Hove in the Past: Hove Pubs Index S

Listed below:- The Seafield, The Station, The Stoneham, The Stirling Arms, The Sussex, The Sussex Arms, The Sussex Cricketer, The Urchin, The Watchmaker's Arms, The Westbourne, The Wick.

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The Seafield, 150 Church Road

Judy Middleton (2003 revised 2021)

copyright © J.Middleton
The Seafield faces north and so it is difficult to take a photograph of the exterior.
The Seafield’s owners once had plans to take over Mulholland’s to enlarge the pub but nothing came of it.

The pub was in operation by 1920 when the licensed retailer was John Attree Harland. Vallance & Catt were the pub owners until 1929 when Tamplin’s took over. Harland was still behind the bar when the changeover took place but by 1935 George Patrick Larner was in charge and the establishment was dignified by the name Seafield Hotel. This name and landlord Larner continued at least until 1958.

In 1974 John and Nellie Brett ran the pub. John Brett served in the Merchant Navy during the Second World War and in 1942 his vessel was torpedoed. This resulted in him having to spend twelve freezing hours aboard a lifeboat in mid-Atlantic before being rescued.

By 1976 Watney’s were owners of The Seafield and they felt the pub was rather small. They had grandiose plans for enlargement by taking over the premises next door at number 148 Church Road, occupied by Robert Mulholland’s off-licence. But nineteen letters of objection were sent to Hove Council plus a petition against the plan with 1,000 signatures appended. Hove Planning Committee rejected Watney’s proposals. Watney’s did not want to let the matter drop and in 1979 lodged an appeal with the Secretary of State. Nothing came of it and to this day the two businesses remain in operation side by side, which is quite an achievement in itself when you consider all the changes that have taken place in their neighbourhood since then.

In the Argus (18 July 1998) it was reported that licensees Peter Robinson and Ritchie Laing took over the pub three years previously. Mr Laing commented that when they moved in the place had a somewhat unloved and forlorn air. They embarked upon a scheme of improvements, one part being the re-location of the entrance from the east side to the west side. Wood panelling was put in and framed prints adorned the walls. Three large screen televisions were installed so that customers could keep up-to-date with sporting events. A south-facing pub garden was created with enough space for fifteen people to be able to sit outside in the sunshine.

But obviously there was not much money left over to pay for an ambitious pub sign, the new one being absolutely plain with gold lettering on a green ground. The old pub sign sported a view somewhat similar in outline to Beachy Head but without the lighthouse; to be exact a green field atop a steep, chalk cliff, a sea field.

By late 2015 the exterior of the pub looked decidedly faded. Fortunately, at the end of November 2015 it was given a fresh coat of paint and some pleasant greenery was added with five window boxes containing trailing ivy and miniature trees.

Today, the pub sign features a vignette of Harvey’s Brewery, Lewes.

The pub never re-opened after the Covid-19 lock-down. A ‘For Sale’ appeared on the building and soon the property was sold by Cradick, the retail letting agent. On 11 August 2021 an enormous skip drew up outside the pub, and what seemed to be an army of workers proceeded to empty the pub of all its fittings, including rolls of venerable carpet, bar stools, wood and various furnishings. Meanwhile, an energetic young man wielded a broom with great effect keeping the pavement hazard-free as far as possible for the many pedestrians passing by.

It was a sad ending after a century of convivial use – just think of all those stories and memories that must have been aired within its walls. The Argus Pub Spy wrote in 2017 ‘If tradition is your thing, then look no further’. A former customer lamented it was an ‘absolute end of an era’. (Argus 23/8/21)

Sources
Argus
Directories
Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

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The Station, 100 Goldstone Villas
formerly the Cliftonville Hotel

Judy Middleton (2001 revised 2014)

The premises were built in the 1870s and Tamplin’s were the owners from 1875 to 1963. On 16 January 1879 a deed was drawn up between William Cloves Tamplin and Hove Commissioners. This allowed Hove Commissioners to lease the urinal at the Cliftonville Hotel for a period of 21 years. Similar deals were also done with the Aldrington Hotel in Portland Road and the Connaught Hotel in Hove Street. It relieved Hove Commissioners of the necessity and expense of building their own public conveniences.

In January 1881 Mr Tamplin offered to sell the Commissioners for £5 a lamp he had erected opposite the hotel. The offer was accepted. Various alterations were carried out in 1900 including the installation of a billiard room. In 1897 the Cliftonville Hotel was one of the ‘big four’ having the highest rateable value for licensed premises at Hove at £320. The three others with the same value were the Sussex Hotel, the Exchange and the Eclipse.

The Cliftonville Hotel had the most beautiful décor of any public house at Hove. The exterior is impressive enough but it was the details of the interior that linger in the memory. In fact it resembled nothing so much as one of those smart London pubs in all their Victorian or Edwardian grandeur. There was an impressive array of lovely mirrors and the glass in the large windows was decorated with frosted scrolls and other details. It must have been an enticing sight when the lamps were lit at night. This of course was not a coincidence because the pub was situated next door to Hove Railway Station and no doubt was a welcome sight to the weary traveller alighting from the train.

The hotel also fulfilled a civic duty when an inquest was held there. This was not such an unusual event in Victorian times when inquests were held in the nearest large room to where the fatality occurred and this often meant an adjacent pub. The inquest was held in July 1880 into the death of George Rushman, firewood dealer, of 12 Conway Street. The jury heard evidence about the disgraceful state of the road in Goldstone Villas, which had ‘a wretchedly uneven and unsafe strip of ground’. The deceased was in a van going down the road when the front wheel suddenly dropped into a rut and he and the witness were flung out. The witness managed to cling to the horse but Rushman fell into the road and the wheels went over him. The rut was caused by road works where pipes had been laid and the surface had sunk afterwards. Mr Hollamby, a Hove Commissioner and foreman of the jury, stated the road was not a public highway but a private road made by Mr Gallard and that the freehold of the road belonged to the properties on either side of the road.

In 1881 Mrs Lower was the landlady and she was born in Somerset. She was a widow and lived with her five daughters, Lucy aged 17, another one aged 16, Rose, 14, Minnie, 13 and six-year old Annie. Her nephew and sister also lived in the premises. Mrs Lower was still in charge in 1891 but she only had two daughters living with her, besides her sister, a niece and nephew, a barmaid and two servants.

By 1899 T.H. Challis was the landlord but he did not stay long because by 1905 Benjamin Parker was in charge. By 1915 C.J. Musselwhite was the licensee, followed in around 1925 by Samuel Thomas Wyndell.

William George Godley was at the helm in the 1930s. Mr Godley owned a beautiful cocker spaniel named Sam who was famous locally for collecting donations to Hove Hospital. On 5 May 1938 in the hotel’s billiard room, Councillor A.W. Hillman, Mayor of Hove, presented Sam with an inscribed collar in recognition of his services.

When the Second World War ended, William Sessions was landlord. But Swonnell’s Caterers were running the pub by 1951. The Cliftonville retained the integrity of its artistic décor for many years after its heyday and this is how it was described in 1979.

‘The glass, decorated in the Cinquecento style popular at the time, has scrolls, swirls and frosted bowls of fruit. These panes of glass have been retained although some of the windows have been re-glazed outside. There is a further delightful surprise inside where the magnificent array of mirrors behind the bar reveals a similarity to the exotic scrolls of the window glass. The embossing of the glass appears to be raised above the surface but the glass is perfectly smooth to the touch. There is also a large pane of glass between the counters, which has a design of two small birds on a background of narrow reeds and bamboo leaves. This pane reflects the interest in the Japanese style and may have been coloured at one time.‘ Other features were the words ‘United Ales’ in the windows and a mosaic at the entrance with Cliftonville Hotel picked out in half red, half black letters against a white ground.

