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From the Dover Express and East Kent News, Friday, 2 January, 1925.
Price 1½d.
LICENSING
The "Tilmanstone Colliery Club" was granted an hours' extension for
the 3rd January, on the occasion of the visit of other clubs.
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From the Dover Express and East Kent News, Friday, 2 January, 1925.
Price 1½d.
ANNUAL LICENSING MEETING
The Annual General Licensing meetin g for Dover and the Liberties was
held at the Town Hall on Monday before the mayor (Councillor S. J.
Livings), Sir William Crundall, Aldermen W. J. Barnes and J. W. Bussey,
Dr. C. Wood, Messrs. W. B. Brett, W. J. Palmer, H. J. Burton, W. Hollis,
A. Clark, T. A. Terson, S. Lewis, C. E. Beaufoy, T. Francis and W.
Bradley.
THE POLICE REPORT
The Chief Constable's report was as follows:- "I have the honour to
submit for your information, my annual report under the Intoxication
Laws. i am glad to inform you that the whole of the houses have been
conducted without complaint, and there have been no prosecution during
the year. 680 visits were made to licensed premises by the Police during
the year. 62 special orders of exemption, under Section 57 of the
Licensing Act, 1910, were granted to licensed premises (including 10
clubs) during the year, and 25 occasional licenses were also granted by
the Justices; last year, 70 and 10 respectively. 23 fully licensed
houses have changed hands during the year; last year, 23 fully licensed
premises and 5 shops. The renewal of the licenses of the "Dover Castle
Hotel," the "Harp Hotel," and "Allsopp's Stores" (off-licence) was not
applied for at the last annual licensing sessions. There are in the
Borough:- Fully licensed houses, 137; 'on and off' beer-houses 5; 'off'
beer-houses, 9; shops, 11; confectioners, 3; total, 165. Drunkenness:-
1922, males 20, females 6, total 26; 1923, males 12, females 5, total
27; 1924, males 7, females 6, total 13. Of those proceeded against for
drunkenness, 7 were residents, 3 non-residents, and 3 soldiers. I should
like here to state that this is the lowest number ever proceeded against
for drunkenness in the Borough. Population, Census 1921, 39,993;
population to each licensed house, 212.39; drunkenness per 1,000
population, 0.32. I have selected no licenses for compensation this
year, owing to the difficulty of differentiation, but the "Exeter Arms,"
Limekiln Street, has been demolished during the year, and I have reason
to believe that the renewal of the license will not be applied for. I
respectfully suggest that, should the Justices desire to send for any
compensation, a small committee of the Magistrates be formed to assist
me in selecting the houses. (Signed) Alexe. M. Bond. Chief Constable.
Mr. Rutley Mowll applied for the transfer of the licence of the "Lord
Warden Hotel" from the Gordon Hotels Company to Mr. MacMurchy, of the
Frederick Hotels Company. He made a similar application in respect of
the Admiralty Pier and prince of Wales pier licences.
These were granted.
LICENSES RENEWED
The Magistrates' Clerk said that the existing licences in the Borough
and Ringwould and the music, singing and dancing licences had been
renewed.
Mr. Rutley Mowll applied for the usual certificates under the
Compensation Fund, fixing the rate to be charged in respect of the
following:- At one third, Admiralty Pier, Prince of Wales Pier, Dover
Marine Station and Harbour Stations refreshment rooms, the "Granville
Restaurant," and Mr. Capelli's, 177, Snargate Street.
These were granted.
Mr. Rutley Mowll applied, under Section 3 of the Act, 1921, for
certificates for granting to the "Lord Warden Hotel," and the "King's
Head Hotel," granting special facilities entitling them to serve
Continental travellers with intoxicants at their meals on the production
of satisfactory evidence that they were Continental travellers.
Permission, which had previously granted, was renewed.
The following dates were fixed as special sessions for transferring
licences; April 3rd, June 5th, August 14th, October 2nd, December 4th,
1925, and January 8th, 1926.
CLOSING HOURS
The Magistrates' Clerk said that the Magistrates would now hear
anyone who desired to make any observations on the question of
"permitted hours" for licensed premises.
The Rev. Walter Holyoak, coming forward, there was loud applause from
the back of the Court.
