Above postcard 1905 by Tony Smith.

Above photo 1960s, kindly sent by Tony Smith.

Above photo 1967, kindly sent by Christine Burns.

Above photo 1967, kindly sent by Christine Burns, showing licensees Leslie and Peggy Burns. Barmaid Vera shown left.

Above photo 1967, kindly sent by Christine Burns, showing licensees Leslie and Peggy Burns.

From an email received 25 July 2023.

The external shot (above dated 1967) shows the pub just after it was repainted by the brewery. The shop on the right was called ‘Jones’ and was a newsagents that also sold sweets and tobacco. The shop on the left, on the other side of the side street, was an old fashioned men’s outfitters. Just behind it, down that road, you can just see a tattoo shop, underlining that this was still very much a naval town. We had two floors of accommodation above the pub. Oddly there was no proper mains power on the top floor, other than electric light, so I couldn’t have heating in my bedroom — ice used to form on the inside of the windows in the mornings. There were, three bar areas (not two as someone claimed). The two main bars were the Public and the Saloon — both with hard linoleum floors — but there was also a ‘Snug’ with room for 3-4 people and a little windowed counter for people in there to order drinks and snacks.

During their tenure my parents, ‘Peg and Les’, made some small changes to transform the pub and its clientele. My Dad introduced Courage ‘Directors Bitter’ as an option alongside the brewery’s ‘Alton Bitter’ and ‘Mild’ cask ales. There was also a pressurised on tap. Looking back, I suppose he was doing something similar to publicans now bringing in guest ales. He also took out the draught Guinness (whose dispenser you can see in the second photo) and he replaced it with Harp Lager. He also introduced cocktails. This was to appeal to a younger customer, especially as a Saturday night disco had opened nearby and drew in a youth trade. We were a more attractive pub for youngsters than the two nearby competitors. I think the pub opposite was called the Imperial and there was a Shepard and Neame pub a few doors down that looked like a bit of a dive. Doing away with the draught Guinness was a subtle way to encourage an older (and more likely drunk and violent) kind of customer they inherited from the previous publicans (Mr and Mrs Ward, I think). My Dad also brought in an upright piano and played for customers some evenings. At other times he provided light music from a reel to reel tape recorder and my Mum would sing accompaniment (she had been a soprano singer with ENSA during the war). Other entertainments were a machine that took old pennies to tell your fortune and a reaction time machine that took threepenny bits.

The second photo is Peg and Les (right and centre) with their barmaid Vera (left). This was the saloon bar and you can see the Guinness tap on the right. Sorry the photos aren’t very big but they were small prints from a new-fangled instamatic.

Christine Burns.