Monday, March 09, 2015

A Dozen Dollops Of History - 9 : No Stamp, No Box, No Pint


My ninth found dollop of history (£1.50 pence from the second hand shop) features a 1914 vintage postcard from Tewkesbury.

I can never resist a postcard of a pub and I will dip deeper into my wallet than normal to buy one. This is a lovely old card featuring the Bell Hotel in Tewkesbury which is notable for two reasons: first the wonderfully preserved seventeenth century construction, and second, it is a pub I have never visited! I don't think I have ever been to Tewkesbury, but we are planning a trip down to Gloucestershire later in the year so I will make sure we call in there and I can cross the pub off my bucket list (if you are going to have a bucket list, have one for pubs).  

From what I can discover the inn was originally called The Angel before becoming The Bell and then the Ring Of Bells, then the Eight Bells, before finally reverting back to the Bell again in the 1820s. If you look carefully you can see that the landlord was a certain H. Charles (Harry Charles in fact) and if you look even more carefully you can see that the inn was served by Arnold, Perrett & Co, Brewers of Wickwar in Gloucestershire.  Arnold, Perrett & Co was taken over by the Cheltenham Original Brewery in 1924 and brewing ceased in Wickwar, but the building remained, and ten or so years ago brewing recommenced in the building courtesy of  the Wickwar Brewing Company. Checking on the map, I see that Wickwar is just up the road from where my blogging mate Chairman Bill lives, so hopefully he might be able to send us a photograph of the brewery and, even better, a pint of Wickwar Gold.


The message on the back of the card is delightfully brief : "No stamps, no box, no muffin" I wouldn't want to start to investigate possible interpretations of this brief message so I think we will stick with the fine proportions of the Bell Hotel and contemplate that tempting pint of Wickwar Gold.

6 comments:

  1. Alan - going past the Wickwar brewery tomorrow (my son's school is in Wooton-Under-Edge and I have to go there for parents' evening. If it's light enough, I'll send you a photo.

    I have also been to the Bell in Tewkesbury - we had lunch there last summer.

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  2. I do believe someone found the Bell wanting enough to complaint to Miss Lawrence. Imagine, with a well equipped writing desk in the lobby and a post box outside, Miss Lawrence might have received the letter of her life.

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  3. I think it says no stamp, no box, no nuffin . See how the "n's" are written in No ? Love the way you can easily dig up history when beer is involved. Hope you get to have a pint in the lovely old pub.

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  4. I agree with Diane. No nuffin.
    And amazingly, as the world is filled with places I have not been to, I have in fact been to Tewkesbury more than once. By boat with Katie & Desmond for example. There's a way to arrive in a new town. I seem to remember the Abbey is worth a visit although very high (clouds of incense).

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  5. If you do go to the Abbey, don't forget to visit Sir Gurney de Stove.

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    Replies
    1. What a brilliant name! I think last time I was in the Abbey it was infested with a massive flower festival.

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