Brewing giant Grand Metropolitan later owned the Cliftonville and in 1990 they decided they no longer wanted to run the premises as a managed house and were prepared to lease it. Inn Securities (formerly Bruce’s Brewery) made a bid for the 20-year lease. Inn Securities had sold all eleven of its famous Firkin pubs in London and planned to open a new chain in Sussex with the first one being in Hove. The first thing to go was the historic name and the premises were renamed The Hedgehog and Hogshead and opened on 24 July 1990 with Michelle and Dale Scott as managers.

David Bruce started a small brewery on the premises thus making it the first brewery to operate in Hove since Robins’ Brewery packed up in 1928. From 1994 David Wood was the brewer. Powerful ales were produced with names such as the ‘Prickletickler’ and ‘Brighton Breezy’. In 1991 the Guinness Book of Records accepted the pub’s new name as being the longest pub name in the country. It was Bertie Belcher’s Brighton Brewing Company at the Hedgehog and Hogshead. In 1994 in order to confirm its primacy, some more words were added to the title it’s Really in Hove actually.

In 1994 some of the regulars shaved their heads or went on sponsored bike rides to raise money for charity; £336 was donated to cancer research and £669 was donated to Royal Alexandra’s Children’s Hospital Rocking-horse Appeal.

In the autumn of 1996 unfortunately the premises were modernised. The unique mirrors and frosted glass were swept away except for two token panels that only serve as a painful reminder of treasures that were lost. The huge windows were filled with plain glass, destroying the cosy ambience at a stroke and leaving the punters grumbling that it was like having a drink inside a goldfish bowl. It appears that football vandals had damaged one of the old frosted windows and the management in a fit of austerity decided it was not worth trying to preserve the rest.

By 2000 Scottish & Newcastle were owners of the premises and they decided to spend £400,000 on a complete overhaul. Perhaps there was nothing left over for a quality sign because the one that went up must be the most boring one ever consisting of a circle with Station underneath, this being the pub’s new name. Today the pub manages without any hanging sign at all.

By December 2000 advertising hype proclaimed the Station to be a stylish, contemporary bar for cold beers, cocktails and pizzas. There were two inter-net stations, leather, loafing beds, two purple pool tables and you could also order a hot chocolate. One real ale buff was not impressed and commented that if he wanted hot chocolate and a bed, he would stay at home with the wife.

The menu was also revised. A hilarious talking point was the little boxes bearing a number given to customers when ordering food. When the food was ready, the chef gave a signal that activated a vibrator inside the box causing it to dart across the table. Manager Stuart Thompson claimed the pub was the ‘newest and coolest bar in Hove’. In January 2001 the Station applied for a public entertainment licence to allow it to stay open until 1 a.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Local residents were horrified.

Today there is an outside seating area on the north side, which has proved popular with customers. The Station advertises its pizzas as being home made and stone baked.

The exterior has a copious amount of black paint at ground floor level and when viewed from across the road, gives the curious impression of being detached from its white painted top stories. Black seems to be the trend at Hove and it is also to be found at The Exchange, and Palmeira.

Sources
Argus
Census Returns
Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Copyright © J.Middleton 2014

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The Stirling Arms, 3 Stirling Place
formerly The Stirling Arms, then The Foragers and now back to the The Stirling Arms.

Judy Middleton (2003 revised 2024)

This view taken on 17 March 2014 makes The Foragers look impressively large.

The Stirling Arms was constructed in around 1884. Like many Victorian pubs it occupied a strategic position on a prominent corner site. Although according to the Directories it was in Stirling Place, its east wall bears the street name of Connaught Terrace.

Abbey & Sons, a local brewery, owned the pub. In April 1891 Hove Commissioners approved their plans for alterations and improvements at the pub. In 1899 there were further alterations to the pub and it seems obvious that trade must have been good.

Reuben Gillam was born in 1843 in Dorset Gardens, Brighton. His father, John Gillam, was a Brighton-born fisherman who came from a long line of fishermen.

Instead of going to sea, Reuben Gillam became landlord of the Stirling Arms and remained for fourteen years. But there were other skills he had learned too because he was also a labourer, plumber and gas worker. Perhaps he combined outside work with being an innkeeper and in this he would not have been alone because Isaac Holland of the George Inn, Portslade also offered a variety of skills to employers besides being mine host. Reuben Gillam would have been glad of some extra earnings because he and his wife Mary had seven children to feed. They were Edwin, Harry, Elizabeth, George, Nathaniel, Reuben and Mabel.

copyright © From the Gillam Family Album
Mary Dann was photographed in around 1865 looking serious and holding the family photograph album. But in those days you had to keep perfectly still for a few minutes or risk having a blurred photograph. Mary married Reuben Gillam. Photo right:- Reuben Gillam (1843-1898).

Reuben Gillam was a public-spirited man and established a Slate Club at the Stirling Arms, which meant his customers had the opportunity to save money on a regular basis. Gillam was also a Freemason and a member of the Ancient Order of Buffaloes. He died in 1898 and was buried in Hove Cemetery on 6^th April. His widow died in 1901.

The Gillam’s youngest daughter Mabel was born in 1882 and in 1910 she emigrated to Sydney, Australia. Her intention was to go on to Canada, probably to join other relatives already there but she fell in love with an Australian Thomas Alexander Moore and they married the same year and stayed put.

Harry Gillam used to run a bakery just over the road from the Stirling Arms and according to the censuses of 1871 and 1881 he lived at 11 George Street. Then he and his family, and Elizabeth and her family emigrated to Manitoba, Canada. Nathaniel died from tuberculosis at the age of twenty-one.

W.J. Chadwell, who followed Gillam, was another long-serving landlord because he was still pulling pints in the 1930s. It seems to have become a tradition because Harry James Pile took over in 1935 and was still there in 1958.

Fred Pile, son of Harry James Pile, was a member of Hove Crescent Cricket Club. Ernie Grinyer, who earned a living as a watchmaker with premises in Ship Street, Brighton, founded the club in 1903 at the Belfast Tavern. But the club did not stay there long and soon moved their headquarters to Stirling Arms where they remained until the 1950s. Fred Pile was a valuable member of the team because not only was he 6 feet 4 inches in height but he also enjoyed the reputation of being a fearsome fast bowler. It is pleasant to imagine him as a demon bowler thundering up to the crease, clad in cricket whites and wearing the distinctive club cap with colours of silver on a royal blue ground. The badge featured a silver crescent moon on a blue ground.

Players at Hove Crescent Cricket Club were photographed in 1935. Fred Pile is the tall man in the back row and

Olly Barry is on the right of the front row.

The Second World War put a stop to their cricketing days and all the gear was stored in the cellar of Stirling Arms for the duration. Meanwhile, Fred Pile served as a pilot in the RAF, being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Unhappily, he was killed in a flying accident in the Middle East.

After the war Olly Barry and returning members such as Bert Sharp and Jack Steer ventured down into the cellar to find out the condition of their gear and cricket resumed in 1947. Olly Barry’s name is not forgotten because there is an end-of-season match in his memory between the over thirties and the under thirties. The club still flourishes today and is now known as Brighton and Hove Crescent C.C.

copyright © S. Wood
This photograph of Hove Crescent C.C. players dates from 1953. Harry Pile, who was club president at the time,
stands at the far right of the back row. Eric Pratt is on the left of the back row. He had a long association with the
club, being scorer, umpire and treasurer for over 60 years, retiring at the grand age of 96.

Meanwhile, John and Midge Oxley were running the Boatman’s Club at Brighton before they moved to the Stirling Arms in 1961. John Oxley had been a professional ice-hockey player and saw action with the Wembley Lions as well as the Brighton Tigers. He had the distinction of being the first English player to score 100 goals.

