Sherds CA 411

Birmingham’s ‘Cavern Club’ Historic England has recently listed three properties that have been claimed as the ‘first’ examples of their kind (not, it has to be said, by Historic England themselves – they know better than to invite a pantomimic chorus of ‘Oh no it’s not!’, but the media are not so subtle). Hence the BBC, among others, claimed that the Crown Hotel in Station Street, Birmingham, newly listed at Grade II, was ‘the birthplace of heavy metal’ and the place where ‘Black Sabbath played their first gig’. In reality, Black Sabbath played their first gig in Workington, Cumbria, and the band that we now know by that name was called ‘Earth’ when it perfo