Folkestone Herald
31-5-1980
Obituary
Kate Knight, wife of pub landlord Mr. John Knight, has
died. She was 66. The couple, who ran the Brewery Tap, in Tontine Street,
Folkestone, for six years, moved to the Valiant Sailor, at the top of Dover
Hill, Capel, three years ago.
Kate was a popular figure behind the bar and, with her
husband John, made the Valiant Sailor a lively and friendly pub.
Publicans and regulars from the Brewery Tap and the
Valiant Sailor turned out in force to pay their respects at the cremation
service in Hawkinge last Friday. Her ashes will be scattered in St. Michael`s
Churchyard, Tenterden – the town where she was born.
Kate died at the pub, and her husband John said “It`s the
way she would have wanted to go, working and talking to people”.
South Kent Gazette
6-8-1980
Local News
What are the connections between William Caxton and the
Valiant Sailor? They are both names of Whitbread Fremlins pubs. And their
respective landlady and landlord recently married at Ashford Registry Office.
Bride and landlady of the William Caxton in Tenterden is Mrs. Joan Bowles. She
has known the landlord of the Valiant Sailor, in Dover Road, Capel, Mr. John
Knight, for ten years. Both were widowed, and will now live at the Valiant
Sailor. Mrs. Bowles is giving up her pub in September. Mr. Knight has been in
the licensing trade for about 20 years, spending the last ten in Folkestone. He
and his late wife were at the
Brewery Tap, Tontine Street, before taking over the Valiant Sailor four years
ago. Mrs Bowles and her late husband moved to the William Caxton in 1970. She
has spent 28 years in the trade and was widowed three years ago. All four were
very good friends, who regularly met.
The week was marred when Mrs Bowles discovered thieves had stolen about
£2,000 in takings and savings from her pub on Sunday evening.
South Kent Gazette
21-1-1981
Local News
Bacon butties and beer are definitely out. In, are mounds of fresh fruit
and slimline oranges for four overweight darts players who are making an effort
to shed some of those excess pounds. Regulars of the Valiant Sailor pub, Capel, Mick
McGuiness, Alan Reed, Dave Roberts and John Griggs are fighting the flab with a
sponsored slim. And
while they lose flesh, they hope to gain cash for the Year of the Disabled
fund. The battle
began two weeks ago when the fleshy lads weighed in at between 14st. 5lb. and a
massive 19st. On
Friday evening, as they relaxed the stringent rules and enjoyed a pint - or
three - their weights were between 13st. 13lb. and 18st. 4lb. With another painful four weeks
to go, Mick, of Hollands Avenue, Folkestone, Alan, of Downs Road, Folkestone,
Dave, of Harbour Way, Folkestone and John, of Hollands Avenue, all hope their
sacrifices will prove fruitful and raise a fair amount of cash for the
disabled.
South Kent Gazette
24-3-1982
Local News
Less than an hour after thieves ransacked a Capel pub
flames ripped through the building, wrecking both bars. Fire experts claim that
the blaze at the Valiant Sailor on Saturday was caused by an electrical fault.
But police are still investigating the
incident and are sure that other damage in the area is linked with it.
Landlord Mr. John Knight and his wife, Joan, were
asleep when the fire started just below their bedroom, at about 3 am. Mr. Knight was woken up by smoke billowing
into the room. He and his wife immediately left the building. Wearing nothing more than a nightgown, Mrs.
Knight went to a nearby bungalow for help. Two fire appliances from Folkestone attended and
firemen brought the blaze under control within 40 minutes. The electrical meter cupboard and
ceilings were also severely damaged and the heat was so intense that pewter
mugs hanging above the bar melted from their hooks. Mr. Knight, tired and upset, said “My
wife and I are shattered. We never want to go through another fire again”.
When police probed through the debris they found
that cigarettes, spirits and cash for the tills, total value of £30, had been
stolen. They
suspect thieves made their way in through the toilets.
Mr. Knight, who has been landlord at the Valiant
Sailor for five and a half years, said “This is the fourth break-in we’ve had
since we have been here”.
Windows of Houses in New Dover Road, Capel, were smashed just
before the fire and burglary at the pub. Detective Inspector Bob McCaughan
said “It is possible the incidents could
be linked as they happened at roughly the same time”.