The magistrates' Clerk: Silence, please. This is a Court of law - not
a theatre.
The Rev. Walter Holyoak said that he appeared as representing the
Dover Free Church Council, and he asked that the closing hours should be
10 o'clock and not 10.30 p.m. The question was a simple one. the Act of
1921 said that the closing hour should be 10 o'clock unless special
circumstances in particular areas warranted a later hour in the public
interest. He though it unfortunate that the hour was not fixed
everywhere at 10 o'clock, or that the special circumstances were not
defined, because it was possible for Magisterial judgement to be
deflected by personal feelings towards total abstinence. What they had
to decide was whether the public interest in Dover demanded an earlier
or later hour of closing. The public interest did not mean the
publicans' interest or the interest of any one section. It meant the
interest of the wife and husband who drank, and of an immense number of
children. Guidance in deciding the matter, he thought, could be gained
by past experience. he asked them to consider the experience during the
war time restrictions. There was also guidance to be had from example,
and he asked them to study the example of the great Metropolis, in
support of which he produced a map, made in March, 1923, showing in
colours the closing hours.
The Mayor: Two years old?
The Rev. W. Holyoak: Yes, April, 1923.
The Mayor: Personally, I am not guided by other towns; I like to take
reach town on its merits. (Applause from the back of the Court and cries
of "Order.")
Sir William Crundall said that he believed the hours had been altered
since the diagram was made.
The Rev. W. Holyoak said that he did not believe in taking other
towns, but inasmuch as the application often agreed that way, he thought
it was legitimate to follow it. Continuing, he said that a later hour
must mean more drink selling or the trade would not desire it, and more
drink selling meant more drunkenness, more disease, more deaths and more
general misery. It might be said, on the other side that the admirable
report of the Chief Constable went to indicate that, not
withstanding the hour of closing being 10.30, there had been a
diminution in the number of convictions for drunkenness. He was
unfeignedly glad there had been such a diminution, and he did not
attribute it to the large amount of unemployment, but partly to the
growing urge of public opinions in favour of total abstinence. he
maintained that the extra half hour was a particularly dangerous one to
those addicted to drink, when he passed from one maudlin state to the
quarrelsome one. The wife and children reaped the advantage of that.
America appeared to be far ahead of this country, he said in quoting
from the "American Brewers' Review," which said that the so-called
personal liberty argument" lost more and more of its power. He submitted
that in the public interest, not of one party or section, but the public
in its broadest and most general sense, including the children, it was
desirable that the hour be 10 o'clock instead of 10.30.
The Rev E. A. Matheson said he supported the remarks made, on behalf
of the Woman's National Temperance association and also on grounds of
personal convictions. The extra half hour was a very important and vital
one to them, and he suggested that the opinion of the woman on the
subject was one that should be taken into consideration. They felt the
effect of this half hour even more at home than those who had the
privilege of using it.
Mr. R. Mowll, on behalf of the licensed victuallers, said that
application by the Free Church of Dover - whose opinion they all very
much respected - asked the Magistrates to alter a decision they had
given on previous occasions, whereby the hours for public-houses in
Dover and the Liberties and of clubs should be altered back from 10.30
to 10 o'clock. Was there any reason why that alteration should be made?
Mr. Holyoak had spoke of experiences, and his (Mr. Mowll's) suggestion
was they they could have no better tribute to the wisdom of their own
previous decision than a study of the report of the Chief Constable.
Surly it was a complete answer to the suggestion that there was any
pernicious result from continuing the hour to 10.30. After all, it was
the public who did take intoxicants who had to be considered. Mr.
Holyoak and Mr. Matherson, and those they represented, were
teetotallers. None of their people wanted these facilities and they
would be much happier in their minds if no intoxicants were sold at all,
but the Magistrates had to decide what was in the public interest, and
that was to be found surely, in the requirements of those who did take
intoxicants rather than those who did not.
Supt. Barnes, of the Kent County Constabulary, in reply to the
Magistrates' Clerk, said that he raised no objection to the present
hours continuing in the Liberties. Margate's hour was 10.30.
The Magistrates' Clerk: You are on each side of them?
Yes.
The Magistrates retired and were absent about three minutes. Some of
the Justices did not return.
