Closed Pubs of Caldecote, Kingston and Toft

Caldecote, Kingston and Toft are three villages close together in South Cambridgeshire, a mile apart from each other as the crow flies. At times in the 19th and 20th century there would have been at least 5 pubs open across the villages; the Fox in Caldecote, the Chequers and Rose and Crown in Kingston, and the Black Bull and Red Lion in Toft. Now there are none.

Caldecote

The Fox
Caldecote appears to have had only one pub, the Fox which closed in 1960 and is now a private house.

Caldecote resident Ellis Rowell recalls:

The main street was an unmade road in 1921, but was made up by the 1930′s. The Fox was kept by Mrs Badcock. Her husband, Mr Joe Badcock (a small farmer) was also bell ringer at the Church along with Mr Sam Farrington. The Church (St Michael and all Angels) had three bells. After Mr Farrington died, Mr Badcock carried on alone ringing all three bells. One rope in each hand and one longer with a loop in it which he put his foot into in order to ring the bell.

On one occasion, Bob and I cycled down to the Fox for a beer. At this time there were a family living at Lily Farm, opposite the Fox, which included several daughters. Some of them were in the pub on this occasion. As it was a warm summer evening, Bob and I were both in our shirt sleeves. We sat in the bar drinking our beer and the girls were intrigued by the fact that Bob’s shirt kept moving, suddenly there were shrieks from the girls as a ferret popped his head out of Bob’s shirt front. The girls calmed down and were soon at home with the ferret. Bob kept several ferrets and often took one out with him

Kingston

Kingston has had at least three pubs.

There was an inn of some sort in Kingston in 1593. The Chequers and the Rose and Crown public houses appeared in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The last public house in the village, however, closed in 1960. (A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely, C. R. Elrington)

The White Horse is also mentioned and a brewhouse was recorded in 1822

Chequers
Existed by at least 1832. Now a private dwelling, the white house on the left at the end of Field Road.

In some villages Plough Monday, if not observed by the traditional drawing of the plough in more recent years, was at least celebrated by a supper at the local inn for the farm workers. In 1937, for example, it was recorded that in Toft the day would be the occasion that year for the men of the village to go over to Kingston for a supper of salt beef, carrots and potatoes at the Chequers. This was to be followed by a concert of old songs sung to the accompaniment of a pianist from Cambridge.(Cambridgeshire Customs and Folklore, Enid Porter)

A resident of Kingston, Peter Stokes, comments:

Louis Jacklin, who lived in Kingston (I think) from around 1914 up to the late 1930′s remembers that The Rose and Crown had a full licence, but the Chequers had a licence for beer and tobacco only.

The 1891 census lists a Louisa Jacklin as daughter of Peter Jacklin, publican of the Rose and Crown from at least 1891 to 1916, while George Custerson is named as ‘Farmer and publican’ of the Chequers.

Rose and Crown
(corner of Rectory Lane/Church Lane)
A 19th century pub (at least as early as the 1880s) next to the church:

At the side on Rectory Lane stands the old Mead House:

Although there are no longer any pubs, the village does hold a monthly ‘Village Pub evening‘ in the village hall on the first saturday of the month, and an annual beer festival there in July.

Toft

Toft had two pubs, the Black Bull and the Red Lion.

Black Bull
Now a private house called The Old Black Bull, on the High Street opposite Stoney Lane.

Red Lion
A pub by 1851, it is now a Chinese Restaurant but was still a pub as recently as 1989. On the High Street at No. 2.

Toft does however have a Social club that serves real ale and holds an annual Toft Beer Festival.

Nearest Pubs

The nearest open pubs are:
Comberton – Three Horseshoes – a traditional village pub serving hearty food and real ale
Hardwick – Blue Lion – calling itself a ‘gastropub’, serves Greene King IPA and a guest. There has apparently been a ‘Pub on this site since 1769‘

There’s also the Willow Tree at Bourn, although it is now very much the ‘Country Gastropub’ it describes itself as and no longer a place to go just for a drink – the website has a wine list but no mention of beer, although it serves ale.

Collyweston Slater

…and the closed pubs of Collyweston.

The Collyweston Slater was originally a 17th century coaching inn called the Slaters Arms. It was renamed the Cavalier in 1973 for a period, before reverting to a name similar to its original. The adjoining row of six stone cottages were incorporated into the pub at some point in the 20th century.

It is now a fairly large pub with a varied layout inside, an Everards pub serving a nice drop of Moorhouse Pride of Pendle when visited.

