Cherry Pickers, 1978
Licensees
Royston Alexander 1964 1970
Gerald Rowe and James Cullen 1970 1972
Bernard Davenport and David Coles 1972 1972
Anthony Organ and David Coles 1972 1973
Anthony Organ and Neill Smith 1974 1974 Anthony Organ To Victoria
Michael McNelly and William Buckman 1974 1976 ?? Michael McNelly to Brewery Tap
Leonard Loader 1976 1980
Michael Higgins 1980 1992
Ronald Weaver 1992 1995
Joyce Meakin and Erica Giles 1995 1996
Keith Stephenson and Madeline Hurst 1996 1998
Corinne Stockton and Patricia Tant 1998 2001
James Reed 2001 2001
James Reed and Angela Simmons 2001 2004 +
Folkestone Herald
18-8-1962
Local
News
Plans
for a new public house at Cheriton were revealed at Folkestone Transfer
Sessions on Wednesday, when the Justices approved an application for the
provisional grant of a publican`s licence, made by Mr. Walter Thunder, on
behalf of Mackeson and Co., Ltd.
Mr.
Phillip Bratcher, representing the brewery, explained that his clients proposed
to build a public house called The Cherry Pickers on their site at the junction
of Ashley Avenue and Dennis Way, Cheriton. Outline planning permission had been
given by the Council`s Housing and Town Planning Committee. Mr. Bratcher said
that if the grant was approved, Mackeson`s would surrender their full
off-licence in respect of premises in Ashley Avenue, owned by them, and known
as The Imperial. They would also give up their “hung-over” full on-licence
remaining since the war, for the Wheatsheaf, in Bridge Street, Folkestone. The
Cherry Pickers would rely mainly on local custom, and not on passing
travellers, for business. Mr. Bratcher went on to say that entrances to the
saloon bar, public bars, and to the off-sales department of the new public
house would be in the front of the building, facing the Ashley Avenue/Dennis
Way junction. Mackeson`s intended to have a resident licensee on the premises,
and would eventually apply for a transfer of the provisional grant to him.
After
examining the plans showing detains of The Cherry Pickers, the Justices granted
the licence.
Folkestone Herald 16-2-1963
Annual Licensing Sessions
Convictions for
drunkenness in Folkestone in 1962 totalled 27, a decrease of 10 compared with
the 1961 figure. But even so it compared unfavourably with the records of
neighbouring towns - 12 at Dover, 12 at Canterbury, and 15 at Ashford.
At Folkestone
Brewster Sessions on Wednesday, the Chairman of the Justices, Mr. P.V. Gurr,
asked the assembled licensees to watch this aspect carefully throughout the
coming year. He pointed out that the figure of 27 covered only those who had
been convicted. “You will all be aware”, he added, “that there are a large
number of other drunks who manage to find their own way home safely”.
Thanking Supt. Peck
for his report, Mr. Gurr said “I think we shall all regard this as very
satisfactory”. He said that Folkestone`s average of 283 people per licence
compared with 429 at Ashford and 258 at Canterbury. Mr. Gurr continued
“Concerning the substantial decrease in the number of extensions of hours
granted during the year, this, of course, is mainly the result of the general
extension of licensing hours, and the fact that the previous block applications
for holidays were not necessary to be made. With regard to the police visits to
licensed premises during the year, licence holders will realise that these
visits are not for snooping purposes, but with a view to assisting the licence
holders in their operations. I am sure any suggestions made by police when they
call on these periodic visits are welcomed and acted on by the licensees. In
the past the General Annual Licensing Meeting has always been a busy occasion
for the granting of new licences, but with the abolition of the Licensing Planning
Committee and the Confirming Authority, and the new statutory provisions
whereby new licences can be granted at Transfer Sessions, the work is now
spread out over the year. The Committee have considered many applications for
new types of licences defined under the 1961 Act, and we are glad to see that
the conditions of these new licences are apparently being observed”.
