Express & Star

The classic Wolverhampton pub that was demolished but now revived and become a timewarp

A visit to a museum can usually see visitors walk past exhibits and, maybe, leave with a pencil sharpener or a t-shirt.

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The Black Country Living Museum, on the other hand, offers an opportunity to go back in time and visit a pub which seemed consigned to history, but has been given a brand new lease of life.

Sitting on a street corner in the 1940s to 1960s town centre as part of the Forging Ahead development project, the Elephant and Castle is a faithful recreation of a pub which was once a popular haunt for the migrant community in Wolverhampton.

The pub was built in 1905 and stood on the corner of Stafford Street and Cannock Road, visible to anyone passing by due to its distinctive green and white livery and unique writing on the outside of the pub.

It remained part of the then-town's landscape for more than 90 years, a place for a pre-match pint for anyone heading towards Molineux for a Wolves game or for the migrant community in Wolverhampton, but fell into disrepair and was eventually torn down and demolished in 2001.

Darren Nya is one of the many staff who work to keep the pub running

The demolition appeared to have brought the legacy of the pub to an end, but Black Country Living Museum food and beverages manager Rory Shannon said the museum made the decision to faithfully and painstakingly rebuild and repopulate the pub onsite, with it opening in August 2022.

Rory Shannon enjoys a pint of mild outside the pub