Updates

13th December, 2014: Folkestone Herald Reports from 1966 and 1967Added.

Valiant Sailor 1960s

Folkestone Herald 23-4-1960

Local News

Accused of being in charge of his car while under the influence of drink, Ralph Stanley Lowe, of 6, Cherry Garden Avenue, Folkestone, was at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday sent for trial at Folkestone Quarter Sessions in July

Mr. Ian Graham, prosecuting, said that police officers saw Lowe slumped over the driving wheel of a Hillman Husky car parked outside a row of shops in Dover Road, near the junc­tion with Morrison Road, just before midnight on March 29^th. The ignition key was in the vehicle and the officers formed the opinion that Lowe was under the influence of drink. Taken to Folkestone police station, Lowe said he had been drinking at the Valiant Sailor public house. He was unable to explain what he had been doing between 10.30 p.m. and the time he was found by the police.

Giving evidence of arrest, P.C. Percy Goreham said “I saw a man slumped over the steering wheel. As I approached the car a dog in the back began barking, but this did not rouse the man. I tapped on the glass window of the door and the man raised his head and wagged his finger at the dog. I saw the man had on his lap some fish and chip paper. I asked him if he was unwell and he made no reply. I asked him to lower the window, which he did. I asked him again if he was feeling unwell and he said “I go to sleep. I can`t help it.””.  P.C. Goreham added that when Lowe got out of his car he was unsteady on his feet and his speech was slurred. “I told him that I was of the opinion that he was under the influence of alcohol”, P.C. Goreham said, “and that I was taking him to Folkestone Police Station”. He said “Why did you come that way?” At Folkestone police station, P.C. Goreham continued, he asked him if he had any docu­ments relating to the car. Lowe replied “I would rather not say anything”.

Dr. Derek Musselwhite said that when he examined Lowe at the police station he decided that he was under the influence of alcohol to such an extent as to be unable to be properly in charge of a car. During the examination Lowe was very quiet and was rather slow at answering questions. His tongue was furred and his breath smelt very strongly of alcohol. He was unsteady when stand­ing on one leg and could not do a “knees bend” properly. He was fairly steady while walking and standing with his feet together, and was fairly accurate in touching the end of his nose with his finger with his eyes closed. The pupils of his eyes were normal.

P.S. Richard Grayling said that at the police station Lowe said “I just fell asleep. I am always doing it”. Later he said “I must have been asleep there for an hour”.

Mr. C.B. Croft, defending, said that the prosecution had put forward an extremely weak case against Lowe. He asked the Bench to find that there was no prima facie case against him. Commenting on the medical evidence, Mr. Croft said the fact that Lowe`s tongue was furred was not very significant. Neither was the evidence that his breath smelt of alcohol; it did not mean that he had necessarily taken a lot of drink. Apart from being unable to do a “knees bend” and being unsteady on one leg – both fairly natural things in many people – Lowe seemed to have done well in all the usual tests.

The Magistrates decided that Lowe had a case to answer and committed him for trial.

Folkestone Herald 30-12-1967

Local News

Mr. Alan Basil Scott Ransford, licensee of the Valiant Sailor Inn, near Folkestone, collapsed and died at Folkestone Central railway station last week. He was 60. Mr. Ransford, who leaves a widow, was a native of Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, but spent most of his childhood in Essex. He was educated at Dul­wich College, and later went to Wye Agricultural College, where he obtained a degree in agriculture. He worked in the Colonial Service before becoming host at the Valiant Sailor Inn, almost 15 years ago.

A funeral service was held on Saturday at St. Luke’s, Hawkinge, followed by cremation at Hawkinge Crematorium.

