This page holds a series of old photographs of
ancient inns around the Isle of Wight, many disappeared a long time
ago, others
more recently during the Whitbread purges of the 1970's and 1980's,
others
still exist. A lot of the photographs in this page have been
collected
and collated by my friend; Ray Scarfe, who like myself, loves pubs and
their
history. They are and were the focal points of communities and
people,
their greatest threat and frequently the cause of their demise are
their
owners, the major breweries and holding companies. No other
country
in Europe has this antiquated and indefensible system of a "tied
house",
the owner being the sole supplier of their tenant's produce.
Eventually, and hopefully, legislation will be
passed, to separate pubs from their monopoly suppliers and then all
outlets will
be "free" houses. Maybe then, a wide variety of pubs of all shapes and
sizes will again grace England's towns and villages.
| The Five Bells at Brighstone, closed many years ago. Look at the Mew Langton dray coming to deliver with the canvas carriage sheet. |
| The Anglers Inn, Yarbridge, near Brading, still going strong. |
| The Bugle, Brading, around the turn of the 20th century. The landlord (with pet dog) and landlady together with friend, pose for the photographer. |
| The eastern end of the New Inn at Brighstone, now Brighstone Post Office, once home of Parish Councilor, Job Hawker, 1909. |
| A coach full of "swells" carouses through Brading High street in the early part of the 20th century, the Red Lion Inn sits in the sun to the left of the photograph. |
| Sorry about the quality, this is a early if damaged glass plate negative of the old "Sun Inn" at Calbourne cross roads before it was destroyed by fire in April 1894. The fire was started by a lamp in a bedroom which set light to the hatch. It was quickly extinguished but broke out again the following day and this time destroyed the inn. The inn was later rebuilt after the local authority had realigned the crossroads. |
| Brading Waxworks Museum is a major attraction on the Isle of Wight today. Here it is in its original state as the New Inn (this name has been debated) with two young Victorian wenches peering in the window. |
| An omnibus has drawn up outside the Sloop Inn at Wootton Bridge, a horse and trap pull away as a young Edwardian girl comes up to chat to the driver and conductor. The pace of life was a little slower then. |
| The Kingston Arms, Newport Road, Cowes, some years ago. |
| The Sportsmans Rest. Mew Langton proclaim their wares on the front of the pub. It hasn't changed much |
| Some rather cold Victorians pose for the camera outside the Stag Inn at Lake at the beginning of the 20th century. Stiff upper lips all round, by the looks of it. |
The Colwell Bay Inn during the 1920's. Despite a couple of major refits, it hasn't changed much.
This structure survived to the early 1980's when Whitbread's decided
to give it a make over and rename it "Caulkheads", a nickname for
Island born folk. At least the pub survived. Mind you,
Watneys had a pub
right opposite. Marvelous what a bit of competition can do, eh?
A terrific photograph of the Cranbourn Pub in Newport on the corner
of Trafalgar
road and Upper St. James Street, the little girl is the now lady of
advanced
years who e-mailed me this photograph. Note the ornate lantern
and
balustrade above.
Go to the top of Page.
There will be more photographs forthcoming, this web site will be
updated continually as time permits. If you have an interesting
photograph you wish to share, please email me on:-
insula.vecta@btopenworld.com