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Following passage taken from
http://baileysbeerblog.blogspot.co.uk 2012.
The "Woodman’s Arms" at Hassel Street, near Hastingleigh high up on the North Downs between
Ashford and Canterbury, was a classic pub that has long since
disappeared. I only had the pleasure of visiting it once, and having
just turned eighteen did not, unfortunately, appreciate its finer points
at the time.
The "Woodman’s" had been brought to my attention after it had
featured on the local television "news magazine" programme - "Scene
South East". This was back in the days of "Southern Television" when our
local ITV programmes came from Southampton. This meant a distinct bias
towards Hampshire, with Kent and Sussex lucky to get a mention. The only
exception to this was on Friday evenings when the aforementioned
programme was broadcast from the company's Dover studio.
What had caught the presenter’s eye was the fact that the "Woodman’s
Arms" did not have a bar, which even 40 years ago was highly unusual.
Instead, drinkers sat around a table in what appeared to be the
licensee's front room. Having seen the pub featured, I decided to check
it out for myself, at the earliest available opportunity. I therefore
set off on my motorbike, one evening in June, in search of this highly
unusual pub.
Hassel Street was only a few miles away from my then home village of
Brook, but being tucked away amongst the maze of narrow lanes that lie
at the top of the North Downs it took a bit of finding. I eventually
succeeded, and found the pub located half-way down a “No-Through Road”.
From what I remember, it was an unassuming, white-painted building which
was considerably older inside than it looked from the outside.
According to a guide to “Kent Pubs”, published by Batsford in 1966,
the Woodman’s dated back to 1698, and had three rooms. One was a side
room, that doubled up as a children’s room, one was for darts whilst the
third acted as the bar-parlour. It was the latter that I made my way
into, and I do vaguely remember there being a darts room to the left of
the entrance. As shown on the television programme, the room was plainly
decorated, and simply furnished. There was a table, complete with
tablecloth, in the middle of the floor, and along one of the walls, was
a dresser on which were placed various bottles of wines, spirits and
bottled beers, plus a selection of glasses. Pushed up against the other
three walls were some hard wooden chairs, occupied by about half a dozen
or so people.
As I walked in I could see no evidence of any beer pumps, so I
enquired as to whether the pub sold draught beer. I was told that it did
but, feeling very conscious of the lull in the conversation, decided to
opt for just a half of bitter. The landlady retrieved a half-pint mug
from the dresser, and disappeared down some wooden stairs to the cellar
below.
To digress for a moment, according to the aforementioned “Kent Pubs”,
the "Woodman’s" was renowned for its beer. Although it was a freehouse
only one brew was stocked “so that it is always in condition”. “Come
here for your Fremlins” said the guide, and you would have had the
choice of Fremlins Mild, Three Star Bitter or County Ale. “Every pint or
half, is drawn in the cellar, seven steps down and seven steps up, which
stays at 50 degrees summer and winter.” The landlord had been told, when
he first came to the pub, by a retired publican friend that, “The secret
of keeping ale and beer was to order it in advance so that it can lay
for two weeks before you tap it.” These days, pubs seldom lay their beer
down for more than two days before tapping and serving it!
The recommendation given above would have been lost on me back then,
as I didn’t know that much about beer. However, the beer stocked at the
time was almost certainly cask Whitbread Trophy from the former Fremlins
Brewery in Faversham. When the landlady returned with my drink, I made
some half-hearted attempts at conversation, but felt increasingly
awkward and out of place. I had only recently reached the legal drinking
age and was a somewhat shy and slightly introspected youth, lacking in
social skills and not able to mix well with different age groups. Most
of the clientele seemed to know each other, and whilst they were not
unfriendly, I quickly decided that one swift half was enough. This was a
great shame as this turned out to be my only visit to the "Woodman’s."
Not long afterwards I went off to university, and apart from short
visits to see my parents, during vacation time, never returned to live
at home on a permanent basis.
I am not certain exactly when, or indeed why the pub closed, but one
possible clue to its demise is again given in “Kent Pubs”. The landlord
of the "Woodman’s" worked as a postman in the mornings, which suggests
that his main income came from delivering letters rather than serving
pints. This indicates that the pub may not have been viable on its own,
and given its isolated position, it is perhaps easy to see why. I cannot
help thinking though, that had the "Woodman’s" managed to hang on for a
few more years, then people like Mr Rodney Coe may have helped to put it
on the map. |
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