Closed pubs:

Collyweston is a village in East Northamptonshire, about three miles south-west of Stamford, 4 1/2 miles south-east of Rutland Water and 45 miles north-west of Cambridge.

Prior to the turn of the century there were five ale-houses in the village, serving a population of 361. Evidently Collyweston had become a hard drinking parish.

The Swan and Blue Bell were the oldest ale-houses. The free standing signposts still exist. The Engine has, still intact, its porch complete with seats where many an hour was smoked and talked away by leisurely men. Public houses, usually the only community centres apart from the church, were open all day from 6.00am to 10.00pm. They have all now disappeared and are private residences, except the seventeenth century slaters Arms.

(J. Martin Goodwin, ‘Collyweston’)

The Blue Bell (l) and the Engine Inn (r)

By 1940 it had three pubs – The Engine, Blue Bell and Slaters Arms, only the latter having survived into the 21st century. The closed pubs of Collyweston are:

Blue Bell (Bell) – Early C17. Now Blue Bell House. Used as a first aid station during World War Two.

Corner Inn (Cross Keys) – 17th century house that was a pub for a short time in the late 19th, early 20th century and may have also been called Cross Keys. Also the post office for a time. Now called Corner House, no.15 High St.

Engine – Early 17th century inn with open fireplaces. Named after a traction engine used in farming. Known as a ‘Tom and Jerry’ beerhouse.

White Swan Inn (the Talbot?) – Early 18th century, now Swan Farm, Back Lane. In the 19th century Elizabeth Freeman was a landlady at the White Swan for over 50 years. She had previously resided at the Bull and Swan, Stamford where she served Dick turpin a quart of ale at the door:

He heartily drank of the ale and putting his silver tankard in his pocket, galloped off on his favourite mare Black Bess to the wonder and vexation of the landlord

On a plan of the village in the 19th century, two brewhouses are shown (were at no. 29/30 and 35, since renumbered).

Thanks to the Collyweston Historical & Preservation Society for much of the above information.

The Pubs of Ludham, Norfolk

Ludham is a village in the Norfolk Broads, between Norwich and Great Yarmouth on the A1062 and reachable from the river Ant at Ludham Bridge, the Bure at St Benet’s Abbey and the Thurne via Womack Water. (Google Map)

There are two pubs in Ludham, about a mile apart – the Kings Arms in the centre of the village and the Dog Inn near Ludham Bridge. There have been at least 6 other pubs in the village centre and the buildings still exist as private dwellings, all visible within footsteps of the King’s Arms. Another closed pub, the Chequers, once stood at St Benet’s Abbey. From the Dog Inn beer garden you can see across the fields to where the Chequers once stood.

Ludham pubs:
Kings Arms, Norwich Road
Dog Inn, Ludham Bridge (Johnson Street)

Closed pubs:
Bakers Arms, Yarmouth Road
Chequers, St Benet’s Abbey
Rose and Crown, Staithe Road
Royal Exchange, Staithe Rd, Sunnyside
Royal Oak, Norwich Rd
Ship Inn, Yarmouth Rd, opp. Baker’s Arms
Spread Eagle, Staithe Rd – Manor Gates/Croft

Ludham Pubs:

Kings Arms, Norwich Road The Kings Arms is in the centre of Ludham, less than 10 minutes walk from Womack Staithe off the river Thurne. It serves good pub grub and Woodfordes Wherry and Nelsons Revenge when visited. There was once a small lounge bar to the left which was primarily for food, but this has now been opened out to create a larger bar area. A 1973 pub guide describes it as a “real old village pub with all the things that one would expect to find in it” and this is still true, although there is no longer “a roaring fire for the winter months” (George Nobbs, Pubs to visit in East Anglia). There is no longer accommodation either; in 1922 when the bus service first came to Ludham, the driver slept at the King’s Arms before returning to Great Yarmouth the next day (Staithe Road, Ludham Archive). There is outdoor seating in the beer garden and at the front of the pub. Above the front entrance hangs a sign from the closed Norwich Brewery. Within a few footsteps of here you can see 6 closed pubs of Ludham.

Dog, Johnson Street, Ludham Bridge The Dog Inn is about 5 minutes walk from Ludham Bridge and the river Ant, on Johnson Street. There has been a pub here since at least 1689 when an entry in the church register records ‘the burial of Mary Thaxter from the Dog-house’ (Joan Snelling, Ludham, a Norfolk Village), although the present building is more recent. A free house with Wolf Straw Dog and Woodfordes Wherry when visited. The beer garden has views out towards St Benet’s Abbey where the closed Chequers pub used to stand.

