Legendary Dirty Duck landlady Pam Harris dies aged 88

Pam Harris, the legendary former landlady of the Dirty Duck died on Sunday aged 88.

She was the boss of the Waterside, Stratford, pub from the 1960s until the late 1990s and was renowned for her strict ways but warm heart.

The pub was very much known as an actors’ pub under her care. And during the years of draconian licensing laws when last orders were called just as the post-theatre show revels would begin, she would allow actors and those she favoured to carry on drinking after hours.

Speaking to the Herald when he was in Doctor Faustus at the RSC in 2016, actor Sandy Grierson recalled: “I came to Stratford in 1996, as soon as I was 18 I got a job as a barman at the Dirty Duck under Pam. She was fantastic but frightening! All the actors drank there after the shows, she wouldn’t hesitate to bar you for any misdemeanour, and so you would be excluded from all pleasurable activities. I recently went back for a pint, it wasn’t the same — I missed Pam.”

Please share memories about Pam and her life to the Herald news team at news@stratford-herald.com or call 01789 412806