DOVER KENT ARCHIVES

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LIST PUBLIC HOUSES Paul Skelton

 

Notes of 1925

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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 inscription which Mr. Blotton deciphered in such an irreverent fashion.

 

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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