The extent of the damage means the pub will be
shut for some time. Now the village is without a pub at all since the nearby Royal Oak closed
two weeks ago.
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| Photo from South Kent Gazette |
South Kent Gazette
15-6-1983
Local News
A former pub landlord was found
dead in a pool of blood in a graveyard on Wednesday afternoon. Mr. John Knight,
aged 63, was found by a resident of a nearby estate that backs on to St.
Michael`s Church, Tenterden.
On Friday his wife Joan said from
the couple`s home at Kingstone Court, Shorncliffe Road, Folkestone, he was a
well-known and well-liked man around the town. Mr. Knight spent many years as a
publican in Folkestone. Around 1971 he took over at the Brewery Tap in Tontine
Street. He then moved to the Valiant Sailor, which he left nearly 18 months ago
shortly after a fire wrecked the pub. For a year Mr. Knight took on the lease
of the bar at Folkestone`s Courtland Hotel.
Police are investigating his
death and there is to be an inquest. A post mortem has been held but there are
no suspicious circumstances.
Chairman of the Folkestone and
District Licensed Victuallers` Association, Mr. Vic Batten, said he was
shattered to hear the news. Mr. Batten, who runs the Jubilee pub, added “He was
a well-known and a loyal member of the licensed trade”. When Mr. Knight moved
to the Capel pub a lot of his customers followed him even though it was out of
their area, said Mr. Batten.
Fellow publican and friend of Mr.
Knight, Mr. Stanley Dawkins, of the Ship, Folkestone, said “John was a great
man, and his customers thought the world of him”.
The funeral is likely to be in a
few weeks` time.
Folkestone Herald
24-6-1983
Local News
The funeral of publican John Knight was held on Tuesday. Relatives and friends gathered to pay
their last respects at St. Michael’s Church, Tenterden. It was at the church that Mr. Knight,
63, of Kingston Court, Shorncliffe Road, Folkestone, was found dead in a pool
of blood two and a half weeks ago. Police are investigating his death and there is to be an inquest.
His widow,
Joan, is distraught by his death. She said she would like to have a memorial
service for him in Folkestone in about July. Mr. Knight spent many years as a
publican in Folkestone. He took over the Brewery Tap in Tontine Street in
1971, later moving to the Valiant Sailor at Capel. He left there nearly 18
months ago shortly after a fire wrecked the pub, and for a year took on the
lease of the bar at Folkestone’s Courtland Hotel.
South Kent Gazette
6-7-1983
Inquest
A former pub landlord badly in debt slashed his wrist and
died on the grave of his two former wives. John Knight, aged 63, former
landlord of the Valiant Sailor pub at Capel, killed himself at St. Michael`s
churchyard, Tenterden, late on June 7. His partly-clothed body was found in a
pool of blood with his left wrist slashed. The rest of his bloodstained
garments lay around him.
His third wife Joan told Coroner Mr. Ralph Vaughan she
had no idea of his financial troubles. It was only after his death that she
discovered he owed money to Whitbread brewery, the Inland Revenue, VAT
authorities and his bank. Mrs. Knoight told the inquest at Tenterden “He was a
nervous man and would never worry me with unpleasant things. He never talked
about his financial problems”.
Mr. Knight`s body was found by the grave, where his first
two wives are buried by a resident of a nearby estate, Mr. Colin Roberts, who
was putting potato peelings on a compost heap when he looked over his garden
fence and saw the body. A police search uncovered a bloodstained razor blade
between cigarette papers in Mr. Knight`s jacket pocket.
Consultant pathologist, Dr. Noel Padley, said Mr. Knight
died from lack of oxygen as a result of blood loss from his wrist. Dr. Padley
said cuts above one eye and along the jaw were probably caused by Mr. Knight
falling on some nearby barbed wire.
Mrs. Knight, of Shorncliffe Road, Folkestone, said her
husband`s manner was strange a week before she last saw him. He said he was
going to visit his brother at Kingston, Surrey – the first time they had been
separated in their three year marriage. Mr. Knight had been taking sleeping
pills and showed her how to deal with the boiler, a task he always did. “I
think he was preparing for his death”, she said.
