Oddfellows Arms 1950s - 1960s

Folkestone Gazette 7-8-1957

Local News

The licensees of three public houses on the Fishmarket – the Oddfellows Inn, the Ship Inn, and the Jubilee Inn – have placed their premises out of bounds to all troops at Shorncliffe Camp.

One of the licensees informed the Gazette yesterday that the behaviour of some troops was so bad that it injured their holiday trade. “People just walked out when soldiers came in”, stated the licensee. “We have shown great tolerance and tried to reason with these men, but tolerance has been interpreted as fear. There­fore, we have had no alternative but to take the decision we have. We have notified the military authorities of our decision”.

Folkestone Herald 10-8-1957

Local News

Because they allege continuous bad behaviour by soldiers patronising their houses, the licensees of three public houses on the Folke­stone fishmarket, at their own request, have had their premises placed out of bounds to all troops at Shorncliffe Camp. The licensees of the Jubilee Inn, the Oddfellows Arms and the Ship Inn discussed the position and on Friday each of them sent a telegram to the Adjutant at Shomcliffe informing him of their decision. Since the ban was announced, a fourth licensee, Mr. George Prior, of the Royal George, near the Fishmarket, has also placed his premises unofficially out of bounds.

Apparently the main trouble has been caused at the Jubilee Inn, where the landlord is Mr. Donald A. Mayne, who was formerly a Second Officer in the Merchant Navy. He has been at the house for three years. His wife, Mrs. Mary Mayne, told the Herald this week that the trouble had been caused by troops of a certain regiment who arrived back from Malaya about three months ago. “They are so badly behaved, brawling, fighting and shouting”, she said. “If we try to reason with them all they say is “You ought to have been where we have been”, and don`t take any notice. Many times we have sent for the Military Police to deal with them. We have told them time and time again that if they do not behave themselves we would put the premises out of bounds. They just turn round and tell us we can`t turn them away because they spend too much money here”, said Mrs. Mayne. “The fact is that we are losing money because when the troops come in, the holidaymakers walk out rather than sit and listen to continuous shouting and singing. Even our regulars have been keeping away from the premises”. Mrs. Mayne said the houses had to make their money at this time of year from the visitors, but their holiday trade had been greatly affected. She said there was a noticeable improvement in trade following the ban. “We have talked and talked, and tried to reason with these men, but it has only been interpreted as fear. They have been in Folkestone for some time and we have stood it long enough. We have got to put our foot down. We do not like this action, but we have been forced into it. We realise that the good ones must suffer because of the bad. We do not condemn them all by any manner of means”, she stated.

The other two licensees, Mrs. D. Bentley, who has been in charge of the Ship Inn for 25 years, and Mr. George Skinner, of the Oddfellows Arms, said they had not experienced any real trouble from troops, but they had heard them shouting and singing outside. Mr. Skinner and Mrs. Bentley decided to combine with Mr. Mayne and place their premises out of bounds. They said “We have got to do the same thing and stick together. We do not want to catch the overflow if only one of us bans the troops”.

A notice “Out of bounds to troops” is displayed on the doors of the three houses.

On Wednesday morning an officer from the Camp interviewed the licensees and took down details of alleged incidents of fighting and smashing glasses in the Fishmarket during the past few months.

Asked for his views, Major R. Smith, Garrison Adjutant, Shorncliffe, agreed there had been a little touble with one of the regiments on the Camp; he was doing his best to find out what it was all about. “As far as I can make out there has been some shouting, but there are no civil charges pending against any troops at Shorncliffe Camp”, he said. Major Smith said if the licensees wished to put their premises out of bounds it might possibly be a good thing. There had been complaints, but it was always difficult to trace specific instances. On Saturday night, he said, they had heard that troops were rioting in the town, but when patrols were sent out to investigate the matter they found absolutely nothing.

Folkestone Gazette 24-3-1965

Local News

Mr. Charlie Evans, landlord of the Oddfellows Arms, Folkestone, has declared himself monarch of the Isle of Evans. The Isle of Evans is situated seven miles off Whitstable in the Thames Estuary, and comprises a ring of tower fortresses. Formerly the Nore Forts, these structures were renamed yesterday by Mr. Evans. They are used as a pirate radio station by K.I.N.G., London, a new pirate radio station operating on 256 metres. Mr. Evans is pirate chief, and has proclaimed the forts an independent territory in answer to recent hints that they might be seized because of interference.

“Our broadcasts do not clash with any Trinity House wavelengths”, he said. “There have been protests to the Government from Holland, but I find this rather amusing, because the Dutch have their own pirate radio station, Radio Veronica, which they can do nothing about”.

The station raised its flag yesterday. It was accompanied by a 21-gun-salute. “Regrettably this was a tape recording”, said Mr. Evans, “because we are now a neutral state, and have no artillery of our own”. The flag is royal blue velvet enclosing a white V background, which contains a thistle and crown. There is a red square in the bottom right-hand corner. The new “state” entitles the 17 King pirates to dual citi­zenship. “We are going to issue pass­ports which look like the old war-time identity cards”, said Mr. Evans. “This is in keep­ing with the tenor of the forts”.