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, 6 November 2015
Updates
6th November, 2015: Folkestone Herald Reports for 1996 Added
Honest Lawyer 1970s - 1990s
Folkestone Herald 10-1-1970
Local News
Twenty-two old age pensioners got a Christmas bonus
from their local pub, the Honest Lawyer in Belle Vue Street, Folkestone. They each received a £3 share of £66
raised at the pub for the senior citizen regulars.
Landlady,
Mrs. Mick Rayner, said “I thought it would be a good idea to give the
pensioners who use the pub a Christmas bonus. One of my customers, Mr. Fred
Barton, set to and managed to raise £66 from customers at the pub. We sent the
money to the pensioners, with a Christmas card”.
Folkestone Gazette
8-10-1975
Local News
The Honest Lawyer was
the absent witness in a case at Folkestone court on Friday. Taxi proprietor Ernest Gosling, of Dawson Road, Folkestone,
denied that his cab had collided with a parked car near the Folkestone pub.
But he was convicted on a charge of driving without
due care and attention in Clarence Street and fined £25. He was fined a further £30 for failing to stop after an
accident and ordered to pay £44.60 costs. He
was disqualified from driving for six months under the totting-up procedure.
Mr. James McMorran
said that after leaving the pub he heard a small bang. He drove down into Clarence Street and saw a taxi in contact with a car. It
backed away and stalled. The driver got out
and eventually drove away. He took the taxi's number.
Replying to Miss
Diane Wray, defending, Mr. McMorran said he was only in the pub for five minutes.
Mr. Gosling told the
court that he did not collide with the car, nor did he stall or reverse. His
fare jumped in and he drove off. Later, he heard allegations that his vehicle
had been involved in a collision and he drove to the police station the
following morning, he said. Damage referred to in evidence occurred to the
vehicle a fortnight earlier when one of his drivers had been in collision with
a Post Office van.
Folkestone Gazette
14-1-1976
Local News
Generous patrons at a Folkestone public house raised almost double the
target of £180 set for a special fund. The money was collected for nurses at Folkestone’s Royal Victoria
Hospital. The sum of
£276 was presented to Sister Jean West on behalf of the nurses by landlord of
the Honest Lawyer Mr. George Rayner. “We were very pleased by the response to the fund which we have run for
two years now”, said Mr. Rayner. “The money will pay for medical books in the wards
which were greatly needed”. Mr. Rayner thanked locals Mr. Dennis Butler and Mr.
Bert Lamerton who had helped co-ordinate the year`s effort. A letter has been
received from Sister Margaret Thomas thanking the pub for its support.
Folkestone Herald
15-9-1979
Local News
Regular customers of the Honest Lawyer pub in Bellevue
Street, Folkestone, once again raised their glasses, only this time it was to
toast retiring landlord George Rayner. After 24 years behind the bar Mr. Rayner
and his wife Amelia (better known to the locals as “Mick”) are handing over the
care of the pub to two Londoners, David and Margaret Haines.
On behalf of the old friends and customers of the pub,
Mr. Bert Lamerton presented Mr. Rayner with a silver tray, two silver
decanters, two silver goblets and spirits at a celebration on Monday. Mrs.
Maude Lewis presented the Rayners with a bouquet of 24 roses.
A former vice-chairman of the Folkestone, Hythe and
District Licensed Victuallers` Association, Mr. Rayner said that he and his
wife will be staying in Folkestone. “There have been many changes in the town
over the past 24 years”, he said, and some are a bit of a mess, but we hope to
have many more years here”.
Photo from Folkestone Herald |
Folkestone Herald
17-12-1981
Local News
Burglars who broke
into the Honest Lawyer pub in Bellevue Street, Folkestone, last Friday night,
smashed open fruit machines and stole about £190.
South Kent Gazette
17-2-1982
Annual Licensing Sessions
Publicans` applications for transfer agreed by the Bench
include: The Black Bull, Folkestone (music and dancing); Bouverie Arms,
Folkestone; Honest Lawyer, Folkestone; Old Harbour Crab and Oyster House
(extension to cover restaurant area); Royal George, Folkestone. Approval of
plans to alter Folkestone`s Pullman Wine Bar was given.
Folkestone Herald
11-3-1983
Local News
An old pub has re-opened under a new brewery. The former
Whitbread pub the Honest Lawyer in Belle Vue Street, Folkestone, has been
bought by the Watney Mann and Truman group. Before
Beal Ale fans groan “Oh no, not more Watney’s Red Barrel,” they will be glad to
know that Webster’s Pennine Bitter will be served by handpump. And as part of
the massive combine’s attempt to get rid of the corporate image it built up
last decade it will be called a Phoenix Brewery pub, after the name of Watney`s
southern headquarters in Brighton.
