30/05/2026
As Local and Community History Month draws to a close, we wanted to highlight the history of another pub in Balsall Common — this time, The White Horse.
Originally known as The Plough, The White Horse began as a simple cottage selling local ale. During the 19th century, Kenilworth Road was a busy transport route and served as a turnpike (an early toll road). As trade at the pub increased, the original cottage was replaced by the more substantial building we see today.
Each year, on the Monday after 13 August, the 'Balsall Wake' was held at the pub. Wakes were known for attracting working-class crowds with their lively and sometimes riotous, entertainment. Local women raced from High Cross (the junction of Kenilworth Road and Kelsey Lane/Alder Lane, where the traffic lights stand today) to The White Horse for the chance to win a quarter of a pound of tea, while men competed in a bowling contest in the field behind the pub, with a duck as the prize.
In the 1950s, The White Horse operated as a hotel and was owned by James Byrnes, creator of Coventry car firm Peerless Motors, which entered a car in the Le Mans race in 1958. The deal to secure the engines and the mechanic needed for the race was reportedly struck over a beer at The White Horse at dawn. The Peerless sports saloon went on to finish 16th overall and won its class.
In 1953, Byrnes was the target of a failed murder plot. According to the Birmingham Gazette, on 29 May 1953 a Scotland Yard detective told the Bow Street magistrate in London that Derek Howard Wright had asked him to stage a motor accident at Stratford-upon-Avon "and thereby kill a man named Byrnes." Byrnes had married Wright's former wife.
If you are interested in the history of our area, you can find out more through Solihull Council's heritage website or the Berkswell and District History Group. Links to both can be found in the top comment.