Midge Oxley also had an interesting career as an ice-skater, having turned professional at the age of fifteen when she left school. She toured the country in the popular Tom Arnold ice shows. John Oxley died in 1976 but Midge decided to soldier on at the pub. In October 1985 it was reported that she was upset when workmen began to demolish the gasholders in preparation for the new Tesco’s to be built on the site. She commented ‘I know it sounds silly, because they’re not actually picturesque, but I’ve grown fond of them.’ On 27 July 1993 there was a big party at the pub to wish Midge happiness on her retirement. She presented a large cheque to Hamilton Lodge School for the Deaf, the last of many donations to charity. But it seems she was unable to say goodbye to pub life just yet and in 1998, when she was aged 65, she still helped out behind the bar at the Stirling Arms and at Hove Deep Sea Anglers Club. She also had a new interest – golf.

By 1998 Mary and Peter Bowles were running the Stirling Arms and it was one of three finalists in the Pub of the Year Awards. Over the previous year the pub raised a great deal of money for the Martlets Hospice and in January 1999 it was stated some £2,500 had been raised for charity over the preceding two years and a recent Quiz Night had raised £1,700 for Martlets Hospice. Friday night is designated music night.

In 2006 the pub changed its name to The Foragers after new owner Paul Hutchison took over. The ethos is sustainability and the meat and game are Sussex-sourced while the seafood is caught daily. Also on offer is local ale and organic wine. In acknowledgement of its ‘green’ credentials the pub is painted in two tasteful shades of green while there are several window boxes and hanging baskets to enhance the exterior.

New Life

By 2023 the pub had long since changed its name back to the original – the Stirling Arms. For a back-street pub, now belonging to the Good Times pub chain, it is doing very well indeed. Proof of its success lies in the fact that after an extensive refurbishment, the premises now offers around 100 covers. Word soon gets around that there is good food to be enjoyed there, and now it is advisable to book in advance. The choice of Sunday lunch meat ranges from pork belly cooked for twelve hours, to lamb, beef, and venison. The reporter waxed lyrical over the perfect roast potatoes to be found there – so often a pub roast potato is a pale and unappetising copy of the authentic thing. (Argus 3/3/23)

copyright © J.Middleton
There is plenty of outdoor seating and this close-up view shows the Connaught Terrace frontage.

In February 2024 it was announced that in the Brighton Restaurants Awards the pub had been nominated for no less than four categories, and the public could have their say by voting, which would close on 14 March. The categories are as follows:

Best pub

Best team

Best Sunday roast

Most family-friendly pub

It is interesting to note that the pub also has four guest bedrooms. (Argus 9/2/24)

Sources
Argus
Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade
Mrs Dorothy Cooper kindly provided additional information about the Gillam family
Mr Simon Wood kindly provided the information about Brighton & Hove Crescent C.C.

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The Stoneham, Portland Road.

Judy Middleton 2003 (revised 2019)

This pub started off being called the Portland Hotel. It was on 15 August 1895 that Hove Commissioners approved plans submitted by Messrs Scott & Cawthorne on behalf of brewers Abbey & Son for the building of a hotel.

The hotel has been re-numbered several times. When it was first built, it was numbered at 90 Portland Road, then it became number 123, followed by number 151, and finally number 153.

The hotel must have been a success because although it was only new, in 1903 Abbey & Sons decided on some alterations and improvements. The firm of brewers employed F. T. Cawthorn, the well-known architect, to draw up the relevant plans. Mr Cawthorn had designed the church of St Agnes, Hove, in 1902, and in 1904 was responsible for the Garage and Motor Works in Davigdor Road. He went on to design the handsome block of buildings, including where Barclays Bank was once located, on the south corner of New Church Road and Boundary Road, and the oak reredos in St Nicolas Church, Portslade.

An advertisement of 1905 recommended the up-to-date billiard saloon containing a handsome table by Poundsberry & Co, and there were public, communal, and dining rooms plus a smoking room.

There were further alterations and additions in 1925 and 1927, by which time the establishment belonged to Kemp Town Brewery who employed architects Denman & Son to draw up plans.

Landlords

In 1899 Mr W. Pearson was the landlord.

Mr E.C. Bridger was the landlord in 1905 and 1906. But by 1910 the Howell family began their long association with the pub. In 1910 it was Walter Howell behind the bar, followed in around 1920 by George Howell who was still there in 1954.

Recent Times

In May 1998 an advertisement described the establishment as a ‘large family pub with a great carnival atmosphere’. There was a 6-ft TV screen, snooker, pool, darts, bar billiards, and in addition there were function and party rooms for hire. The new tenants were John and Mary.

By 2000 the pub was home to the Rock Bar, which apparently was the only live band venue in Hove. On 28 April 2000 it was stated that the pub expected a 300-capacity crowd on Saturday when the Battle of the Bands Grand Final would take place. The four bands taking part were Freeloaf, Rift, Stonewall Jackson, and Sideshow. The prizes consisted of £800 in musical vouchers.

In July 2000 during the Poets’ Corner Festival there were belly dancers, and Hindu dancing at the pub, which stayed open until midnight to coincide with the street party being held in Scott Road.

By May 2017 the pub had been renovated and re-named The Stoneham. It was claimed to be family-friendly, as well as stylish. There was a variety of food available from pasta to fish and chips, and from pizza to pies including a Boozy Beef Pie. The Stoneham’s speciality pizza was called The Full Pig – no doubt a reference to nearby Stoneham Park, where in the days before it became a public open space there was a chalk pit used to house pigs.

When the famous Argus Pub Spy paid a visit in 2018 his comments were less than complimentary – he wrote that the pub was ‘free from the distraction of screens and machines’ - perhaps not a bad thing either. He also noted the presence of fairy lights – a bugbear of his except at the festive season. (Argus 5 October 2018). However, he must have considered his review had been somewhat harsh because he paid a second visit and found the pub quite satisfactory.

Sources

Argus

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Hove Council Minute Books

Street Directories

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The Sussex, St Catherine’s Terrace
Judy Middleton (2003 revised 2020)

copyright © J.Middleton
The Sussex Hotel opened in 1855 and its name can still be seen on the roof. It served as both a hotel and a pub but today the hotel part has been converted into flats and only the pub remains. The photograph was taken on 16 April 2014.

The hotel opened for business on 19 October 1855 and there was a special house warming dinner on 15 November the same year. Well-known Hove farmer William Marsh Rigden presided over the dinner and amongst the special guests were William Kirkpatrick and George Gallard, two of the Cliftonville developers. The hotel had billiard rooms and there were also livery stables.

Henry Jones from Gloucestershire was the first hotel-keeper. His previous position was managing the Sussex Arms Inn, East Street, Brighton. The 1861 census recorded him at the Sussex Hotel together with his wife, two sons and six servants. Business must have been extraordinarily slow because there was only one French visitor on census night. But Henry Jones must have enjoyed his work because he stayed put for thirty years.

Some idea of the fashionable status of the hotel can be gauged from the fact that it was often mentioned in the ‘Fashionable News’ column in the local Press. For instance, in October 1870 the Brighton Herald reported that the Countess of Lucan and Mr Bingham were guests while later in the month Mr and Mrs Montefiore occupied a whole wing.

In May 1879 a fire broke out in the housekeeper’s room in the basement. The fire soon gained a strong hold because there were a number of unpacked new tables in the vicinity. But help soon arrived in the shape of Hove Fire Brigade under the command of Stationmaster Wilcox with the horse-drawn fire engine and steam driven pumps. There were five officers and twelve firemen in attendance and the fire was soon brought under control; damage was estimated at £50.

