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From the East Kent Gazette.
The "Railway Tavern," now the "Ypres Tavern," in 1895.
WAR-TIME memories of nights spent under a table in the cellar are evoked
by this photograph, sent from the other side of the world by Arthur
Wallington.
Arthur, who now lives in Melbourne, Australia, has fond memories of
living in this pub, the "Railway Tavern" — now known at the "Ypres
Tavern" — has e-mailed this photograph.
He and his sister were born at the pub after their parents Bob and Ivy
Wallington moved from Higham to take over it in 1938. Arthur writes: “We
have memories of the war years and being taken from our beds in the
middle of the night during air raids and carried down into the cellar
and placed under a very solid table among all the beer barrels.
"Arthur's father, who had spent his former working life in the Royal
Navy, was called into the Royal Navy Fleet Reserve in 1939 to serve
during the Second World War.
"In 1943, he was at Bari Harbour in Italy when many ships were blown
asunder, one was carrying tons of Mustard gas. He died in 1950."
Arthur says his mother kept the licence of the pub after her husband's
death, but later married Kenneth Hunt.
Ken was involved in having the pub's name changed to "Ypres Tavern" when
Sittingbourne became twinned with the Belgian town. He also saw it
through the modern transition, which reduced the number of bars and
enlarged the drinking areas.
He has fond memories, too, of his great-grandmother Polly Bush sitting
in his bedroom window on the front corner of the pub, watching the
people and traffic go up and down the High Street below.
Polly, says Arthur proudly, was 99-and-a-half when she died in 1957 and
had been housemaid to the son of Charles Dickens at Gads Hill, in Higham,
in her youth.
Arthur says at one time there were five generations of one family living
in the pub. His research into the history of the "Railway Tavern" leads
him to believe it was converted from two cottages. He has discovered
from the 1861 census that Thomas Hales, aged 43 and born at Stockbury,
was licensee with his wife Ann, born at Deal. The couple had three sons,
two daughters, who lived at the pub with a mother-in-law and four
lodgers.
The 1901 census shows another Thomas Hales (son of the former) as a
licensee in Sittingbourne, but Arthur doesn't know if he was at the
"Railway Tavern."
Arthur says in his day, the pub had five bars — saloon, private, public,
bottle and jug and another one called simply "the big bar".
A blacksmith's behind the pub was demolished to make way for the car
park.
He ends his tale recalling that he and his friend Dennis West used to
play football & cricket on the car park and Mrs Wilson, who lived behind
the sweet shop and greengrocer's would give him a penny to keep quiet
some afternoons, so she could take a nap!
Arthur used to play darts in the pub after school and in later life he
teamed with Tom Turner, for many a game.
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