Thanks And Acknowledgements

My thanks go to Kent Libraries and Archives - Folkestone Library and also to the archive of the Folkestone Herald. For articles from the Folkestone Observer, my thanks go to the Kent Messenger Group. Southeastern Gazette articles are from UKPress Online, and Kentish Gazette articles are from the British Newspaper Archive. See links below.

Paul Skelton`s great site for research on pubs in Kent is also linked

Other sites which may be of interest are the Folkestone and District Local History Society, the Kent History Forum, Christine Warren`s fascinating site, Folkestone Then And Now, and Step Short, where I originally found the photo of the bomb-damaged former Langton`s Brewery, links also below.


Welcome

Welcome to Even More Tales From The Tap Room.

Core dates and information on licensees tenure are taken from Martin Easdown and Eamonn Rooney`s two fine books on the pubs of Folkestone, Tales From The Tap Room and More Tales From The Tap Room - unfortunately now out of print. Dates for the tenure of licensees are taken from the very limited editions called Bastions Of The Bar and More Bastions Of The Bar, which were given free to very early purchasers of the books.

Easiest navigation of the site is by clicking on the PAGE of the pub you are looking for and following the links to the different sub-pages. Using the LABELS is, I`m afraid, not at all user-friendly.

Contrast Note

Whilst the above-mentioned books and supplements represent an enormous amount of research over many years, it is almost inevitable that further research will throw up some differences to the published works. Where these have been found, I have noted them. This is not intended to detract in any way from previous research, but merely to indicate that (possible) new information is available.

Contribute

If you have any anecdotes or photographs of the pubs featured in this Blog and would like to share them, please mail me at: jancpedersen@googlemail.com.

If you`ve enjoyed your visit here, why not buy me a pint, using the button at the end of the "Labels" section?


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Saturday 5 July 2014

Updates

5th July, 2014: Folkestone Express and Folkestone Herald Reports for 1933 Added.

Packet Boat (2) 1930 - 1934



Folkestone Express 1-4-1933

Local News

At the Folkestone Police Court on Tuesday the Magistrates granted a protection order to sell at the Packet Boat, Radnor Street, to Mr. J. Sirrett, ex Sergeant Major in the Royal Marine Artillery, Mr. Ellen being the outgoing tenant.

Folkestone Express 7-10-1933

Council Meeting Extract

The Folkestone Town Council on Wednesday approved of the Health Committee`s recommendations concerning the scheme for dealing with the whole of Radnor Street as a slum clearance, and further progress will therefore be possible in connection with the rebuilding of the area. The scheme include the compulsory purchase of four licensed houses, lodging houses, a restaurant, stores, temporary buildings for amusement, and workshops.

The Health Committee`s recommendations dealing with the matter were as follows: (extract)

Resolved: That Compulsory Purchase Orders be made for the purchase by the Council; that there shall be included in the above-mentioned Compulsory Purchase Orders the under-mentioned properties and such other properties which are surrounded by or adjoin the clearance area, including: Radnor Street, No. 59, public house (Packet Boat Inn); No. 24, public house (Jubilee Inn); No. 30, public house (Oddfellows Arms); No. 38, public house (Ship Inn)

Councillor Dallas Brett said with regard to the four public houses those were matters presenting somewhat of a difficulty. It was a difficulty which had not been got over at the present moment, because it had not been tackled, but he was informed at the Ministry in other schemes throughout the country, where public houses had existed and had to be got rid of, private arrangement with the brewers had been made, which had been more satisfactory than would have been thought possible He proposed to ask his Committee to give instructions to himself and the Town Clerk to see what arrangements could be made. Whatever they did, they had got to realise that the whole area had to be cleared, and that they included in their plans two very valuable sites for public house property, to take the place of one or two or more of the houses which were in existence in Radnor Street at the present time. It was a matter of negotiations.

Councillor Barfoot said he believed that the scheme would be materially reduced if the stores and two public houses on the Fish Market were left as they were, and if the houses which it was proposed to build on that site were built on what was now the amusement park.

The resolution confirming the adoption of the recommendations was almost unanimously carried.
 

