Netherthong Public Houses Part 1

A Memory of Netherthong.

This chapter is a work in progress and as it is more than the 1000 words allowed in this memory, I have split it into 2 sections. The current title is :
Public House, inn, alehouse, tavern, pothouse, beer house, boozer, local, gin palace, saloon, honky-tonk, shebeen, snug, taproom.

No township or hamlet could hold its head up high unless it had a number of the above establishments and Netherthong was no exception. From the early times Netherthong has boasted a total of 5 named public houses plus a further two in Thongsbridge, which for a long period was part of the parish of Netherthong. There was also a number of un-named beerhouses located at Deanhouse, a beer-house being licensed to sell beer but not spirits.

The earliest reference to inns is in the 1848 Directory which listed the Clothiers, Queen's Arms, and the Rose & Crown but there can be no doubt that one or more of the three had to have been in existence plying its trade for a long time before that date. Subsequent Directories, as detailed in other chapters in this history, have been useful for tracking changes in the landlords and I have tabulated these in Part 2.

The 1855 Ordnance survey map identifies an inn called the Gardener's Arms located at Miry Road Bottom near to the Wesleyan Chapel and across the road from the Parsonage. This is the only reference I have ever found about it and in the next issue of the Ordnance map in 1888, it had 'disappeared'. In the 1848 Directory there were 3 un-named beer houses in Deanhouse with landlords named Thomas Crook, John Littlewood and Charles Wood and I'm sure that one of those three had to have been located in the house that is now known as The Cricketers Arms. Could one of the remaining two have been the Gardener's Arms? In the next Directory only one beer house is mentioned with the landlord being Thomas Crook and this has to be the one located in the 'Cricketers' house. History is often about making educated guesses and the first anomaly about the Gardener's Arms is that the OS cartographer gave it its full title rather than Inn or PH that he inscribed on the map for the Clothier's and Queen's Arms (N.B. there is no reference on the map for the Rose & Crown). He did however have a lot of blank space around the black dot denoting the inn and maybe decided that the map would look more 'artistic' by filling the space with writing. It still doesn't explain how he managed to find out its name and perhaps he just decided to give it a name of his own making. If we accept that there was a public house there, then the next question is what happened to it. It stood on land that was probably required for the erection of the new Deanhouse Workhouse in 1864 or the Guardians purchased the public house because they could not afford the temptation to its inmates of having a source of alcohol so near. However the beer house at the 'Cricketers' was not that much further away. It may have to remain a mystery.

The Clothier's Arms was the only other inn shown on the 1855 map. It played a prominent role in the village not only as an inn and an eating establishment but also as a meeting place for local organisations and clubs. It served as the Coroner's Court on many an occasion and was the official headquarters and Lodge room of the 'Netherthong Gardener Friendly Society'. It features in many of the photographs in this history.

The Queen's Arms was located in the cottage now marked as Queen's Cottage in the Town Square adjacent to what was to become the location of the War Memorial. The Directories recorded landlords from 1848 right through to 1927 - in the 1880 OS map it is marked as a PH but in the 1918 and 1932 OS maps it becomes an Inn. It was very spacious at the rear and was a venue for many organizations including the Cricket Club, Liberals, Conservative Club and often accommodated up to 60 people for meals. It co-existed side by side with the Co-op when they opened their shop in 1881. The Co-op bought the inn from the brewery in the mid 1930s and converted it to living accommodation and, in about 1936, the Sykes family rented it from the Co-op. Two of Mr Sykes daughters who were young children at the time, still live in Netherthong.
Richard Russell, a native of NT, who had been 'mine host' of the Queen's Arms for many years, died in February 1925 aged 63 years.

The Rose & Crown is another mystery - it was not shown on any of the maps but was included along with its landlords in 5 of the Directories from 1848 with the last entry being in 1870. We know from the minutes of the Netherthong Co-operative Society that they purchased the premises when they set up business in 1881. Rumour has it that the bar of the inn was located in the same position as the counter of the current Londis shop.

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