Peaky Blinders Fans Left Disappointed by Real Garrison Pub Transformation
Devoted fans of the hit BBC series Peaky Blinders are experiencing significant disappointment when visiting the real Garrison pub in Birmingham. The historic establishment, which inspired the fictional boozer of the same name in the television show, has undergone a surprising transformation that has left many visitors feeling let down.
A Puzzling Discovery for Visitors
"It's not this is it?" asked one man wearing a flat cap, his eyebrow raised in confusion as he stood outside the building. His partner confirmed their location by scrolling through old photographs on her phone, showing images of the former Garrison pub that once served as a frequent haunt for the real-life Peaky Blinders gang.
"Not a pub anymore then," the man remarked with a resigned smile that clearly communicated his feeling of wasted time and effort. After taking a half-hearted photograph, he departed the scene, joining countless other fans who have made similar pilgrimages only to encounter disappointment.
The Unexpected Reopening
The good news is that the 'real' Garrison pub has indeed reopened after years of neglect and abandonment. The bad news for Peaky Blinders enthusiasts is that the reopening has taken a form completely different from what they might have hoped for or expected.
The once glorious Small Heath establishment, strategically located on the corner of Garrison Lane and Witton Street, now operates as a kitchen and bedroom specialist business called 'Elegant.' This century-old building ceased functioning as a pub back in 2014, leading to a full decade of confusion and false hope among fans who believed it might eventually reopen as a drinking establishment.
Historical Significance Versus Modern Reality
Since the Peaky Blinders television series launched in 2013, countless bars inspired by the show have emerged around the world. However, only this particular pub purportedly served the actual historical gangsters who were active from the late 1800s through the 1920s.
Despite the show's immense popularity across six complete seasons and now even a movie spin-off titled 'Immortal Man,' the real Garrison pub has never been open for business during this entire period. Hundreds, if not thousands, of fans have stopped to photograph the 'real' Garrison pub over the years, only to experience the sting of disappointment and walk away with nothing more than a photograph they will likely never view again.
Missed Tourism Opportunity for Birmingham
While visitors now know where to go if they require kitchen fittings, this transformation represents another missed opportunity for Birmingham to develop a genuine tourist attraction that could have easily drawn substantial visitor numbers to the city. The potential for capitalizing on the global popularity of Peaky Blinders appears to have been overlooked in favor of more conventional commercial use.
When asked whether he considered it unfortunate that the building hadn't reopened as a pub, Elegant employee Amif responded candidly: "To be honest, I've never had a drink in my life. So, erm, I have no experience about the feelings of the people. I can't really say anything [on that]."
Small Consolations for Determined Fans
Amif did reveal that Elegant has occasionally offered unofficial tours of the building's interior to particularly dejected fans, something that was completely impossible during the television series' eight-year run. "We see people taking pictures from the outside and sometimes I see videos on YouTube of their visit," he explained.
"We're a new business and we're upgrading the building to have a showroom. It's 90 percent there. Some people come here and they're keen to see inside. We let them come in and have a look."
Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight had previously expressed his desire to reopen The Garrison as a functioning pub, noting that he had been informed about "Japanese tourists and the like" regularly stopping to take photographs of the building. While the tourists haven't stopped visiting, unless they happen to need a new kitchen sink installed, there's essentially nothing for them to see beyond the building's exterior facade.
