SimonSherbot Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 Hello, I recently returned to the area, which I have done quite a few times over the last five decades but this time I decided to seek out a pub that I went to in July 1972. Needless to say, I could not find it and my searching on the internet did not give it up either. I am wondering whether anyone with a lifelong local knowledge can suggest which pub it is or more probably was. It was during a week long Broads holiday with a school chum when we were 16 and I had already been dating my wife for over a year. On realising that I was trying to identify this pub my wife produced two postcards that I sent her at the time in case they gave a clue but sadly only one card mentions pubs and only to say there are four pubs in Horning. My chum and I covered a great deal of the Broads in that short week, so the pub in question could be anywhere. The evening in question was a very warm one and upon managing to buy some alcoholic drinks we sat in the rather pleasant garden laughing over our numerous sailing mishaps (how we didn’t get killed is a matter of sheer luck). The garden was quite large and to the end of the pub (garden on the right looking from the river). It was an old pub even then and I believe it had a narrow road running across the front/back of the pub with small old houses on the other side facing both the pub and garden. I think the pub was on the river bank but having looked on Google maps and not finding anything that dovetails with my description, I have started to doubt myself. In my minds eye I remember the pub as being rendered or painted pebble dash but whether after fifty years my idealised memory of a great evening has become muddled or invented, I don’t know. If it does still exist then I would love to return there with my wife of 46 years with whom I have been lucky enough to have five children and blessed with half a dozen or so grandchildren. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you. Simon 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizG Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 A lot of pubs may still exist but they have been altered/extended since your visit. The New Inn in Horning might be your pub with old houses behind and what could be considered a narrow lane behind it, alternatively even the Anchor (now gone at Coltishall) but that was quite a unique design Edited to say the New Inn used to have grass and a big tree 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranworthbreeze Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 Hello Simon welcome to the forum. There is the Swann Inn, New Inn and the Ferry Inn in Horning, There used to be the Petersfield Hotel a short walk from the river. It could have been the Stathe & Willow which had a good sized garden, the gable and is painted white. Regards Alan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonSherbot Posted October 20, 2021 Author Share Posted October 20, 2021 Thank you very much indeed. I am very impressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizG Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 16 minutes ago, ranworthbreeze said: .....it could have been the Stathe & Willow which had a good sized garden, the gable and is painted white. Regards Alan Staithe & Willow was Cissy Lant's house that many years ago. The other pub described could have been the Black Horse although not Horning? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 21 minutes ago, LizG said: Staithe & Willow was Cissy Lant's house that many years ago. The other pub described could have been the Black Horse although not Horning? Maybe it was Wroxham? Wasn't there a pub on the river bank, going into Wroxham many years ago? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaughan Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 I agree with Liz and would tend towards the Anchor at Coltishall, which had a mooring dyke from the river, with garden at the right as you walk up to the pub. Rendered walls with Dutch style gable ends. Houses on the other side of the lane which led down to Clifford Allen's boatyard. The pub building is still there but no longer a pub. I have a photo somewhere, but it may take me while to find it! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonSherbot Posted October 20, 2021 Author Share Posted October 20, 2021 Thank you for all your suggestions. Seems that no pictures exist of the outside of the Black Horse. The Petersfield is a possibility when looking at a postcard of it on eBay but it is not a good angle. The Staithe and Willow is also a possibility but the garden seems much smaller than I remember, although of course some of it could have been sold off for housing. I am still looking at the other suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonSherbot Posted October 20, 2021 Author Share Posted October 20, 2021 The Anchor at Coltishall doesn’t look right from a picture I have now seen but it could just be the angle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BroadAmbition Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 I'm leaning towards the Anchor at Coltishall too. Finding photo's of that one - Not a prayer with our loft rammed full for the foreseeable Griff 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webntweb Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 We had breakfast (and a pint) on the lawn at the back of the New Inn in July 64. The lawn went down to the river bank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonSherbot Posted October 20, 2021 Author Share Posted October 20, 2021 Thank you so much to all of you who have taken the trouble to help me, when my cry for help must seem to be about a very trivial matter. Griff’s postcard picture of the The Anchor at Coltishall does make a stronger case for this being the one. If the New Inn once had a bigger garden, then this would certainly elevate it up the short list. Such a shame that someone hasn’t written a history (or perhaps they have) of the Broads pubs with pictures. The Black Horse might well be the one but it seems nothing but an internal photograph survives. If the pub I seek has gone, then it is a crying shame because it was so lovely. My village is lucky enough to have six pubs and my wife and I have been in the oldest (the 16th Century Black Horse) tonight but here too one is teetering on the brink. I suppose one cannot expect them to exist just because we don’t like change. It is a great shame when one thinks about the countless days and evenings where for the most part much convivial conversation and fun has taken place in them for many generations. If only walls could talk. