I'd be interested to see what pubs have closed across West Berks and roughly when they closed. I know some villages now have no pubs at all.

One I know has long gone is The Dragon at Frilsham, no idea when it closed, must be many decades.

Quoted from fencer

I'd be interested to see what pubs have closed across West Berks and roughly when they closed. I know some villages now have no pubs at all.

One I know has long gone is The Dragon at Frilsham, no idea when it closed, must be many decades.

Wow, I've never heard of that one before.

There is a website called Dead Pubs which lists pubs past and present and details who were the licencees and inhabitants about 100 plus years ago. Have look at http://deadpubs.co.uk/Berkshire/, but it doesn't list Frilsham. There is a Dragon Cottage at Hawkridge Hill, Frilsham, which is probably the former pub.

I have  copy of a doggerel rhyme entitled A Nightmare, which purports to list all the pubs in Newbury, probably just after World War I. I recall posting it on this forum once, but I can't find it.

It was indeed at Dragon Cottage.

There was also a pub at Burnt Hill known as the Axe & Compass and then the Nut & Bolt.

The Dragon is listed but under Bucklebury rather than Frilsham.

There must be getting on for a hundred pubs that have closed in Newbury alone - over the centuries pubs have always come and gone, I guess they always will.

Lost pubs that I remember drinking in: Rising Sun, Bear Lane, Borough Arms, Rokeby Arms, Anchor, Pig & Paper, Star, and the Clock Tower (all Newbury), Falcon (Aldermaston), Wheatsheaf (Chieveley) - I'm sure some more will come to mind.

A friend of mine courted his wife in the Plough(?) at Little Hungerford (she was the landlord's daughter). He used to live down Wellhouse Lane, at the top of which he remembers the Fox & Hounds (now Fox & Hounds cottage). Both these were gone before my time.

Was The Star aka Cromwell's Wine Bar in the 80s?  There was also The Queen, off the Base Road (can't remember the name of the road, but it wasn't far from Clere School).

Yes, the Star became Cromwell's for a short time before the development mania saw it demolished and offices built on the site. Shame, I liked Comwell's.

Does anyone remember The Fox and Cubs at Lilley, on the B4494 Newbury-Wantage road near Brightwalton? It was a little old Morland pub, and my wife and I went to see it after it closed and was offered for conversion to a dwelling. I still have the floor plan given to us by the estate agent. Perhaps I should donate it to the museum (if I can find it.)

Whoever bought the property converted it into a very nice house, and sensibly kept the Morland 'artist' plaque beside the front door.

There was also The Marquis of Granby, further south on the same road.

Another wonderful pub was The New Inn at Hampstead Norreys, which Morland sold after they bought The White Hart in the same village.

I also remember The Cricketers at Stockcross.

I'm getting emotional; I shall have to go out tonight for some beers!

There was a small 'establishment' -more of an ale house really rather than a pub-in Northbrook St, somewhere between Oxfam and Milletts, anyone remember it and what it was called?

Quoted from old codger

There was a small 'establishment' -more of an ale house really rather than a pub-in Northbrook St, somewhere between Oxfam and Milletts, anyone remember it and what it was called?

It was before my time in Newbury - the Northbrook Inn, in part of what is now Jessops, became a tea shop after it closed as a pub/beerhouse. I'm sure it had other names in the past.

A few more lost Northbrook Street establishments - the Burton House, the Bakers Arms, the Ram, the Rose & Thistle, the Sergrant, the George & Dragon, the George, the Crown, and, of course, the Jack.

I remember the Rose and Crown in Northcroft Lane that was reputed to have the longest bar in Berkshire. When it closed, it was earmarked for development but there was some discussion about a listing one day and during the same night, the pub fell down. Shame really but that's progress and sod the rules. Amazing what a wire rope and a bulldozer can do.

Quoted from blackdog

Lost pubs that I remember drinking in: Rising Sun, Bear Lane, Borough Arms, Rokeby Arms, Anchor, Pig & Paper, Star, and the Clock Tower (all Newbury)

As a counterbalance a few that have opened in my time - Varsity/George & Pelican, Chicago Rock Cafe/Seymours/Diamond Tap, Hogshead/Hogs Head, Document House, Gordons/Montys, Bar Cuba/Avenue & Slug & Lettuce/Eve/Pig & Paper.

It seems that they find it very difficult to stick to a name, and one appears on the first list as well.

But are they all pubs? Are Avenue and Montys really pubs, or something else?

funny?...no-one has mentioned the Greyhound Inn.....I cant be that old,surely?

Quoted from Uncle

funny?...no-one has mentioned the Greyhound Inn.....I cant be that old,surely?

I was a child when the last Greyhound went, and living 12 miles from Newbury, so I never drank there and hence it didn't make it on to my list - the other Greyhound (in Bartholomew Street, now Badgers) went long before either of us was born.

