Pubs are still firmly embedded in English culture, though
sadly this seems to be rapidly changing. In the days before the motor car, when
Shanks’s Pony was often the only affordable means of transport available to the working classes,
the local pubs were an important part of the social side of village life.
There was no television, Internet, or streamed entertainment
beamed straight to your home. People had to actually meet face-to-face to
communicate with one another, and the local pub was the usual place to do that.
Despite self-serving vinicultural industry attempts to
rewrite English history, locally-made wine was never the preferred tipple of the
English working classes, partly because it was expensive and of rather poor
quality (the good stuff went to the local lord's table) but also because the UK climate was, by and large, unfavourable for
grape cultivation (although
did thrive for a while in
the late Middle Ages).
Beer was the most common drink during the Middle Ages, mostly because it was much safer to consume than the well-water that was available back then. It
was brewed very locally and consumed daily by all social classes in England
where the per capita consumption was
thought to be around 60 gallons a year in the fourteenth century, with
beer being drunk with every meal. Children drank “small beer” (probably
equivalent in strength to today’s “session beers”) while adults drank stronger stuff.
The presence of five ale houses in Lower Halling could be
partly attributed to the main road that has passed through it since medieval
times, where horses and horse-drawn vehicles and their passengers on journeys between
the City of Rochester and the towns of Tunbridge and Sevenoaks could have their
needs met by the many wayside inns. Later on in
,
several big cement factories sprang up along the banks of the River Medway in
the mid-nineteenth century, factories which employed many local people and
attracted many more to the area to live and work. The pubs would also meet
their needs for refreshment and socialising.
The two pubs in Upper Halling probably served the local
agricultural community, possibly having their origins in meeting the needs of pilgrims making
their way to Canterbury
along the nearby Pilgrims Way.
At one time, Halling was served by six pubs, an off-licence and two Working
Men’s clubs. This seems a lot by modern
standards, but was not uncommon: over the river, nearby Wouldham had five or six pubs and a Working Men’s club, Snodland had at least a dozen (plus a
Working Men’s club) and little Burham had five and its own Working Men’s Club.
For the purposes of this narrative, I want you to imagine that
we are out on a pub crawl around Halling’s bars on a balmy summer’s
evening in 1930. It’s your shout, by the way. We’re drinking in the public bars (not the saloon bars, which were a bit
more posh and a bit more expensive) at a time when beer costs around 9d (4p) a pint…
As a pub, records of it can be found dating back to 1840 and
it may be much older than that. For many years, the pub was apparently called “The
Shant”, gypsy slang meaning “to drink”. Behind the Robin Hood used to be hop gardens,
which the travelling folk worked and afterwards obviously quenched their thirst
in the pub.
The pub changed its name to the “Pilgrims Rest” sometime in the
late 1980’s, finally closing for good in 2000. It is now a private house, pretty much unchanged. It is still remembered as the Robin Hood, as the “new” name never caught on.
Carrying on up the hill brings us to the Black Boy (2), also
a nineteenth century pub, with a small extension on the left of eighteenth century vintage. Records from the mid-nineteenth century tell us that a
Mr. Robert Hearnden was the licensee in 1858.
At that time, Mr. Hearnden ran the pub, but it had also been a working farm which occupied quite a bit of the surrounding land. The title deeds of 1840 show that along with the Black Boy, there was land known as "The Commons, Stackfield, Haggles, Brickmans Field, Crouch Corner and Meadows".
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| Clients of the Black Boy PH, c. 1905... |
Alterations to the building in the 1960s uncovered a
timber-frame wall, suggesting that the building is actually several hundred
years older than its external appearance suggests.
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| Black Boy PH, 1972... |
In the 1920’s, the pub was also known for its ice cream.
This was made at the pub by Jesse Crowhurst and Ernie Pankhurst, then loaded
on to a hand-cart and taken around the village for sale. Five or six gallons could be sold over a summer weekend.
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| Jesse Crowhurst at the Black Boy PH, c.1930... |
This pub also closed around 2000, leaving
Upper
Halling bereft of drinking places. The Black Boy is now a private
house, although the pub sign still remains.
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| The Black Boy PH, now a private house, July 2022... |
As a name for a pub, the “Black Boy” is considered objectionable
by some, given its slavery connotations and the evils therein. Nevertheless, it is quite a common pub name across the
UK, but in many cases it is a celebration of King Charles II, whose
nickname was “the black
boy”. Whilst that may have been the original case for our Black Boy, an old photo of the early Halling pub sign in 1972 depicts a young man of Black African extraction. The King Charles II version appears on the pub sign of 1982 however, a design which can still just be made out today.