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grendel Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 theres nothing else for it, you will have to come down to Norfolk, Stay for a week and visit as many pubs as possible to ensure you have a good chance of visiting the right one. 4 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buttle Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 Could it have been The Eagle at Neatishead, though it wasn't a river as such I believe the garden backed onto the top end of Like Kiln Dyke, if memory serves me right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQ Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 There was a 4th pub in Horning the Half Moon, but long gone by 1972. "looking from the river garden to the right" sounds very like the Ferry . This site might help. https://www.norfolkpubs.co.uk/norfolkh/horning/hornhm.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 8 hours ago, SimonSherbot said: My village is lucky enough to have six pubs Most villages are doing well to keep one pub going these days, you must be the most alcoholic village in UK. Sounds like heaven, any properties going cheap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RumPunch Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 Shame - I got to Colt just after the Anchor must have closed. Would have liked to have experienced that AND the Eagle in Neatishead. I remember as a young 18 year old cycling from RAF Coltishall, exploring the various lanes, byways... and pubs. One clear recollection was finding the Black Shed on the staithe at Barton Turf and thinking how scenic it was. Funny to think I'd later be living in the village ( which also has no pubs now, of course ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizG Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 The Black Horse wasn't by the river - I still think it has to be either the New Inn or the Anchor. New Inn was pretty basic in the 1970s just two simple bars but with a big garden. Anchor then was plusher, did had a resturarant but also had plenty of moorings. Finding a photo of the New Inn in the 1970s seems quite hard! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaughan Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 Here is the Anchor, from Blakes catalogue of 1971. And Horning Ferry, from 1968, taken in the side garden. And while we're at it, there's this one. Can you name the pub? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVIDH Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 1 minute ago, Vaughan said: And while we're at it, there's this one. Can you name the pub? Is it the bar at Fawlty Towers. I can see Basil clearly standing at the bar. 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaughan Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 1 minute ago, DAVIDH said: Is it the bar at Fawlty Towers. I can see Basil clearly standing at the bar. Actually you wouldn't, in that pub. "Behind the bar" is a few feet lower than the main room, and you have to duck your head under the beam to get your drinks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizG Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 Stuck with Vaughan's third photo - just wondered whether it was inside the Black Horse? Going back to the New Inn its a real struggle to find a 1970s photo of the exterior. If not probably the Buck!! Here is a Francis Frith photo from the 1960s which really does show a very different pub. No out buildings what so ever and covered in Ivy. https://www.francisfrith.com/horning/horning-the-new-inn-c1965_h116117 I also found this photo which I think should be credited to Craig Slawson which shows the grass and the big willow tree but still with the extensions - looks possibly 1980s or 90s? Liz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVIDH Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 10 minutes ago, Vaughan said: And while we're at it, there's this one. Can you name the pub? Is it the Yare in Brundall? They use those barrels cut away as seats since the "recent" refurbishment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonSherbot Posted October 21, 2021 Author Share Posted October 21, 2021 8 hours ago, Smoggy said: Most villages are doing well to keep one pub going these days, you must be the most alcoholic village in UK. Sounds like heaven, any properties going cheap? No I am afraid it is very pricey due to the fact there are six pubs 😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonSherbot Posted October 21, 2021 Author Share Posted October 21, 2021 11 hours ago, grendel said: theres nothing else for it, you will have to come down to Norfolk, Stay for a week and visit as many pubs as possible to ensure you have a good chance of visiting the right one. I think you might be right and not a bad way to spend a week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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