Valiant Sailor 1970s

Folkestone Gazette 13-5-1970

Local News

Cigarettes and spirits worth £80 were stolen by intruders who broke into the Valiant Sailor public house, Folkestone, on Saturday night.

Folkestone Herald 10-2-1973

Local News

Why was the name of the public house at the top of Dover Hill changed in 1820 from the Jolly Sailor to the Valiant Sailor? The question is asked by Mr. G. W. King, of Painters Forstal, Faversham, in the hope that somebody will be able to explain the intriguing change made more than 150 years ago.

Mr. King, who makes a study of English inn names, recently visited the Valiant Sailor. “It was built”, he tells me, “in 1780 as both a farmhouse and inn and was originally known by the more usual title of The Jolly Sailor. The reason for the change of name appears to have been lost in the mists of time. The present licensee, Mrs. Flora Ransford, now a widow, who moved into the house with her late husband 20 years ago, told me that at the time there was a derelict cow shed in the farmyard, which now forms the inn’s car park. Until a few years earlier the house had been noted not only for its fine brew but for its very excellent straw­berry and cream teas. Mr. Alf Aird, who was born in the house and retired from it 27 years ago, was un­able to explain why the jolly sailor became a valiant sailor”.

Folkestone Herald 8-5-1976

Obituary

One of Folkestone`s best known sporting and charitable personalities has died, aged 89. Mr. Alfred Aird was known to many local people as a former landlord of the Valiant Sailor, at the top of Dover Hill.

Born and bred at the pub where his father was landlord, he took over as licensee in 1915. And for nearly 30 years, Mr. Alf Aird was a familiar figure behind the bar there. Being owner and landlord of a pub was strenuous enough, but it was only a small part of his life. Apart from running the Martello Dairy Farm, and tea gardens, Mr. Aird found time for many other voluntary activities and interests. He was a former committee member of Folkestone Football Club. A keen cricketer, he and several other Folkestone residents started the Folke­stone cricket festival in 1926. As well as being a member of the Folkestone Cricket Club, Mr. Aird was also a member of the Kent County Cricket Club.

“His knowledge of the game was tremendous”, his son Mr. Bill Aird told the Gazette on Thursday. “When Kent played Aust­ralia in 1899 he could remem­ber every ball that was bowled”.

The late Mr. Aird was one of a band of men who for many years helped to pro­vide amenities at Folkestone’s Royal Victoria Hospital. He was a member of a fund­raising group for charities - the Brotherhood of Cheerful Sparrows. He helped organise fetes, the biggest Folkestone has ever seen, and competitions for the Sparrows. In 1971 Mr. Aird moved from Folkestone to live with his son and daughter-in-law in Epsom. He later became ill and was moved to a nursing home in Harrietsham. He died in hospital at Maidstone, after injuries sustained in a fall.

Cremation will be at Barham on Monday. Mr. Aird leaves two sons, Mr. John and Bill Aird, and three grandchildren, Mrs. Jennifer Jolly, Miss Alison rid and Miss Gillian Aird.

 

Photo from South Kent Gazette

Folkestone Gazette 15-9-1976

Local News

It was “Last orders” for the last time on Tuesday night for Valiant Sailor landlady Mrs. Flora Ransford. After being at the hill-top pub for 24 years she pulled her last pint and bade a fond farewell to her regulars. There was a pleasant surprise for Mrs. Ransford when she was presented by Mrs. Emily Watkinson with a handsome clock bought by more than 20 Valiant Sailor regulars. And Mrs. Ransford – who became landlady nine years ago when her husband “Lofty” died – will take a special scroll signed by the regulars to her new home in Folkestone.

“I have had a very happy time here, and I would like to thank all my friends and customers for the support they have given me over the years”, she said. “I have mixed feelings about leaving but I feel it is time I retired”. Mrs. Ransford thanked her friends for the clock and the scroll. Mrs. Ransford, born in Sidcup, spent many years in Nigeria with her husband before he retired to England to take over the Valiant Sailor.