Tag: Inns

Goodbye to another pub?

On By SteveIn Places, Roadside features1 Comment

The Jug and Glass at Lea Green, pictured above, is the latest in a long list of Derbyshire pubs that have closed in recent years. Just in the Matlock area these include the Lime Tree and the Crown in Matlock itself, the Jovial Dutchman and the King’s Head in Crich, the Yew Tree in Holloway, the Nelson at Bullbridge, the Derwent Hotel at Whatstandwell, the Homesford Cottage on the A6, the George and the Vaults in Wirksworth, and many more. So what accounts for this spectacular collapse of what is still seen as an important English institution?

For sale in Chesterfield – The historic Royal Oak

Although pubs are now seen mainly as a community resource and valued for providing a meeting space for local clubs, inns (as opposed to alehouses) originally catered to travellers, and provided meals, beds and a change of horses, as well as drink and company. Inns must certainly date back to Chaucer’s time (c. 1370), since his pilgrims stay at the Tabard in Southwark, and are probably much older. But the arrival of railways reduced their importance, and drink drive legislation was a further blow. Today’s traveller is lucky to find any wayside pub or inn open, since so many have had to restrict their opening hours.

The classic look

There are many reasons for the recent decline in pub-going. The price of beer, pushing £5 a pint in places, and the shortage of staff willing to work unsocial hours, made worse by the folly of Brexit, all contribute. But perhaps the critical factor has been the reluctance of many to enter a communal space, which was exacerbated by the pandemic. ‘Pub’ stands for public house, which means a place where you can meet your neighbours on neutral ground. Yet it seems that more and more people prefer to drink in the safety of home, where the drinks are cheap, and there’s no danger of having to talk to a stranger.

Inn or ale-house?

On By SteveIn Places, Road users3 Comments
The Red Lion at Wirksworth

How long have inns offered roadside refreshment to travellers? Not an easy question to answer, since many claim to be the ‘Oldest Pub in England’ or something similar. Nottingham has at least two claimants, The Trip to Jerusalem and The Bell, while in Derbyshire the Holly Bush at Makeney has clearly served a few pints over the centuries. The pilgrims in ‘The Canterbury Tales’, written in the late fourteenth century, stayed at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, so clearly inns were part of medieval travel.

However, the early eighteenth century saw a significant growth in travel, due to road improvement by the turnpike trusts and the invention of coaches with steel springs, cutting journey times and making travelling a little more comfortable. To cater for the expansion of stagecoach routes coaching inns were built or developed, often with the characteristic arched entrance to allow the coach and horses to enter the interior yard, where stabling was provided. To maintain good timing, horses had to be changed regularly, and grooms and ostlers were needed for their care.

The Holly Bush at Makeney

There was an important distinction between inns and ale houses. The former offered accommodation as well as food and drink, while the latter were more down market and, as the name suggests, dealt mainly in (possibly home-brewed) beer. But even in the inns there were class distinctions: gentry in their private carriages or on horseback were more welcome than the occupants of stage coaches, while those on foot were often turned away. The owners of inns were frequently caricatured as greedy and grasping, in particular landladies, while the chambermaids were often portrayed as warm-hearted and generous.

This is the situation shown in Fielding’s humorous novel ‘Joseph Andrews’ (1742), which vividly portrays life on the road. Joseph, the hero, is robbed at the roadside, but is rescued by a passing coach and taken to the nearest inn, the Dragon. The company are sitting in the kitchen by the fire:

The discourse ran altogether on the robbery, which was committed the night before, and on the poor wretch, who lay above, in the dreadful condition, in which we have already seen him. Mrs Tow-Wouse said, ‘she wondered what the devil Tom Whipwell meant by bringing such guests to her house, when there were so many ale-houses on the road proper for their reception? But she assured him, if he died, the parish should be at the expense of the funeral.’