The Original Grove Hotel In Stapenhill

A Memory of Stapenhill.

When I was about 4 years old in 1948 my Auntie Jess and Uncle Albert (Haynes) ran the Grove Hotel at Stapenhill. It was the original one, not the one which is there now. It was a really lovely old building with the etched glass windows and lovely fittings inside that used to come with a pub in those days. After Uncle Albert passed away it was taken over by my Auntie Mary and Uncle Jack (Ball) and my parents were always there helping and I was with them. I played with my cousin Marilyn and we explored all the shut away rooms upstairs which I believe were let to American servicemen during the war. It was great to have such an exciting environment to play in, lots of rooms with bits and bobs left in them. We had a 'laboratory' in which we made perfume with rose petals amongst other things!
Downstairs there was a piano room where my Auntie played and everyone sang with gusto. There was a different room for everything and as I remember it, it seemed that all the rooms were full of people enjoying themselves. The cribbage boards were heavy brass and everything sparkled. When I stayed the night I remember creeping downstairs and standing by the open door to the bar where the sights and sounds were very exciting for a little girl. We always had crisps and Vimto and were sent back up to bed. One Christmas we got into all kinds of trouble for putting cotton wool on our window to resemble snow but we used real glue and it wouldn't come off!
Outside the back of the pub was a very big yard paved with dark grey slabs. There was a pump outside the back door and there were two green-painted doors, the Gents and the Ladies. There was also a 'Club Room' where all kinds of meetings were held. Inside were two absolutely huge tables running down each side and I remember once we heaved one of them on top of the other and threw sheets over so that we could pretend we were in a ship. How we didn't get hurt I don't know, and there was another telling off for us. It was really great because the grown-ups were always so busy they didn't know what we were doing! My parents were Jack and May Eyden and we lived in Greenwood Road and my brother Peter was always known for practising his trumpet. He played in the Royal Artillery Staff Band in our Queen's Coronation, so I was very proud.
Yes, the days of the old Grove were fantastic for me. We used to shout out of the window to a lad named Mick Broadhurst who lived opposite! I used also to go into the cellar with my Uncle Jack, down a steep flight of stone steps off the kitchen through a door that had a 'lift up the latch'. The cellar was very wet and there were always little frogs down there! Of course the barrels were wooden.
My grand-parents lived in Ferry Street and one year after the Trent had flooded and subsided my Dad took me down the Bottom Walk to show me what had happened and there were literally thousands of leeches all over everything. A sight I shall never forget! I attended St Peter's Street Infants School, then Hill Street Juniors and went on to the Girls High School.
We moved down to Devon when I was 16 which was 55 years ago but I constantly think of the happy times I had around Stapenhill and especially at the Grove. It was always innocent pleasures then but I don't think we missed out on much. I can't find anything online about the old original Grove Hotel so I thought I would write about it.

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