Royal George 1950s

Folkestone Herald 14-3-1953

Local News

At Folkestone Magistrates` Court on Tuesday, Mr. Arthur George Darby, of Ramsgate, was granted a protection order in respect of the Royal George Hotel, Folkestone. Mr. Darby said there would be a manager on the premises.

Note: This does not appear in More Bastions.

Folkestone Herald 3-4-1954

Local News

Sir Harry Mackeson has been asked to help persuade the Ministry of Transport to give a decision about the provision for a car park in the Harbour area. (Yesterday afternoon Sir Harry visited the area with officials of the Ministry and British Railways.)

Delay in obtaining approval from the Ministry is delaying the completion of the scheme for the redevelopment of the area, the Borough Engineer, Mr. E. L. Allman, told members of Folkestone Chamber of Trade on Monday evening.

Mr. Allman said in redevelop­ing the area they had not only to contend with natural diffi­culties but man-made diffi­culties. In the area they had no less than 13 public-houses, of which six were to remain. They had agreed with the brewers that a site adjacent to the Harbour Hotel should be made available to improve their premises. The existence of the railway line to the Harbour, and trunk sewers, which had to remain, added to the difficulties of plan­ning the area. Then there were awkward levels. It seemed that some type of housing was required and also a car park. The Tram Road would be brought into Harbour Street to keep traffic away from the railway arches, leaving a space free for pedestrians using the arches. Seagate Street and a small length of Beach Street would be disposed of, and Dover Street would be brought round in a bold curve into the Tram Road above the arch. The Borough Engineer said he thought the scheme for South Street would be pleas­ing, reproducing as far as possible the conditions that existed before the shops were built 300 or 400 years ago.

The Royal George public house would remain in an altered form, but there was difficulty about the site adjoin­ing the Ark Cafe. The Minis­try seemed to think that a cafe would do well there. During the scheme they had moved some 10,000 cubic yards of earth, quite an achievement on a restricted site.

He said the units of accom­modation being built would ac­commodate 120 - 130 people. The Lifeboat public house would remain but the corner from North Street into the Durlocks would be improved by utilising a site adjoining the public house.

Mr. G. Balfour asked whether the new development would blend with the houses built before the war.

Mr. Allman said he was afraid the present-day restric­tion on money made it im­possible to follow the type of building in Radnor Street, but as far as their limited resources allowed they would select tiles and bricks to blend. Referring to Dover Street, he said there were still some sub­standard houses there which should come down. In future, when the street was widened, there would be no necessity to interfere with the Quakers’ Meeting House, an old building which was set well back.

Folkestone Gazette 7-4-1954

Local News

It is reported by the Housing and Town Planning Committee that at their last meeting the Borough Engineer submitted a sketch plan and drawing received from the architects acting for the owners of the licensed premises, the Royal George, Beach Street. The plan illustrated the new premises proposed to be erected on the site and the area of land which the owners desired to acquire from the Corporation in connection with the rebuilding proposals. The Committee resolved (1) that the plan and drawing be approved in principle (2) that the Borough Engineer investigate and report to the Committee upon the possibility of erecting a shelter between the boundary of the licensed premises and Harbour Street.

Photo from Folkestone Gazette

 

Folkestone Gazette 20-2-1957

Local News

The war-damaged Royal George Hotel, near the Harbour, which was named at last week’s local annual Licensing Sessions as one of three public houses “not a credit to the town” because of delay in repairs or rebuilding it, has a link with Charles Dickens, for we find the great novelist mentioned it in one of his short stories.

Today only a small part of the Royal George remains; that part, in fact, which survived the enemy air attack in the early hours of November 18^th, 1940, when land mines were dropped on the area and caused casualties and great damage.

But let’s see what Dickens said about the hostelry. It appears in one of his “Re-printed Pieces” in which the novelist is describing a journey by one of the old South Eastern Railway’s boat expresses from London Bridge to Folkestone Harbour on his way to Paris. The train has reached our town and Dickens writes: “Now fresher air, now glimpses of unenclosed Downland with flapping crows flying over it whom we soon outfly, now the sea, now Folkestone at a quarter after ten. “Tickets ready, gentlemen!” “For Paris, sir? No hurry”. We are dropped slowly down to the Port, and sidle to and fro (the whole train) before the in­sensible Royal George Hotel, for some ten minutes. The Royal George takes no more heed of us than its name­sake under water at Spithead, or under earth at Windsor, does. The Royal George’s dog lies winking and blinking at us, without taking the trouble to sit up; and the Royal George’s “wedding party” at the open window (who seem, I must say, rather tired of bliss) don’t bestow a solitary glance upon us, flying thus to Paris in eleven hours.” They were Dickens` fleeting impressions of the Royal George a century or so ago.

At that time the Roval George Hotel advertised “The imme­diate proximity of this hotel to the railway and harbour render it peculiarly adapted to the convenience of the Continental tourist”, adding “There are also private apart­ments for families, with exten­sive and beautiful views of the sea and the coast of France, fitted up and furnished in the most elegant style, with every accommodation for their com­fort and convenience”. Then as a final recommenda­tion “Omnibuses pass the door to and from every train”.

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 1-1-1958

Local News

The owners of the Royal George Hotel, Beach Street, Folkestone, have informed the Corporation that it is their intention as soon as the existing restrictions upon capital expenditure are removed to make the building of the new premises their first major capi­tal investment.

In the meantime the brewers propose that a skin should be provided around the existing building, badly damaged by a land mine in 1940, to improve its appearance until the new permanent building can be con­structed.