A few months before the couple left the Valiant Sailor
last May, a fire wrecked the bars. Mrs. Knight said this disturbed her husband
greatly and he would wake up some time afterwards saying he could smell smoke.
Mr. Vaughan`s verdict was Mr. Knight took his life while
the balance of his mind was disturbed.
Mrs. Knight said her husband was a kind and caring man.
He always played Father Christmas for the children of Capel and would help
anyone in trouble.
Before taking on the licence of the Valiant Sailor Mr.
Knight used to run the Brewery Tap in Tontine Street, Folkestone. After leaving
the Capel pub he had the lease of the bar at Folkestone`s Courtland Hotel for a
year.
Mrs. Knight plans to hold a memorial service for her
husband in Folkestone in a few weeks.
Folkestone Herald
15-7-1988
Local News
A party of blind visitors were thrown out of a seafront
pub on their first evening in town – because they had their guide dogs with
them. Even before they reached a table at the Harbour public house, the group
of five blind people and two sighted guides were told “You can`t come in. We
don`t have dogs in here”. Shocked, one of the party, in Folkestone for the
Royal Commonwealth Blind Bowls Tournament, told the landlord they were guide
dogs, but only to be scolded “Not those either”. Disillusioned and upset, the
group had to leave.
Visually handicapped Geoff Rawlingson, secretary of the
England National Association of Visually Handicapped Bowlers, and his totally
blind wife, Pauline, were among those banned from the pub. He said “It was
absolutely disgusting. Their attitude was totally wrong. We`re not second class citizens, so why
should we be treated like this? I have been all over the world, and
this has never happened before. It is not our fault we’re blind”.
The Rawlingsons had wandered from their hotel, the Burstin, to the local
pub with friends including Alan Dyte, a blind charity worker and BBC broadcaster,
and John Thomas, chairman and secretary of the Bristol Blind Bowls Club. All were
on their first ever visit to Folkestone for the bowls tournament being held at
Cheriton, and wanted to celebrate with a drink out. For two
friends, laboradors Quaker and Illis were their eyes, but it was these two dogs
Harbour landlord Robert Collins objected to.
Mr. Collins said: “It was a Saturday evening. The pub was extremely busy
and full of youngsters. It was not fair on the dogs. We do not
accept dogs on food premises, not even guide dogs”.
Now, after being contacted by the Herald, management at the pub’s Whitbread
brewery have apologised. Area manager David Hespe said “Quite clearly the manager was wrong. He says he was under the impression
that any dog - even guide dogs - were banned from the pub. He assumed wrong.
This would never, ever be our policy”. The pub
manager would be reprimanded
and advised over the mistake. On behalf of
Whitbread, Mr Hespe has now offered the party of seven a meal at their nearby
pub, The Valiant Sailor.
Folkestone Herald
22-7-1988
Local News
A civic leader has apologised on behalf of the
town for an amazing blunder which led to a party of blind bowling champions
being ousted from a Folkestone pub. In the embarrassing mess-up, the manager
of Whitbread’s Harbour pub in Harbour Street ordered the group at of the bar
because they had two guide dogs with them.
It led to an almighty stir
within the brewery and among officials at last week’s Royal Commonwealth Blind
Bowls Tournament. But after
reading of the incident in the Herald, Shepway District Council chairman
Anthony Deighton offered the town’s apologies to bowlers at their farewell
dance on Friday. And he went
even further on Tuesday this week to attack the manager of the pub for
what he described as a “stupid mistake”. He said “It seems ridiculous to think
this happened while at the same time there is a television advert which shows a
dog in a pub drinking beer. The council wants people to come back
again, and obviously if they have a bad time here, they won’t bother. On Friday
I apologised to the individuals concerned because it is the sort of thing that can mar a holiday. Luckily, they just shrugged it off”.
The brewers, Whitbread, offered the party a
free meal at their nearby pub, The Valiant Sailor, as part of their apologies.
Area Manager David Hespe said last week “The manager was wrong. Banning guide
dogs would never, ever be our policy”.
Folkestone Herald
17-7-1992
Local News
Customers and staff at the Valiant Sailor pub, Capel,
raised £350 for the Telethon in a 24 hour bar billiards tournament.