The Mayor said that it had been decided by the Justices that the
closing hours should be the same as last year, 10.30, and he.
personally, believed he was speaking for the other Magistrates when he
said that he could congratulate the licensed victuallers of the district
on the manner in which the houses had been conducted; that there was not
one complaint, and that the drunkenness in the borough had been reduced.
they sincerely hoped that they would see a recurrence of that during the
coming year.
NEW LICENCE GRANTED
The Licensing Committee then sat to hear an application for a new
licence.
Mr. Bramley, of Ivor Bungalow, Westage, applied for a grocer's
off-licence for premises at Lymington Road, Westgate. he said that this
was his third application, and since the first 26 new houses had been
erected, 15 during the last year. Plans for 11 others had been passed.
There were 70 occupied houses within 700yds. and the nearest licensed
house was three quarters of a mile away. there were water and gas works,
brick works, and a laundry, employing many hands. Further evidence was
given by Mr. Edmund, proprietor of the laundry.
Supt. Barton said that he was not opposing the application. The
district concerned was isolated.
The Mayor said that the Magistrates had decided to grant the
application.
ADJOURNED
The Sessions were then adjourned to the Pierremont Hall, Broadstairs,
on February 18th, at 3.30 p.m. for reviewing licences in the Liberties,
and to the Town Hall, Dover, on March 2nd, for the purpose of hearing
applications for new licences within the Liberties.
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From the Dover Express and East Kent News, Friday 27
March, 1925. Price 1½d.
LICENSING CONFIRMATION MEETING
An occasional licence was granted to Mr. G. P. Wood for the Rowing
Club dance at the Town Hall, and the Carlton Club for the annual supper
at the Mecca Café, both on Monday.
Mr. R. Mowll applied for confirmation of the retail cider licence
granted to Mr. G. B. Fitzpatrick, or 45, Cherry Tree Avenue, Dover -
There was no objection; and the application was granted.
Mr. Barnes made an application for confirmation of a provisional
restaurant licence for meals, granted to Mr. E. A. Anderson, of
Anderson's Cafe, Broadstairs. - The application was granted; and it was
decided that a sum of £60 be paid on account of the monopoly value by
three annual instalments of £20 each.
Mr. Barnes made a similar application on behalf of Mr. Frederick
Marchest, of 18, Albion Street, Broadstairs. - In reply to the Chairman,
it was stated that there was slight opposition before the Licensing
Committee. No previous applications had been made. - The application was
granted.
Mr. John Bramley, of Ivor Bungalow, Westgate-on-Sea, a grocer, asked
for confirmation of the beer off grocer's licence granted by the
Licensing Committee at the Brewster Sessions. - The Magistrates, without
stating any reason, declined to confirm the application.
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From the Dover Express and East Kent News, Friday 27 March, 1925. Price 1½d.
MORE SMUGGLED SPIRITS
At the Dover Police Court last Friday before Mr. W. Bradley, Messrs. H.
Lewis, W. J. Palmer and W. Hollis.
Albert Gatehouse, of 168, Folkestone Road, was summoned for, on January
17th, harbouring certain un-Customed goods, to wit, three bottles of
brandy, two bottles of rum, 1 6th of a gallon of port, and 13 100ths of
a gallon of vermouth, whereby he forfeited a sum of £100.
Mr. De Wet, who appeared for the defendant, said that he had advised his
client to plead guilty except in regard to the bottle of port and the
vermouth. The port was given to him at Christmas as a present, and he
believed that it had been bought by the person at the same time from the
“Trocadero,” although he ascertained subsequently it was not so. The
vermouth, which was covered with dust when found, came from the "Pavilion
Hotel," Folkestone, 4½ years ago. A customer there used to drink French
and Italian vermouth, and when he left he left behind some of each. This
the defendant mixed and put into the case, where it remained untouched
in the same condition as when the officers found it. The value of the
single duty on these two articles, he believed, was only 5s.
Mr. R. J. Fisk, who prosecuted, said the articles mentioned by Mr. De
Wet were really very small items. It was for the Bench to consider
whether they should be left out of the charge. The facts of the case
were as follows:- On January 17th, in consequence of information
received by the Customs Authorities, a surprise visit was paid to No.
