Memories from the pubs in and around Folkestone, with contemporary newspaper reports.
Thanks And Acknowledgements
My thanks go to Kent Libraries and Archives - Folkestone Library and also to the archive of the Folkestone Herald. For articles from the Folkestone Observer, my thanks go to the Kent Messenger Group. Southeastern Gazette articles are from UKPress Online, and Kentish Gazette articles are from the British Newspaper Archive. See links below.
Paul Skelton`s great site for research on pubs in Kent is also linked
Other sites which may be of interest are the Folkestone and District Local History Society, the Kent History Forum, Christine Warren`s fascinating site, Folkestone Then And Now, and Step Short, where I originally found the photo of the bomb-damaged former Langton`s Brewery, links also below.
Paul Skelton`s great site for research on pubs in Kent is also linked
Other sites which may be of interest are the Folkestone and District Local History Society, the Kent History Forum, Christine Warren`s fascinating site, Folkestone Then And Now, and Step Short, where I originally found the photo of the bomb-damaged former Langton`s Brewery, links also below.
Welcome
Welcome to Even More Tales From The Tap Room.
Core dates and information on licensees tenure are taken from Martin Easdown and Eamonn Rooney`s two fine books on the pubs of Folkestone, Tales From The Tap Room and More Tales From The Tap Room - unfortunately now out of print. Dates for the tenure of licensees are taken from the very limited editions called Bastions Of The Bar and More Bastions Of The Bar, which were given free to very early purchasers of the books.
Easiest navigation of the site is by clicking on the PAGE of the pub you are looking for and following the links to the different sub-pages. Using the LABELS is, I`m afraid, not at all user-friendly.
Contrast Note
Whilst the above-mentioned books and supplements represent an enormous amount of research over many years, it is almost inevitable that further research will throw up some differences to the published works. Where these have been found, I have noted them. This is not intended to detract in any way from previous research, but merely to indicate that (possible) new information is available.
Contribute
If you have any anecdotes or photographs of the pubs featured in this Blog and would like to share them, please mail me at: jancpedersen@googlemail.com.
If you`ve enjoyed your visit here, why not buy me a pint, using the button at the end of the "Labels" section?
If you`ve enjoyed your visit here, why not buy me a pint, using the button at the end of the "Labels" section?
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Friday, 16 October 2015
Updates
16th October, 2015: Folkestone Herald Reports for 1993 Added
West End, Christchurch Road 1991 - 1992
West End, 1992. Credit June & Ken Staice-Paine |
Licensees
Ronald Paton and Susan Paton 1991 1992 Renamed Happy Frenchman
Folkestone Herald
29-11-1991
Advertising Feature
The Happy Frenchman pub in Folkestone`s Christchurch Road
is being totally transformed. Regulars will not recognise their old haunt when
the extensive refurbishment of the building is completed next month.
The new pub will be renamed The West End and will feature
a stylish upstairs bar, a fabulous disco room, a dazzling array of new lights
and a top quality restaurant.
Licensee Ron Paton, who has been at the Happy Frenchman
for five years, said the exciting new place-to-be was due to open on November
4. He added “There will be about 150 lights and no windows downstairs. The
effect will be incredible”.
The new gallery bar has been created by raising the roof
and it should provide a wonderful extra dimension to The West End. The
downstairs bar will be decorated in a low-key way to make the most of the
fabulous new lights. The town`s fashionable young people are certain to make
the new pub a key part of their Friday and Saturday nights and it will
certainly bring a touch of glamour to Folkestone`s town centre.
The Happy Frenchman was always a lively place to go but
The West End is sure to be even more popular – two floors of fun. A large range
of delicious food will be available there in the evening for the first time so
pub-goers will not have to leave in search of a bite to eat. Previously the
restaurant had only served customers during the day.
Mr. Paton and his wife Janice want to make The West End
one of the liveliest pubs in Shepway, and they are making sure everything is
top quality before the grand opening next month. Builders are working flat-out
ready for the big day, which will be an occasion not to be missed. All the
discerning socialites of Shepway are sure to be there.
Folkestone Herald
12-8-1993
Local News
In a last-ditch attempt to keep a town centre pub open
the landlady is putting on live music. Lynne Weddell has run the West End pub –
once the Happy Frenchman – at Christchurch Road, Folkestone, since May this
year. But she thinks changes made before she came may still be keeping people
away. She said “The previous people turned it into a night club. They
breeze-blocked up and blacked all the windows and only opened in the evening. But
people said it was dark and dingy. Before that, when it was the Happy
Frenchman, it used to be an ordinary pub. We would like to get it back to what
it was”. Now bar snacks are on sale again and the windows let in light. First
band to perform, on August 14, will be Dover rock group Die Laughing. Mrs.
Weddell said “I`ve thought of putting a sign outside “Customers required. No
experience necessary.”, but I hope the music and making the place a proper pub
again will do the trick”.
Note: It reverted to being the
Happy Frenchman on 17th September.
Sportsman, Guildhall Street 1993 - 1998
Licensees
Terence Crux and Wendy McMorran 1997 1998 Renamed Lord Morris
Folkestone Herald
26-2-1993
Local News
Burglars broke into The Sportsman pub in Guildhall Street
and stole £500 in cash from gaming machines, 25 CDs and a CD player.
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