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| Halling Black Boy pub signs, 1972, 1982 and today... |
The past is indeed another country and certainly a much more
innocent one in many respects.
From the Black Boy, turning left leads you past what today
is Meadow Crescent
(built in 1945) and thence down the hill along a narrow track called “the Plough Path”. This leads down into Lower Halling,
across the Halling by-pass A228 (which you take your life in your hands crossing)
and the railway, bringing you out (as the names suggests) by the Plough
(3).
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| Site of the former Plough PH, July 2022... |
Or at least, it would do, if the Plough hadn’t closed in
1997, to be demolished and replaced by houses. The pub dated back to at least
1858, when a Mr. Edward Norman was listed as its licensee, although the
building was probably much older. In 1874, his son
Allan took over the licence until 1913.
Recent recollections of the Plough was that it was a very
popular, friendly pub, with an equally friendly goat called Jasper who lived in
the pub garden, and who would try and nick your crisps and drink your beer if
you weren’t careful! Local gossip
suggests that the pub closed because the pub chain that owned it simply could
not resist the lure of the developer’s money, but how true that is I do not
know.
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| The Plough PH, c.1974... |
What is true is that around that time, big employers in the
area (e.g. the cement and paper mills) were shutting up shop and lots of people
in the area would have seen their disposable income take a heavy hit as a result.
That must have affected all of the local pubs and clubs, some of which took that hit
harder than others.
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| Five Bells PH, July 2022... |
The next pub on our virtual 1930 pub crawl is the Five Bells
(4), opposite Halling church. The
present building was built in 1935 behind the earlier eighteenth century
pub, which remained open while the new pub was being built. It was called the
“New Bell” for quite a while, but has since reverted back to its old name.
The church has six bells, which still causes some local puzzlement regarding the pub name. However, the sixth bell is a relatively recent addition in the church tower compared to the age of the pub. The original five church bells date from 1695 but in 1919, the five were recast and a sixth (the treble) was added. Needless to say, the pub felt no need to rename itself as a result of such modern events!
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| The Five Bells, c.1900... |
There has been a pub on the site of the Five Bells for
hundreds of years, and it was probably the first one in the village. It is
believed to be the “alehouse” mentioned in records dating back to events in
1586, when a Mr. William Cokar of Halling was sent to gaol for “keeping an ale
house and allowing gambling”.
The Five Bells was linked to smuggling activities in the late 19th century. Local historian, the late Ted Gowers, tells us (in his book, Across The Low Meadow) how his mother and father were exploring its extensive cellars when they came across a partly bricked-up section. Inside a small recess, under some old sacking, they found a large number of bottles. His grandfather, Frederick, was told about the discovery, sampled the liquid within and found that it was claret of an excellent quality! Although he had been the landlord of the pub for around 15 years at the time, Fred Gowers had no idea how the bottles came to be there.
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| The Five Bells and Halling High Street, c.1920... |
During Mr. Gowers’ tenure, the Five Bells became the first
pub in the village to acquire a dartboard. Music was also supplied by a large
music box, one that played 30 different tunes.
In 1940, the Five Bells was the unofficial headquarters of
the local Home Guard. Local villagers used to joke that “if the Jerries landed,
the Five Bells would be defended until the last pint!”
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| Halling High Street c.1910, with the Five Bells centre distance... |
The Five Bells is one of the two pubs in Halling still going
today (web site
here). Until recently it
used to co-exist with an Indian restaurant (much the same as the Medway Inn in
Wouldham does today) but these days it runs its own restaurant, offering a good
menu of excellent “pub grub”.
A short distance down the road, next to the post office on
the other side, lies (or was) the Halling Institute (5). The Institute closed in 1978
and was eventually demolished, with the Halling Community Centre being built on
the site, opening in 1991.
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| The Halling Institute, c.1978... (image credit - Frank Smith, Facebook) |
Dating back to 1885, provision of the facility was funded by the nearby
local Hilton and Anderson cement company, who operated the Halling Manor cement
works that used to be by the river to the north of
Ferry Road. The working conditions in the factory
were pretty grim by today’s standards, with severe or even fatal accidents not uncommon.