168, Folkestone Road. When the Customs Officers arrived there they
first of all left the main party outside, and the Inspector and the
Chief Preventive officer went inside and interviewed the defendant. They
asked him if he had any dutiable goods on which duty had not been paid,
and he replied he had nothing at all there. They then told him they had
a search warrant and were going to search the premises. Defendant them
produced one bottle of brandy from a cupboard. During the search he
produced two more bottles and two three litre bottles of rum. The
officers also found the bottle of port and a bottle of vermouth. When
the Inspector asked the defendant to explain the presence of these
goods, the defendant said, “I will not give my friends away.” I am a
Britisher, and will stand by it.” Although under some circumstances such
a loyal attitude would have been admirable, he (Mr. Fisk) thought in
the present case it rather aggravated the offence. A little later the
defendant explained the presence of the bottle of port, and said he
bought it at the “Trocadero.” Snargate Street, and the vermouth he
brought from a public house he used to manage. Mr. De Wet had asked for
the port and the vermouth to be withdrawn from the charge, but he (Mr.
Fisk) felt that such a course was not justified, because when inquiries
were made at the “Trocadero” it was ascertained that the bottle of port
had not been obtained there.
John William Conoway, Inspector of Customs, London, said that he visited
the defendant's premises on January 17th with a crew of Customs
officers. He asked Gatehouse to produce any dutiable goods, and he said
he had nothing in his possession whatever. Witness then showed his
search warrant and said he would search. Defendant then produced a
bottle of brandy. Mr Booth and the officers then came in to search.
Defendant produced the brandy and rum from a cupboard in the dining
room. The port was found in the cupboard, and the vermouth in the
kitchen. Defendant said he got the port from the “Trocadero,” and the
vermouth was the remains of what he had when he managed the “Pavilion
Hotel.” Witness believed the defendant had been travelling in coal.
Mr. De Wet: I suppose you admire the defendant for not giving his
friends away, although perhaps it is irritating?
In certain respects, yes.
Cross-examined: He could not tell from the test whether the vermouth was
a mixture of French and Italian.
Mr. De Wet asked the Bench not to look at the case with the same rigor
as they had other cases. When the defendant's wife was ill an
opportunity was given to get a bottle of brandy from a certain person,
and he did so. Subsequently he obtained the others, not for sale, but
for his own use. The defendant's wife was very ill, and would shortly
have to undergo an operation. He was out of work, down and out, but
trying to keep up appearances, struggling against fate. Under the
circumstances, he asked that the bench should exercise their clemency
and mitigate a single value and duty to a quarter, as they had power to
do.
Mr. Fisk said that the question of mitigation only applied to the £100
penalty.
The Chairman said that the Bench had decided to impose the single value
and duty, £3 0s. 11d., on the brandy and rum, and the Court costs 5s.
They desired it to be known that, but for the circumstances, they would
have afflicted a much heavier penalty.
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From the Dover Express and East Kent News, Friday 10 April, 1925. Price 1½d.
LICENSING BUSINESS
Mr. Sherrell, of the Promenade Pier Pavillion, was granted extensions
for a number of dances.
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Kent & Sussex Courier, Friday 17 July 1925.
THE OLD INNS OF KENT.
Mr. D. C. Maynard's new book on "The Old Inns of Kent" (Messrs. Philip
Allan and Co.) is an interesting work of 250 pages, with 26
illustrations dealing with the oldest and most famous hostelries of the
county and the quaint and little known legends which have gathered round
them from the earliest days.
Mr. Maynard's researches from a valuable
addition to Kentish antiquarian literature. Dipping into the book at the
twenty-first chapter, we find much of interest about the "Old Chequers"
at Tonbridge. An earlier Inn than the present one existed on the same
site as long ago as Henry III's reign, when Tonbridge was destroyed by
fire and its Inn with it. The present Inn with its old oak timbers still
delights the antiquarian, and has furnished a fitting scene for Mr.
Jeffrey Farnol's romances. The sign of the "Chequers" is found in the
vicinity of all old Roman roads in Britain, and the author traces it
back to Pompei, where the chessboard was an indication of a
money-changer's office.
