Historic Garibaldi Inn pub sign saved from skip

The sign, which once hung proudly outside the Garibaldi Inn in St John’s, is now on display in the county museum.

Ann Radford, of Knight Street, spotted the sign when passing the former pub, which is being converted into flats.

The sign has been placed on permanent display at the Museums Worcestershire Collections Centre.

SIGN: The sign when it was still in place outside the closed Garibaldi pub (Image: Google Maps)

St John’s councillor Richard Udall said: “Previous planning applications, which were rejected, had included the preservation of the sign.

“For whatever reason, on the one that was approved this condition was left out. A case of human error.

“I sent planning enforcement officers to the pub to collect the sign but when they got to the building site it had gone so we thought it was lost.

“As it turned out, Ann had already spotted it, asked permission to take it and donated it to the museum.

“It’s great because it’s been saved for the future.

READ MORE: Green light for plan to turn empty Garibaldi in St John's into flats

“The pub, which was at 80 Bromyard Road, was named after Giuseppe Garibaldi, the great popular hero of Italian Unification, who died on June 2, 1882. The pub opened later the same year.”

Cllr Udall said people often confused the former Garibaldi in St John’s with another pub of the same name in Wyld’s Lane that was the scene of gruesome murders in 1925.

The Wyld’s Lane pub closed several decades ago, while the Garibaldi in St John’s was open until a few years ago.

The Bromyard Road pub was the subject of a number of failed planning applications to turn it into flats, with the number of apartments coming down each time.

Eventually, planners granted permission for the renovation in December 2022 despite objections from a number of neighbours.

* A previous version of this story incorrectly said the sign can be seen at Worcestershire County Museum at Hartlebury Castle.