Mr. Anderson otherwise took the welfare of his workers very seriously.
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| c.1930... |
H & A were great benefactors of Halling and many of the
houses in Halling today were built by H & A, providing the workers with what
was then good quality accommodation. Workers injured in the factory were
generally well-looked after, as with the
Stevens family, who were endowed
with the ferry after one such accident.
The Institute provided a wide range of sporting facilities
for local working men, both indoor and outdoor. The 1909-1930 above map shows the extent
of the grounds, occupied by what is now the Low Meadow housing estate, which
was built in the late 1980s.
The Institute even had an outdoor swimming pool, which
opened in 1893 and was formerly a converted water tank belonging to the H
&A cement works.
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| Halling Institute (left), 1972, next to the Post Office (centre)... |
Right up until the seventies, the Halling Institute seemed
to be the hub of Halling village life. It was the main village social, sporting
and entertainment venue, holding parties and wedding receptions, and with many
local ladies meeting their future husbands there (and vice versa). I don't have any pictures of the interior, but tales abound of the large open staircase between the two floors, with a long polished banister that the children of the club punters used to enjoy sliding down!
No-one quite seems to know why the Institute closed, but it clearly fell into a state of disrepair. I can only surmise that the owners were unwilling to subsidise
the extensive remediation works needed to bring it up to modern standards (a
common theme throughout Cuxton and Halling).
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| Demolition of the Halling Institute, c.1987... (image credit - Frank Smith, Facebook) |
Instead, it and its land were sold
off for the inevitable (and doubtless highly profitable) housing, with the
provision of a new community centre and doctor’s surgery being part of the deal.
Both facilities were, of course, very welcome, but some people felt that the
loss of the Institute pretty much ripped the heart out of the village.
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| Halling Community Centre, July 2022, built on the site of the old Institute... |
Staggering out of the Institute, we now continue our 1930
pub crawl by crossing the High Street again and going into the Rose and Crown (6).
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| The Rose and Crown PH, 1974... |
The pub sits on the corner of the “Cam Path” that leads up
to the cemetery (the land for which was another Hilton and Anderson endowment) and at one time had a balustraded
frontage somewhat similar to that of the Black Boy.
Records show that a Mr. George Cock was the licensee in 1881.
In 1876, the pub was sold for the princely sum of £200.
The reason Halling Village was so well-endowed with pubs may be deduced from the activities of a Mr. Jack Gooding, landlord of the Rose and Crown prior to WW1. He had a cart built to carry barrels and bottles, which he used to push round to the local factories each day, with workers paying their accounts on a weekly basis.
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| The Rose and Crown in Halling High Street, c.1920... |
It seems considerable amounts of beer were drunk at the
local factories and cement works at the time (possibly contributing to the accident rate?). This may seem surprising by
today’s puritanical views of workplace culture but back then, beer was still
the staple beverage for many.
The Rose and Crown closed in the late 1990s, around the same
time as the Plough, and has now been sub-divided into private flats.
Fortunately, the exterior remains largely unchanged.
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| Rose and Crown PH, now private flats, July 2022 |
There is a sign that refers to the building as “Bellringers Place”,
one which reflects the former pub’s support for the practice of ringing hand
bells, rather than church bells. (Ironically, it seems that the church bell-ringing
team preferred to frequent the Plough rather than the Five Bells).
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| Hand-bell ringing at the Rose and Crown, c.1905... |
A short walk northwards along the High Street brings us to
the final pub on our 1930 pub crawl: The Homeward Bound (7). This is the other
pub in Halling (along with the Five Bells) that is still open (link to its web
site
here).
Very little historical information about the pub is readily available: Walter Mills was the licensee in 1881, and in 1993 the pub was awarded
the Halling community award.
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| The Homeward Bound, July 2022... |
In some ways The Homeward Bound rather reminds me of the
Cock Inn at Luddesdown: it doesn’t open until 4 p.m. during the week, and
(thanks to Covid) it doesn’t do food any more, but the beer is always very good (if you
like Shepherd Neame beer - which I do!). It is a small, friendly pub with a
loyal local clientele, which has managed to survive the Covid lockdowns and has
gone back to doing what it has quietly done for the past 150-odd years; pulling
pints for thirsty patrons, without fuss or bother.
We now walk out of Halling High Street, cross over the
railway bridge and walk up the hill. Our final venue on this long evening is
the Newtown Social Club on Kent
Road, still known by some locally as “The
Bolshie” (8). The club is still with us today, albeit in a slightly different
place, and has a long and interesting history.
