Aston, Birmingham, UK

Closed 1981

After World War II, beer delivery to the local pubs was still by horse and wagon. An inebriated driver could always rely on his equine partner to find the way back to the brewery!  David H.

Ansells Brewery was founded in 1857 by Joseph Ansell. Prior to World War II, a major modernization of the Aston Cross Birmingham Brewery was started but delayed due to the outbreak of hostilities.  The new brewery expansion was finished in 1957 on Ansells’ 100th anniverary. In 1961, Ansells became part of Allied Breweries, later taken over by Carlsberg. Following considerable industrial unrest, the site was closed in 1981 and production moved to Burton on Trent. Today “Ansells The Better Beer,”a once well-known brand, has passed into history and the building has been demolished. I also painted an earlier iteration of the brewery before the 1957 renovation because an earlier submission focussed on the Brewery’s cellars which were used as air raid shelters during the war. The painting is based on a photograph from Alamy.