Howden pubs

 Looking back the last post I wrote was just before we celebrated the Queen's Platinum Jubilee - we actually ate our afternoon tea indoors but enjoyed it just the same. English weather!

And now we are in a mini heat wave and watering our potatoes whilst picking gooseberries and raspberries.

But there is still time for some local history. On Tuesday the two history groups I belong to - about 20 of us - visited Barmby on the Marsh church. The church was declared redundant and is now owned by the Friends of Friendless Churches who have restored it to good condition but without taking away its essential  character. I gave a brief talk on its history and then after having a good look round we moved on to Barmby Methodist church for tea and cakes. There we were ' regally' entertained with lovely cakes, tea served in china cups and all whilst sitting round tables laid with white cloths and adorned with vases of  Sweet Williams. A lovely afternoon.

I have been having a look this week at Howden's pubs. I often get asked how many were there and the short answer is a lot!! and the longer answer is about 20 at any one time throughout the nineteenth century but it can be confusing. Some changed their names - eg the White Hart where cock fights took place became The Wellington, the Nag's Head became [the] Bowman's [ John Bowman bought it] while the Wheatsheaf became the Sloop, the Howden Packet and then the Wheatsheaf again.

And others lost their licences and disappeared after a new licensing act was passed and owners and tenants found  their pub was declared superfluous and were paid compensation. These included The Neptune in Pinfold St and Sheffield House on the corner of Station Road.

And of course more recently the White Horse has closed, as has the Black Swan which was renamed Minster View on Cornmarket Hill while the Board has become the Howden Arms.

I spend a lot of time researching on old newspaper sites and always get sidetracked. The Hull Daily Mail used to have a column entitled Heard in Howden Streets. In a way I think Facebook is our version of it!

So while trying to fix a date for the demolition of the Dog and Duck inn in Market Place  I came across  this article which was written at exactly this time of year over a hundred years ago. As I read it  I thought that although some things have changed dramatically -  eg the water supply - others are recognisable - lack of rain, Eastrington show and a  large concert in the Minster on July 9th. Plus ca change.

27th June 1913

HEARD IN HOWDEN STREETS. (from our own correspondent.) 

That, judging by the attendance at Mr Fenby's meeting on Saturday night, Liberalism seems somewhat flat  in Howden just now. 

That while the tuning of the organ of St Peter's was taking place, a dead starling was found blocking one of the pipes. 

That Col-Sgt. Levitt is having very busy time with his duties, in addition to those in connection with Company, including the Church Lads' Brigade, and the Police Station Rifle Range. 

That up to Tuesday night there had been no weight of rain for about six weeks, and many who rely on rainwater principally, have been in sore straits. 

That many are having to purchase drinking water at a halfpenny bucket from neighbours; the need of an efficient water supply was ever demonstrated. 

That people at Howdendyke are reported be drinking water from the River Ouse, while others are drawing their supply from sources of questionable purity. 

That while some farmers need rain badly for the crops (especially turnips), which are at a standstill, others require fine weather on account of the hay harvest. 

That the parish bellman complains bitterly that' his official uniform has not been supplied, as promised, by the authorities. 

That "Billy" [ he was the bellman or town crier] is becoming quite a quack doctor, his recent " cures" including corns, several damaged thumbs, cuts, bruises, and sprains. 

That the last vestige of the old Dog and Duck Inn and adjacent pork shop has now disappeared, opening out a splendid east view of the beautiful ruined choir of tho Parish Church. 

That Mr H. Bastow is  having very busy time in the handicapping line, his engagements far this season numbering nine, including North Cave, Spaldington, Barmby, and Howden. 

That the Show Committee on Monday arranged an attractive sports programme. 

That close upon 500  acres of the outlying portion of the [Knedlington] estate, the property of Mr Erie S. S. Rudd-Clarke, will come into the market next month. That this will one of, if not the, largest estates ever offered for sale at Howden. 

That the Hall rose garden presents a wealth of bloom, which, together with the newly designed rockeries, etc., for which the head gardener, Barker,  is responsible, is one the beauty spots of the town. 

That Mr Walter Shaw's beautiful mare, which carried everything before her at the Eastrington Show, was hand-reared as a foal, her mother dying when she was but a month old. 

That Mrs Jackson gave an enjoyable Wesleyan sewing meeting tea in The Ashes last week-end, from the proceeds of which the new Sunday school building fund benefited. 

That both adults and children spent a very happy evening after tea in games. 

That the preparations for the great choral festival at St. Peter's Church on July 9th are going well in the hands of the ladies' committee, who expect to entertain quite 300 visitors to tea. 

 This picture must have been taken about this time as the new market cross was erected in 1909 and the Dog and Duck and pork butcher's shop are still there. The building with its gable end on just to the left of the cross is now the Cheese Shop