Folkestone Herald
5-8-1993
Local News
Thieves stole a 12 foot bouncy castle from a pub in
Capel. They crept into the garden of the Valiant Sailor at the top of Dover
Hill and swiped the massive multi-coloured inflatable. Bob Allen, assistant
manager, said “It happened overnight and nobody heard a thing. It`s pretty
sickening. Parents used to like coming here because they could leave their kids
to play while they had a quiet drink. I don`t know if we`ll be able to afford
to replace it. Our budget is only so big”. The castle had the name of the pub
written in capital blue letters on its archway. The thieves also took an air
compressor, and both items have a total value of £1,000. Mr. Allen said “We`re
offering a reward of a family meal for four for any information which will get
the castle returned to us. It will probably turn up at a boot fair somewhere.
It won`t be sold to another Valiant Sailor pub, because we`re the only one in
the country with that name”.
Folkestone Herald
24-11-1994
Local News
Burglars stole £200 from a fruit machine at the Valiant
Sailor pub, Capel.
Folkestone Herald
4-5-1995
Local News
A pub landlady was attacked and robbed as she got into
her car outside her own pub. A youth ran up to Elaine Burlingham, 39, in the
car park of the Valiant Sailor pub in Old Dover Road, Capel, and stole £3,000.
Mrs. Burlingham was not injured, but the man escaped with the money, believed
to be the weekend`s takings. He is described as between 18 and 20, with short
brown hair. He was wearing blue jeans, a navy sweatshirt and dark-coloured
trainers.
Note: No mention of Burlingham in
More Bastions.
Folkestone Herald
24-10-1996
Local News
Pub punters made the most of special booze bargains this
week as part of a protest against “unfair” tax rules. It was the latest move in
a campaign to get Chancellor Kenneth Clarke to cut alcohol duty rates so they
are on a par with Continental traders. Trafalgar Day, on Monday, - anniversary
of Nelson`s famous sea victory – was marked by hundreds of pubs cutting the
price of a pint by 26p – the difference in duty paid by British and French
tipplers.
Ian Coote, of brewery giants, Whitbread, said “This was a
colourful way of making a very serious point. More than 1.1 million pints of
cheap French beer are being brought into the U.K. every day. It`s resulting in
the closure of local pubs, landlords and bar staff being thrown on the dole,
while gangs of bootleggers peddle cheap beer on our streets”.
The Valiant Sailor, at the top of Dover Hill, Folkestone,
was one of the pubs which took part in the protest. Staff wore special Admiral
Nelson hats and handed out “Axe the Tax” stickers. But supervisor Emma
Dunn-Beeching said “Most people were just interested in the cheap drink. The
regulars certainly enjoyed it!”
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| Photo from Folkestone Herald |
Folkestone Herald
29-5-1997
Local News
A postcard-writing runaway teddy bear is still at large
and believed to be living it up in Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire.
Julia Collins, manageress of the Valiant Sailor pub,
Capel, was shocked to find that the cuddly Rupert Bear, given to the pub to
help raise money for charity, had gone missing. But she was even more amazed
when she received a postcard from the bear explaining that he was so fed up
with waiting to be won that he had decided to go on holiday. An astounded Miss
Collins told the Herald “I just couldn`t believe it when Rupert disappeared and
then started writing us letters. We have received pictures of his adventure and
believe him to be in the Hemel Hempstead area – but we have our suspicions as
to who helped Rupert escape, and are now well on our way to tracking him down”.
Miss Collins and her partner David Lewis are being helped on their “Where`s
Rupert?” quest by all the pub regulars – including a police detective – and
have even set up a telephone hotline to encourage people to come forward with
information. She said “We are determined to find him and are even offering a
reward for his safe return. The money we are collecting for Rupert is for the
Muscular Dystrophy charity and so we hope he`ll come home of his own free will
soon. If not, we have a few ideas up our sleeve”.
If Rupert fails to materialise, Julie and David have said
they may be forced to send their secret weapon to fetch the wandering bear –
Rupert`s best friend Bill the Badger!
The pub landlady explained; “We found Bill in a shop the
other day and thought he would be the perfect person to bring Rupert home and
so we will be sending pictures of Bill on the trail to the people we suspect
helped Rupert escape”.
Anyone with any information about Rupert`s whereabouts
can contact the Lost bear hotline on (01303) 252401.
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