We take a tour of Nortons in Digbeth: The former factory is now an important hub for Birmingham’s Irish community

National World - LocalTV

Nortons contribution to the Birmingham Irish community has been recognised with £28,000 of arts council funding. It will be used to invest in grassroots artists and organisations at the 500 capacity venue and also increase the support and booking of female artists.

Transcript

00:00 Norton's Digbeth as a pub, we took it on in 2019, took the building on in October and

00:08 we refurbished it and turned it into a pub by December 2019.

00:12 Before we took it on it was Norton's Hydraulics which is where the name comes from and before

00:16 then it was Ash and Lacey Metalworks.

00:17 There's a big crest there on the roof that says Ash and Lacey and so as we've sort of

00:23 built the bar within this old factory we've kept a nod to the Norton's brand and the Ash

00:28 and Lacey Metalworks.

00:30 Family, friends and the local community came together to convert this former industrial

00:34 premises into one of Birmingham's most eclectic and important live music venues.

00:40 What was a factory and offices now encompasses a traditional Irish front bar together with

00:45 a secret snug bar.

00:47 Behind that a 500 capacity live music venue and a massive beer garden adorned with stunning

00:54 giant mural artworks.

00:56 I think what people love here is the community element of it, that you always know people

00:59 that are going to be in, the live music and the culture of the place and it's a nice safe

01:06 sort of family friendly vibe in here the whole time.

01:09 Norton's contribution to the Birmingham Irish community has been recognised with £28,000

01:15 worth of Arts Council funding.

01:17 It will be used to invest in grassroots artists and organisations at this 500 capacity venue

01:23 and also increase the support and booking of female artists.

01:28 They provided a grant to the pub to celebrate music and arts and all things Irish and the

01:39 money can then be put forward to organising better gigs, greater gigs, greater events.

01:44 You know especially in Birmingham there's not many places to celebrate Irish culture

01:48 as to music that we've been practising and playing our entire lives.

01:51 Oh it's electric, absolutely electric, there's no greater feeling than standing on that stage

01:56 playing the songs that everyone loves and everyone listens to.

01:59 It's the greatest feeling in the world and I wouldn't change a second of it.

02:02 The Irish community has played a massive part in the development and success of Birmingham,

02:07 a fact that rightly deserves celebration and the venue plays a pivotal role in the city's

02:12 St Patrick's Festival.

02:14 This pub is a massive part of the St Patrick's Day celebrations.

02:17 It's become a focal point for people who have come to watch the parade, families, children,

02:23 people of any ages will watch the parade and they'll come here after, enjoy great live

02:28 Irish music, have a fantastic community feel around them.

02:32 The pub is incredibly important to the Irish community in Birmingham as well as surrounding

02:36 communities.

02:37 It's a place they can come, meet each other, see their families, watch Irish live music.

02:42 Just a place to generally get together, see everybody you know, you meet people from school

02:45 that you haven't seen in years, it's just an incredibly important part of Irish culture.

02:50 It's such an important, a really important part of Irish culture is being very family

02:54 orientated and having a lot of friends and things like that so this is a really great

02:59 place to come just to be able to do those things and a general meeting place, it's great.

03:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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