Brewery Tap 1930 - 34



Folkestone Herald 19-4-1930

Tuesday, April 15th: Before Colonel G.P. Owen. Mr. W. Griffin, and Miss A.M. Hunt.

Lena Lee was charged with being drunk and begging. She pleaded Guilty.

P.C. Finn said at 9.30 p.m. the previous day he was in Tontine Street, near the Brewery Tap, when he saw the prisoner. Noticing that she was drunk he advised her to go home. She then went away and started going into the Brewery Tap. He again advised her to go home as she had had enough to drink. Prisoner then went off up Tontine Street and accosted two pedestrians. He saw her receive something from two different people and not give anything in return. She was carrying a tin containing packets of lavender. She became very violent and with assistance he brought her to the police station. In her possession she had two sixpences and tenpence in coppers.

Prisoner said she was very sorry. There were other people much worse than she was. She worked hard in the fields during the summer months, and she had held a pedlar`s licence for many years, although she had not got one now.

Inspector Cradduck said she was before that Court in June, 1926, charged with begging and using obscene language. On that occasion she was discharged on condition she left the town. Apart from that very little was known about her. She was a street hawker and was employed on the land at times.

The Chairman: Once before when you were in trouble you were allowed to go on undertaking to leave the town. Here you are back again.

Lee: I shan`t come back again.

The Chairman: We don`t want to send you to prison. We will let you go on promising to leave the town and not to come back.

Lee: I have only been here twice in 24 years.

The Chairman: If you come back you will have to take the consequences.

Lee: I will take your advice straight away.

The Chairman: Very well, you are discharged.

Folkestone Herald 24-12-1932

Advertisement

Any advertisement, whether it appears in a newspaper or elsewhere, has little or any value if it is not associated with originality. It has no influence on the mind of the individual; in other words, it has no magnetic or pulling power. Whatever we may say with regard to the above it assuredly cannot apply to the most original and beautiful display now to be seen within the portals of the Brewery Tap, Tontine Street. For 27 years Mr. A. Taylor, the licensee, has had at this joyful season of the year a series of Yuletide displays, naturally of varying merit. Originality and up-to-datedness have always been associated with them.

It is the opinion, however, that this year`s really charming decorative feature surpasses all that has gone before it. The entire scheme of decorative advertisement is interwoven with all that appertains to the virtues of Whitbread`s ales and stouts which are on sale at that establishment here referred to,

The saloon bar, with its cosy and blazing fire, is in ordinary times always a picture, but Mr. Albert Taylor, the son of the proprietor, has waved a magician`s hands over it with a notable result. In this he has been assisted by Mr. Prince, the bar attendant. He had used the colours of amber and brown to emphasise the fact that Whitbread`s double brown ale, besides other beverages associated with the firm`s name, are dispensed in this cosy and comfortable saloon bar. The cabinet, designed and constructed in beautifully grained British oak, is a picture, and young Mr. Taylor has here again woven in the colours with a deftness and skill which is remarkable. Attractive by day, it is doubly so by night. This long corridor-like bar is the acme of comfort.

In the adjoining public bar, owing to its construction, it lends itself more fully to the decorator. And it is here that Mr. Percy Taylor, the elder son of the proprietor, has proved once again that in decorative art, of which he has given several notable instances, he is worthy of wide recognition. On entering the room the sight is again delighted with the blending of colours, orange, red, brown and amber. The cabinet itself is also rendered very attractive.

A wonderful picture is the model of an aeroplane suspended from the ceiling. The body of the machine represent a giant bottle of Whitbread`s stout or ale. The machine is at full speed, whilst the exhaust smoke from the tail end is spouting out and curling in irregular letters the words “Whitbread`s stout”. At night time, when illuminated with regulation lights, this aeroplane is wonderfully attractive. A delightful little picture is  a scene on the Hythe canal. The artist has depicted a stretch of water in which a graceful swan is gliding by. Folded in the wings of the bird is to be seen a bottle of Whitbread`s stout.

In a small compass it is impossible to detail all that can be seen at the Brewery Tap, Tontine Street, but enough has been said to prove that it is something out of the common.

In order to gain a closer acquaintance the public is invited to visit the establishment, where a cordial welcome awaits them. Mr. Taylor and his two sons are to be congratulated upon the vey notable display.