In 1885 it was noted that Walter William Lord was the proprietor of the Sussex Hotel and he had come from the famous Simpson’s in the Strand, London. The 1891 census recorded 45-year old Ferdinand Chapman as the hotel and pub keeper. He lived with his wife, mother-in-law, a nephew, a niece, one porter, one waiter, one cook and one servant. But W.W. Lord was still the proprietor.

On 25 April 1896 S.T. Green took over the management and extensive alterations were carried out. He lost no time in submitting plans to Hove Commissioners who in August 1896 approved W.J. Miller’s plan to bring forward the bay window on the east side. W.J. Miller who was described as ‘the eminent architect’ was responsible for designing the improvements and Vincent Payne Freeman of Kensington Gardens, Brighton, carried out the work. Charles G. Reed of North Street, Brighton, installed electric lighting.

There were three entrances from Osborne Villas but the main hotel entrance was in St Catherine’ Terrace. The ground on the east side of the hotel was to be given for public use and the Town Surveyor was instructed to lay a pavement on it.

Henry Porter writing in 1897 was effusive in his praise of the hotel’s improvements. ‘It now possesses one of the handsomest saloon bars, south of London, on the coast, and the establishment besides making up thirty beds, has elegant dining, drawing and reception rooms. The cuisine, like the vintages, are par excellence and the accommodation surpasses even the wildest imagination.’

In 1897 the hotel was recognised as one of the ‘big four’ of licensed premises at Hove with a high rateable value of £320. The other three that were also valued at the same rate were the Cliftonville Hotel in Goldstone Villas, the Eclipse and the Exchange.

In 1898 Dick Hunt took over the adjacent livery stables when he purchased the job-master business. At that time the stables contained twelve horses and six licensed landaus. The premises consisted of two small covered yards and coach houses with glass roofs. He wrote ‘I had the landaus painted dark blue, fine-lined orange and the men who drove them wore silk top hats.’ Some of his customers liked to give the impression that the turnout they were hiring was their own property and Dick Hunt would do his best not to spoil the illusion.

To illustrate the snobbishness that prevailed at Hove, Hunt used to relate that if he walked on the sea-front lawns and met one of his customers by chance, he would receive no recognition when he raised his hat. But his business thrived. At a cost of 10/6d for two hours, a discerning customer could hire a French-shaped victoria with rubber tyres pulled by a horse worth £50 bedecked with a gleaming brass-mounted harness with rosebuds in the bridle, controlled by a smartly dressed coachman. This price was good value when compared to the 4/6d to hire a public cab.

The stables were also a suitable place at which to establish a veterinary practice and W. Kennedy Stuart was there in 1899. He was still there in 1922 when he despatched a bill for 10/- to Miss Chamberlain of 10 King’s Gardens for professional attendance and medicine for a cat. Mr Stuart was described as a Veterinary and Canine Surgeon and his letterhead was inscribed ‘Veterinary Infirmary and Surgery, Sussex Hotel Stables’.

Meanwhile, the landlord at the Sussex Hotel had changed. By 1905 F. Gannaway was behind the bar and the 1910 Directory noted Gannaway & Co as owners. George Sidney Howell was running the establishment in the 1920s but Edlin’s had purchased the premises by 1926.

In 1923 it was stated that traffic going along Kingsway or travelling down Osborne Villas had their view obstructed by a wall and vehicles opposite Sussex Hotel. This was because there was a recognised stand where a charabanc and three hackney carriages awaited custom. Councillors decided to abolish the stand to ease the situation.

In May 1926 architects Clayton & Bell submitted plans to Hove Council on behalf of Edlin’s to convert the upper part of the premises into flats. Initially this was turned down but the plans were passed at the third attempt in June 1926. Tubby Edlin occupied one of the flats. He was a well-known comedian and he had also taken part in George Albert Smith’s early films taken in St Ann’s Well Gardens before it became a public park. Tubby Edlin became famous when he starred in the stage play Alf’s Button based on the novel by Bill Darlington. In 1929 he starred in the ‘talkie’ film version of the play. He was popularly known as Queen Mary’s jester because he was one of the few actors able to make her laugh. Tubby Edlin’s flat at Sussex Hotelincluded an old-world fireplace that Maurie Elliott helped to install. Maurie Elliott was a colourful Hove character and for over forty years he earned a living as hare-driver at the Brighton & Hove Greyhound Stadium.

Meanwhile the pub part of the premises was also being renovated and the prevailing fashion decreed the interior should appear impressively ancient. There were huge open fireplaces, beams and carved figures plus a quantity of coloured glass in assorted colours of red, green, purple, yellow and white. The glass shapes were interesting too as they were not run-of-the-mill squares but diamond-shaped alternating with hexagons. At the second storey the glass was in hexagonal and octagonal shapes. Inside, at the entrance to the saloon bar, there was a shield-shaped glass depicting the Sussex coat of arms of three martlets.

In 1986 Double Nine International acquired the Sussex and converted the top floors. There had been four spacious flats and this was changed to accommodate eleven flats, most of them with sea views.

Bass Taverns were the owners by 1997 and Charles Regan was landlord. Regan described the place as a family pub and he thought the wood panelling and stone fireplaces certainly made an unusual interior. Where the livery stables were once situated, there was now a walled garden with a fishpond and a fountain and barbecues were often held there in the summer. It was apparently a top destination for students.

By March 1999 Bass had recently decreed a re-fit of the premises. But in the opinion of journalist Joe Lepper ‘it’s a pub that is almost a large, sterile chain pub and almost a local boozer, but neither.’ He also mentioned a suit of armour.

Sources
Argus
Census Records
Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade
Hunt, Dick. Bygones

Copyright © J.Middleton 2014

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SUSSEX ARMS, Sussex Road.
Judy Middleton 2003 (revised 2023)

This pub was situated at 19 Sussex Road but originally it was not a pub because in 1861 the premises were occupied by a greengrocer, a wheelwright, and an agricultural labourer. Then, by 1866 F. Richardson, beer retailer, had arrived on the scene.

The pub was only ever a small concern, and perhaps the police had become worried that there were just too many pubs in the area; when the question of the licence came up in 1871, there was a debate on the matter. It was stated that a few steps away from the Sussex Arms, there was the Travellers Joy Inn, which was very well frequented. Tamplin’s was pleased with the latter because the landlord had paid the firm around £679 for wine, beer and spirits, whereas the Sussex Arms could only stump up £260 for beer.

However, it seems that the authorities were not hard-hearted. They heard from the pub’s tenant, Mrs Foster, that it was her only means of a livelihood; her husband was obviously an invalid, and had not left the house for two years. The pub continued to trade.

It is interesting to note that in 1907 another Mrs Foster (surely not the same one?) was in charge of the pub, with Fred Foster named as landlord the following year.

By 1910 there was no mention of the pub in the Street Directories, and in 1921 number 19 was listed as a confectioner’s; in 1924 the lady in charge had the charming name of Lottie Greengrass.

Landlords

1866 – F. Richardson

1871-1872 – E. Knight, tenant Mrs Foster

1874 – Edwin Orphin

1875-1880 – E. Parsons

1881-1884 – W. Baker

1887 – J. Macdonald

1888 – B. Bailey

1889 – Fred Morris

1896 – John Malthouse

1906 – Mrs A. Malthouse

1907 – Mrs Fanny Foster

1908 – Fred Foster

Sources

Census Returns

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Street Directories

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THE SUSSEX CRICKETER, Eaton Road.

Judy Middleton 2003 (revised 2023)

It seems the first name for the pub was the Chichester Tavern, but that was soon abandoned in favour of the Cricket Ground Inn, and afterwards it became the Sussex County Cricket Ground Hotel, and was still known by this name in the 1960s. In 1978 the establishment was re-named the Sussex Cricketer.

