From the Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald. 10 March 1900. Price 1d.

RAMSGATE GHASTLY DISCOVERY.

On Thursday afternoon an inquest was held at the “Railway Tavern,” Broadstairs, before Sir Sydenham Payn, coroner, touching the death of Daniel Henry Packer, of Valentine Cottage, Irchester Street, Ramsgate, who was found dead with his throat cut, on Wednesday morning, about half a-mile from Kingsgate.

The evidence went to show that deceased, who was 38 years of age, had of late been very strange in his manner, and for five weeks had laboured under the delusion that a policeman was watching the house to lock him up. On the previous Tuesday night he want home at 11.30 p.m. and changed his clothes, and at 7 o'clock the next morning George Lewis, caretaker of Holland House, Kingsgate, found his body lying on the footpath of the Kingsgate Road. There was a quantity of blood round the body, and a bloodstained knife laid about two inches away from his right hand. The body was placed in a cart and removed to the mortuary. Dr. Raven, who examined the body, stated that the man had probably been dead between two and three hours. There was a large gash in the throat, which might have been inflicted with the Knife produced. Deceased had probably made several attempts before he succeeded in effecting his object, as there were traces of blood for some distance from the body. The throat had been cut from left to right. The windpipe was divided and the large blood vessel severed. There was a tremendous amount of haemorrhage, and death would have been almost instantaneous after the fatal cut had been inflicted. In his opinion the wound was self-inflicted.

The jury returned a verdict of “Suicide while temporarily insane.”

Thanet Times, Tuesday 16 March, 1965.

One of the gayest spots in town.

Alfred Diss has been a railwayman for most of his life and it was nothing less than fitting that his public house should be the "Railway Tavern" in Broadstairs.

It is almost as if he cannot get the railways out of his system. His "house" faces is Broadstairs station and the trains trundle by - almost over head - all day.

An East-ender, Mr. Diss worked for 32 years as a fitter at the Stratford (London) L.N.E.R. works. At the same time his wife, Sarah, known to everybody has Sadie, ran a millinery shop.

Fifteen years ago they moved to Broadstairs to manage an old established off-licence in Albion Street. Known as "Holt's", it was recently demolished to make way for the new Arthur Coopers off-licence.

Just over 7 years ago they moved into the "Railway Tavern" and have established their house as one of the brightest spots in the town.

In his younger days, Mr. Diss played a lot of football and cricket, but "I have neither the time nor the energy these days," he says.

Thanet Times, Wednesday 2 April, 1975.

Drinks level was 'near poisoning.'

A Broadstairs publican involved in a car accident had nearly four times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood - perilously near the stage of alcoholic poisoning - Ramsgate magistrates heard on Tuesday.

Kenneth Turner (46), licensee of the "Railway Tavern," High Street, Broadstairs, was banned from driving for 2 years and fined £75 for the offence. The magistrate said the ban was twice as long as usual because of the extremely high alcohol content in his blood.
Turner pleaded guilty to driving a car after consuming excess alcohol.

Inspector Maurice Bates said two vehicles were in collision at the junction of Margate Road and Chatham Street Ramsgate on 10th of January, one was a Rover 2000 driven by Turner.

A breath test at the scene of the accident proved positive, he said, and a later blood test at Ramsgate Police Station showed Turner had 302mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood.

Defending solicitor Mr. Laurie Waitt said: "This is a very high reading. It is about 4 times the legal limit and getting perilously near alcoholic poisoning."

Minor Bump.

"Of course, there are people who can carry their drink and my client is one as a publican. He hardly ever goes out after drinking. He really didn't expect to have such a large amount of alcohol in his blood. Mr. Waitt pointed out that the collision only resulted in a minor bump. He added the Turner had been driving for 22 years without mishap before the accident happened.
"A few days before the accident, there hade been a very nasty scene at the public house in which my client's wife was assaulted and broke a bone. This lead to a great deal of worry," said Mr. Waitt.
Turner was ordered to pay doctor's fees of £5.03.