With Digbeth being one of the most creative areas of Birmingham, we thought it would be only right to let you in to a few lesser-known secrets about the lively suburb that we’re about to move in to!
Digbeth is home to Birmingham’s oldest pub
The Old Crown is the city’s oldest secular building and inn, The Old Crown. Supposedly standing since 1368, the pub features its original timber frame to this day. Boasting a rather impressive beer garden, you’ll want to get here when the sun’s out.
Typhoo was invented in Birmingham and their factory was in Digbeth
That’s right. One of the nation’s most loved teabag brands formed in Birmingham in the late 19th century. Their factory was on Bordesley Street until 1978, with the tea now being manufactured on the Wirral near Liverpool.
Bird’s Custard was also made in Digbeth
Bird’s Custard was the original, egg-free powdered custard mix and that was another food manufacturer which set up home in Birmingham in the early 19th century. Bird’s Custard moved to the Devonshire House factory in Digbeth around 1902 – which is now partly occupied by creative hub The Custard Factory – and the legacy still lives on. Recently, for a short period, a music venue also operated within The Custard Factory called Alfie Bird’s.
Digbeth hosts the largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the country
Appoximately 100,000 people line the streets of Digbeth one Sunday each March for the ever-popular Paddy’s Day Parade. Birmingham has always had a strong connection with Ireland, which is proven by the popularity of the parade!
The original Peaky Blinders once roamed the streets of Digbeth
Thanks to the popular BBC adaptation of the gang, Peaky Blinders are now household names. Through the late 1800s and early 1900s this Brummie gang roamed the streets of Digbeth, frightening fear in to locals and using popular haunts – some of which are still there to this day. You can book on to Peaky Tours to walk in their footsteps and learn the real truth about the gang.