Folkestone Express 25-3-1933

Friday, March 17th: Before Mr. L.G.A. Collins and Eng. Rear Admiral L.J. Stephens.

Hilday May Barton (23) was charged that on the 16th March she feloniously stole from the person of William Nix a pocket wallet containing a 10s. note, a fountain pen, and some letters, to the value of £1. Defendant said she was Guilty of taking the wallet, but she took nothing out of it. She could not tell them a thing that was in it.

William Nix, of 18 Chapel Place, Dover, said he was in Folkestone the previous day on business. In Tontine Street, about midday, he was going into the Brewery Tap, when he saw the defendant, who asked him if he was going to treat her. He took her into the public house.

The Magistrates` Clerk (Mr. C. Rootes): To more than one, I think?

Witness: Yes, sir.

Proceeding, witness said they went to a cinema in the afternoon about 3.45 p.m. They occupied seats together and defendant sat on his right hand side. Defendant said “Take off your overcoat. It must be wet”. He hung it over a seat in front. During the performance she put her head on his right shoulder. Subsequently she intimated to him that she wanted to go out. She did not return, and after a time – about a quarter of an hour – he wondered what had happened. He felt in his jacket pocket, where he had had the wallet (produced), and missed it. It had contained a 10s. note, which he had seen in it just before he went in. There were also some letters and cards and a fountain pen in the wallet. He rushed out and looked for the defendant. He saw her going down the High Street, and asked her for his wallet. She said she had not got it, and added “It must be on the seat”. He said he would give her in charge if she did not hand the wallet over. She said she had not got it, and she went up every by-street where he could not see a policeman. She ran away and dodged him in some little narrow turning. He found her creeping behind some trees, and he said he was going to follow her until he met a policeman. She took him all over the Leas and everywhere, and eventually he saw a constable and shouted out. He then gave her in charge. He valued the wallet and contents at £1, not including the 10s. note. Defendant gave him the wallet some time after he kept following her about. He said “I am going to give you in charge”, and she then handed him the wallet, saying “Here you are”. The 10s. note was gone, and so he kept following her. He asked her about the 10s. note and she said she had not got it.

Defendant said that witness returned with her to the Playhouse, where she gave him back the wallet.

Witness: I never went near the Playhouse, because the attendants know.

Defendant: After I had said I had not got the 10s. note, he followed me a good way.

The Clerk: He said that.

Defendant: We went for a bus ride before this. He has not told you about that.

By the Clerk, witness said he did not go over to the Royal Oak, on the Dover Road. Defendant said she would like to go for a ride and he took her.

Defendant: I did not ask for his company.

The Clerk: How many public houses did you go to?

Witness: Three, sir.

How many drinks did you have? – One, two, three, sir.

P.C. Brittain said at about 4.50 p.m. he was on a motorcycle patrol in Cheriton Place, where he saw the defendant and the last witness running. Nix called out “Will you stop this girl? I want to give this girl in charge. She has stolen my wallet and a 10s. note”. The girl then said “I took the wallet, but did not have the money”. He cautioned her, and told her she would have to proceed to the police station for enquiries. They proceeded to the Police Office and he was present when defendant was charged and cautioned. She replied “I admit taking the wallet, but I did not take the money”.

The Chief Constable (Mr. A.S. Beesley) said he suggested that the defendant should be remanded to Holloway for a week in custody. He was not quite sure of her mental condition, and it would give an opportunity to examine that.

The Bench agreed to remand defendant for a week.

Folkestone Express 1-4-1933

Friday, March 24th: Before Mr. L.G.A. Collins and Eng. Rear Admiral L.J. Stephens.

Hilda May Barton (23), a Folkestone woman, appeared on remand, charged that on the 16th March she feloniously stole from the person of William Nix a pocket wallet containing a 10s. note, a fountain pen, and some letters, to the value of £1. Defendant denied that she took the money, but she admitted taking the wallet, although she said she did not open it.

