Signage of the Harbour Crab & Oyster House, summer, 1982. Credit Lee Walker
Licensees
Gordon Knight and Patrick Harris 1981 1982
Michael Daniels and Richard Levison 1982 1982
Richard Levison and David Block 1982 1986
John Hill and Robert Collins 1986 1989 Reverted to Harbour Inn
South Kent Gazette
2-9-1981
Local News
Plans to knock together two pubs in a £100,000 facelift
have been approved by Shepway District Council. Brewers Whitbread want to turn
the True Briton and Harbour pubs in Folkestone into one, with a small bar and
restaurant upstairs. Downstairs there will be a large open bar in fisherman
style serving locally caught seafood. The scheme`s designers have also got a pat on the back from Shepway’s design architect. Both
pubs are of different ages, architectural styles and proportions. To combine
the facades well was a “considerable problem” but has been achieved with some
success. Building work on the pubs is expected to begin shortly and Whitbread
hopes to have the new single pub open in December.
Folkestone Herald
12-2-1982
Local News
Work of joining neighbouring pubs together in a £120,000
conversion to produce a building in keeping with the old harbour area of
Folkestone has almost been completed. The Harbour Crab and Oyster House,
formerly the Harbour Hotel and True Briton, in Harbour Street, reopens to the
public next Friday, February 19.
Old customers may recognise the exterior, now clad in
dark weatherboarding, but inside the design theme has captured the interior of
a harbour warehouse and ships` chandlers at the turn of the 19th
century.
Roy Pepperrell, Whitbread Fremlins design manager, who
planned the alterations, said “The idea was to provide something to match the
area, and it seems to have come through well. Folkestone`s planners have
congratulated us on the design and the Chamber of Commerce has expressed its
appreciation of a development sympathetic to the old harbour area, which they
feel has increased tourist potential”.
Bar customers will be able to purchase seafood snacks,
and in the Fish Basket Grill, 54 customers can be seated for cooked fish meals
with seafood salads and steak dishes. Fish will be bought daily from local
catches, and lobsters crabs and oysters will be on the menu, with draught ale
from handpumps and popular wines.
South Kent Gazette
17-2-1982
Annual Licensing Sessions
Publicans` applications for transfer agreed by the Bench
include: The Black Bull, Folkestone (music and dancing); Bouverie Arms,
Folkestone; Honest Lawyer, Folkestone; Old Harbour Crab and Oyster House
(extension to cover restaurant area); Royal George, Folkestone. Approval of
plans to alter Folkestone`s Pullman Wine Bar was given.
Folkestone Herald
26-2-1982
Local News
A Trumpet fanfare heralded the opening of a new pub
restaurant at Folkestone Harbour on Friday. Colour Sergeant Jon Yates and Corporal Jan
Zawada, of the Royal School of Music at Deal, provided the musical welcome for the first customers. Brewers Whitbread Fremlins have spent
£120,000 converting two pubs, the True Briton and the Harbour Inn, into the
Harbour Crab and Oyster House. Builders and staff had worked until late into the previous night putting
the finishing touches to the revamped building. Top brewery officials, including managing director
John Kidson, local dignitaries and business people attended a special opening
lunch.
Welcoming the guests retail trade director Alan
Wyman said “As you are probably all aware this particular part of Folkestone,
which has got a number of attractive features, has been somewhat neglected in
the past. My company felt that, in view of the standard of amenities in the rest
of the town, it was about time somebody started to do something in the
harbour.” Mr. Wyman said he hoped the venture has helped even if only in a small
way, to alleviate the local unemployment situation. Harbourmaster Jim Ewing took part in
the opening ceremony by unfurling naval signal flags representing the word
harbour.
The new pub and restaurant, which specialises in
seafood, is employing 21 staff, 17 of whom have fulltime jobs. Both managers Mike and Lynda Daniells
are from Folkestone and previously managed the Royal Oak at Newingreen. It is possible that if the place, the
third of its type to be opened in Kent, is a big success, more staff will be
taken on.
Folkestone Herald
24-12-1982
Local News
Pub managers Mike and Lynda Daniells returned from
holiday to find they were unemployed. Whitbread Breweries Ltd. had sacked them
without any prior warning. And they were barred from entering the Harbour Crab
and Oyster House, which they had been running since it opened.
Last Thursday an industrial tribunal upheld the Daniells`
claim for unfair dismissal after hearing only evidence from Whitbread. The
couple were awarded compensation totalling £3,300.