 

Imperial (2) 1950s - 1960s

Folkestone Herald 21-1-1950

Notice

To: The Town Clerk of the Borough of Folkestone

The Clerk to the Licensing Justices of the Borough of Folkestone

The Superintendent of Police of the Borough of Folkestone in the County of Kent

And to All whom it may concern

I, Alice Mary Benwell, widow, now residing at the Imperial, Tile Kiln Lane, Cheriton, in the Licensing Distict of Folkestone in the County of Kent, do hereby give notice that it is my intention to apply at the General Annual Licensing Meet­ing for the said Borough to be holden at The Town Hall in the said Borough on the 8th day of February next for the grant to me of a Justices Licence author­ising me to apply for and hold an Excise Licence to sell by retail any intoxicating liquor which may be sold under a publican`s licence for consumption off the premises situate at Tile Kiln Lane, Cheriton, and known by the sign of The Imperial, and which premises Mackeson and Company Limited, of The Brewery, Hythe, in the County of Kent is the owner, and of whom I rent them.

Given under my hand this 12th day of January, 1950.

A.M. Benwell.

Folkestone Herald 11-2-1950

Annual Licensing Sessions

Mrs. Alice Mary Benwell, of the Imperial, Tile Kiln Labe, Cheriton, successfully applied for a full off licence for the premises.

Mr. L.E. Swann, representing Mrs. Benwell, said she had held the licence since 1947. In recent years the area had developed very considerably, and there had been over 200 houses built within a quarter of a mile of the premises.

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 Herald 8-4-1967

Local News

A well-known licensee, Mr. Percy Sidney Taylor, aged 66, died at his home last week.

Mr. Taylor, of 175 Downs Road, lived in Folkestone all his life and until the second world war conducted the Brewery Tap public house in Tontine Street. After the war he bought the Imperial off-licence in Ashley Avenue, Cheriton, where he stayed until he retired. Mr. Taylor leaves a widow, Mrs. Elna Taylor, a son, Mr. Norman Percy Taylor, and a grandson, Barry Taylor.

A funeral service was held at St. John`s Church, Folkestone, on Friday, and cremation at Hawkinge followed.

 

 

 

Brewery Tap 1960s

Folkestone Herald 11-6-1966

Local News

Albert Taylor was seven years old when his parents arrived in Folkestone 60 years ago to take over the licence of the Brewery Tap in Tontine Street. Man and boy, Mr. Taylor has been there ever since. If a prize was given for the best-kept public house in Folkestone it would surely go to the Brewery Tap. Mr. Taylor, who took over the licence when his father died in 1947, is a publican with an inordinate pride in his trade. Every glass, every mirror and every piece of glass shines. Not a speck of dust sullies the shelves or counters, No doubt about it, Mr. Taylor and his wife, Ivy, are very public house proud.

“When my father first came here from Tilmanstone in 1906 he was warned that the house had a bad name”, said Mr. Taylor, as he leaned across the spotless counter of the saloon bar. “The place was very dirty and the trade had fallen off very badly”. A big change came over the Brewery Tap after the arrival of the Taylors. Very soon, everything was spick and span. Young Albert, who went to the old Wesleyan School on Hillside, Dover Road, helped his parents in his spare time. “One of my jobs was to fill the containers of matches and clay pipes on the counters”, he told me. “The matches and pipes were free to customers”. And what about the prices 60 years ago? Proprietary whisky at 2d. a nip or 3s. 6d. a bottle. Whisky drawn from bulk at 1½d. a nip or 2s. 6d. a bottle, beer at 2d. a pint and a packet of cigarettes for a penny.

They were the days when Tontine Street was in its heyday – Folkestone`s principal shopping centre, thronged with people until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. “Very often, after the pub had closed, we used to go out into the street”, Mr. Taylor recalled. “Many of the shops would still be open and doing brisk business”. He can still recall most of the names of the old traders in the street. Only three remain – Palmer, Moody and Stokes. Opposite the Brewery Tap was Gosnold Bros. Drapery emporium, and on the other side of the street Waite`s the confectioners. Then there was Mr. William Hall, the pork butcher, Mr. W.J. Franks, the decorator and plumber, Mr. H.R. Springate, newsagent, Mr. John P. Marsh, draper, Mr. R.G. Wood, the outfitters, and many more in the thriving business thoroughfare.

