The Lost Pubs of Stratford
At one time, Stratford had its own brewery and a multitude of pubs. While a few old favourites remain and others have been added, many of the former pub buildings are now businesses, blocks of flats or private homes. DAVID ADAMSON delves into the past to unearth the Stratford’s lost pubs.
THE Flower and Sons Brewery began on Clopton Road in 1831, and until its takeover by Whitbread in 1967 it produced the beer that washed through many Stratford’s pubs.
With the brewery since demolished, blocks of flats now sit on the site, and many of the once-mighty brewery’s pubs have met a similar fate, becoming businesses or private homes.
The numerous pubs that benefited from the brewery combined to create a vibrant drinking scene in the town, something that Stratford resident of 81 years, Norman Lee, remembers with great fondness.
“When I was about seven years-old my dad started a haulage company, and he did collections of beer from Flower’s Brewery,” said Norman. “He did a lot of business with them, and there’s probably at least a dozen pubs that I used to frequent with him. His favourites were the Coach and Horses, the pubs around Bull Street, The Oddfellows and The Falstaff, where my uncle had a blacksmiths at the back.
“I think Stratford was quite an introverted place, probably a bit more like a glorified market town. You relied on what was here, and people didn’t really travel. When you think of it, why did we carry so many pubs that were probably doing no food, and only beer? How can you support three pubs within almost one street in Old Town, for instance: The Bull, The Talbot and The Masons? The people there probably either worked for London Midland and Scottish Railway, Flower’s Brewery or for the Ball Brothers foundry.
“On Wood Street you had The Horse and Jockey, which was there for a long, long time and was a very established pub, then opposite was The Plymouth Arms, which had an arch going through to the back and a dance hall upstairs, and the Great Western Arms was on the corner. Then the Green Dragon was nearby, which had a shooting gallery upstairs.”
While many of the pubs across the town will have been kept busy by local drinkers spilling out of work, the influx of tourism that is now Stratford’s main trade also began to flow into the town, something that Norman says will have had its effect.
“The theatre was always up and running,” said Norman. “Far more people visited because of it, and therefore your hotels and your bed and breakfasts took off. That again, could have taken away some of the general pub atmosphere of the town.”
The demise of some pubs’ darts and snooker teams also saw vital trade slip away.
“I think drinking habits and travel started to change pub life in Stratford,” added Norman. “People looked for other businesses or jobs because their place of work was closing or changing altogether. Prices went up and people couldn’t afford it, so it was changing their lives.”
Also regularly pouring into the town’s pubs were the recruits from the nearby Royal Engineers barracks at Long Marston, who Norman says did their part to prop up pub life in Stratford.
“They were not only an employer, the army came in and supported the pubs,” he said. “They’d come in at the weekend, drink beer and cause havoc.
“The new recruits would come in and drink in town and look for girlfriends, and I imagine there’s a few lads and girls who date back to their dad being based there, but I guess that’s another chapter in the life of the town.”
1. Coach and Horses
No43 Henley Street
Now Arcle café
2. Dog Inn
No36 Sheep Street
Was Charles French
3. George Inn
No23 Bridge Street
Now White Company
4. The Globe
No4 Great William Street
Now a private home
5. The Three Witches
Alcester Road
Now a block of flats
6. Golden Lion Hotel
No30 Bridge Street
Now Much a Shoe about Nothing
7. Great Western Arms
No31 Rother Street
NatWest since 1959
8. Green Dragon
No1 Arden Street
Now a building site
9. Horse and Jockey
No38 Wood Street
Now JobCentre Plus
10. Lord Nelson
No35 Great William Street
Now a private home
11. Masons Arms
No6 College Lane
Now a private home
12. Oddfellows Arms
No51 Mansell Street
Now empty
13. Old Kings Arms
No32 Wood Street
Now Bella Italia
14. Old Red Lion
No3 Bridge Street
Now Old Red Lion Court
15. Plymouth Arms
No15 Wood Street
Now Fat Face
16. Prince of Wales
No17 Rother Street
Former Stratford Herald offices
17. Red Horse Hotel
No29 Bridge Street
Now Marks & Spencer
18. Rose Inn
No14 Ely Street
Now Kingfisher fish & chips
19. Sir John Falstaff
No17 Birmingham Road
Now Stratford Court
20. Stag’s Head
No49 Rother Street
Now a private home
21. Stratford Arms
No39 Henley Street
Now Timeless Tales
22. Talbot Inn
No18 Bull Street
Now Talbot Cottage
23. White Lion Inn
No19 Henley Street
Now Crystals
24. Wheatsheaf Inn
No20 Waterside
Now The Corner Shop
25. The Green Man
No19 Sheep Street
Now Midsummer Garden
26. Cask and Bottle
No7-9 Union Street
Now Caz Bar
27. Swan and Maidenhead Inn
Henley Street
Now Shakespeare’s Birthplace
Share your memories – and photographs – of south Warwickshire’s lost pubs by emailing news@startford-herald.com.