Continuing, the Chairman said “Magistrates are very glad to have had before
them during the year various plans for alterations to public houses, and have
been pleased to agree to these, particularly in view of the improved
supervision for the licensees, and the provision of indoor toilet accommodation
for ladies and gentlemen. Any further applications making provision of this
type will be favourably considered by the Licensing Committee. During the year
a provisional licence has been granted in respect of premises to be built in
Tile Kiln Lane, where an existing of-licence is to be surrendered, as the way
the Biggins Wood area has built up certainly calls for a development on these
lines, and having this house on the connection between Canterbury Road and
Cheriton will also offer advantages”.
Mr. Gurr ended by
announcing that all existing licences would be renewed.
Folkestone Gazette
14-10-1964
Local News
The Cherry Pickers.
This is the name of Cheriton’s new public house,
which will be opened tonight. Choice
of the name by the owners, Mackeson and Co. Ltd., is a happy and also
appropriate one, for it is not far from the old Cherry Gardens pleasure
grounds, while it will also remind older residents of that famous cavalry
regiment, the 11th Hussars, who were nicknamed “The Cherrypickers”,
and were stationed
at Shorncliffe Camp at various
times. They
were among the Old Contemptibles, but long before then they were known as The
Cherrypickers,’ a name they earned in the Peninsular War, I understand.
Licensee of the Cherry Pickers, which faces up Ashley
Avenue, is Mr. Roy Alexander, who is very well known in the district. He has
run two other Mackeson pubs, The Three Mariners, Hythe, and The City of London,
Dymchurch. He
played cricket for Hythe, and is a Southern Counties Hockey Association umpire. For three years he was secretary of the
Folkestone Licensed
Victuallers` Association. Both
he and his wife hold the Licensed Trade Diploma.
Folkestone Herald 17-10-1964
Local News
A new public house, the Cherry Pickers, was opened on Wednesday night to
serve the Cherry Gardens District of Folkestone. Among those present to see the
first pint drawn shortly after 6 p.m. were the Chairman of the Licensing
Justices, Mr. F.J. Baden Fuller, and the Mayor of Folkestone, Councillor H.J.V.
Johnson.
They were among the many guests who enjoyed the
hospitality of the owners, Mackeson and Co. Ltd., and mine host and hostess,
Mr. and Mrs. Roy Alexander, after the first pint had been drawn. This was done
by 70-year-old ex-Squadron Sergeant-Major Harold Leakey, a first world war
veteran of the 11th Light Dragoons - who were nicknamed “The Cherrypickers” as far back as
1811.
The new inn, in Ashley Avenue, even has its own ornamental flowering
cherry tree planted in its turfed forecourt, while two of the bars are named
the “Napoleon” and the “Waterloo”, after two famous varieties of cherries. The
sign, which depicts two magpies feasting off a cherry tree, was illuminated and
the neon exterior lights switched on during the opening ceremony when the
managing director of Mackeson`s, Commander N.C.M. Findlay, R.N., (ret.),
flicked a switch.
Apart from being named after the district in which it is so
strategically situated, the inn also preserves the link between the district
and the 11th Hussars, who were stationed at various times at
Shorncliffe Camp. The regiment was nicknamed “The Cherrypickers”, so the story
goes, after they were surprised by French cavalry picking cherries in a Spanish
orchard during the Peninsular War. The men were forced to fight a dismounted
action. Prints of the Cherrypickers in different uniform of the various periods
of their history hang in the Waterloo bar, while in the Napoleon bar
hang prints of various types of cherries.
The main feature of the
Cherry Pickers is that it has been designed as a family house to meet the needs
of a growing residential neighbourhood. The many modern comforts include central
heating, and a cooling plant in the cellar. The large car park, which has
floodlighting is a useful further asset.
Fifty-year-old Mr.
Alexander, the man behind the bar, is well-known in local trade and sporting
circles. He has previously run two of the company`s other houses, the Three
Mariners, at Hythe, and the ity of London, at Dymchurch. For three years he was
Secretary of the Folkestone Licensed Victuallers` Association, and lately has
been managing an off-licence near his new public house.
