Victoria (3) 1970s - 1990s

Folkestone Gazette 5-10-1977

Local News

A fight between two groups of soldiers outside a Folkestone pub left a Coldstream Guardsman with a head wound open to the bone after he was hit in the face with a glass.

Canterbury Crown Court heard on Wednesday that the two groups of soldiers had been drinking in the Victoria pub, Cheriton. One of the groups was made up of Green Jackets celebrating their demob, and an alleged offensive remark to their wives was said to have led to the fight.

Appearing before the Court were Anthony Stevens, 24, of Ladywood, Birmingham, and Adrian Colin Hughes, 23, of Northolt, Middlesex. Both denied wounding Guardsman Geoffrey Lloyd with intent to do him grievous bodily harm and an alternative charge of malicious wounding.

Hughes, who later admitted common assault on Mr. Lloyd, was formally found Not Guilty of the two wounding charges by the jury on the direction of the Recorder. Hughes, who now works as a security guard at Heathrow Airport, was fined £50. The jury found Stevens Guilty of wounding with intent and he was given a 12-month prison sentence sus­pended for two years and ordered to pay £150 compen­sation to Mr. Lloyd and £150 costs.

Mr. Jeremy Fordham, prosecuting, said that when the guardsmen left the pub at closing time last December there was a fight between Hughes and Mr. Lloyd. Stevens joined in and punched Mr. Lloyd with a glass in his hand. The fight ended when Mr. Lloyd, bleed­ing from the wound which narrowly missed his eye, knocked Hughes over a wall. Mr. Lloyd later needed stitches in the wound which was laid open to the bone. Stevens later admitted to police that he had used a glass.

Still bearing a scar Mr. Lloyd, now serving in Northern Ireland, said he had drunk seven or eight pints of beer before leaving the pub. He denied making any provo­cative remarks to the Green Jackets or their wives.

Stevens told the Court he had been celebrating his discharge from the Army after buying himself out. During the day he had drunk about 18 pints of beer. He said that Hughes, who told him about the insult, followed the other group of soldiers when they left and he decided to go as well. Punches were flying when he got outside and, seeing glass on a window sill, he picked it up and threw a punch with it, not knowing who he had struck. “I acknowledge that it must have been me who cut Mr. Lloyd. I very much regret it. It was something that hap­pened in the heat of the moment. I did not intend to do him grievous bodily harm”, he told the court.

South Kent Gazette 28-3-1979

Local News

Police are hunting several men who attacked a barman in Cheriton on Saturday night. But fears that workmen from the M20 motorway construction site could be responsible have been scotched by both police and local landlords. The incident happened at 11.10 p.m. in the Victoria public house, Risborough Lane, when barman Brian Brown told customers it was time to leave.

A police spokesman said that Mr. Brown, who lives in Christchurch Road, Folke­stone, received a bleeding nose, cut gums and facial bruising. “Navvies” from the Danton Lane, Cheriton, motor­way site were blamed for the assault because the assail­ants had not been identified and one spoke with an Irish accent.

However, Police Inspector Peter Ford told the Gazette “We’ve had no trouble at all from the site. If the situation with site workers continues as it is then we shall be perfectly happy”.

Mr. Brown was unavail­able for comment at the time of going to press but the Victoria’s landlord said “This is the first time we’ve had trouble in the pub since I came here three years ago”.

Speculation that motorway workers could be a possible source of violence was scotched by landlords at: The White Lion in Cheriton High Street - “So far they’ve been perfectly well behaved in here”.; The Morehall, Cheriton Road “Nice lads ... no trouble whatsoever”.; The Nailbox, Shorncliffe Road – “A bit noisy, that`s all”.; The Cherry Pickers, Ashley Avenue, Cheriton – “We`ve had a few in, but they`ve been perfectly O.K.”.

Folkestone Herald 27-1-1984

Local News

Regulars at Cheriton’s Victoria pub have raised over £600 to help severely disabled children. On Friday, landlord Mr. John Darling presented a £660 cheque to Mr. Steve Atmore, chairman of Eversley House Parents’ and Friends’ Association. The money will help provide new bathroom and toilet facilities for the children’s hospital at Seabrook. About £350 was raised over the past year, the main fund raisers being the darts team. The rest of the money came from tombola and other competitions at the pub on Friday.

Folkestone Herald 30-9-1988

Local News

A Folkestone seaman who attacked a man who had upset his girlfriend was bound over for two years and ordered to pay com­pensation to his victim at Canter­bury Crown Court on Friday.

Louis Michael Bennett, 21, of Augusta Gardens, admitted assaulting Graham Noakes causing actual bodily harm in June. He denied charges of

causing grievous bodily harm and his plea was accepted.

Mr. Martin von Simson, prose­cuting, said Mr. Noakes was catering manager at the Cavendish Hotel and Bennett’s girlfriend worked there as a waitress. She complained to Bennett about Mr. Noakes` behaviour towards her and Bennett went to the hotel looking for Mr. Noakes. “He was not there and Bennett tracked him down to the Victoria pub where he punched him to the floor. Mr. Noakes was taken to hospital where he had bruises and a cut to his nose and complained of a broken rib, although this was not confirmed by medical evidence. When questioned by police Ben­nett admitted the attack, saying he lost his temper when Mr. Noakes made a provocative remark and pun­ched him three times.

Mr. Daniel Matovu, for Bennett, said there was a degree of provo­cation but added that the attack was not premeditated. “He intended just giving Mr. Noakes a verbal warning but hit the other man when he made a remark which in effect admitted the girlfriend's allegations”.