The Chief Constable (Mr. A.S. Beesley) said in September, 1931, defendant was charged with vagrancy, and bound over for twelve months on condition that she went to a home at Maidstone. “Since January, 1932”, he added, “she has been wandering about sleeping out. She has been found on at least one occasion sleeping in a shed not far away from the Fishmarket, and has been taken to St. Agnes` Hostel. She is a bit of a problem and a nuisance to us. I do not know what we shall do with her”.

The Probation Officer (Mr. A.D.Z. Holmes) said that girl was ordered by that Court to enter Hope House, Maidstone, for six months, and for the greater portion of that time she did very well, but towards the end her conduct was not quite so satisfactory, and as a result of a report he had from the matron of that institution, he had the girl medically examined. The doctors, however, would not give the certificate for the purpose for which he wanted. Defendant remained in the institution for some considerable time and then begged him to get her out. A situation was found for her and she remained in that situation for something like five months. The employer`s report was that she was a good worker, but inclined to stay out late at night. “She is more unmoral than immoral”, he went on. “She is a girl that apparently cannot take care of herself. She cannot stay on her feet very long without aid, and if I might suggest that she should remain in a home for two years, nominated by me, it would be better in her interests, perhaps, and in ours”.

In reply to the Bench, Mr. Holmes said the defendant`s parents were very poor people, and if she went home she would not stay there very long.

The Chairman asked defendant if she was prepared to enter a home as the Probation Officer had suggested.

Defendant: Yes, sir.

The Chairman: Then you will be bound over for two years to enter a home according to Mr. Holmes.

The Probation Officer: Meanwhile she enters St. Agnes` Hostel.

The Chairman: Yes.

The Magistrates` Clerk (Mr. C. Rootes) then asked if the prosecutor, Mr. Nix, was present, and the man was called forward.

The Chairman: We don`t think very much of the part you took in this, to take a young girl round to public houses like you did.

Mr. Nix: Well, I don`t know, sir. She asked me.

The Chairman: Well, you ought to know better.

The Clerk: I am not sure if the excuse he gives is sufficient.

Eng. Rear Admiral Stephens: Perfectly disgraceful, I call it, for a man of your age.

Folkestone Herald 1-4-1933

Local News

Hilda May Barton, a young woman, who had been remanded on a charge of stealing a wallet from William Nicks, an elderly man, was brought before the Court again on Friday of last week, when she was sent to a home. It was alleged that Barton stole the wallets from Nicks whilest they were at a cinema.

The Clerk (Mr. C. Rootes) said at the previous hearing prisoner had pleaded Not Guilty.

Barton said she did not take the money, although she admitted taking the wallet, which she could not open.

The Chief Constable (Mr. A.S. Beesley) said Barton was born at Ashford in 1910, and later went to Mersham and Smeeth. She stayed at home until she was 17, and then she went to Brighton, where she was a waitress for two years. Since then she had been employed at various places in Folkestone. On September 23rd, 1931, she had been charged at that Court with vagrancy, and bound over for 12 months on condition she went to a home at Maidstone. She remained there until March 9th, 1932. Since January of this year she had been wandering about and sleeping out. She was found on one occasion sleeping in an old shed. She was a bit of a nuisance to the police.

The Probation Officer (Mr. A.D.Z. Holmes) said during the greater part of the time Barton was at the home she did very well, although towards the end of the period her conduct was not so satisfactory. She was in an institution for a time, and begged him to get her out. He did so, a situation being found for her. She remained in the job for some five months. Her employer stated that she was a good worker but inclined to stay out late at nights. He (Mr. Holmes) thought Barton was more unmoral than immoral. She was a girl who could not take care of herself. He thought it would be to her best interests for her to enter a home for a period of two years.

The Chairman (Mr. L.G.A. Collins): Are you prepared to enter a home? – Yes.

The Chairman (continuing): Then you will be bound over for two years on condition you enter a home chosen for you by Mr. Holmes.

The Clerk then asked if the prosecutor was in Court, and when Mr. Nicks, a Dover man, came forward the Chairman said the Magistrates did not think much of the part he took in taking this young girl round to a number of public houses.

Mr. Nicks: I did not know.

The Chairman: You ought to have known better.

Admiral L.J. Stephens (sitting with Mr. Collins): It is perfectly disgraceful for a man of your age.