|
Pub History Society visit to Nottingham - November 2004
On a bright November Saturday, dozens of sleepy locals in and around Nottingham suffered a brief invasion as note-taking strangers peered behind fireplaces and bars, looked up chimneys and under tables, downed a swift half and just as quickly were gone. Was it the taxman? Health and safety? Or perhaps a dress rehearsal for our new smoking police? No - just the autumn trip of the PHS, joined by CAMRA members from Peterborough, Huntingdonshire and of course Nottingham branches.
What a golden day for the journalist too! We were puzzled by the monkey, bowled over by an untouched '30s skittle alley, and knocked out by the boxing ring discovered in one of the few surviving brewhouses: all in an area we thought we knew all about. And there's only one word for our condition at the end of the day – ‘slaughtered’ - Mick Slaughtered that is, our most knowledgeable tour guide. The daunting main course took in 14 pubs extending as far as Linby, where we were welcomed to a splendid meal at the unspoiled Horse & Groom. As ‘extras’ we managed walk-pasts at another 5 or 6 pubs and 2 historic breweries. Scheduled diversions for National Inventory or Good Beer Guide fans included a further 13 houses. I believe none of the ‘splinter’ groups visited all of the pubs, but anyone who did, and managed to pull in the last over - at the Test Match, West Bridgford - would ha ve scored 33, hopefully not out.
Our day started at the Bell (thought by Time Team to be Nottingham's oldest), where we had a tour of the extensive sandstone cellars, though on this occasion we couldn't explore the very deepest level some 40 feet under St James' St. Our thanks to Brian & Rob of the Bell for their enthusiasm and hospitality.
The Bell had been in the Jackson family since 1898 until the relatively recent sale to Hardys & Hansons. The good news is of course that the Bell still retains the same feel that it’s always had. The Bell was included in a Time Team challenge several years ago when the other two ‘oldest pubs’ were examined against the Bell to find out which was the true holder of the title ‘Oldest pub in Nottingham’. I’m sure this is still a hotly debated subject and supporters of the ‘Trip’ and the ‘Salutation’ still lock antlers over this one.
Taking full advantage of the top-value spanking new trams of Nottingham's Express Transit system , we shot off to Basford for a call at the Horse & Groom, once the Shipstone's Brewery tap. The cellars here are massive as they were once used as the training ground for the company. The impressive brewery building lies next door and has since found other uses following its closure.
Thence to Bulwell for a quick look at the mock Tudor Three Crowns, where surprising survivors include the Music Room and the original Skittle Alley which is still in use. En route we spotted the unusual inn sign of the Framesmith's Arms - it depicts a pet monkey kept by a previous landlord. Just around the corner we found the Newstead Abbey in St Albans Rd. Still retaining its original internal divisions, it has been most carefully refitted (although Mick regretfully had to rule out the fireplace as original - we doubt the Victorians used Pozidriv screws!). The bonus here was the two excellent milds on offer from Greenalls and Tetleys.
Onward by tram and bus to the delightful village of Linby where the listed Horse and Groom has a superb '30s 4-room layout with a real fire in each room. Our party was rapidly served and the meal we had was excellent. 
Our return journey was broken at the Fox & Crown, Old Basford which just happens to be home of the Alcazar microbrewery. Opposite is the very striking White Swan, a substantial Home Brewery house with ornate tiled façade. Internally, it seems little altered with many surviving features.
Nearby is the wonderfully complete Hutchinson's Brewery building (now Murphy & Co), which sadly hasn't brewed since the '20s. Splitting here, the hard core shot off to pull in the Vale Hotel at Daybrook and nearby Five Ways - both on CAMRA's National Inventory of outstanding pub interiors. The Vale Hotel is one of a number of Art Deco pubs built for Home Brewery in the '30s. It appears to be intact with bar, lounge, snug and rear lounge despite suffering some minor alterations in the past, and is now Grade II listed. A choice of 6 real ales including local brews fortified the party for the short walk to the Five Ways. This is another largely unspoilt '30s 4-room pub which Scottish Courage wanted to convert into a one-room eatery - a successful local campaign halted this and got the building Grade II listed. The ground floor is in stone with Tudor style upper half, and much of the internal panelling, fittings and screens have survived: the ornate Piano lounge is perhaps the outstanding feature. Thanks to landlord Steve for showing us round.
A more leisurely splinter group made their way slowly to the Plough at Radford, home of yet another small brewery - the Nottingham Brewery Co. The original business of this name once had one of the largest local tied estates (including the Plough), but sold out to Tennants of Sheffield in 1944. The name was revived in recent years for today's micro-brewery which supplies this and a number of other local pubs with up to six "Nottingham" beers. Rebuilt in the 1920’s, the Plough is one of those places where a little bit of history can be uncovered, in this case the existence of an outside skittle alley, not to mention four original Doulton urinals.
A short walk took us to the White Horse, Ilkeston Road, which as many will know was the ‘local’ for 1960's ‘Saturday Night & Sunday Morning’ in which a drunken Albert Finney fell the length of the pub's staircase. Despite wholesale redevelopment of the surrounding sites, the pub's original 1912 brewhouse stands unchanged - the big surprise is that Radford Boys' Boxing Club which has been housed there for 35 years is still going strong. Access to the boxing ring was via one of the steepest flight of wooden steps ever seen, and Alan Smith kindly hosted this part of the tour. Back inside the pub (many thanks to Gloria) we saw the basement skittle alley, now home to a model railway club!
Back on the bus into town, some lingered to visit the Falcon while most pressed on to the Trip, where "Ringing the Bull" was just as hard as ever. History here is "conjectural", but I've recently unearthed a rather more plausible explanation for the Jerusalem connection, but you’ll have to wait for that! Glad to see that the model ship is still adorned with antique cobwebs, and now safe in a case. Our visitors were returning to Peterborough and beyond by train, so a last call at the Vat & Fiddle was in order - with a splendid choice of beers. Some hardy souls had pulled in the Mansfield Road and/or Lace Market sub-tours, but I felt we should leave a little for next time!
This of course was serious research of an educational and historical nature rather than a beer trail - but we did manage to pull in 3 brew-pubs (or 4 with the Vat). Though we didn't keep track of all the ales encountered, and occasionally sampled, with one notable exception I heard no adverse comments. A commendable number of dark beers were found, and particular favourites were Alcazar's chocolate stout at the Fox & Crown, and Nottingham's Sooty Stout at the Plough.
Peter Gurd, Nottingham CAMRA
|