Roundabout Tonbridge the author finds much that
is of interest about the "Old Inn" at Poundsbridge, which goes back to
the days of Churches Ales, the "George and Dragon" at Speldhurst, with
its memories of Agincourt, and the "Castle" at Chiddingstone, while the
"Crown" at Edenbridge reminds the author of the old legend that on the
stroke of midnight at Christmas Eve the ghostly figure of a young girl
in the costume of Anne Boleyn can be seen on the bridge crossing the
River Eden. The "George and Dragon" at Westerham still celebrates its
memories of General Wolfe, while the "Bull" at Otford recalls the ford
by which the Canterbury Pilgrims wended their way in mediaeval times.
The grim legends attached to the "Star and Crown" at Goudhurst are also
recalled. At Rochester the author is in the midst of Dickens' material.
At Canterbury the author revels in ancient history, as well as along the
Watling Road, and this portion of the work is a veritable antiquarian's
treasure house. On the borders of Sussex the final hostelry mentioned is
the "Crown" at Groombridge.
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From the Dover Express and East Kent News, Friday, 21
August, 1925.
Price 1½d.
LICENSE TRANSFERS
The "Station Hotel," Westgate-on-Sea was transferred from Mr. Hugh O.
Ellis to Mr. Thomas Hartley, of the "Station Hotel," Westgate-on-Sea,
partner with Mr. Ellis.
The music, singing and dancing licence of the "Wellington hall,"
Snargate Street, Dover, was transferred from Mr. Michael William Stanley
to Mr. William Foley, of 85, Ardgowan Road, Catford, S.E.
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Aberdeen Press and Journal, Tuesday 22 September 1925.
THE OLD INNS OF KENT.
By D. C. Marnard, London: Philip Allan 10/6.
"There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man," Dr. Johnson once
declared, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or
inn."; and Hawkins tells us he heard the same authority assert "that a
tavern chair was the theme of human felicity." Many a book has been
lovingly compiled on inns, and the latest addition to the list is this
by Mr. Maynard on the old inns of Kent. This south English county is
full of the most delightful inns of all types and periods, though the
traveller of to-day, not having the tastes of the Canterbury pilgrims or
even those of his grand-parents who drank ale at breakfast, many of
these old inns need adapting to modern requirements. The "Fountain" in
Canterbury is claimed to be the oldest hostelry still extant in England,
it is said to have housed Earl Goodwin's wife when she met the earl on
his return from Denmark in 1029. But, indeed, Canterbury is the home of
old inns. Itself a place of pilgrimage, it was also a resting place for
more adventurous pilgrims on their road to Rome and the Continental
shrines via Dover, so that besides inns for the accommodation of
penitents to the shrine of Thomas a Becket, it contained hospices for
the use of those pilgrims who intended journeying further, and who
rarely spent more than a night in Canterbury. One of the most famous of
these hospices was the Chequers of the Hope in Mercy Lane. Only a small
portion still exists - as a draper's shop - but, unfortunately, no
longer as an inn. Chaucer, in his "Canterbury Tales," informs us that
his pilgrims put up at this hospice when they arrived in Canterbury. They took their inn and lodged then at mid-morrow I trow. At the "Chequers of the Hope" that many a man doth know! Mr. Maynard recalls the fact that the "Chequers" was the oldest of all
signs for wayside ale-houses, as distinct from the hospices that served
as the refectory of the village monastery. The sign is found throughout
England, especially in the neighbourhood of the Roman roads, and was in
olden days the indication of a money-changer's office. The chessboard
was an early form of ready-reckoner, and who so qualified as the
innkeeper to perform the act of money-changer? Many a quaint and little known legend and incident does Mr. Maynard
relate of these old inns of Kent, and his literary references show
marked scholarly research. The "George Inn" at Newington was originally
known as the "Sir John Falstaff," and Dickens was as familiar with the
inns of Kent as he was with those o his beloved London. The "Sun Inn,"
just outside Cathedral precincts of Canterbury, figures in "David
Copperfield" as the "Little Inn," where Micawber put up, while it was at
the "Leather Bottle" at Cobham that Mr. Pickwick discovered the old
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From the Dover Express and East Kent News, Friday, 4
November, 1925.
Price 1½d.
LICENSE TRANSFERS
The following licenses were transferred:-
the wine licence of 5, Bench Street., from Martino Degrusse to
Raffell Nodcroli.
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