How a 128-year-old pub has survived a £570,000,000 train station upgrade

It’s the last of three 19th Century pubs left standing in the vicinity of a sprawling HS2 building site. 

The construction work to build the Curzon Street intercity terminus in Birmingham is so close to the 128-year-old Woodman that the barriers are now just 10ft from its side wall.  

The ‘backstreet boozer’ is hemmed in on three sides by the £570 million project and stands as an island in the development area. 

Originally opened in 1897, the pub seemed to have served its last pint three years ago as it closed with the owners citing pressures including the ‘encroaching’ HS2 works. 

Yet the ale is still following at the Woodman.

A reprieve came when pub restoration specialists Union Inns stepped in and reopened the Victorian-era premises at the end of last year after a ‘sensitive’ £300,000 refurbishment. 

Supervisor Garry Bird told Metro: ‘They wanted to pull us down, but we’re a Grade-II listed building.

‘They found they couldn’t touch us, and we’ve since become a weird stakeholder in it all. If HS2 want to do anything around here now, they have to get our permission. 

‘There were two pubs nearby which were pulled down because they weren’t protected to be part of the development, but we’ve survived.

‘We’re even in the projections of how HS2 is supposed to look and we’ll eventually have the depot behind us and shops and a hotel nearby. 

‘We’re like the movie Up, where the man refuses to move out.’ 

The Woodman is the last of three pubs in close proximity to survive.

Fellow Victorian pub Eagle and Tun, where UB40 shot the video for their Red Red Wine hit, and the derelict, Georgian-era Fox and Grapes have been pulled down to make way for the infrastructure project.

The sole survivor is now flush on the boundary of the project and due to a road closure as part of the works is ‘totally segregated’ from Digbeth, an independent nightlife hotspot, Mr Bird said.

A redundant traffic light at the side of the pub is a sign of the upheaval.

On the other side is the original Curzon Street railway station, a Grade I- listed building opened in 1838 which HS2 has said will be restored.

The Woodman’s own history will be reflected in the ‘enhanced setting’ facing the pub, according to plans for the site.

‘We’re classed as Digbeth and because of HS2 closing down the road you won’t get from here to there now,’ Mr Bird explained.

‘You’ll have to walk all the way round past Moor Street or vice versa. 

‘At the minute we’re totally segregated from Digbeth.

‘They change their minds every five minutes as to what’s going on, it’s a bit of a pain.’ 

But the pub worker believes that the red brick and terracotta pub will be part of a bustling area once the bullet trains begin running between the station and London, possibly in around eight years’ time.

‘It’s a heritage pub with a rich history and the only pub in Birmingham to serve Bass, because the owner is a massive enthusiast,’ he said. 

‘When it got refurbished it was stripped back to the original tiles and the old floors which were part of the original Grade II-listed building.  

‘We get a lot people who come back and say it’s great to see us open again because it’s opened and closed a few times over the years. 

‘The owner has got the pub for at least 25 years and he loves this place, so the pub will still be around when all of the HS2 work is completed in eight to nine years. He’s 100% behind it. When HS2 eventually happens we’ll be right on their doorstep.

‘It should help the area because it will bring a lot of people to this end of the city, other than to the university and to the ThinkTank museum.

The Woodman is described as a ‘historic backstreet boozer’ which has had a ‘sensitive refurbishment’ by CAMRA.

The campaign describes the pub as originally belonging to Ansell’s Brewery but now ‘proudly’ serving Draught Bass. 

HS2 said three years ago that The Woodman would not be demolished and the company had been ‘liaising regularly’ with the owners ‘to help them stay open to minimise impact on their business.’

The company added that this included rescheduling works to outside of opening times, providing new outside benches and temporarily relocating outdoor seating ‘to maximise customer numbers.’ 

The station is part of a £724 million regeneration for the area expected to create new public spaces, homes and tens of thousands of jobs. 

Metro has approached HS2 for further comment.  

Do you have a story you would like to share? Contact josh.layton@metro.co.uk

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