Closed pubs:

Baker’s Arms The Bakers Arms was an early 18th century beer house with a public bakehouse at the rear. It closed at the end of trade on Sunday 19th April 1959. It stood on the corner of Yarmouth Road and the High Street, on the right of the present shop. The building has since been demolished and the site is now Bakers Arms Green, where the village sign stands. An old photo on www.norfolkpubs.co.uk shows the pub with a ‘Bullards pure Ales and Stout’ sign. The pub is shown in the 1954 movie “Conflict of Wings”.

Chequers, St Benet’s Abbey The Chequers once stood on the banks of the river Bure at St Benet’s Abbey. It is actually in the Parish of Horning but by land is only accessible from Ludham. The building burnt down in 1891 (Tim Pestell, St Benet’s Abbey) and nothing can now be seen, although some remains of the pub and other buildings exist under the soil amongst the ruins of St Benets Abbey. The images above show the curve of the river where buildings including the Chequers and the brewery to the left once stood – the model is on display in Horning Church. There are some wonderful paintings of the Chequers at Grove Farm Gallery. Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery has sketches of the interior of the Chequers in 1858, ‘whose cool recesses speak of ancient ways’ (G.C. Davies, Handbook to the Rivers and Broads of Norfolk and Suffolk)

Rose and Crown, Staithe Road The Rose and Crown, also known as the Crown, was a pub from at least 1752, closed by 1907. Part of the bar may still exist inside the building which is now called Crown House. There was a Post Office in the pub for over 30 years in the 19th century. It had ‘a large public room for auctions and meetings and a cellar’ (Staithe Road, Ludham Community Archive Publications)

Royal Exchange, Staithe Road A beerhouse in the 19th century, the Royal Exchange is now a private dwelling called ‘Sunnyside’. The building is believed to date from the 1600s.

Royal Oak, Norwich Rd A pub in the 18th century, this thatched building opposite the churchyard is now a private dwelling.

Ship Inn, Yarmouth Rd, opp. Baker’s Arms Discover Ludham, produced by the Ludham Community Archive Group, records that in 1794 the larger house in the row opposite Baker’s Arms Green was the Ship Inn.

Spread Eagle, Staithe Rd – Manor Gates/Croft The Spread Eagle, a pub for just over 40 years in the late 1800s, was in a building which had previously been the vicarage (it backs on to the churchyard) and later became a temperance hotel. It is now two dwellings, Manor Gates and Manor crofts with the small former communal bake-house to the right; a former licencee was also a baker.

Earl Grey, Cambridge

This is number 60 King Street,Cambridge. Once the Earl Grey pub, more recently a betting shop, now empty. The pub, closed for more than 40 years, had planning permission to turn back into a pub (Feb 2011) but was refused a license (4th April 2011).

Earl Grey could refer to Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey who was educated at Trinity College and later became Prime Minister (1830-1834). The 3rd Earl Grey, Henry George Grey, and 4th Earl Grey Albert were also at Trinity.

This two storey, slate roofed, grey gault brick building was a pub since at least the 1870s according to Sara Payne’s Down Your Street. Dead pubs dates it to 1852 when it was numbered 34 King Street. The publican in the 1920s was called Isabella Rank. The shop next door sells coffee and tea, probably Earl Grey.

Pub nicknames – The Barking Dickey

The Barking Dickey, Westlegate, Norwich

This was a 19th century pub originally called The Light Dragoon or Light Horseman.

It became known as The Barking Dickey, a Norfolk phrase for ‘singing donkey’, after the badly painted sign that looked more like a braying donkey than a horse and soldier!

It is one of only five remaining thatched houses in the city that survived the devastating fire of 1507.

Norwich Closed Pubs – Refreshers

It was said that Norwich once had ‘a pub for every day of the year, and a church for every week’.

But in 1883 Norwich actually had 552 pubs!

At the time of writing, there are around 160 open pubs in Norwich and the number is fast declining.

Refreshers, 1 St Giles Street

At the corner of St Giles Street and Lower Goat Lane stands a very recently closed pub, Refreshers. Rebuilt in the 1950′s, the pub, previously called The Raven, had been there since at least the 18th century and the original building since at least the 16th century.

The workman inside informed us it was now going to become a pizzeria.
Another Norwich pub is lost.