The pub was built in the early 1870s, costing £1,942, at the same time as the Sussex County Cricket Ground was being developed, and a Mr Woodman designed it.

The first landlord was John Juden who had previously been mine host at the Royal Brunswick Cricket Ground where the 1871 census recorded the Juden family; Juden being aged 40, his wife Sarah aged 42, and their daughters Amelia, 12, and ten-year old Kate, plus one servant.

The Sussex County Cricket Club did not have the cash to pay for the building of the pub, and thus took out a mortgage of £2,000. It seemed the club was content to pay the interest but the capital sum did not diminish and still stood at £2,000 in 1912 when Lord Leconfield and David Sassoon became transferees. Lord Leconfield’s investment was £875 while David Sassoon received £9 quarterly for his loan of £1,125. David Sassoon (1867-1929) of 7 Queen’s Gardens, Hove, was a committee member of the club as well as a trustee. He was a patron of the arts and was always to be seen in the stalls of the Theatre Royal on important production nights – he also had a private box at the Greyhound Stadium. David Sassoon died on 8 November 1929, and in the very same month his executors were pressing the cricket club for repayment in order to wind up his estate as quickly as possible. In February 1931 Mr Asa Thomas of Bincham, Chailey, agreed to take over the mortgage, but two months later the mortgage was paid off.

Thomas Harrington took over the running of the inn from his father-in-law John Juden, and previously he held the post of Relieving Officer. Harrington was landlord for around sixteen years; he died on 24 March 1910 aged 56, and was buried in Hove Cemetery. By 1915 Frederick Pigott was behind the bar and remained until after the Second World War. Meanwhile, Tamplin’s leased the pub / hotel from 1922 to 1947. In 1947 G. E. File was the landlord, and Mr A. Austen followed him and was there during the 1950s. In the 1950s the pub was still delightfully old fashioned and, believe it or not, there was sawdust on the floor.

Extension and Recent Times

In around 1963 the restaurant was extended at ground floor level. In November 1973 it was stated that Bunny Young had been licensee since 1961. In his flat on the premises he had an electric organ and he taped music, which could be relayed to the bars over the amplifiers. Mr Young grew up in Newcastle where he later played in semi-professional bands. He said that during the summer months he employed foreign students as extra bar staff to cope with demand. For example, in 1972 there were two Japanese there besides other students from Switzerland, Turkey, Morocco, Egypt and France.

In 1978 Stan Butcher was the manager of this free house when a major refurbishment started, overseen by chartered architects Felce & Guy of Holland Road. There was a new entrance hall, and a staircase lead to the restaurant on the first floor; the kitchen was modernised too. The new restaurant called Flannels opened in June 1985 with seats for 50 customers. By this time Brian Lee was in charge of the pub, while his wife Linda managed the restaurant.

In Sussex Life (June 1984) there was a lovely story concerning the old pub sign. Apparently, Councillor Brian Roe caught sight of the sign languishing sadly in a skip outside, and rescued it. With appropriate permission, he took it out and had it restored to its full glory to hang in his house.

Fire

Paul Gallard took over the running of the pub. In November 1991 after closing the pub and heading for a well-deserved curry, he noticed the lights were flickering, and decided he had better have a last look around. It was just as well he was cautious because it turned out the cellar was on fire. He wielded the fire extinguisher straight away, and firemen were soon at the scene to prevent the flames spreading any further.

Smash and Grab

On 28 March 1993 Paul Gallard was counting the weekend’s takings in the evening, when two men broke in armed with a cosh, knife and table leg. Gallard tried to foil the raid by flinging a bar stool at them as well as some pint glasses. But they managed to grab £2,000 and escape. His girlfriend phoned the police.

Change at the Top

In May 2000 Bass Taverns put in a planning application for internal alterations and refurbishment. However, by March 2001 the sign outside read ‘Ember Inns’.

Another Fire

On 5 March 2003 there was a small fire at the pub, which was soon put out. The interesting point about the occasion was that firefighters were wearing their new uniform for the first time – these uniforms were gold-coloured and lighter in weight than the old navy blue ones. The firefighters were photographed outside the pub, and also to be seen was a bill-board advertising ‘Quiz Night every Sunday and Tuesday’.

End of the Road

The Sussex Cricketer closed for good on Sunday 19 January 2020. It is to be demolished to make way for a new development, but there would be a new open-plan pub / bar with a terrace for visitors. This development would include 37 apartments, including one with four bedrooms. (In August 2019 the number of flats was stated to be 40). An exhibition of the plans was held at the Spem Cama Pavilion on 11 September 2019 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The reason for the demolition was because the value of building land at Hove is like gold dust, and the Sussex County Cricket Club must maximise its assets in order to pay for improvements and investments at the ground and to stay financially afloat in difficult times. It was stated that some £20 million would be invested in the ground, now blessed with the somewhat cumbersome title of the 1^st Central County Ground, Hove.

In March 2020 the Argus published an artist’s impression of the development to be built on the pub site. It shows a rather depressing block of flats (to be 9-storeys high) with the usual slab of concrete balcony wall, and a most unimaginative entrance (resembling a glass box) to the Sussex Cricketer described as a ‘pub restaurant’.

In September 2020 it was stated that Roffey Homes had started work on the construction of the 37 flats, which they described as ‘a beautifully crafted collection’. (Argus 26/9/20)

While the building work was on-going, there were already thoughts about the precise opening hours to be observed when the new pub was completed. Before the project began, the pub could stay open until 12.30 a.m. But neighbours were not happy about it because it was in a residential area. Therefore, in 2020 the planning committee wanted to set the closing time at 11.30 p.m. But this was hardly fair seeing as their near rivals all enjoyed a later opening time – the pubs cited were the Blind Busker, Palmeira, Station and Exchange that all stayed open after mid-night. In view of this, the Sussex Cricketer received permission in 2021 to stay open until 12.30 a.m.

copyright © D. Sharp
The Sussex Cricketer, beneath the new block of flats, with the entrance to the County Cricket Ground on the right, June 2023

New Pub

On Monday 15 May 2023 a brand new pub opened occupying the ground floor of the new development on the south-west corner, and thankfully it is keeping the old name of Sussex Cricketer. Indeed, the establishment was described as having some traditional pub elements as well as touches of modern design. The large island bar reminds customers that the place is essentially a pub, and not a restaurant, although of course there is a range of food on offer. From early June there will be Sunday roasts and a brunch menu too. Chris Horvath is the head chef.

An essential these days it seems is that the food is locally sourced, and even the coffee is roasted locally. Also stocked are Sussex beers such as the Unbarred Brewery, Gun Brewery, Long Man, and 360 Degree Brewery.

The pub has nothing to do with the cricket ground except its proximity, and is run by Indigo, an independent pub company also running the Wick Inn, Western Road, Hove (see below), and Preston Park Tavern, Havelock Road, Brighton. Ben Murray is the general manager of these two pubs as well as the Sussex Cricketer.

The new pub certainly opened with a grand flourish, staging a four-day event. Amazingly, it was claimed that some 2,500 people came through the door. (Argus 27/5/23)

Sources

Argus (29/8/19 / 15/1/20 / 5/3/20)

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Evening Argus

Sussex Life (June 1984)

The Keep

ACC 5369 / 14 – Sussex County Cricket Ground 1885

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The Urchin, 15-17 Belfast Street

formerly The Bell, Belfast Tavern, originally Belfast House

Judy Middleton (2001 revised 2015)

In September 1873 Mr Penfold applied for a beer house licence for Belfast House at the adjourned licensing sessions at Hove. The annual licensing day had in fact taken place in August but the authorities felt they were unable to grant a licence to the Belfast because the premises were not rated highly enough to qualify for a victualler’s licence. However, if the Belfast managed to acquire the adjoining premises then that would be enough to merit the licence.

