Updates

21st February, 1965: Folkestone Gazette Reports 1960 - 1964 Added.

Guildhall Hotel/Tavern 1960s

Folkestone Gazette 20-12-1961

Local News

On Monday the Cranbourne Children`s Home, Cheriton, received a cheque for £22, with no stipulation as to how it should be spent on the youngsters’ behalf. Money totalling this amount was dropped into an outsize whisky bottle, at least 2ft. high, standing on a bar at the Guildhall Hotel, Folkestone. Customers were mutely invited to put their odd coppers into the bottle, and not only coppers were received. In fact, the customers, with hearts just as big as the bottle, have already commenced refilling it for Christmas, 1962.

Folkestone Herald 14-11-1964

Local News

Third prize in a Mackeson display competition, sponsored by Messrs. Mackeson and Co., Ltd., of Hythe Brewery, has been awarded to Mrs. M.M. Lewis, of the Guildhall Hotel, Folkestone.

The London area was included in the competition, which took the form of a bar display advertising the properties of the firm`s well-known and very popular stout.

At the Guildhall Hotel, Miss Eileen Lewis, elder daughter of Mrs. Lewis, prepared a very attractive and topical saloon bar panel featuring an airborne bottle of stout travelling through a starlit, cloud-flecked sky. It was shown bypassing the Earth though “The Macky Way” en route for the Moon, for “there is always space for a Macky”.

Freely displayed in the bar were popular nursery rhymes paraphrased to include references to the product being advertised. Dividing its time between the front of the hotel and the lounge bar was a life-sized model of a barmaid, one hand holding a bottle of stout and the other pointing to a churn of milk, one of its ingredients.

Two other top prizes went to houses in Kent, namely: Second, Pearson`s Arms, Whitstable; fourth, Duke of Cumberland, Barham. The prizes will be presented at a reception at Messrs. Whitbread and Co.`s city cellars at their Chiswell Street, London, brewery on Thursday, December 3^rd. A buffet supper will follow.

Folkestone Gazette 16-12-1964

Local News

Fifi, a 12-year-old blind poodle, saved the Guildhall Hotel public house, next to Folke­stone’s Town Hall, from serious damage by fire early yesterday. Fifi smelt burning cable at 4.30 a.m. and yapped until her mistress, Mrs. Maud Lewis, the licensee, went downstairs to see what was wrong. She saw that water from an overflowing sink upstairs had soaked through the floor­boards, short-circuiting the electric current and causing the wire to smoulder. She called Folkestone Fire Brigade, who rushed to Guild­hall Street with three engines. But the fire was put out by turning off the electricity at the mains.  Mrs. Lewis`s daughter, Eileen, said afterwards “It was all my fault. I left a tap running upstairs. I feel most apologetic now. Fifi was wonderful. It would all have gone up in flames if it had not been for her”.

The brewers had to deliver by candle-light when they arrived with supplies after the fire - because the electricity was still cut off.

Folkestone Herald 13-2-1965

Local News

Police statements about the responsibility of publicans towards drunken drivers have brought protests from local landlords. Superintendent Frederick Coatsworth said at Seabrook last week that licensees exerted a tremendous influence on their customers and had a vital role to play in the prevention of offences involving drink, especially where motorists were concerned.

Reaction from Mr. Reg. Gard, landlord of the George Inn in George Lane, Folkestone, was “It just doesn’t make sense. We’re supposed to be mind- readers now, asking customers their age to see if they are over 18. The only thing we can do is to refuse to serve drinks to anyone who has obviously had too much. And, of course, thirsty motorists could always wear a ticket around their necks saying “I’m a driver. Please can I have a drink?””

Mr. Ron Letts, licensee of the Globe on The Bayle, said “It’s ludicrous. Our job is to sell drinks. A fair proportion of my customers are drivers, and in the nine years I have been here I have found they are generally responsible people. On the odd occasion, when you know your customer, it’s O.K. to say “Give me your keys—you’d better take a taxi home”. But how can you say that to a perfect stranger?”