The new
host of the Honest Lawyer is a familiar face in the town, Mr. Malcolm Hannan,
who will be running it with his Guyanese-born wife Hermia. Mr. Hannan first
came to the town in 1959 and has worked behind bars locally on and off since
then.
The Honest
Lawyer closed in December 1981 but it
re-opened on Wednesday and Mr. Hannan wants to take down names to re-start the
old darts and pool league teams. Meanwhile he is polishing up the new fittings
and working out his lunch menus.
Photo from Folkestone Herald
Honest Lawyer c1985. Photo by kind permission of Martyn Harris
Folkestone Herald
8-4-1988
Local News
The Honest Lawyer, Bellevue Street, Folkestone, has been
bought by Shepherd Neame. The pub will remain with existing tenants.
Folkestone Herald
27-12-1996
Local News
These cheery brain-boxes are celebrating being top of the
pops after winning a pub music quiz. The team and their supporters, from the
Honest Lawyer, in Bellevue Street, Folkestone, won the quiz after battling
their way to the final from a total of 62 other pubs.
Pub landlord and team member Dave Harryman said “It was a
very enjoyable day, and I can remember when we got there but I can`t remember
when we left! We had a few drinks before to calm the nerves and then a few
after as a celebration”.
The team of three also starred pub regulars Steve Lloyd
and Keith Cloke. Mr. Harryman said the only training the lads did was testing
each other`s knowledge in the bar.
The Shepway team beat contestants from The Charles
Dickens pub, Broadstairs, by 49 points to 27 in the quiz final, held at the
Seven Stars pub, at Preston, near Wingham.
Mr. Harryfield added “I think our bells must have been
working better than their buttons! We won a trophy and also the prestige of
being the brainiest pub in Britain when it comes to music, and we will win
again next year”.
The quiz was broadcast by Invicta FM`s sister radio
station, Invicta SuperGold.
Royal Cheriton, Cheriton Road 1990 - Present
Royal Cheriton, May 2012 |
Licensees
John Jones and Paul Barkin 1987 1989
Gary Jenkins and John Jenkins 1989 2000
Gary Jenkins 2000 2004 +
Folkestone Herald
2-3-1995
Advertising Feature
In a period of economic doom and gloom it`s great to hear
of a pub that is putting money, time and effort into making things better for
the customer. Gary and Elaine Jenkins, during the six years they have been at
the Royal Cheriton, in Cheriton Road, have steadily improved the look of the
pub and the services it provides. Recently they completed a major part of their
refurbishment with attractive carpeting and soft furnishings, which make the
atmosphere even more elegant, welcoming and relaxed.
As well as their own experience, Elaine and Gary benefit
from family links with the trade, so they have a lot of experience when it
comes to providing what the customer wants. Part of that service is good pub
food, home-cooked by Elaine. And if you sometimes find yourself looking for
somewhere to enjoy a good lunch in the area, make a point of dropping in at the
Royal Cheriton for fine food in friendly surroundings.
Elaine and Gary, being the proud parents of three
smashing kids who live on the premises, ensure that the pub boasts a friendly,
family atmosphere. Burt there is a sporting element, too, and the athletes
among the regulars are assured of demanding exercise with pool and darts to
help them build up a thirst.
The Royal is also a handy location for a celebration as
there is a very comfortable function room which can be hired, with or without
catering.
The popularity of the Royal Cheriton says a lot about the
way Gary and Elaine are running it. They deserve huge success for the thought
and work they have put into its refurbishment and for the way they always put
the customer first.
Folkestone Herald
14-3-1996
Local News
Police are appealing for help to track down up to 20
youths who attacked and injured three young soldiers. The soldiers had left the
Royal Cheriton pub in Cheriton to get a taxi into the town centre. But at a
taxi rank outside Unwins off-licence in Cheriton Road, Folkestone, the soldiers
had an argument with up to 20 youths, who attacked them, say police. The
soldiers were repeatedly kicked and punched, suffering cuts and bruises. One
soldier was taken to hospital and had an operation for a broken jaw.
Police say the offenders are believed to be in the area
of the attack regularly during the early evening and late at night. They are
asking for witnesses to come forward. Said a police spokesman: “This was a
particularly vicious attack, and we would appeal to anyone who saw anything to
come forward as soon as possible”.
The incident happened on Saturday March 2 at about 10.40
p.m. The soldiers are Royal Engineers from Chatham on exercises at Sir John
Moore Barracks.
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