In an interview with The Herald on Monday, Mr. Daniells said “They said it was a clear
cut case of unfair dismissal without even hearing our side of the story”. Mr.
and Mrs. Daniells moved into the Folkestone pub and seafood restaurant in
February. Previously they ran the Royal Oak Motel in Newingreen, also owned by
Whitbread. “The Crab was something of an experiment for Whitbread, with a bar
downstairs and a seafood restaurant upstairs”, said Mr. Daniells. “It soon
became apparent to us that it wasn`t working. Young people drinking downstairs
would not go up to eat, and those who came to the restaurant would get up there
as fast as they could”. A long and detailed letter expressing the Daniells`
views was sent to the company and relations between the managers and Whitbread
went from bad to worse. Stock taking on October 8 showed £400-worth of stock was
missing. “We wanted to put the matter in the hands of the police, but Whitbread
refused to let us”, said Mr. Daniells. “We left for a holiday on October 8 and
when we returned on the 25th we found a letter telling us we were
dismissed”. Whitbread was in breach of its grievance procedure which states
verbal and written warnings must be issued before dismissal is considered, he
said.
The tribunal result delighted the couple, who felt their reputation had
been tainted by the events. “The man acting for Whitbread made it clear the company
was not accusing us of taking the money, but felt it was our fault it was
missing, Mr. Daniells said. They lived at the pub, so the sackings made them
homeless as well as unemployed. Now they are living with Mr Daniells’ parents
at Downside, Folkestone, and he is making every effort to get another job. “The
whole thing was so petty. It was obvious they wanted to get rid of us and used
the stock-taking business as an excuse”.
A spokesman for Whitbread refused to comment.
Folkestone Herald
14-1-1983
Local News
Burglars raided the Crab and Oyster bar in Harbour
Street, Folkestone, on Tuesday and got away with a haul of spirits and cigars
worth £300.
South Kent Gazette
16-3-1983
Local News
Part-time worker Duncan Cousins hid in a pub cellar until
it had closed and then stole cash and goods worth £242. At Folkestone
Magistrates` Court Cousins, 18, of King`s Road, Cheriton, admitted the burglary
at the town`s Crab and Oyster pub near the town`s harbour.
Inspector Peter Hopkins, prosecuting, said Cousins, who
was employed as a porter at the pub, sat at the bar drinking until he could slip
into the cellar unnoticed. Hours after the pub closed Cousins let an accomplice
in.
Cousins also admitted theft of petrol from three
unattended cars in February.
Timothy Champion, 19, of Fleming Way, Folkestone, also
admitted the offence. Champion said the petrol was for Cousins`s car.
Presiding Magistrate, Mrs. Ruth Tuff, said it was “an
extremely foolish escapade” and gave Champion a conditional discharge for two
years.
Cousins said he committed the burglary because he wanted
money for his motorbike.
Mrs. Tuff said the Bench was considering a custodial
sentence for him. She advised Cousins to get legal advice and adjourned the
case until March 29 for reports.
Folkestone Herald
8-4-1983
Local News
A man who burgled the pub where he worked was given a
three month suspended prison sentence on Tuesday. Duncan Cousins broke open cigarette and fruit
machines at the Harbour Crab and Oyster House, Folkestone, stealing cash and
goods worth £535.60. And he refused to name an accomplice known to have been
involved, the town`s Magistrates were told.
Eighteen-year-old Cousins, of King`s Road, Cheriton,
admitted stealing the goods and money, which belong to Whitbread Fremlins Ltd.
He also admitted stealing petrol worth £3.38 and asked for two similar offences
to be taken into consideration.
Inspector Bill Wharf said Cousins, who was a porter at
the public house and restaurant, had a night off duty on November 9. He went
drinking at his workplace and when a convenient moment arose slipped through a
staff door and hid in the cellar. Some hours after closing he returned to the
bar and let a friend into the building. They broke open the machines and made
off. The following morning he turned up for work and denied any knowledge of
the theft. Police were called and after forensic tests Cousins admitted the
offence. Between February 19 and 21 he was stopped by police at the wheel of a
car. Both he and a friend smelt of petrol and police found a can and a length
of rubber tubing in the car. Cousins was arrested and admitted stealing petrol
from a car.
Mrs. Susan Watler, for Cousins, said he is due to start a
new job as floor walker at the Rotunda Amusements. Acting the way he did cost
him his job, for which he had good prospects, she said. He had been a porter
for almost two years. For his own reasons he did not wish to involve anyone
else in this matter.
Cousins was given a three month jail sentence for each
offence, suspended for two years and to run concurrently. He was also ordered
to pay £546 compensation.
Folkestone Herald
24-10-1986
Local News
Customers at the Crab and Oyster public house
in Folkestone had a quiet evening’s drink disrupted when a firework rocket
smashed through the bar window on Monday evening, causing £35 worth of damage. A
handful of customers were in the Harbour Street bar at 7.30 pm last Monday when
a firework rocket exploded through the window, showering
customers with glass as it landed at the bar. The Crab and Oyster`s manageress,
Mrs. Sandra Harrod, said “We were very lucky that no one was hurt. Two people
had been sitting right next to the window, but 1 had moved tables shortly
before the rocket explosion”. She added “It was early evening, so luckily there were not that many
people in the bar. It could have been much more serious”.
Two youths were seen sitting opposite the pub
with fireworks. One boy was described as aged about 17. He was wearing a black and white
striped jumper and grey trousers.
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