Mr. Alec Wales, of the Lon­don and Paris, near the Har­bour, who is chairman of Folkestone, Hythe and Dis­trict Licensed Victuallers’ Association, put most of the blame on restaurants. “You cannot hold a pub­lican responsible for what customers drink”, he declared. “I don’t allow anyone who is obviously drunk in my house, but when they can get served at a restaurant, what can you do? I certainly don`t think the majority of drunks come from pubs”.

At Folkestone Brewster Sessions on Wednesday Supt. Coats worth reiterated his opinion. “Licensees, particularly those whose premises attract what is known as the motor car trade, have a vital contribution to pay in regard to safety on the roads”, he said. The police are the first to realise in a town such as Folkestone that all persons do not obtain their liquor in licensed premises. But, as responsible citi­zens, licensees can exert a great influence on their cus­tomers by always bearing in mind the effect which alcohol taken in excess might have on drivers of a motor vehicle”.

The last word came from Mrs. Maud Lewis, licensee of the Guildhall Hotel, chairman of the Women’s Auxiliary of the local L.V.A. After Brewster Sessions she told the Herald “We all try to do our stuff. If we think customers have had enough we tell them so. Irrespective of whether they`re driving or not, I`m firm with them on the question of drink”.

Folkestone Herald 8-1-1966

Local News

The Cranbourne Home for Children at Cheriton has benefitted by more than £150 in the last two years through the generosity of the patrons of the Guildhall Hotel, Folkestone.

It is perhaps astonishing to recall that £20 of this admir­able total was the direct re­sult of a burglary. Each year a huge whisky bottle is placed upon the counter of the saloon bar of the Guildhall, and throughout the year customers place loose change in it. Shortly before Christmas, 1963, the hotel was forcibly entered, and the bottle, con­taining an estimated £30, was stolen. Customers who had already subscribed rallied round, and within a few hours the mag­nificent total of £50 was subscribed for the home. In 1964 the total in a new bottle was £25, which was sent to the home. A little later a customer, imposing a condition that he should remain anonymous, wrote a cheque for £50 for the fund. Last Christmas the amount in the bottle was £28 (not £10 as stated in the Herald last week). This was sent to Cranbourne by the proprietress of the Guildhall Hotel, Mrs. M. Lewis.

Thanks for the money were expressed in a letter from Joyce and Basil Frear, who run the home, to Mrs. Lewis. They stated “The money will go to each of our five cot­tages as and when they need it for outings or holidays. In this way everyone gets a fair share”. The letter was written on be­half of the children and staff.

 

 

Lifeboat 1950s - 1960s

Folkestone Herald 3-4-1954

Local News

Sir Harry Mackeson has been asked to help persuade the Ministry of Transport to give a decision about the provision for a car park in the Harbour area. (Yesterday afternoon Sir Harry visited the area with officials of the Ministry and British Railways.)

Delay in obtaining approval from the Ministry is delaying the completion of the scheme for the redevelopment of the area, the Borough Engineer, Mr. E. L. Allman, told members of Folkestone Chamber of Trade on Monday evening.

Mr. Allman said in redevelop­ing the area they had not only to contend with natural diffi­culties but man-made diffi­culties. In the area they had no less than 13 public-houses, of which six were to remain. They had agreed with the brewers that a site adjacent to the Harbour Hotel should be made available to improve their premises. The existence of the railway line to the Harbour, and trunk sewers, which had to remain, added to the difficulties of plan­ning the area. Then there were awkward levels. It seemed that some type of housing was required and also a car park. The Tram Road would be brought into Harbour Street to keep traffic away from the railway arches, leaving a space free for pedestrians using the arches. Seagate Street and a small length of Beach Street would be disposed of, and Dover Street would be brought round in a bold curve into the Tram Road above the arch. The Borough Engineer said he thought the scheme for South Street would be pleas­ing, reproducing as far as possible the conditions that existed before the shops were built 300 or 400 years ago.

