Lost Broads Pubs

[TheQ]

8 hours ago, SteveO said:

I still shed a tear every time I drive past the site of the Black Horse at Hoveton. Great "old school" pub with good beer and interesting food which was definitely not from Brake Brothers.  Their rabbit pie was to die for. 

Used to be our works pub, on the way back to RAF Coltishall from RAF Neatishead... Back in the days when you were marked down for "team spirit" if you didn't go the the bar with the section..

Now they get marked Down if they go to the bar to often.. Especially going to a bar in Uniform..

[Bygoneboozers]

8 hours ago, SteveO said:

I still shed a tear every time I drive past the site of the Black Horse at Hoveton. Great "old school" pub with good beer and interesting food which was definitely not from Brake Brothers.  Their rabbit pie was to die for. 

Egon Ronay listed, wasn't it?

[NorfolkNog]

Quite possibly - this is the entry from the 1976 Good Beer Guide which would focus more on the beer. A slim volume for Norfolk in those days! 

[SteveO]

2 hours ago, NorfolkNog said:

Quite possibly - this is the entry from the 1976 Good Beer Guide which would focus more on the beer. A slim volume for Norfolk in those days! 

 

[SteveO]

12 minutes ago, SteveO said:

 

It certainly was a "Beer desert". We used to live in Thetford and the only pubs in town that served anything like decent beer were The Albion (Greene King) and the Thomas Paine Hotel (Adnams). As I remember the Broads, the pubs we used to visit were The Dog at Ludham Bridge, the Black Horse, the New Inn at Horning, which used to serve Greene King IPA, the Maltsters, the Maid's Head at Stalham, The Bridge at Potter, the Lord Nelson and the Ship at Reedham and the New Inn at Rockland.  In the early '80's when we had a young family, the pubs were horrible. Children were either not allowed in or were permitted only in the "games room", which was usually a lean-to containing a pool table and one-armed bandits, thick with cigarette smoke and frequented by the effing and blinding local "yobbery". 

[NorfolkNog]

Off topic slightly - Thetford c1982 

Other good Broads pubs for beer - Sutton Staithe Adnams on gravity, Wood Farm and Lodge at Salhouse. Think that was the landlord from the Bure Court which sadly burnt down. Never did get in. 

[Bygoneboozers]

14 minutes ago, NorfolkNog said:

Off topic slightly - Thetford c1982 

Other good Broads pubs for beer - Sutton Staithe Adnams on gravity, Wood Farm and Lodge at Salhouse. Think that was the landlord from the Bure Court which sadly burnt down. Never did get in. 

Pretty certain that in the mid-'70s the Bell had a bell bolted to the floor in the lobby. On the way home to Yarmouth from a rugby match, armed with a socket set, a few of us asked a bloke for assistance to carry it to the car. Turned out to be the manager. He took in good humour. I'm pretty sure it was the Thetford Bell.

[Vaughan]

32 minutes ago, NorfolkNog said:

Think that was the landlord from the Bure Court which sadly burnt down.

Tom Farrel.

[webntweb]

2 hours ago, SteveO said:

It certainly was a "Beer desert". We used to live in Thetford and the only pubs in town that served anything like decent beer were The Albion (Greene King) and the Thomas Paine Hotel (Adnams). As I remember the Broads, the pubs we used to visit were The Dog at Ludham Bridge, the Black Horse, the New Inn at Horning, which used to serve Greene King IPA, the Maltsters, the Maid's Head at Stalham, The Bridge at Potter, the Lord Nelson and the Ship at Reedham and the New Inn at Rockland.  In the early '80's when we had a young family, the pubs were horrible. Children were either not allowed in or were permitted only in the "games room", which was usually a lean-to containing a pool table and one-armed bandits, thick with cigarette smoke and frequented by the effing and blinding local "yobbery". 

We went in the Bridge at Potter with our children one evening in the mid 80s. We had to sit in a small room at the back which was being used as a barrel store. It was the school holiday week at the end of October; no heating and sat in overcoats. I vowed never to use the pub again, which I didn't as it burnt down a few years later.

[MauriceMynah]

34 minutes ago, webntweb said:

It was the school holiday week at the end of October; no heating and sat in overcoats. I vowed never to use the pub again, which I didn't as it burnt down a few years later.

Warm at last.

[Bygoneboozers]

15 hours ago, NorfolkNog said:

Twas opposite the station 

It wasn't near the river, you had to walk past Sandersons yard and carry on up the hill.  About 10 minutes or so. Longer back.  Happy days.

Edit - the building is still there but its flats now. 

There were steps directly up to it from the southern platform. It was called Martingale and then the Top House when I used to travel through the village.