Folkestone Herald 11-11-1972
Local News
Two men who set upon a third man because, it was alleged, he was
sarcastic and provoked them, were told by Folkestone magistrates on Tuesday
their action was cowardly. Dennis William Pumphrey, of Brockman Road, Folkestone, and David Robins,
of Westboume Gardens, Folkestone, both pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm to Mr. Terence
Shillito, of Somerset Road, Folkestone. The
two £21-a-week maintenance men were fined £25 each and bound over to keep the
peace for a year in the sum of £10. Mr.
Shillito received cuts on his nose, a bruised back and forehead as a result of
the incident.
Inspector Philip
Roberts, prosecuting, said the men set upon Mr. Shillito as he left the Cherry
Pickers public house, Cheriton, at closing time.
The landlord came to his
assistance. Robins and Pumphrey, who are both married, went to Mr. Shillito’s
home and waited by his car for him to appear. The
police were called and the men taken to Folkestone police station.
Pumphrey said in a
statement he and Robins had been drinking in the pub at lunchtime and put
some money in the juke box The record started playing but Mr. Shillito turned
down the volume. The same thing happened in the evening. They started talking to Mr.
Shillito and, Pumphrey alleged, he was provoking and sarcastic to his friend,
Robins. Pumphrey
said: “We went outside and David and me jumped on him and gave him a good
hiding”.
Folkestone Gazette
14-3-1973
Local News
During a disturbance outside a public house last Christmas Eve, a Folkestone man had his
nose broken. The story of the trouble outside the Cherry Pickers, in Ashley
Avenue, was told at Folkestone Magistrates` Court Friday.
Arnold Robert Ryder, a medical assistant with the Royal Navy, was cleared
of an assault on William Joy, of Woodfield Close, occasioning actual bodily
harm. Ryder, of Gosport,
pleaded Not Guilty. He
told the court that after trouble inside the pub, a group of people moved outside. He went out to see what was going
on, and stood on the fringe of the group because he did not want to get involved.
He heard the sound of breaking glass, and thought that Joy was threatening him
with a bottle or broken glass. He punched him once in the face, then returned
to the pub.
Joy said that Ryder had attempted to kick him, missed, then butted him in
the face. His nose was broken, and he was treated at the Royal Victoria
Hospital.
Folkestone Gazette
26-11-1975
Local News
Albert Edgar King
told Folkestone Court on Friday that he tapped a window to attract the
attention of an ex-licensee.
But Inspector
Clifford Horrell, prosecuting, told of incidents at The Cherry Pickers public
house at Cheriton where King had had several drinks and later punched a pane of
glass which smashed.
King, aged 35, of Broadmead Road,
Folkestone, admitted criminal damage. The case was adjourned for reports.
South Kent Gazette
28-3-1979
Local News
Police are hunting several men who attacked a barman in
Cheriton on Saturday night. But fears that workmen from the M20 motorway
construction site could be responsible have been scotched by both police and
local landlords. The incident happened at 11.10 p.m. in the Victoria public
house, Risborough Lane, when
barman Brian Brown told customers it was time to leave.
A police spokesman said that Mr. Brown, who lives
in Christchurch Road, Folkestone, received a bleeding nose, cut gums and
facial bruising. “Navvies”
from the Danton Lane, Cheriton, motorway site were blamed for the assault
because the assailants had not been identified and one spoke with an Irish
accent.
However, Police Inspector
Peter Ford told the Gazette “We’ve had no trouble at all from the site. If the
situation with site workers continues as it is then we shall be perfectly happy”.
Mr. Brown was unavailable
for comment at the time of going to press but the Victoria’s landlord said
“This is the first time we’ve had trouble in the pub since I came here three
years ago”.