The Royal George public house would remain in an altered form, but there was difficulty about the site adjoin­ing the Ark Cafe. The Minis­try seemed to think that a cafe would do well there. During the scheme they had moved some 10,000 cubic yards of earth, quite an achievement on a restricted site.

He said the units of accom­modation being built would ac­commodate 120 - 130 people. The Lifeboat public house would remain but the corner from North Street into the Durlocks would be improved by utilising a site adjoining the public house.

Mr. G. Balfour asked whether the new development would blend with the houses built before the war.

Mr. Allman said he was afraid the present-day restric­tion on money made it im­possible to follow the type of building in Radnor Street, but as far as their limited resources allowed they would select tiles and bricks to blend. Referring to Dover Street, he said there were still some sub­standard houses there which should come down. In future, when the street was widened, there would be no necessity to interfere with the Quakers’ Meeting House, an old building which was set well back.

Folkestone Herald 11-2-1956

Notice

In the County of Kent, Borough of Folkestone

To: The Clerk to the Rating Authority for the Borough of Folkestone in the County of Kent,

The Clerk to the Licensing Justices for the Borough of Folkestone in the County of Kent,

The Chief Constable of Kent,

And to all whom it may concern.

I, Harry Frederick May, now residing at The Lifeboat Inn Folkestone in the County of Kent, Beerhouse Keeper, do hereby give notice that it is my intention to apply at the second session of the General Annual Licensing Meeting for the said Borough, to be holden at the Town Hall, Folkestone, on Wednesday the 29^th day of February 1956 for the grant to me of a Justices Licence authorising me to apply for and hold an Excise Licence to sell by retail any intoxicating liquor which may be sold under a Spirit Retailers (or Publican`s) Licence for consumption either on or off the premises situate at The Lifeboat Inn, North Street, Folkestone aforesaid of which premises Messrs. Mackeson & Company Limited of Brewery, Hythe, in the said County, are the owners of whom I rent them and it is my intention at the hearing of the application for the new licence to offer to surrender the following licences:-

(a) The licence now in suspense relating to the premises known as “The Wellington”, Beach Street, Folkestone, of which premises Messrs. Bushell Watkins & Smith Limited of The Black Eagle Brewery, Westerham is the registered owner.

(b) The licence now in suspense relating to the premises known as “The Wonder Tavern”, Beach Street, Folke­stone, of which premises Messrs. Flint & Co. of 58, Castle Street, Dover is the registered owner.

Given under my hand this 2^nd day of February, 1956.

H. F. May.

Folkestone Herald 3-3-1956

Adjourned Licensing Sessions

The grant of a full licence to the Lifeboat Inn, North Street, and the surrender of the suspended licences of the Wonder Tavern and the Wellington, Beach Street, were agreed at the adjourned Folkestone Licensing Sessions on Wednesday.

Mr. P. Bracher, making the applications, said there appeared to be no objection. There was a beer licence at the Lifeboat Inn, but facilities were wanted to supply all types of alcohol. He said there was a definite demand for it because there were more people living in the area, and because of the summer trade. The matter had been before the Licensing Planning Committee, and no objection was raised by them to the application. Mr. Bracher said the present premises of the Lifeboat Inn were not what the brewers desired. The cottage next door was coming down, and it was the brewers` immediate intention to improve the Lifeboat Inn. Arrangements were made with the Corporation for the acquisition of the property and for the setting back of the road. Plans for the improvement of the premises would come before the Justices for approval in the very near future. He said the premises on the sea side, only partially protected from the weather, were going to be temporarily rebuilt at once. When the cottage came down a wall, with windows in it, would be erected. It would be a comparatively temporary arrangement while plans for the better siting of the house were being prepared. Something had to be done for the comfort of the tenant and the customers as soon as the adjoining cottage was demolished. Mr. Bracher went on to explain that it was proposed that two other licences in suspense should be surrendered. Arrangements and discussions had gone on with the Customs and Excise that the value of the licences should not be paid to the owners of the premises, but be taken by the Customs and Excise in consideration of the additional monopoly value which would be payable in respect of the Lifeboat Inn. The two licences which it was proposed to surrender were in respect of the Wellington and the Wonder Tavern, in Beach Street. Dealing with the figure, Mr. Bracher said if no surrender had been made of any other licence, it was agreed with the Customs and Excise that it should be £600, the additional monopoly value payable on the grant of a full licence in respect of the Lifeboat Inn. After that had been settled the value of the two other licences was agreed at £250 and £350, a total of £600. There was no alteration in the monopoly value payable on the Lifeboat Inn simply because the two other licences were being surrendered to satisfy the payment. He said the owners and holders of the other two licences had authorised him to say they had consented to the surrender.