Folkestone Herald 27-10-1994

Local News

Pub landlord John Darling will be pulling his last pint at the Victoria pub in Risborough Lane, Cheriton, on October 31. The next day Mr. Darling, 54, and his wife Teresa, 48, will be pulling their first pints at the Duke`s Head, in Sellindge. After almost 20 years managing the Victoria, the couple have decided it is time to move on and run their own pub. “We started out in a pub at Maidstone and came down here in 1975. We have mixed feelings about leaving the Victoria. It`s quite sad, but we have good memories and this is a challenge. We have been managers for Whitbread until now, and with our new pub we will be self-employed, renting the pub from Whitbread. We wanted to be in the country and the pub in Sellindge came up, so we put in for it”.

The Victoria is being taken over by Gary and Marilyn Thrower, who currently run the Mill House at Canterbury.

 

 

 

Victoria (3) 1960s

Photo from Folkestone Herald

 

Folkestone Gazette 8-5-1963

Local News

Folkestone Magistrates were told on Friday that the honorary treasurer of a local darts club had gambled away subscriptions which had been paid to him by members and had then given himself up to the police. Before the court was 40-year-old Francis Henry Long, of Royal Military Avenue, Cheriton, who pleaded guilty to three charges of fraudulent conversion, and asked for 16 similar offences to be taken into consideration. He was placed on probation for three years.

D. Inspector Ivan Packman said all the offences arose out of Long’s position as secretary/treasurer of the Victoria public house darts club, Risborough Lane, Cheriton. It was thought that, but for Long’s action in giving himself up to the police, it was doubt­ful whether he would have come before the court. The committee of the darts club had met the previous even­ing and expressed the wish that no action should be taken.

D. Inspector Packman said that at noon on Thursday, Long went to a police station in London and said he wanted to give himself up for misappropriating £80 of a darts club’s funds. Asked if this meant that he had spent the £80, he replied “Yes, that’s right. I started gambling and lost. I tried to make up my losses and had no luck”. He was taken to Folkestone police station where he made a statement, saying that each Friday evening at the Victoria he used to receive the weekly subscriptions of 1/- each from members of the darts club. The club’s financial year be­gan on May 10^th, 1962, and at the end of it he was due to re­pay the money to members, minus what had been used for club expenses. He stated that until a fort­night ago he had kept the money safely at home. He was out of work, and he decided to take £3 of the money to gamble with. He lost, and continued to lose, until all the rest of the money was gone. He was very worried, and decided to run away. He walked to London and, after spending a day there, went to a police station. He promised to repay all the, money. D. Inspector Packman said that each of the three charges was in respect of an amount of £2 5/6. With the sums concerned in the 16 other offences, the total amount involved was £47 7/-.

Long told the court he would like to make a public apology to his friends. He would repay the money as soon as possible.

William Morton, of 29, Quested Road, Vice-Captain of the darts club, told the court that it had come as a shock to the club. If Long had not gone to the police they would have been able to help him. Mr. Morton then burst into tears, saying “We’re not worried about money. We just want to get him back”.

Placing Long on probation, the Chairman (Mr. H.R.C. White) said that in view of what had been said to the court the magistrates were prepared to take a lenient course.

Folkestone Gazette 27-11-1963

Townsman`s Diary

One of Cheriton’s pubs, The Victoria, in Risborough Lane, is being modernised and the brewers, Messrs. Mackeson, would like to incorporate in the hostelry anything link­ing its name with Queen Victoria. They have in mind, I under­stand, any old photographs of the Queen when she visited Shorncliffe Camp, just in the same way as last week’s Gazette showed one of Her Majesty leaving Folkestone Harbour for France in the ’80s. “There is plenty of Victoriana in the place which is now being removed to make way for a modern public house”, one of those engaged in the work told me, but we should like to retain the link with the Victorian days with anything belonging to period”.

Folkestone Herald 21-12-1963

Local News

A complete transformation has been effected at the Victoria Inn, Cheriton, a popular rendezvous for many patrons, including troops from nearby Shorncliffe Camp. A comfortable, intimate atmosphere has been imparted by the use of natural materials, by no means an easy problem, considering the unusual height of the ceilings and the shape of the Victorian windows.

In the Albert Bar this difficulty was overcome by making a feature of the beams to include concealed lighting. The bar has been divided into areas of local interest where customers can sit, watch or play darts away from the mainstream of patrons at the counter. The main server is emphasised with vertical boards of Douglas pine, contrasting with the heavy horizontal timber to the counter front and the drop ceilings above.

The Victoria Lounge has been divided into smaller areas bu an arrangement of fixed seating, incorporating a screen featuring well-known trade marks, which also provides illumination. Incorporated in the fireplace surround are 12 silver Victorian coins, including 3d. and 4d. pieces, double florins and crowns. Further interest is provided by a picture of young Victoria in full regalia, and various other pictures from her childhood to advanced age.

The Victoria faces the future entirely new in design, yet with the same friendly, courteous service one associates with the traditional public house.

The new bars were informally opened by Cmdr. N.C.M. Findlay (ret.), Managing Director of Messrs. Mackeson and Co., Ltd., who was accompanied by Mr. R.A.R. Fanshawe, Assistant Managing Director.

Folkestone Gazette 1-2-1967

Local News

At the Victoria Hotel, in Risborough Lane, Folkestone, a pile of pennies totalling £6 9s. was pushed over recently.