine host at the Tweeddale Arms Hotel. Born in the Cheshire town of Hazel Grove, he kept the pub with his Nuneaton-born wife Mary. The couple's son William lived on the premises along with barmaid Theresa Lapworth and servant Emma Cope. William Jnr was educated at Atherstone Grammar School and went into business as a butcher at the age of 21. He traded from his Church Street premises for 61 years, becoming the longest-serving master butcher in Tamworth. He died aged 81 in April 1951.

Both Victoria Road and Albert Road had become fashionable places to live in the 1870's and 1880's. Many of the residents were from the emerging middle classes and held positions of responsibility. Living close to the Tweeddale Arms at No.3 was Henry Clarson, surveyor and inspector for the Tamworth Rural Sanitary Authority. Wesleyan minister Reverend James Kent and his family lived a few doors away. Teachers, merchants and factory owners were among the other residents living nearby. Not that it was all residential in Victoria Road - a large cattle market and iron foundry stood behind Victoria House where Alexandra Mews has been laid out.

Mary Bradley took over the licence of the Tweeddale Arms when her husband died. She had experience of running a busy town pub because she had previously managed the Queen's Head in Nuneaton's Church Street. By the end of the decade her two daughters had moved in and the running of the Tweeddale became something of a family affair. Whilst Mary Bradley retained the licence, son-in-law and former publican of the neighbouring Albert Hotel, Edward Canning, was appointed the manager.

The Glascote-born son of the famous terracotta pipe manufacturer Charles Canning, was married to Mary's daughter Jane and the couple's two daughters spent part of their childhood in the Tweeddale Arms. Mary's other daughter Elizabeth Fletcher was also living and working on the premises.

By the mid-1890's widow Frances Brown was the licensee of the Tweeddale Arms Hotel. She had been married to farmer John Brown and lived at Manor House Farm in the Leicestershire hamlet of Ratcliff Culey north of Atherstone. At the 140 acre farm she was known as Fanny but probably reverted to the more formal Frances in order to command respect in her new position as publican. She kept the pub with daughters Lucy, Elsie, Annie and Atheliah. Lucy had gained valuable experience working in the famous Eight Bells Hotel at Cheltenham. Frances Brown employed Lancashire-born Beatrice Astle as a domestic servant.

John and Jane Cowham were mine hosts during much of the Edwardian period. The couple had previously kept the Chequers Inn at Hopwas, a pub that had previously been run by parents Joseph and Martha Cowham.

When the Tweeddale Arms was altered in recent years, in addition to the programmes for the race meetings held at Drayton Manor, an inventory was found that detailed the hotel when the tenancy was sold to William Dormer. In an article on the Peel family fortune published in the Tamworth Herald, Mabel Swift detailed this as "all the fixtures and fittings, including a copper spittoon in the bar which was an old railway carriage at the rear. There were brass cigar lighters, a box of clay pipes, a sawdust trough, a gun, three swords and an electroplated wine muller. The stock included Geneva gin, peach bitters, Eadies' ales, Chartreuse, ten varieties of cigars and five dozen bottles of quinine." This suggests that the Tweeddale Arms Hotel was still catering for the more refined drinker. Local workers from the railway yards and sheds were probably encouraged to use the railway carriage to the rear of the main building.

Taking over the licence on February 9th 1916, William Dormer was publican for many years. After spells running the Globe Hotel and Market Vaults, he arrived here after the First World War. He was a highly respected gentleman of the town. Indeed, he was a councillor for Tamworth and became Mayor in 1925. However, in the same year he was fined twice by the licensing magistrates, the worst offence being that he "supplied intoxicating liquor after permitted hours". Coincidentally, another resident of Victoria Road held the office of mayor in the late 19th century. The physician and surgeon Dr.Alfred Sculthorpe was Mayor of Tamworth in 1894, 1895, 1898 and 1899 whilst living at Victoria House. This property was demolished and the telephone exchange was erected on the site.

The period of William Dormer as licensee of the Tweeddale Arms Hotel brings us to the second image in the gallery above. Taken around 1926, this shows the timber yard of W.L.Cartwright & Co. across the road from the pub. Note however the gable end of the house on the left-hand side of the road. This has an advertisement for Mitchell's and Butler's. The Cape Hill brewery used the area to the rear as a stores. Ales in both casks and bottles would have been transported on goods trains to the former Midland Railway Goods Sheds for onward distribution to public houses in the local area.

Although no brewery livery can be seen on the Tweeddale Arms, William Dormer was a tenant for James Eadie Ltd. Born in Perthshire in 1842, the young James Eadie travelled south to work for his uncle John Eadie, a tea dealer trading in Fazeley. Once settled, James Eadie started a business supplying malt to homebrew houses and common brewers in and around Fazeley. This enterprise proved very successful and the firm's sales area extended to Burton-on-Trent. Making frequent visits to the brewing capital of the Midlands, James Eadie decided to implement a forward extension strategy for his business and established a brewery in Cross Street in 1852. Despite fierce competition, the brewery flourished and the company's growth was rapid. An estate of public houses was developed and, in addition, the brewery supplied a considerable number of free houses. James Eadie was a benefactor of Fazeley and Burton and was responsible for the construction of chapels in both towns. When he died in June 1904 his personal estate totalled £337,966 [that's over £24m in today's money]. The company was acquired by Bass, Ratcliff and Gretton Ltd. in 1933. The sale included 308 public houses, including the Tweeddale Arms Hotel.

The hotel remained under Bass control until 1991 when the property was sold to Mr and Mrs Walker of Tamworth; Dawn Walker taking over as licensee.

© Kieron McMahon [Pubs and Breweries of the Midlands: Past and Present]