'UB40 pub' closed for seven years to re-open
The Eagle and Tun in Eastside, Birmingham, was famously used as the setting for the chart-toppers video to hit single Red Red Wine.
A favourite haunt of the band, due to its proximity to nearby recording studios used by the group, it closed in 2008 as numerous buildings in the area were demolished and it lost customers.
However, with the opening of a new university and housing accommodation nearby, it has been re-opened by an off-licence trader who told the Birmingham Post that he does not want to have his name revealed.
He told the local paper that he had bought the pub in 2009 - and it has taken some time to re-open the venue due to a 2012 break-in, which resulted in fittings, lights and wiring being stolen.
He also spoke to the Birmingham Mail, stating: “I have restored the bar, which still has the original seats around the wall.
“We partially re-opened for business on December 15, opening daily from 5pm to midnight.
“The reaction we have had so far has been very good, but I wanted to keep everything low-key."
“As well as selling drinks including Guinness, Hogan’s Cider, Amstel and Birra Moretti, I wanted to put on one real ale – which is currently Wye Valley’s HPA – and then build up real ale sales from there. I want us to sell the best ale in the city and to put on great student nights.
Members of UB40 were so delighted in the move that they broke off from recording to comment on the re-opening.
Founding member Brian Travers said: “We spent many recording session breaks over a period of 27 years in there and shot a film based around it called Labour of Love which included Red Red Wine, which was shot in the bar. It’s great to see this wonderfully intact Victorian building open again.”