My lists cover those that have gone or appeared since I first drank in a Newbury pub.  In my lifetime there have been many more lost, like the Two Brewers, the Drummers, the Rose & Crown, the Rising Sun, Oxford Rd, the Adam & Eve, the Sun, the Black Boys, the Pigeons, the Axe & Compass, the Wheastsheaf, the Old Dog and the original Robin Hood.  There are probably more - just as I missed the Railway from the list of lost pubs I drank in.

This is the old Newbury poem which I found a handwritten copy in my mothers' effects. I'm sure it's been on here before but it's always good for a re run.


The Eight Bells at the Queen’s they rang
And the Catherine Wheel went round.
The Steamer heaved on a rolling sea
But the Anchor held its ground.

The Nag’s Head looked o’er the Castle gate
And saw the Greyhound killed.
Jack of Newbury expressed surprise
At the length of The Pelican’s bill

In the Cooper’s Arms the Blackboys laid,
The Lion with the Lamb lay down
The Cross Keys opened the Red House door
To the Apprentice of London Town.

The Bricklayer’s Arms on the Sugar loaf laid
And started to break it down
Then a portion left at the Borough Arms
And some at the Rose and Crown.

Adam and Eve as Gardeners work
And the Plough was put to grass.
King Charles was hid in a Tiger’s den
When the Volunteers went past.

The Hare and Hounds ate the Fighting Cocks
The Black Bear climbed up a log
The Hatchet chopped off Carnarvon Arms
And Wellington kicked The Old Dog

The Atlas Tap didn’t care a rap
That the Bell on the hill should ring.
The Weavers clothed Lord Falkland Arms
And I found the Newmarket Inn.

The Globe rolled round, the Dolphin swam
And someone fired the Gun.
In Hunt’s Bar yard the Two Brewers played
And the Pigeons flew in the sun.

The Old Pig and Whistle had eaten the Thistle
The Monument stands in the west.
At the Queen’s Arms I stayed, The Chequers I played-
Good luck to the Old Donkey Rest

At Burton House they had a spree,
The Cricketers were the givers.
The Rokeby Arms came down the hill
And the Swan came up the river.

In the King’s Coffee House near the captured gun
I had something to cure the ‘flu’
The Star shone bright on that dark night
At the Phoenix the landlord I knew.

Robin Hood broke the White Hart chain
And set the poor thing free.
The Drummers played at the Bacon Arms
And we all had a rare old spree

The Old Horse and Waggon took St George and the Dragon
To the Derby over the hill
Where the district ends, the Travellers Friend,
At the White House I paid the bill.

The manager asked me to have a drink
As I went past the Soldiers’ Club
T’was very good, t’was brewed from wood
And leaves of a Chinese shrub.

I now made tracks to the good old Axe
And Compass near the line.
In the Railway door I had some more
And with Frank had a real good time.

In the Blue Ball I played with a dark maid
That had stripes and a Helmet on.
Well, she led me away the night to stay
I am nearing the end of my song.

In the morning cold I was not so bold
I was marched away to court
By a man in blue-t’was the ‘maid’ I knew
At least that’s what I thought !

The Mayor’s Arms on me he lays
He fines me a Crown then he sternly says
“Now pay for your fun at the Rising Sun-
Ten bob or seven days”!

Newbury District Field Club have a talk by Phil Wood on the history of pubs in Newbury on Tuesday evening (7.30 @ St John's parish room, £3) - http://www.ndfc.org.uk

If you're interested in any particular pub you should collar him after the talk - he has hundreds of old pictures of Newbury pubs on his laptop and will be able to answer most questions.

I've got hundreds of pictures of Newbury pubs in my Facebook photos.  ;)

How many from the outside?   :P

Quoted from user23.3

I've got hundreds of pictures of Newbury pubs in my Facebook photos.  ;)

Sounds great - how about a link?

Quoted from Greenham Common

How many from the outside?   :P

At least one, so the next day I can remember where I went the previous night. ;)

What about the Newmarket that was pulled down for the shopping mall as well as the Circle cafe opposite the cattle market.

Quoted from Mick Sinden

...... as well as the Circle cafe opposite the cattle market.

http://www.newbury.net/forum/m-1292670029/

Does anyone have any photos of the Pigeons on Cheap Street.....apparently I was conceived there!! My Grandmother and Step Grandad were the landlord and landlady there....sometime between 1965 and 1972.

Thank you!

Quoted from MatthewPEmmott

Does anyone have any photos of the Pigeons on Cheap Street.....apparently I was conceived there!! My Grandmother and Step Grandad were the landlord and landlady there....sometime between 1965 and 1972.

Thank you!

Our local expert is attending a meeting of the Newbury District Field Club this evening (Tuesday)

However I don't think that anyone associated with this forum has ever managed to obtain a photograph of the Pigeons, although several requests have appeared in the past.

Jim Irving took a picture of the Pigeons soon after it had closed in 1969, the name had been removed.  There is a copy in the Museum - so you won't be able to see it for a while.