War brought two breaks in Mr. Taylor`s long association with Tontine Street. In 1917 he joined the Suffolk Regiment and went to France, where he was wounded on the Somme. Invalided out of the Army in 1919, he came back to help his father at the Brewery Tap and in 1922 to marry Miss Ivy Freezer. Mr. Taylor`s second break with the street came in 1941, when the Brewery Tap closed its doors for the duration. “Folkestone, its population down to about 7,000, was almost a ghost town”, he recalled. “Tontine Street, right in the target area for the German long-range guns on the French coast, was an unhealthy place in which to live. Not only did we have to contend with shells but bombs as well. One, which fell in Harvey Street, blew a tree right across Tontine Street and through the roof of the pub. The tree landed on a bed in the front of the house, a few minutes before my father was due to take his afternoon nap”. Shells which fell in Payer`s Park damaged the Brewery Tap. One day Mr. Taylor was walking in Payer`s Park when he found an unexploded bomb under a sheet of corrugated iron. “The bomb was still ticking”, he said. When the pub closed, Mr. And Mrs. Taylor and their family went to lice in Downs Road. He worked for Alfred Olby, the builders` merchant, and served in the Home Guard.

But a day in the life of the old street that will always live in Mr. Taylor`s memory is May 25, 1917. It was a warm evening in late spring. The sun was shining from a cloudless sky as Mr. Taylor and Miss Freezer walked across the fields and under the viaduct towards Mount Pleasant. “I had stopped to have a second cup of tea at my future wife`s parents` home, otherwise I would have reached Tontine Street in time to open the pub at six o`clock”, he recalled. That second cup of tea probably saved Mr. And Mrs. Taylor`s lives. As they walked under the viaduct a score of German aircraft had crossed the coast. Soon Folkestone was to suffer its first daylight raid of the Great War. One bomb fell on the pavement outside Stokes Bros. Greengrocery shop next door to the Brewery Tap. The street was thronged with shoppers. Many from country districts had driven into town on horse and carts. The single bomb killed 63 people and injured 125. “I will never forget the scene”, said Mr. Taylor. The street was filled with dead and dying. Among the bodies of men, women and children were the carcases of horses. The gutters were running with blood. The ghastly scene was lit up by a great sheet of flame from a fractured 18-inch gas main”. When Mr. Taylor reached the Brewery Tap he found a child`s head on the front step. “To this day I can still see the bloodstain on the step”, said Mr. Taylor. “The tiled front of the public house was pitted with shrapnel. The scars are still there to this day”.

Although many people died in the raid by the German Gothas, a number had remarkable escapes. One was P.C. Whittaker, who was left standing when the bomb dropped, and immediately went to the help of the wounded. Councillor John Jones, who was sitting on a chair outside his printing shop, escaped with a shrapnel wound in the leg, while people further up the street were killed. A plaque on a lamp stand­ard outside Stokes’ shop com­memorates the tragedy of that terrible day 49 years ago. “For years afterwards a wreath was always hung on the lamp post on the anniver­sary of the raid and the Sal­vation Army held a service on the spot where the bomb dropped”, recalled Mr. Taylor.

Mr. Taylor has known Tontine Street in prosperity and tragedy. And he has seen the business life of the town move slowly but surely westward away from the old street.

Photo from Folkestone Herald

Folkestone Herald 8-4-1967

Local News

A well-known licensee, Mr. Percy Sidney Taylor, aged 66, died at his home last week.

Mr. Taylor, of 175 Downs Road, lived in Folkestone all his life and until the second world war conducted the Brewery Tap public house in Tontine Street. After the war he bought the Imperial off-licence in Ashley Avenue, Cheriton, where he stayed until he retired. Mr. Taylor leaves a widow, Mrs. Elna Taylor, a son, Mr. Norman Percy Taylor, and a grandson, Barry Taylor.

A funeral service was held at St. John`s Church, Folkestone, on Friday, and cremation at Hawkinge followed.