The History
The Highgate Brewery was built for J. A. Fletcher and became operational in 1898 as a small brewing concern; producing a single, mild ale, and employing only three or four people. The tower brewery building is shown on the Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1903. By 1914, it had begun to expand to produce bitter and bottled beers and the brewery was enlarged in 1919. Highgate Brewery merged with John Lord's Brewery to form Walsall Breweries Proprietary Ltd in 1924. The Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1938 shows the building extended, principally to the north and west, although the broken building outline may indicate that construction work was underway at the time of survey. Production at the brewery continued to expand between the wars and in 1939 the large brewers Mitchell's and Butler's (M&B) bought the brewery, and its tied houses, with a view to closing down their competitor. However, wartime rationing altered their plans, as the brewery qualified for vital, extra, rationed supplies, and brewing continued at the site.
The success of the brewery for M&B is reflected in their retention of ownership after the end of rationing in the early-1950s. The brewery was producing 750 barrels per week by 1948, which grew to 2,500 barrels of mild ale alone by the 1970s, at which time it employed 60 people. Much of the brewing equipment was replaced or adapted during the course of the C20. In 1995 the brewery was sold to the management by Bass, who had by this time acquired M&B. The brewery was only producing 400-500 barrels per week by 1998, the year in which centenary gates were installed at the site entrance to commemorate 100 years of brewing at Sandymount Road. By the early C21, production had increased once more and, following a further sale in 2007, the Highgate Brewery was combined with the Davenports brand. The brewery closed for good in June 2010.
The Explore
Visited this one with @jonesy as a “let’s have a quick look” explore and it ended up being a great way to spend a few hours.
Untouched by metal thieves Highgate Brewery is great.
The fixtures and fittings is this place are amazing and have gone towards the place being listed. Some of the maker’s plates are simply brilliant and the kind of stuff that nowadays is just replaces with a cheap sticker.
What also made it for me was to see some old machinery out the back designed by a company I once worked for, possibly by my own fair hands, who knows.
The explore itself was nice and trouble free, a simple hop over the main gate and a wander around until we found a way in. Having read @clebby's report from 2014 and seeing that we may find an alarm we approached the various rooms and floors with caution. We did however find that all the lights still worked.
The small offices and the small cloakroom looked just as they would have done when the place closed and were a real time warp.
After we had finished inside we had a wander around the yard before hoping over the gate to leave.
Or at least try to leave.
As I clambered over the top of the gate a white Corsa van came careering around the corner as if being driven by Bodie and Doyle (google it kids) and we were escaping from the latest blag.
As the van screeched to a halt a rather aggressive security guard jumped out and started shouting, now I wouldn’t normally backchat a security guard but something about this guy go my back up
“What are you doing?”
“Climbing over the gate”
“Why?”
“So I can get out”
“Why are you in there?”
Looking at our cameras I replied “we are taking pictures”
“Of what?”
“The building”
“Why?”
“It’s our hobby”
“For what purpose?”
“Because we want too”
“Why?”
“Because we want too”
“Have you got any I.D.?”
At this point he was quite annoyed, red faced and a little confused
“Yes but you can’t see it”
“Ok I’ll call the police”
“Ok that’s fine with me”
We started to walk away from him at this point knowing he couldn’t detain us and a little concerned by his anger issues
“Can I see your I.D.? “He shouted after us
“Nope” and we wandered off into the distance chatting about what a great place it was
"That's ok your on CCTV trespassing"
Enjoy the pics
The Highgate Brewery was built for J. A. Fletcher and became operational in 1898 as a small brewing concern; producing a single, mild ale, and employing only three or four people. The tower brewery building is shown on the Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1903. By 1914, it had begun to expand to produce bitter and bottled beers and the brewery was enlarged in 1919. Highgate Brewery merged with John Lord's Brewery to form Walsall Breweries Proprietary Ltd in 1924. The Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1938 shows the building extended, principally to the north and west, although the broken building outline may indicate that construction work was underway at the time of survey. Production at the brewery continued to expand between the wars and in 1939 the large brewers Mitchell's and Butler's (M&B) bought the brewery, and its tied houses, with a view to closing down their competitor. However, wartime rationing altered their plans, as the brewery qualified for vital, extra, rationed supplies, and brewing continued at the site.
The success of the brewery for M&B is reflected in their retention of ownership after the end of rationing in the early-1950s. The brewery was producing 750 barrels per week by 1948, which grew to 2,500 barrels of mild ale alone by the 1970s, at which time it employed 60 people. Much of the brewing equipment was replaced or adapted during the course of the C20. In 1995 the brewery was sold to the management by Bass, who had by this time acquired M&B. The brewery was only producing 400-500 barrels per week by 1998, the year in which centenary gates were installed at the site entrance to commemorate 100 years of brewing at Sandymount Road. By the early C21, production had increased once more and, following a further sale in 2007, the Highgate Brewery was combined with the Davenports brand. The brewery closed for good in June 2010.
The Explore
Visited this one with @jonesy as a “let’s have a quick look” explore and it ended up being a great way to spend a few hours.
Untouched by metal thieves Highgate Brewery is great.
The fixtures and fittings is this place are amazing and have gone towards the place being listed. Some of the maker’s plates are simply brilliant and the kind of stuff that nowadays is just replaces with a cheap sticker.
What also made it for me was to see some old machinery out the back designed by a company I once worked for, possibly by my own fair hands, who knows.
The explore itself was nice and trouble free, a simple hop over the main gate and a wander around until we found a way in. Having read @clebby's report from 2014 and seeing that we may find an alarm we approached the various rooms and floors with caution. We did however find that all the lights still worked.
The small offices and the small cloakroom looked just as they would have done when the place closed and were a real time warp.
After we had finished inside we had a wander around the yard before hoping over the gate to leave.
Or at least try to leave.
As I clambered over the top of the gate a white Corsa van came careering around the corner as if being driven by Bodie and Doyle (google it kids) and we were escaping from the latest blag.
As the van screeched to a halt a rather aggressive security guard jumped out and started shouting, now I wouldn’t normally backchat a security guard but something about this guy go my back up
“What are you doing?”
“Climbing over the gate”
“Why?”
“So I can get out”
“Why are you in there?”
Looking at our cameras I replied “we are taking pictures”
“Of what?”
“The building”
“Why?”
“It’s our hobby”
“For what purpose?”
“Because we want too”
“Why?”
“Because we want too”
“Have you got any I.D.?”
At this point he was quite annoyed, red faced and a little confused
“Yes but you can’t see it”
“Ok I’ll call the police”
“Ok that’s fine with me”
We started to walk away from him at this point knowing he couldn’t detain us and a little concerned by his anger issues
“Can I see your I.D.? “He shouted after us
“Nope” and we wandered off into the distance chatting about what a great place it was
"That's ok your on CCTV trespassing"
Enjoy the pics
