Cape Hill Brewery of Mitchell's & Butler's Limited in Staffordshire c.1929 [Author's Collection]. Map extract from Sheet 131, Birmingham - 1:63 360 Map [Depicted 1950, Published 1953] © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with kind permission of the National Library of Scotland under the Creative Commons Attribution licence.

Cape Hill Brewery of Mitchell's & Butler's Ltd., Smethwick

The closure of the Cape Hill Brewery of Mitchell's and Butler's in September 2002 marked the end of a brewing epoch for Birmingham and the Black Country. I was there on the last day and it was a sad sight to see the dormant vessels, empty sheds and people facing an uncertain future. Although Cape Hill was located just outside the city boundary, making it officially a Staffordshire brewery belonging to Smethwick, the company merged with William Butler's brewery behind the Crown Inn on Broad Street. And, of course, most Brummies do think of M&B as a Birmingham trademark running most of the lion's share of their local public-houses. Their estate in and around Birmingham increased significantly with the acquisition of two large breweries in Birmingham and Aston; firstly, Holder's in 1919 and, later, Atkinson's some forty years later. Consequently, although the brewery was technically in Staffordshire, you would be hard pressed to convince Birmingham folks that this firm wasn't a great source of pride to them. Best thing to do is sit on the fence or go with the flow.

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