Al Partington's pic – The Railway Tavern, Reedham – from August 2007 (reusable under this CC license)

[Bytheriver]

49 minutes ago, webntweb said:

We went in the Bridge at Potter with our children one evening in the mid 80s. We had to sit in a small room at the back which was being used as a barrel store. It was the school holiday week at the end of October; no heating and sat in overcoats. I vowed never to use the pub again, which I didn't as it burnt down a few years later.

Have to say since children were allowed in pubs along with many other things the ambience has changed. That said I have never smoked & hopefully didn't drink & drive.

My daughter did accompany us on occasion & had her first job as a washer up in the back at 16 before moving to other things but it certainly set her up in the work ethic!

The licenced trade is certainly about to enter a whole new era.  Lets hope at least some thrive.

[Bytheriver]

20 minutes ago, Bygoneboozers said:

There were steps directly up to it from the southern platform. It was called Martingale and then the Top House when I used to travel through the village.

Al Partington's pic – The Railway Tavern, Reedham – from August 2007 (reusable under this CC license)

Since that picture was taken the Station Car Park is now adorned with very expensive LED Lighting though from being full all day since a charge was brought in (pre Covid) the maximum is just one & I believe the same goes for Brundall as it is cheaper to drive to the Park & Ride than pay fares + Parking fee Postwick will hopefully be able to relinquish its role as a Covid Test Station soon  

[SteveO]

23 hours ago, NorfolkNog said:

Off topic slightly - Thetford c1982 

Other good Broads pubs for beer - Sutton Staithe Adnams on gravity, Wood Farm and Lodge at Salhouse. Think that was the landlord from the Bure Court which sadly burnt down. Never did get in. 

Now there's a blast from the past. We were in Thetford 1976-8 which was the epoch of the great Watneys beer desert. It looks as though things had changed for the better after we left - so often the way!!!!  We use to visit the Chequers at Thompson which was right in the middle of the army training area where a lot of the Dad's Army action sequences were filmed and on Sunday afternoons would often be full of squaddies in full battledress whetting their whistles.  Other great places out of town in those days were the Green Man at Methwold Hythe, The Oak at Ixworth, which was nothing more than a lean-to shed on the side of a house, with the beer served out of jugs via the kitchen window.  Ahhhh nostalgia!

[NorfolkNog]

3 hours ago, SteveO said:

Chequers at Thompson

 

3 hours ago, SteveO said:

Green Man at Methwold Hythe,

[Bygoneboozers]

 I've been away too long! 

When I was passing through the Methwold area I used to have to rely on the George as the Green Man had closed a few years earlier. Good to hear that it's reopened at some time – and is still operating.

A bit of good news on the pub front.

[NorfolkNog]

Very interesting old photo of the Yare at Brundall - looks very different than it does today! 

Thanks to Paul at Swancraft for the link - looks an interesting site with many more old photos. Worth a look. 

http://www.brundallvillagehistory.org.uk/River.htm

 

[DAVIDH]

2 minutes ago, NorfolkNog said:

Very interesting old photo of the Yare at Brundall - looks very different than it does today! 

Yes, the menu is the only constant. Also, the Riverside Stores grew much larger than the one fronting the river in the photo. 

[NorfolkNog]

30 minutes ago, DAVIDH said:

Yes, the menu is the only constant

[ranworthbreeze]

Sorry it's not constant, they ditched the pizza over 18 months ago, I am no longer faced with the dilemma of having to leave some of the side portion of chips or some of the pizza. 

[Turnoar]

Could be losing the Buck at Thorpe to a flat and cafe conversion according to the local rag this morning. If that were to happen I hope they could maintain some sort of licence or corkage arrangement at least. A bottle of beer is better than nought. Can’t remember if there is still a cafe a few yards down, Harley’s?

[Islander]

Harley’s is still very much still in business and I don’t think he will be very happy but something needs to be done with the place. I think there are still planning issues over the car park cameras and the horrible steal bollards the new owners put in.

Colin 

[Vaughan]

The planning statement in the article says :

The proposed works within the pub seek to establish a viable, working community asset to help foster a local hub for informal social meetings between friends and family, as well as encourage new people to the area and site.

Excuse me - what I have missed, here?  Surely the above educated verbiage is just describing exactly what a PUB is supposed to be for??

If the present and previous owners had charged their tenants reasonable and viable rents, the pub would probably never have closed in the first place.

[NorfolkNog]

19 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

If the present and previous owners had charged their tenants reasonable and viable rents, the pub would probably never have closed in the first place.

Couldn't agree more. 

I must admit it's a couple of years now since I have been able to get into the Buck. Fabulous pub, pretty much unspolilt and steeped in history. It would be a tragedy if it were lost. 

[webntweb]

13 hours ago, DAVIDH said:

Yes, the menu is the only constant. Also, the Riverside Stores grew much larger than the one fronting the river in the photo. 

Riverside stores in August 1986.