The second application in September 1873 was a modest request for a beer house licence because the desired extension had not taken place. The house was the only one on the estate that the covenant allowed to become a public house. At that time the land on which it stood was known as the Oliver Estate, presumably after former landowner John Olliver Vallance.

There were 100 occupied houses in the vicinity and there was no public house within half a mile. Mr Champion opposed the application on behalf of six property owners and he disputed the number of occupied houses stating there were only around fifty. But Police Sergeant Marsh said there were nearly a hundred houses and all were occupied. The magistrates gave their consent to a beer house licence (Brighton Gazette 25 September 1873). Adjacent to the tavern was the old flint wall marking the northern boundary of St Andrew’s Churchyard.

In April 1879 a plan for a cellar to be made under the Belfast Tavern was turned down because ‘Hove Commissioners will not consent to any of the pavements in Monmouth Street being interfered with’ in order to make an entrance to it. But there must have been a change of heart because there are cellars there today and fine ones too. Water Board officials once told landlady Eileen Jakes the reason why the cellars were always cool was that there was a spring nearby.

In 1874 George Turner was the landlord and he was still there in 1885 but by 1899 George Chapman was in charge. The Chapmans ran the pub for over twenty years and after George Chapman, a D. Chapman took over and he was still there in the 1920s.

In 1925 Harold Betts was the landlord but by 1930 Mrs Betts was running things. By 1935 S.E. Trask was the landlord and in 1938 the pub had a large standing order with Gigin’s Bakery in Portslade, which was delivered daily by George Ellis. Mr Ellis arrived in his bread van pulled by a large horse named Colonel who was something of a character and knew the round off by heart.

After the Second World War Mrs Miriam Florence Trask was landlady and she was still there in the late 1950s. Tamplin’s owned the Belfast Tavern for many years until the 1960s; then Watney’s / Phoenix became owners.

In June 1999 Eileen Jakes said she had been running the pub for twenty years. She was a lady of strong opinions and had been a Conservative member of Brighton Council. She was also a strong advocate for Brighton’s nudist beach, which as can be imagined created a great deal of publicity at the time. In January 1982 she and her fiancé Brian Sadler were asleep upstairs when they heard thieves downstairs ransacking the lounge and so they hastily got up and chased them away. In August 1982 Eileen and Brian won a prize from Watney’s for having the best beer garden and floral arrangements in the whole of Sussex.

Eileen treasured an old advertisement as a keepsake that stated the Belfast Tavern offered bed and breakfast at 1/6d a week or full board for 13/- a week. Eileen said the same man constructed the pub and the two adjoining houses and because he was a builder he kept ownership of a strip of land at the back so that he could transport materials through a door in the garage. When Watney’s owned the pub, the next-door house was purchased to create extra bar room, thus realising the idea first put forward in 1873.

The pub had a darts board, pool table and billiard table plus a whole cabinet of trophies connected with them. Eileen’s grandson played pool to county level. The pub also had a thriving football team and used to have a rugby team too. On a wall there was a brass plaque bearing the crest of Sussex County Cricket Club recording Peter Graves’s thanks for their help during his benefit year.

At one end of the bar there hung a soft pile rug featuring Robbie Burns in the centre with Brig o’ Doon on one side and his cottage birthplace on the other. The story was that Jamie, a builder who lived nearby, was of Scottish origin and whenever he needed workmen, he would engage men from Scotland. This meant that the pub had a regular clientele of around twenty Scottish workmen. The rug was to make them feel at home and Jamie had an identical one at his home too. Eileen and Brian purchased both of them when they were in the Midlands, visiting relatives and buying carpets for the pub, which by that time they owned.

One wall of the bar featured information about Royal Navy ships and HMS Belfast in particular. The battleship and the pub used to exchange cards at Christmas time. HMS Belfast led the bombardment before the D-Day landings at Normandy and she was also involved in the destruction of the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst. HMS Belfast was saved for the nation in 1971 and is now based near Tower Bridge.

In around 1991 the pub was renamed The Bell.

copyright © J.Middleton
The Bell occupies a corner site and in this photograph it is plain to see the private house on the south side painted the same colour as the pub. Although the authorities suggested the house should be purchased in 1873, the idea was not acted upon until Watney’s became owners.

There was an article about The Bell in the Argus (28 July 2014) that stated Iain Banham was the owner and manager and had been running the pub for eight years. He aimed to run a friendly pub that made people welcome and also one in which a lady on her own would not feel uncomfortable. Food was served every day with a curry night on Wednesdays and Sunday roasts. Neither does Mr Banham neglect that popular staple, the pub quiz, which takes place every second Monday in the month. There is a lively atmosphere on Saturdays when a DJ is in attendance.

copyright © J.Middleton
The view from the windows on the north side has changed over the years. Once there was terraced housing, then a large car park and finally St Andrew’s Church of England School, which can just be seen on the left.

The Urchin

One supposes from the inn sign on the north side that the new title refers to a Sea-Urchin whereas the noun ‘urchin’ brings to mind something out of a novel by Charles Dickens, perhaps one of Fagin’s gang.

The pub is now a trendy eatery with a 30-cover restaurant specialising in exotic sea food such as squid, Malaysian tiger prawns, crab cakes, mussels, moules mariniere and if you are feeling brave enough you can order a whole lobster. Critics think finger bowls should be provided and it is unfortunate if you like puddings because none are on offer. To match the understated décor of the exterior, the inside has walls of dark grey and dove-coloured floors and the lighting is muted. There is also a bar area.

Sources
Argus

Brighton & Hove Independent 8 May 2015
Census Returns
Directories
Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

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The Watchmaker's Arms, 84 Goldstone Villas

Judy Middleton 2019 (revised 2024)

This photograph was taken in January 2016.

The unpretentious shop-front could not be more of

a contrast to the ornate décor of pubs favoured in Victorian times

The fashionable micro-pub movement owes its origins to the Licensing Act 2003, which allowed premises formerly occupied as a shop to have a change of use to a small pub. This, together with a growing interest in craft beers and ales plus a reaction to over-mighty pub chains and a desire to return to the virtues of an old-fashioned pub, all combined to create the micro-pub. The definition of a micro-pub as described by the Micro-pub Association runs as follows: a small free-house which listens to its customers, mainly sells cask ales, promotes conversation, shuns all forms of electronic entertainment and dabbles in traditional pub snacks.

The first micro-pub in East Sussex is The Watchmaker’s Arms, which opened in 2015. Ironically, this popular site was not the first choice of venue, but it has turned out to be a rewarding place. Another site in Hove was considered at Richardson Road, where it was hoped to open the micro-pub at York House Wines, a former off-licence. However, these plans fell through. The site in Goldstone Villas was home for many years to a shop stocking second-hand electronic goods. A suitable name was picked when it was discovered that there had once been a watchmaker at this address.

Hove was chosen for this venture simply because the people behind it were two couples who lived in Hove. They did not have any experience in the pub trade, instead one is an IT professional, one is a teaching assistant, and two are teachers. The couples are Rick and Ruth Evans, and Dave and Ali White. Also gracing the premises is a friendly cockerpoo called Muffin who enjoys greeting customers. They state that the inspiration behind their venture was a visit they made in the summer of 2013 to the Tankerton Arms in Wiltshire.

They decided to keep the original shop wallpaper in their Goldstone Villas premises to add to the general atmosphere. The focus was on beer with four different ales sourced from small independent breweries during the week, with five available at the weekends.

In 2015 they held a hop festival, and one of the drinks on offer was called Naked Streaker.

In 2017 cask-ale week was celebrated on 21 September to 1 October, and there was also a Home Brew Competition.

