Daniel Batham & Sons Ltd.

 Daniel worked in a local mine whilst Charlotte kept a house with three lodgers. It was there she cultivated her talent for brewing ale. In the 1870's the couple moved to Cradley High Street and soon began working at The White Horse Inn. This pub has long since vanished but stood opposite the Rose & Crown. Daniel Batham took over the licence from John Attwood in 1882. And so the legend that has become Batham's Brewery was officially born - Charlotte brewed the ales and Daniel kept the pub, though it is thought he started to become a brewer himself.

Sons Daniel and Caleb entered the business which had begun to flourish. In 1904 Daniel took over The King William in Cole Street, Netherton, where production of Batham's beer continued for another 17 years before it was sold to Julia Hanson's brewery at Dudley. In 1905 Daniel Batham bought The Vine on The Delph which was previously owned by Caroline Fox, a close friend of the family (she was an Attwood, the family who had kept The White Horse Inn). Because Daniel was busy brewing at The King William, he decided to lease The Vine but interest was minimal - competition was fierce on The Delph which already had the large Elwell's Brewery. Production of Batham's beer was slowly transferred to The Vine from the King William which was sold in 1921. Another pub was added to the estate in 1923 when they acquired The Royal Oak in Lye. In 1926 the brewery bought The Bird in Hand at Oldswinford and The Brickmaker's Arms in Lye and also leased The Spread Eagle at Brierley Hill. Another pub was bought in 1931 - The Fountain Inn at Quarry Bank and a year later the company took the lease of The Railway Tavern in Cradley Heath, a pub that was not too far from where Charlotte Batham first began brewing ales. A family dispute in the 1930's between Daniel and Caleb Batham led to the sale of many of their pubs to larger breweries. However, they were back into taking on pubs again in the following decade when famous names like the Royal Exchange and The Lamp Tavern were added to the estate. It was in 1951 that the really significant move was made. The Swan Inn at Chaddesley Corbett, which was acquired by the Trustees of King Henry VIII in 1927, was leased it to Batham's on 27th July 1951. At that time the brewery only brewed traditional Black Country Mild. The locals of Chaddesley Corbett however were used to a paler drink and would have been up in arms were it not for the company introducing their first bitter to satisfy the palates of the North Worcestershire folk. Nowadays of course we take Bathams Bitter for granted but if it were not for The Swan we may never have tasted the amber nectar that is Batham's Bitter. The company almost amalgamated with Holden's during the 1950's but thankfully remained independent. The joint venture would have meant the closure of the brewery at The Vine and all production would have been moved to Woodsetton. Now with Matthew and Tim Batham at the helm, the brewery is now in its fifth generation of family ownership 

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Steve Pearson

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