Harry Frederick May, the licensee of the Lifeboat Inn for eight years, said there was a demand for wines and spirits. Nearby was the W.T.A. Hostel, where there were 140 visitors in the summer. In addition a block of flats had been built in North Street and many visitors used the area in the summer. He said ladies` darts matches were held at the Lifeboat Inn, and the secretary of the team told him there was difficulty in arranging matches with other houses because wines and spirits were not obtainable.

Folkestone Gazette 4-11-1959

Townsman`s Diary

Three local inn signs will be displayed in Brussels shortly. Perhaps you may have noticed that the colourful sign of your favourite hostelry has disappeared recently and been replaced with a notice such as is pictured on this page. What`s behind their disappearance? Well, the enterprising House of Whitbread are taking part in an exhibition one of the big stores in the Belgian capital is staging from November 19<sup>th</sup> to January 1<sup>st</sup>. The accent will be on the British way of life and many British goods will be on sale. Included in the exhibition are signs from Kent inns. Whitbreads are displaying the signs at their prefabricated public house. From Folkestone the brewers have taken the signs of the British Lion on Folkestone`s old Bayle, the Lifeboat Inn, North Street, and The Star, Newington. The signs were on their way to Brussels yesterday.

Folkestone Gazette 22-11-1961

Local News

Further help for the British Empire Cancer Campaign has come from two Folkestone public houses during the past week. Piles of pennies were toppled over at The Red Cow and The Lifeboat, North Street. Total for the Red Cow was £10 14/11 and for the Lifeboat £22 4/1. The local committee of the British Empire Cancer Cam­paign thank all who contri­buted to such excellent results.

 

 

Photo from Folkestone Herald

Folkestone Herald 12-12-1964

Local News

Mr. Harry May, landlord of the Lifeboat Inn, in North Street, has an unusual hobby, in which his customers also join.

Naturally enough, as a fisherman and seaman for more than 30 years, Mr. May`s interest is the sea. And when a member of a lifeboat crew sent him a picture of their boat it was enough to start him off on his hobby. He has written to every one of the 152 lifeboat stations in Britain asking for pictures of their boats. So far more than 100 have been sent to him, and the photographs now decorate the walls of his bars. Not only does it give an interest to his customers, but most of them support the lifeboat collecting boxes, too. Last summer, said Mr. May, they collected quite a reasonable sum for the lifeboats.

Folkestone Gazette 16-12-1964

Local News

Mr. Harry May, landlord of the Lifeboat Inn, in North Street, Folkestone, has an unusual hobby, in which his customers also join. Naturally enough, as a fisherman and seaman for more than 30 years, Mr. May’s interest is the sea. And when a member of a lifeboat crew sent him a picture of their boat it was enough to start him off on his hobby. He has written to every one of the 152 lifeboat stations in Britain asking for pictures of their boats. So far more than 100 have been sent to him, and the photographs now decorate the walls of his bars. Not only does it give an interest to his customers, but most of them support the life­boat collecting boxes, too. Last summer, said Mr. May, they collected quite a reason­able sum for the lifeboats.

 

Folkestone Herald 11-6-1966

Photo from Folkestone Herald