In January 2019 the Watchmaker’s Arms hosted a special showcase featuring American hops with exotic names such Cascade, Chinook and Citra. Over the weekend 18/19 January the three casks were tapped at the same time, which gave punters the opportunity to compare tastes because although the basis was the same malt, a different hop was added in the boil, steep, and fermentation stages.

In early September it was announced that the Watchmaker’s Arms was in the last sixteen of the country’s top pubs in the competition for the National Pub of the Year 2023. The owners will have to bite their nails until October when the final four will be announced and the overall winner will be named in early 2024.

The pub is notable for serving local cask beers from small breweries while CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) praised the outside seating area, which is popular with punters. (Argus 2/9/23)

For such small premises this pub is certainly collecting more awards than might be expected. For example, at the South Downs Beer and Cider Festival the pub’s product was awarded the ‘Best Beer’ title, and has the intriguing name of Pendulum Chocolate and Hazelnut Porter.

In 2023 it was voted ‘Pub of the Year’ by the Brighton & South Downs CAMRA group, as well as winning the ‘Regional Pub of the Year’ for Surrey and Sussex. The latter prestigious title means that the Watchmaker’s Arms takes its place as one of the top sixteen pubs in the whole of the United Kingdom. (Sussex Drinker Winter 2023)

Sources

Argus (27/12/2014 / 19/10/2018)

Brighton and Hove Independent (4/12/2014)

Sussex Drinker (Summer 2015 / Autumn 2017 / Spring 2019)

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The Westbourne, 90 Portland Road
formerly the Aldrington Hotel

Judy Middleton (2001 revised 2014)

copyright © J.Middleton
The Aldrington Hotel was the first building to be erected in Portland Road. This photograph was taken on 15 April 2014.

The conveyance of the piece of land on which the Aldrington Hotel was built was dated 22 July 1881 and was signed by George Gallard, gentleman, first part; Thomas Washington, builder, second part; Charles Blandford, builder, third part; and Henry Welsford Smithers of Smithers Brewery. Washington and Blandford were also involved in the construction of a nearby property that became the Aldrington Club.

Building work must have started straight away as the hotel was finished and occupied by 1882. In fact it has the distinction of being the first building constructed in Portland Road. But it is interesting to note when it was built the road was called Clarendon Villas Road, then it became Bertram Road in the 1890s and finally Portland Road in 1894. The Aldrington Hotel conformed to that favourite Victorian pub device of occupying a prominent corner site.

Aldrington Hotel later added number 92, as well as stores at the rear of 6 Westbourne Place. On 12 May 1898 the hotel’s urinal was leased to Hove Council for a period of 21 years for six pence a year until or unless Smithers Brewery wanted to build an extension.

The architect Samuel Denman designed the alterations made to the hotel in 1895. It is interesting to note he was also responsible for The Rutland (now called Ancient Mariner) in Rutland Road, the extravagant Hove Club in Fourth Avenue, Loxdale, Locks Hill, Portslade in 1899, the Mineral Water Factory in Stoneham Road, Hove in 1901 and he designed some alterations to Easthill House, Portslade in 1913.

It was not until 1904 that Smithers Brewery decided to build a billiard room at the back of the hotel on the site of the old urinal in Westbourne Street. They consulted the architect they already knew, by this time Denman & Matthews, to draw up plans. A new urinal was also built and again leased to Hove Council for 21 years.

Henry Winn was the first landlord of the Aldrington Hotel. He had previously run the Blue Post Tavern at 58 North Street, Brighton. The 1891 census recorded that Henry Winn was aged 45 and lived with his wife Ellen and three daughters who all acted as barmaids. The son was still young enough to be at school. Winn was also something of a property developer too. On 20 February 1896 Hove Council gave planning permission for him to erect stables, a coach-house and living rooms at the rear of numbers 87, 89 and 91 Montgomery Street. The development was called Winn’s Mews and no longer exists. Instead there are new town houses numbered 1 to 9 and the address has been altered to Wynne’s Mews – presumably the developer thought the extra ‘y’ and ‘e’ added a touch of ancient class to the name. Henry Winn died on 13 August 1900 aged 55 and his wife died on 27 October 1928 and they were both buried in St Leonard’s Churchyard.

In the 1890s the hotel ran a Slate Club into which regulars paid weekly contributions. The idea was to save funds for Christmas fare or it could be used as an insurance against hard times.

In 1895 Mr H.E. Hammond took over as landlord and he was a respected figure. He died suddenly in May 1907 when he had a seizure while presiding over a smoking concert at the Royal Albion Hotel, Brighton.

The Slaughters ran the hotel during and after the First World War and Mr W. Fulbrook followed them. In around 1935 James William Pocock managed the hotel while Alfred Smith took over in around 1940 and he stayed at least until the mid-1950s.

By February 1999 Tony Martin had been licensee for seven years and during that time the regulars had raised £4,000 for the Trevor Mann Unit for premature babies at the Royal Sussex County Hospital. The pub was short-listed for the title of Community Pub of the Year. In June 1999 the pub scored 100% in a survey carried out by a mystery customer from Bass Leisure Retail (Bass owned the pub).

During the 1990s the pub sign was a rather peculiar coat-of-arms. Whoever thought up the design was using the old heraldic device of puns and allusions. Thus the rings came from Ald(ring)ton and the fact there were three probably refers to the three syllables in the place name. But why a rope and tassel accompanied the rings was a complete mystery. Presumably Bass thought the same as early in 2000 they were trying to come up with a more inspiring pub sign. By May 2000 the splendid new sign was in place. It depicted the old tollgate keeper complete with peg leg accepting toll money from the occupants of a passing carriage. The tollgate keeper is of ample girth and wears yellow breeches and a blue frock coat. The spire of St Leonard’s Church can be seen in the background – a slight anachronism because the tollgate was removed before the spire was built but who can quibble with such a colourful sign. By 2014 the tollgate keeper and his peg leg are still there but he is more in the nature of a silhouette while the spire of St Leonard’s has disappeared into darkness.

Also by 2014 the pub had changed its name to The Westbourne and it advertised itself as an Independent Ale and Eating House with locally brewed real ale on sale. An ingenious offer was the working lunch ‘Fast and Furious’ at £4-95 for those in business who wanted something hot quickly. There is an extensive outside eating area on the east side of the pub shaded by four massive purple shades. In the accompanying two photographs a man can be seen cleaning these shades using a long-handled implement.

Sources

Argus
Census Returns
Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

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The Wick, 63 Western Road
formerly Biscuit Factory / Nan Tuck's Tavern / Wick Inn

Judy Middleton (2003 revised 2014)

copyright © J.Middleton
The Wick Inn is a lovely Victorian building on the corner of Western Road and Holland Road
and was photographed on 3 May 2014.

The original Wick Inn stood by itself with an enclosed ground to the west where cricket matches were held and rabbit coursing and pigeon shooting staged. It was also the place where local bean feasts were held. The inn had a thatched roof and a swinging sign with a trough nearby for thirsty horses.

The name ‘Wick’ is an ancient word and nobody can be absolutely sure about its correct definition or derivation. Even the historian John Horace Round who lived at 15 Brunswick Terrace (there is a blue plaque on the house) was prepared to admit a certain ambiguity on the point. In 1923 he wrote ‘As to the name of Wick, I established its meaning when found in our Essex marshes and saltings as a sheep-walk where coarse cheese was made from ewe’s milk. But as professor Mawer pointed out to me it had other meanings as well.’ At Hove it was not always a case of a simple Wick, either. Through the centuries there have been Upwick, Aldwick, Westwyke as well as Bishop’s Wick. The area now covered by St Ann’s Well Gardens was also known as The Wick and is so marked on old maps.

The Wick Inn’s first landlord of which there is a historical record was Southwick-born Jem Nye, famous for the hot, spiced ale he served to people who had been ice-skating on Wick pond and needed to warm up.

