A great mystery surrounds ‘The Practice’ in Selly Oak, Birmingham. At first glance it has all the hallmarks of an ordinary shop.
Its address – 818 Bristol Road – is printed across the front, along with a telephone number for (presumably) customers to call. Fairly conventional, and yet, on closer inspection, The Practice appears to be anything but ordinary.
Firstly, there’s the great big tree growing out of its roof, reaching upwards towards the sky. The telephone number on the front is an ‘021’ dial code which hasn’t been used in the city since 1995. It has zero Google reviews online, despite the option to leave one.
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People who know and live in Selly Oak say they have never seen it open in 30-plus years. And yet, well-nourished geraniums have been a constant feature in its front window every year, from spring to autumn. Somebody is watering them, but who?
Mystery surrounds ‘The Practice’ in Selly Oak
(Image: Harry Leach)
Roll back the years as far as Google Street View will allow (2009), and you will see The Practice has weathered, but otherwise has remained frozen in time. Not one neighbouring business from 15 years ago is still there, yet this mysterious site, which apparently has never been open, is.
Rumours about The Practice’s ‘real purpose’ have circulated online for a while. Theories range from the plausible, to the outright bizarre. Reddit is awash with talk about plant-watering ghosts and vampires.
Four years ago, one Redditor wrote: “On Monday, we walked past and, for the first time, saw someone in there. It was an older-looking man wearing a white lab coat. We were so surprised. We thought he was a mannequin at first.”
Then, only 12 months ago, those claims were corroborated by another on the online forum: “Drove past the shop recently and saw an old man in a white lab coat locking up. Must mean something?”
What I found out about The Practice
When I visited The Practice, I did what I imagine even Sherlock Holmes would do first: I knocked on its worn, wooden door. No answer.
Okay, my next bright idea: swap out the defunct 021 number for 0121 and give it a buzz. It rang when I called, but no answer each time.
With my face pressed against the glass, looking beyond the plants, I could make out an old office inside. Cabinets, chairs, a desk, files; black and white photos of historic Birmingham buildings hanging on the walls; a clock telling the wrong time.
A picture of UB40 legend Brian Travers, that has been there for a while, was facing outwards, seemingly by design, greeting anyone looking in. A possible clue? Perhaps.
Happy Land, the Chinese takeaway next door to The Practice, said a man by the name of Dave lives there. “Davey, we call him,” they told me. “He comes and goes…we just say hello and bye if we see him.”
A shopkeeper further down the road, who asked to remain anonymous, shed further light on the mystery: “We don’t know much about him other than he had ties to the music industry, at some point. That’s what we’ve heard anyway.”
Digging online, Companies House shows a business called Freekquency Worldwide Limited was registered at 818 Bristol Road until 2023. Its secretary: ‘David Cox’.
A Google search of his name brings up some interesting results – including my colleague’s recent interview with Weoley Castle butcher Ian Gibson. Mr Gibson said his first job was working at Dave Cox Butchers in the 70s – which Moseley Society Local History Group has shared a fascinating picture of here.
In what is a lesser-known bit of music history, Dave Cox, who owned the butchers, was pivotal in getting UB40 off the ground, and even reportedly allowed the band to practice above his shop. Ali Campbell, the reggae act’s lead singer, told The Guardian in 2002: “When we started, we were £70,000 in debt.
“We got sponsored by the local butcher, Dave Cox, our saviour. Without him, we would never have made it.”
When I quizzed Mr Gibson about his former boss, he said: “Dave always was an elusive character. When I first started, he had fingers in so many pies. He funded UB40 and had a music store in Stirchley. He was also a DJ. He went by the name ‘Dave the Rave’.”
When asked if it was the same Dave Cox registered at The Practice, Mr Gibson said: “I don’t know about that, or where he is, or what he’s doing. I last saw him about 18 months ago when he popped into the shop – but nothing since.”
Is it possible that the “elusive” Mr Cox, the former butcher who played a crucial role in helping UB40 on their road to stardom, is also the owner of The Practice? Signs certainly point that way, but for now, this mystery remains unsolved.
Can you help shed light on The Practice? Let me know my emailing harry.leach@reachplc.com