The photo above shows the Anchor Bridge looking up the high street. The farm house and toll house have been replaced by a block of maisonettes.

Sited on the Chester Road at the bottom of Brownhills High Street where in 1769 on Yates' map of Staffordshire a building called, 'Cats Hall' stood, is The Anchor Inn. The Anchor bridge was built in 1797 to carry the Old Chester Turnpike Road over the newly built canal. There was a Toll House built on the opposite side of the bridge to the Anchor around 1854 when the original Toll House by Old Warren House Farm was no longer used as the old Chester road was diverted to make way for the Canal. The Toll House was demolished in 1910 when the road was widened.

There has been an Anchor Inn on the present site for over 200 years, It is thought to have been a Inn built for the canal workers and traffic around the late 1790's, it was mentioned in a book of the minutes of a meeting of the Wyrley and Essington Canal Co who held a meeting at the Anchor Inn, Catshill, Lower Stonnall. The Landlord at the time was Thomas Woodhouse. The Woodhouse family carried on as landlords for over 100 years. They were a family of wealth and owned land opposite the Anchor and around the Catshill area. In 1881 Mrs Rebecca Woodhouse was the Head of the household and along with her son, the fourth Thomas Woodhouse they ran the Anchor and 200 acres of Farmland, employing 6 men, 2 boys and 2 domestic servants.

In the early 1950's the proprietors of the Anchor were Arthur and Celina Preston. The Anchor has always been a popular pub and was frequented by the local coal miners who spent there time and money in there playing in Card, Domino and darts teams.
This photo shows Arthur Preston with his Granddaughter Elizabeth in the front entrance of the pub.

The front of the Anchor with Arthur's pride and joy's, his Daughter Ella and his new car.

This photo shows Arthur Preston in the early 50's  with his car on the side Car park of the Anchor Inn.

The Anchor in the early 1970's, as you can see from the sign, it was a Banks's owned pub and was managed by the Licensee.

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