Stone

Elverton

Luddenham

Above postcard, 1980s, kindly supplied by John Robertson.

Above photo circa 1987, kindly sent by Jeremy Lynn.

Above photo circa 1987, kindly sent by Jeremy Lynn.

Above photo taken April 1988, by Roger Marples.

Above darts team, 1970s, names unknown.

Above photo, names and date unknown.

Above photo, circa 1989, kindly sent by Jeremy Lynn.

Above photo, date unknown.

Above photo, circa 1989, kindly sent by Jeremy Lynn, showing the licensee Bob Jarrett bringing the change.

Above photo, circa 1990.

Above photo 1990 showing Bob Jarrett in the cellar.

Above photo by Penny Mayes, date unknown, Creative Commons Licence.

Above photo by Peter Checksfield, September 2014.

Above photo by Peter Checksfield, September 2014.

It is believed the pub closed early 1990s and there was an outcry, with news of the closure making regional TV news. The pub had been in the hands of the same family for well over 100 years and had not been touched probably in a hundred.

The thing that made Mounted Rifleman so special was the fact that it didn't even have a bar! Instead each pint was brought up from the cellar, on a tray, by the landlord. The pub's single draught beer was Fremlins Bitter, drawn straight from the cask. Even more unusual was that the bottled beers, spirits, mixers and soft drinks were all kept in the cellar as well, almost as though the proprietor didn't want customers to actually see the drinks on offer!

The pub was entered from the rear, almost as though one was walking through the landlord's garden, the pub's interior was basic and simply furnished. I do recall learning in the mid 1980's that the landlord had dropped dead following a heart attack. After his death his brother took over the running of the pub for a while.

In the early nineties the pub became to much for him and having, as far as I know no family who wanted to take the pub over reverted back to the brewery, there were a number of interested parties but with a large number of planning restrictions on developing or extending the pub, interest waned with the pub being sold off as a private dwelling. Indeed the pub is still missed and still spoken about in the Faversham area.

The pub was put up for sale, and was eventually sold without a license, as a private house. The Mounted Rifleman had absolutely no frills about it and and been in the same family for several generations. It was particularly