In 1829 it was the light shining through the windows of Wick Inn that saved several boys from being lost all night in the pitch black darkness that was central Hove in those days. The boys were choirboys at St Andrew’s Old Church and one night the choirmaster John Tucker kept them late because he was not happy with their performance. When it was time to go home, it was quite dark outside. There were two ways to reach home either along the coast road or across fields. They chose the latter route because it was more direct. All would have been well had not one of the boys thrown a clod of earth at the lantern, plunging them into darkness. They were completely lost but one of the boys, William Hollamby, (later a Hove Commissioner) could see a light in the distance coming from the Wick Inn. He ran towards it although he was very frightened and on the way he crashed into an enormous bullock while a flock of sheep with twinkling bells seemed to rise out of the ground. When Hollamby reached the inn and explained the situation, Jem Nye organised a search party and all the boys were found unhurt, albeit a little scared by their adventure.

In 1842 Jem Nye was 34 years old and his wife Martha was the same age. They had an eight-year old daughter called Sarah. By 1851 Nye’s sister had also joined the household and there were three servants. Nye continued to be landlord until at least 1856.

It is hard to imagine that on the site of this imposing

building, there once stood the original Wick Inn,

a humble structure with a thatched roof.

J.G. Bennett was the landlord in 1858 and William Self followed in 1866. The 1871 census recorded the landlord as James Garrod, a 33-year old widower and there was one lodger on the premises. He was still the landlord when the old inn was demolished.

Brewery owners Kidd & Hotblack purchased the inn in 1871 and they decided to build an entirely new public house; the date ‘1875’ can still be seen high up on the façade of their new building. Looking at the pub today, one is struck by the fact that Victorian architects certainly knew how to design an attractive looking building. The imposing structure on the opposite side of Western Road to Wick Inn also dates back to the 1870s; it was built in 1873. Clayton & Black drew up plans for further alterations to the pub in 1906 and 1924 and Kidd & Hotblack remained owners until 1926.

Meanwhile, James T. Hall was landlord during the 1880s and in 1891 he was aged 53. He lived with his wife Elizabeth, 54, stepson James Moon, telegraphist, step-daughter Ellen Moon, housekeeper, daughter Ethel and son Harold Hall, billiard marker. A sick nurse completed the household. Hall was still at the pub in 1899.

W.J. Deusbury was there by 1905 but he did not stay long and Tom Robertson had taken over by 1910. The Urquharts had the longest tenure since the days of Jem Nye because William Urquhart was there from around 1920 to 1947 and Douglas Urquhart followed from 1951. It is interesting to note that William Urquhart also ran Palmeria Hotel not far away in Cromwell Road from around 1915 to 1947. Tamplin’s owned Wick Inn from 1926 to 1965 and also owned Palmeira Hotel from 1926 to the 1950s.

In 1980 Steve Borley and his wife ran the pub; he was former assistant manager at the King & Queen, Brighton. In June 1987 Philip Brown became landlord. On 21 March 1988 a man armed with a crowbar smashed eight of the pub’s lovely etched glass windows and the cost of the damage was estimated at £5,000.

By 1991 John Felton was running the pub but he did not stay long. He and his wife announced they were leaving town because of the car tow-away policy. As if to reinforce his view, when he parked his Peugeot estate car on double yellow lines outside the Holland Road entrance in order to load up furniture, he found on coming downstairs that his vehicle had been towed away. He said he had left a note on his dashboard with ‘Loading’ on it but police denied it.

In July 1991 John Campbell took over the running of the pub. On 3 September 1991 a 49-year old man walked into the Wick and finding the man he sought sitting next to a 26-year old blonde, he fired a revolver at his head. The blonde had previously lived with the victim for four years but at that juncture was the assailant’s fiancée. The victim was taken to Hurstwood Park for treatment and left hospital on 8 October 1991. He recovered but he was left with some shreds of bone and bullet still lodged in his brain. Meanwhile, the assailant fled the country but on 23 March 1994 he was extradited from Spain. His trial took place at Lewes Crown Court in late February / early March. On 4 March the jury stated they had failed to reach a verdict. The re-trial took place in July 1995 and he was jailed for 5 ½ years.

Meanwhile, there was another drama at Wick Inn. In 1992 a mystery man who did not ask for payment offered a Hove decorator a document. The decorator tried to sell it to the News of the World and it sparked off a political scandal because it contained details of Lib Dem Leader Paddy Ashdown’s affair. In August 1992 the Hove decorator was acquitted at the Old Bailey.

South Coast Taverns owned Wick Inn as well as four other pubs in Sussex and more in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight making a total of seventeen. In January 1994 the company went bankrupt.

Landlord Peter Hodgson left the Wick in 1997 and moved to Mary Pack’s in Hove Place, which was renamed Red Lion.

In May 1998 licensee John Wildey moved from Portsmouth to take over the Wick. On 26 August 1998 at 3 a.m. a fire broke on the third floor of the building in a suspected arson attack. The fourth floor was smoke damaged and the personal belongings of the previous manager were destroyed. Mr Wildey and his girlfriend were asleep on the first floor when they were woken up by the sound of breaking glass.

In December 1998 the Wick shut after owners Scottish & Newcastle decided to spend £350,000 on an extensive refurbishment. A spokeswoman said it would ‘be a quality town pub with a lively atmosphere and a Gothic twist’.

copyright © J.Middleton
Some of the lovely windows are still in place and there is a
glimpse of a collection of globe atlases inside the pub.

John Wildey remained landlord when the pub reopened on 14 February 1999 with a new name Nan Tuck’s Tavern. The name had nothing to do with Hove’s history because she was a ghost associated with Buxted, north east of Uckfield. All agree she came to a violent end but there are different versions of what befell her beforehand. Nan Tuck lived in the 17^th century and was probably a little eccentric. She was thought to be either a suspected witch or a wife who had poisoned her husband. Whatever the truth, she was hounded out of her home and took refuge in nearby woods where in despair she hanged herself. It is claimed her ghost is still sometimes glimpsed in the area where she died.

The change of name angered local residents because the historic name of ‘Wick’ was lost. Rick Turrell, chairman of Brighton Licensed Victualler’s Association said it was ‘a real shame. The Wick is a lovely, traditional building and should become a traditional pub.’ The refurbishment was based on a horror theme and customers could order straight jackets, sadistic sandwiches and hangman’s breakfast from the menu, which also contained potted biographies of Bram Stoker, Sweeney Todd and Jack the Ripper. An article about the pub appeared in the Argus (23 June 1999) because ‘any pub, which features screaming toilets has to be worth investigating.’ There were seven special cocktails named after the seven deadly sins and if a customer drank six of them, the seventh was presented free. There were glass cases containing skulls, old books and bubbling bottles and the staff wore black.

In July 1999 the 18-year old daughter of Sussex’s Chief Constable was knocked unconscious outside Nan Tuck’s Tavern. Just four days earlier she had been fined for assaulting two police officers.

Perhaps the horror theme was not a roaring success. At any rate in March 2001 Scottish & Newcastle were said to be selling the pub.

By 2002 the pub had been renamed the Biscuit Factory, a truly uninspired name. But it is good to report that today the pub has reverted to its original name of Wick Inn, which remained on its frosted windows throughout the name changes. But the painting of Nan Tuck on the exterior remained for long time after the name was abandoned.

copyright © J.Middleton
Reflections play upon the rather fine entrance doors to Wick Inn. The reflection on the right door is slightly blurred because a customer is about to open it.

Sources
Argus
Census Records
Directories
Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade
Porter, Henry A History of Hove (1897)

Hove in the Past

12 January 2016

Hove Pubs Index S - W