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| "The Bolshie", 1984, just before demolition... (image credit - Frank Smith, Facebook) |
The Halling Institute was the first working men’s club in
Halling, opening in 1885. However, it seems that men returning from the 1914-18
war found it difficult to get membership. As these brave men returned to
working civilian life, many also apparently began to object to the rigid
Edwardian-style rules and regulations of the Institute – and as a result became
branded as “bolshie” (a shortened form of the term “Bolshevik”, after the
instigators of the Russian Revolution in 1917, meaning rebellious or uncooperative).
In 1927, Thomas Chapman (owner of the butcher’s shop that
used to be opposite the access road the Station), took a sympathetic view
towards those disaffected workers who just wanted a cheap pint and somewhere to
meet.
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| Kent Road, looking south, c.1920. The fence on the right is the chapel site where the "Bolshie" was to be built... |
He bought the old chapel and some surrounding land that was on Kent Road,
just down the slope from what is now Jade Hill (formerly Wraights Hill), and
subsequently rented it out for creation of the Newtown Social Club: thus, the “Bolshie”
was born.
The club continued to thrive, with summer outings for its
members being particular popular. In the summer, queues of local coaches could
be seen waiting along Kent Road
to pick up club punters for day trips to the seaside.
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| New Town Social Club members waiting outside the club for their coach, c.1957 (credit Paul Bullivant, "Old Pictures of Halling" Facebook page) |
However, the advent of the Halling by-pass meant that the old
club was scheduled for demolition.
Ironically, the club committee was offered
the now-closed Halling institute as an alternative venue. Given the ruinous
state of the Institute building by then, the committee declined that offer and instead
took up the option of building a brand new clubhouse on land further down Kent Road behind Stake Lane. It
subsequently opened just after the old one was demolished in 1984 and was
sufficiently successful as to warrant building an extension, giving us the club
as it is today.
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| The New Town Social Club, July 2022... |
As elsewhere in history, it seems that the Bolsheviks have emerged victorious...
And as we wend our weary way home on this 1930 summer’s
evening, we should consider one more beer house in Halling, even if we are no longer
capable of walking in a straight line to it: The Walnut Tree (9).
.jpg) |
| The Walnut Tree, c.1930. Cricket stumps drawn on the front wall are evidence of the absence of traffic in those days... |
This handsome thatched building was of timber-framed
construction, suggesting it was at least 300 years old. In the 1881 census it was listed as “Whitings
Walnut Tree Beer House.” William J. Adams was then the licensee. By 1901 it was
a Style and Winch off-licence.
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| Mr. and Mrs. Gowers (parents of Ted Gowers) in front of the Walnut Tree, c.1920... |
It seemed to be primarily an off-licence for most
of its days, hence we didn’t pop in. It closed in 1950, and continued as a
private house for a few more years. Regrettably, it did not find a
Prings Cottage-style benefactor to undertake the necessary restoration work, and it was finally demolished in the mid-1950s.
Some flats, numbered 185-195 High Street, now exist on the
plot.
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| Flats on the site of the former Walnut Tree... |
So what future have our pubs? They have taken a battering as a result of Covid lockdowns,
and now face a twin threat in the face of spiralling costs and dwindling
clientele, thanks to our collapsing economy.
The way people socialise is changing as well. Communications and entertainment seem to have
gone on-line. Many people, instead of
going to a pub with their friends, will often instead invite them round to
where they live instead, buy in cheap booze from a supermarket and get in a
takeaway.
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| Entertainment, c.1890... |
Many can’t even afford that luxury these days. Times are harder than they have been for
years.
Pubs simply can’t compete with the big supermarkets on
price, with some also having to carry the burden of rapacious "PubCo." owners,
who price-gouge their struggling tenants on wholesale beer prices and rents,
just to pay their wealthy shareholders and executives.
And why would such owners want to subsidise a failing pub, when they can just sell them off to developers for yet more shoebox flats and houses to make a quick and
substantial windfall?
So if you are of a sociable inclination and can afford the
luxury of a pint or two in a nice, quiet pub with good company, just enjoy it while you can. Cheers...
References:
Across the Low Meadow, by Edward Gowers and Derek Church, 1979
Kent Pubs listings (dover-kent.com)
Old Pictures Of Halling (Facebook page, group membership required to view)
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