Speculation that motorway
workers could be a possible source of violence was scotched by landlords at: The
White Lion in Cheriton High Street - “So far they’ve been perfectly well
behaved in here”.; The Morehall, Cheriton Road “Nice lads ... no
trouble whatsoever”.; The Nailbox, Shorncliffe Road – “A bit noisy, that`s
all”.; The Cherry Pickers, Ashley Avenue, Cheriton – “We`ve had a few in, but
they`ve been perfectly O.K.”.
Folkestone Herald
15-10-1982
Local News
Sponsored runs, tugs of war, raffles and other events was
how customers of a Cheriton pub raised money for a guide dog for the blind. At
the Cherry Pickers pub on Sunday a £1,000 cheque was given by landlord Mr. Mike
Higgins to Mr. Eric Heys, regional organiser for Kent`s Blind Association.
Customers had been raising the money for about a year and the guide dog has
been named Cherry after the pub. A picture of the dog was presented to the
landlord and will hang in the bar of the Ashley Avenue pub.
Photo from Folkestone Herald
Folkestone Herald
27-10-1989
Local News
Pub regulars had a special reason for raising money to
boost the Royal Marines School of Music Appeal Fund. The £450 made on a boot
fair held by the Cherry Pickers in Folkestone was to go to it`s chosen charity
for the year, multiple sclerosis. The change of heart came when regulars
realised why a friend, George Sketcher, had not been in for a drink for several
days after last month`s Deal tragedy. George, a former band corporal at Deal,
was mourning eight of the 11 bandsmen he taught, who were killed by an I.R.A.
bomb at the music school barracks.
Pub fundraisers asked him to join a jazz jamming session
at the boot fair and to present a cheque for the money raised to Royal Marines
Band Sergeant, Andy Wall.
George, who once played with Count Basie, said “When I
heard about the bombing I was really cut up and didn`t come into the pub for a
few days. The people who have organised, come along and supported the boot fair
are absolutely marvellous – I cannot thank them enough”.
Band Sergeant Andy Wall said “We didn`t know just how
many friends we had until after the tragedy. The money raised will be put to
good use”.
Folkestone Herald
11-1-1991
Letter
On behalf of Folkestone Old People`s Welfare Committee,
the staff and clients, I would like to thank the landlady of the Cherry
Pickers, Mrs. Jackie Higgins, and the committee members of the Cherry Aid
Charity, Brian Baker (Chairman), Roger West (Treasurer), and others, who
donated a cheque for the sum of £750 to Age Concern. The Deputy Mayor, Ian
Parker, attended the occasion, which was a Christmas party for our members. The
cheque will help fund the future development of the upstairs of the Cheriton
Day Centre.
I would especially mention the efforts of the fundraising
committee, which was set up two years ago. The Cherry Aid Charity has raised
over £5,000 in that time by organising many events. We are indebted to them and
to the customers of the Cherry Pickers for supporting our work for the elderly
in this area.
Rosemary Braid,
Area Organiser, Folkestone Old People`s Welfare
Committee,
Shaftesbury Avenue,
Cheriton.
Folkestone Herald
9-8-1991
Local News
Regulars of the Cherry Pickers pub in Cheriton have just
handed over £2,000 in cash and equipment to charities. The pub`s customers and
fundraising committee – known as Cherry Aid – stage events and competitions
over the year to help those in need. This year they have included a fun day, a
swear bottle and barbecues.
Kent Air Ambulance, Folkestone`s Adult Education Centre
and the Multiple Sclerosis Society all received cheques for £500. Another £500
was spent on three nebulisers for people suffering asthma attacks. They were
presented to two local doctors and the Royal Victoria Hospital.
Folkestone Herald
6-11-1997
Local News
A Poppy Day collection box has been stolen from a Shepway
pub. The cold-hearted thieves struck at the Cherry Pickers pub, in Ashley
Avenue, Folkestone, and took the box, thought to have contained around £10 in
change. The box was later found with its top broken open in the car park of the
pub. The incident happened around 6.30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 30, and
landlady Mandy Hurst says she is outraged. She said “It is bad for it to
happen, but even worse for that charity at this time of year. I think it is
disgusting”.
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