Saturday, 18 April 2015
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.
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| 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.
Gun Tavern 1970s
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| Photo from Folkestone Herald |
Folkestone Herald 17-3-1973
Local News
News that the Gun Tavern, Cheriton Road, is scheduled for
demolition under Folkestone`s town centre redevelopment scheme has come as a
bombshell to landlord Mr. John Rogers. Before he moved into the pub in July,
1971, Mr. Rogers went to the Civic Centre to find out whether the 128-year-old
inn would be affected by the development. He said “I was told that the houses
in Gloucester Place would be coming down in about five years, but that the Gun
would remain. The brewery, Whitbread Fremlins Ltd., was obviously of the same
opinion. We have had the premises decorated and altered at a cost of about
£2,500. This money would never have been spent had anyone realised that the pub
had a limited lifespan”. Mr. Rogers said that Whitbread Fremlin had indicated
that the council`s decision would be opposed.
The brewery will be supported by customers at the Gun who
have already organised a petition to save the pub. One customer told the Herald
“This is ridiculous. Folkestone has already lost the Foresters Arms and the
Shakespeare to this development scheme”.
A Folkestone Corporation spokesman said on Thursday that
he had every sympathy with Mr. Rogers. “Until about three months ago the Gun
was not part of the town centre redevelopment”, he said. “It is included now
only to enable a much more viable unit to be built on the Jenner`s site”.
Folkestone Gazette
24-7-1974
Local News
After 125 years of helping to quench thirsts in
Folkestone, one of the town`s oldest pubs –the Gun Tavern at the junction of
Cheriton Road and Gloucester Place – closed last week. The premises will be demolished
in a redevelopment scheme. Shops and a multi-storey car park are planned for
the site. Last orders came on Tuesday. And on Friday the
pub’s last barrel of beer was rolled out. Now - like the gun it was named
after, which was once embedded in the roadside at the junction of Cheriton Road
and Guildhall Street - the pub is to become another part of the town`s history
to disappear.
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| Photo from Folkestone Gazette
Folkestone Gazette
31-3-1976
Local News
The old Gun Tavern building in Bouverie Road East, Folkestone, may be
opened again ... as temporary headquarters for a sea safety school. The Tavern was closed after it was bought by the local council as part
of the town centre redevelopment plan. But last week Shepway's development committee heard that the building
was not needed for demolition in the immediate future and the Triton Sea School
at Folkestone had asked if it could use it. Members agreed that, as the school's interest was mainly sea safety for
the young, it should be recommended that the building be offered at an
exclusive rental of £100 per year. They also want the matter to be referred to the council's amenities committee
to see if any financial aid can be given to the school.
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